Accidental Surrogate for Alpha

Chapter 271

Ella’s Dream

Sinclair

I throw out my hand, grasping for her arm – her skirt – anything – as she disappears from my sight.in a blink. A growl grows in my chest. God damnit, why can’t she just stay still? I put my hands in my pockets and look around at the familiar dream forest, this place we’ve come so many times. But there’s something just slightly… off about it. A haze, an… indistinctness to the details. As if Ella can’t put the pieces together quite well enough.

I’m still here, though, which means some part of her wants me to be. I hold on to this knowledge, desperately, and begin to prowl through the forest. Where the hell is she?

–

I hear her giggling somewhere and spin my head, looking everywhere for my mate. But then – god damn it, is it coming from above me? I stop, looking up at the canopy of leaves and the clouds, listening hard.

–

Yes there is she in the sky?

I cup my hands to my mouth and shout her name upwards.

“Ela!” I cry. “Ella! Come back here!” There’s no response, just more of that giggling. My inner wolf prowls within me, hungry, worried, ready for the chase. But now is not the time to be playing hide and seek. I let my anger and my alpha demand infuse my voice, trying again. “Ella!” I command. I hear the giggling cease. “Get your ass down here! Now!”

And then, suddenly, she’s there again, standing in front of me. I keep my face stern, not letting any of the relief I feel slip through.

“Bossy,” she quips, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting. “Big bully wolf.”

“Ella,” I sigh, shaking my head and closing the distance between us, putting my hands on each of her cheeks. Her tiny face is so small, so fragile between my palms. And so, so incredibly precious. I let my eyes rove over her, savoring every detail. “Baby,” I murmur. “Come back to me.”

“But I’m right here,” she giggles, wrinkling her nose at me, confused but not dismayed. Her form flickers like a lamp with a bad bulb – now bright, now hazy, struggling to keep alight.

“Please, baby,” I beg, moving my arms to take her by the shoulders, to bring her closer to me. Please try.”

whines. “I don’t

”

a little. Ella’s innocence is one of the things I love about her, but talking to her now…it’s like she’s a little child, like she really doesn’t understand, doesn’t remember what happened to her. And frankly, I don’t know what to do – I hadn’t thought through the possibility of meeting my mate in her dreams,

arms, though, as I press her close to me, nuzzling her face against my chest. My wrack my mind, trying to figure out what to do to bring

nothing – nothing logical, nothing real. And so I fall back on the thing that has always brought us together, without

with abandon. Another moment passes and she’s gasping, as if my kiss is air to her, bringing her life. Her hands sink in my hair, her nails rake against my scalp as she brings

–

up I think to myself. Because right now, she is the only

floor. She

I let her. I let her take charge of the moment, of me, of everything. Let her have

she does, I realize, suddenly, that her flickering has

breath, pulling my face away from hers – needing to see, but desperately scared that if

my arms wrapped tight around her

vivid and warm and

suddenly filled with a clarity and knowledge and horror that tells

my god, Ella,” I cry, my voice muffled as I bury my face against her, fighting the tears that spring

up to hers. I can’t help the two tears that slide down my cheeks as I look up at her. “What’s happening,” she asks, her voice still no more than a whisper. Where –” she

steady, my arms still tight around

her eyes wide and terrified. “The hospital? What happened the

see her eyes fill with the utter panic only a

her. “He’s still – he’s still there.” I can see that my words only bring her anxiety down a notch,

in her panic, staring around at the dream forest I know she

own heartbeat, to pass that calm on to her. “It’s all right, sweetheart,” I say, my voice level, soft. “The world is steady, for