LITMIR.BIZ

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of the tunnels. Crap.

      Dax had set infrared lasers across the tunnels that spread throughout Folkestone and the cliffs. Anyone who entered wouldn’t know they were there but Dax would. Mind you, had he really expected the Circle to go back to the scene of the crime? No. Probably not.

      He pawed his way back over to the opening to the cave; from up here he could see most of the coastline. On a clear day you could likely see France.

      The light of the moon bounced off the surface of the waves, making them sparkle.

      His mind was ablaze with questions, none of which he could answer.

      Exhaustion swept over him. He hadn’t slept a wink since Alison was taken. Sure, he’d had a five minute nap here and there but he hadn’t actually let sleep take him. He was getting to the point of delusion, unable to concentrate for long and the smallest of things seemed to take it out of him.

      He was a wolf, and a strong one at that. Yet the short trip from the car to the cave had his limbs aching to the point of giving up and his heart racing.

      He closed his eyes, and heaved a great breath. Maybe Julian was right. Maybe he should look after himself a little more.

      But how could he when Alison was out there?

      As darkness swept over him, the sound of the crashing waves died. The salty air caressing his nostrils disappeared and nothingness took over. Dax let his mind go, the unanswered questions disappearing for just a moment as he gave in to silence. It was peaceful.

      “Dax?” a small voice squeaked. It sounded a hell of a lot like Alison. It was probably his mind playing tricks on him.

      Even so, he held onto the sound of her voice, memorising it.

      “Dax?” Her voice rang out a little louder. He bolted upright, his head spinning.

      He scanned the area, eyes desperately searching for her. Stony beach, waves, jagged rocky path up to the opening of the cave. No beautiful blonde female.

      “Alison?” he whispered, looking around the cave itself. He’d obviously shifted back into human form in his sleep; he sat on the rock, naked and baring all to the world. Yet the rock wasn’t cold against his skin. In fact everything seemed to be exactly the perfect temperature. Not hot. Not cold.

      The cave looked different; hell, the beach looked different.

      It was still night but everything was covered in a faint mist. The world had lost all its colour. The sea, the rock, the stones on the beach, they were all just different shades of grey.

      It could be a trick of the brain; it was the middle of the night after all.

      But Dax wasn’t so sure. He’d seen this before in his dreams. In fact, this grey world was something he saw frequently when he slept. He would go to sleep and almost instantly wake up again, in the world he knew but everything was different. Grey-tinted and empty. It was almost as if he’d stepped onto another plane of existence.

      When he was a pup his mother had talked of astral travel. His mother had always said she had the ability to walk ‘the grey planes’, the realm of the afterlife, where souls went before they moved on. But he’d always assumed he couldn’t go there, that his short trips to this world were obviously just dreams. Something he had convinced himself of since he was a little boy.

      “Dax?” Alison’s voice brought him back to reality.

      “Alison? Where are you?” he said, scanning the beach, the edge of the rocky cliff once again.

      “Behind you.” Her voice whispered through his mind, and he spun around making his stomach roll.

      There she was, in all her glory.

      Her long blonde hair looked grey, but still just as beautiful, cascading down over her pale thin shoulders. He frowned as he noticed that she’d swept the length of it over her neck as if she was cold. Alison’s eyes locked onto his. Though they were now just another shade of grey, he knew they truly were a beautiful blue.

      “What’s happening?” she whispered, hugging her bare knees closer to her chest. She too was completely naked, and trying desperately to cover herself.

      “I don’t know,” Dax admitted, frantically searching for something to cover her with and coming up empty.

      “Is this a dream?” she said. He could see the tears that were threatening to spill sparkling in the moonlight. To hell with this, he thought, standing up and walking towards her, covering his manhood and keeping his back away from her line of sight. His body was not a pleasant thing. He crouched next to her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her into him.

      “Whatever it is, I’m so damn glad you’re here,” he whispered into her ear as she leant into him.

      For a while they just sat there, dazed. Dax was pretty sure this was a dream. In real life, he wouldn’t dare get this close to Alison.

      In real life, she wouldn’t let him touch her. He wouldn’t even try.

      Either way he was absolutely lost for words. He’d known this female for almost all of her life, since she was just a young pup! He’d begun working for Julian many years ago and had watched Alison grow into the beautiful female she was now.

      He’d always been there on the side-lines. Looking out for her.

      But now? He was holding her in his arms and he felt like an absolute idiot.

      Lost for words.

      “I was thinking about you,” she murmured, shifting her head to look up at him.

      “What?” he grunted, cursing himself internally.

       “I–I was trying to sleep. It’s so cold where they’re keeping me. I was thinking of home. I thought of you…and then I was here.”

      Yeah. He must be dreaming. Maybe he wanted to find her so badly his subconscious decided to create a dream in which he could see her.

      “Where are they keeping you?” he whispered. It was unlikely that this was going to help, but hey, he might as well ask.

      “I don’t know,” she choked. Figures.

      “It’s OK, baby girl. We will find you,” he soothed, stroking her hair.

       “Why are you on a cliff?” she asked after a while, which struck him as odd. If his mind was creating a dream, his imagination’s version of Alison would know why he was here, surely?

       “Because this is the last place your GPS chip showed up on the map.”

       “That makes sense.” She sat up a little straighter, although she was still desperately trying to keep her body hidden from him. “When they took me, they blindfolded me. I couldn’t see anything. But I could hear the sea for a while.”

      Dax turned around, holding her at arm’s length. Scanning her face, he noticed a thin scar that wound its way around her throat. That hadn’t been there before.

       Surely his mind would generate an image of Alison exactly as he’d known her?

      “Where did you get this?” he asked, gently brushing a thumb over the mark.

      “They –” She hastily wrapped her arms around herself, hiding her body from him and cleared her throat. “They bound me with silver. It burned.” Only then did he notice the thick scars across her arms and wrists. Deep gouges where skin was missing. He carefully moved his gaze to her face and kept it there. She obviously didn’t want him to look at her injuries.

      “Alison,” he said sternly, regretting the sharpness in his voice as soon as he’d spoken. She flinched at his

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