11
Eyes wide open, breath ragged in my throat, I shot up from the nightmare and stared into the dark. The night hugged me like an old friend, the soft chirping of cicadas a warm welcome after the silence of my dream. The tempered breathing of the beautiful woman next to me calmed my spirit.
With a shaking hand, I caressed her arm, just to ensure that she was really here. That I was really here.
Ashleigh murmured, a whimper falling from her lips. Even in her sleep, her wolf reacted to my touch. Her serenity soothed my thundering heart and I fell back into my furs. The soft hair of deer tickled the back of my neck as I fought the unease creeping back into my thoughts. The lone shriek of an owl, the wind tugging on the tent, the snap of a branch. Anything and everything agitated my paranoi
