The Alpha’s Forbidden Mate

The dream always began the same way. Darkness. Endless, suffocating darkness. Maeve Sinclair stood alone in the middle of a forest she had never seen before. The towering trees stretched endlessly into the night, their twisted branches blocking out the moonlight. The air was thick with fog, cold against her skin. Yet despite the eerie silence, she never felt alone. Someone was watching her. Waiting for her. A twig snapped behind her. Maeve spun around. Nothing. Only shadows. Her pulse quickened. “Hello?” she called. No answer. The forest remained silent. Then she felt it. A presence. Powerful. Ancient. Dangerous. Slowly, she turned. A man stood several feet away. As always, she couldn’t see his face. The darkness concealed it. But his eyes… Those eyes were impossible to miss. Golden. Bright as molten gold. They locked onto hers with an intensity that made her chest tighten. For five years, those eyes had haunted her dreams. For five years, they had followed her through countless sleepless nights. And every time she woke, she forgot a little more of his face. Everything except the eyes. The golden eyes. The stranger took a step toward her. Maeve’s breath caught. Something felt different tonight. Wrong. The dream was changing. He took another step. Then another. Until only a few feet separated them. For the first time, she could hear him breathing. For the first time, she felt warmth radiating from his body. For the first time— He spoke. “I’ve found you.” The deep voice rolled through her like thunder. Her entire body froze. The stranger raised his hand. Reaching for her. The moment his fingers brushed her cheek— Maeve jolted awake. Her chest heaved. Her heart pounded violently against her ribs. Sweat dampened her forehead. The familiar dream. Yet somehow worse than before. The digital clock beside her bed read 6:25 a.m. Maeve groaned and buried her face in her hands. Again. Five years. Five years of the same impossible dreams. She had been eighteen when they first started. At first she thought they would eventually disappear. Instead, they only became stronger. More vivid. More real. And tonight was the first time the stranger had ever spoken. “I’ve found you.” The words echoed in her mind. Maeve climbed out of bed and walked toward the kitchen of her apartment. The city lights of Greyhaven glowed outside her window. She filled a glass with water and drank slowly. Usually that helped. Usually she could convince herself it was only a dream. Tonight felt different. Because for the first time, she wasn’t entirely sure it was. A sharp knock at her apartment door made her jump. Maeve frowned. Who on earth was visiting at this hour? She glanced at the clock. 6:45 a.m. Definitely strange. Another knock followed. More impatient this time. Setting her glass down, she walked toward the door. “Coming.” She pulled it open. Her best friend, Olivia, stood outside holding two cups of coffee. Maeve blinked. “What are you doing here?” Olivia smirked. “ I knew you’d be awake.” Maeve narrowed her eyes. “That’s creepy.” “No,” Olivia said, stepping inside. “What’s creepy is the fact that you’ve been having dreams about the same mystery man for five years.” Maeve accepted the coffee with a sigh. “Not this again.” “Oh, absolutely this again.” Olivia settled onto the couch. “You realize normal people don’t dream about the same guy every night for half a decade.” Maeve sat across from her. “They aren’t every night.” “They’re frequent enough.” Maeve couldn’t argue with that. The dreams had become a permanent part of her life. Like breathing. Or sleeping. Or paying bills. “Maybe he’s your soulmate.” Maeve rolled her eyes. “Please stop reading romance novels.” Olivia laughed. “I’m serious.” “He’s not real.” The words left her mouth too quickly. Too defensively. Because deep down, Maeve wasn’t sure she believed them anymore. Olivia studied her carefully. “Bad dream?” Maeve hesitated. “He spoke.” The smile immediately vanished from Olivia’s face. “What?” Maeve stared into her coffee. “For the first time.” “What did he say?” The memory sent chills racing down her spine. “He said he’d found me.” Silence settled between them. Neither woman spoke. Finally, Olivia forced a laugh. “Okay.” “Okay?” “That’s officially creepy.” Maeve couldn’t disagree. A few hours later, sunlight spilled across the city. The nightmare lingered. Maeve was still thinking about it when she arrived at Sinclair & Co. The company had been founded by her grandfather decades ago and had since become one of the largest consulting firms working alongside werewolf-owned businesses. Human-werewolf relations had changed drastically over the years. Long gone were the days when humans feared what lurked in the shadows. Now the two societies coexisted openly. Not perfectly. But peacefully. At least on the surface. Maeve stepped into the conference room. Her manager immediately looked up. “Perfect timing.” That was never a good sign. Maeve took her seat. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing.” Another bad sign. The manager slid a file across the table. Maeve glanced down. Her name was printed across the front. Beneath it was a familiar emblem. A black wolf’s head. Her stomach tightened. Shadowfang. One of the most powerful werewolf packs in the region. “What’s this?” she asked. “The Unity Summit.” Maeve froze. The annual summit was one of the biggest human-werewolf events of the year. Politicians. Business leaders. Pack representatives. Everyone important attended. “And?” Her manager smiled. “We’re sending you.” Maeve nearly choked. “Me?” “You’ve been selected as our representative.” The room erupted into applause. Maeve barely heard it. A strange feeling settled in her chest. Unease. Dread. As if some invisible force had suddenly shifted. As if her life had quietly changed direction. The Shadowfang emblem seemed to stare back at her from the folder. A wolf. Black as night. Watching. Waiting. That evening, Maeve returned home exhausted. The summit was only three days away. She should have been excited. Instead, she felt anxious. The strange feeling followed her all day. When she reached her apartment building, she noticed a package resting outside her door. No sender. No delivery label. Nothing. Her pulse quickened. Slowly, she picked it up. The package was surprisingly light. She carried it inside. Locked the door. And opened it. A single sheet of paper slid onto the table. Maeve frowned. Then picked it up. The moment she saw the drawing, all the color drained from her face. No. No. That wasn’t possible. Her hands began trembling. Because staring back at her from the page was charcoal sketch of a man. A man with piercing golden eyes. A man she had never met. A man she had seen in her dreams for five years. And written beneath the sketch were four words. He’s looking for you.