Page 47 of Unforeseen Mate

“I see her.”

“Good. Now just call her forward. She’ll either trot or lope towards you and make a kind of leap. If you allow yourself to relinquish control, she’ll take over. The minute she starts to move towards you, you should feel the tingle. Just so you know, if she feels you are in imminent danger when you call on her, she’ll charge.”

“What do I call her?”

“Whatever you like, if you give her a name other than your own. She is a part of you, the hellhound extension of you.”

“Okay. That makes sense.”

Fallon beckoned the beautiful beast forward—black ,with the most glorious fiery tips on her fur, her ears, and her tail. Her eyes glowed like Hayden’s, and she began to move toward Fallon. The first time Fallon stepped back, and the image died away.

“Shit. I did that wrong.”

“It’s okay. This is your first time. You’ll get it. Try again.”

“How do I let her know she didn’t do anything wrong?”

“Just think that, but she’ll know. They are sentient even when they’re only in our minds. They can hear, see, and feel what we experience, so you don’t have to explain things.”

Fallon nodded, closed her eyes, and called again to her hellhound, who once again moved forward. This time when the hellhound leaped, Fallon stood her ground, relinquished control, and in less than a heartbeat, could feel the snow on the ground melting as it sizzled beneath her feet.

There was a round of applause and she could see Hayden grinning at her. “Well done.”

Fallon sat back on her haunches and watched as Hayden shimmered from his feet up to the top of his head, disappearing in a smooth wave, leaving only his eyes and then his grin before he became a hellhound.

“Show off,”she thought.

“I should probably have told you that while no one else can hear you when you’re in your beast form, you and I can communicate down the bonding link. It keeps us connected, so even if we aren’t together, if we’re close enough we can feel what the other is feeling and we can talk, in a manner of speaking, to one another. Are you alright?”

“Are you kidding? This is fantastic.”

“Then let’s go for a run. I know Windsong fairly well; follow me.”

Fallon found it far easier to move as a large hound-like creature than she imagined she would. They galloped away from the house and down a rocky path toward the beach. She had thought she would be cold, but she wasn’t. The ocean breeze that rippled her fur was chilly but refreshing. She could feel the texture of the changing ground—manicured lawn to rocks to hardened path down to the different textures of sand that made up the beach. Each was different, but nothing was uncomfortable.

“This is very freeing,”she said as they loped along the wet, packed sand.

“It is.”

“If we get wet, does it extinguish the fire tips?”

“Not at all. In fact, we glow in the water.”

To prove his point, Hayden galloped out into the surf and splashed through the incoming waves. Each time his form disappeared from sight, she could still see small specks of light through the dark water.

“It’s almost like fairy lights.”

“Don’t be telling your alpha he looks like he’s dressed in fairy lights.”

Fallon laughed and galloped toward a different path that led up the precipice. She could hear Hayden coming out of the water and charging across the packed sand to catch up with her. She lengthened her stride and put on some speed, glad her hellhound had a better grasp of how to use their tail for balance.

She was running up the path when Hayden broadsided her, knocking her down and standing over her.“You don’t have to use a path when you are in your creature form. We have better traction and can negotiate difficult terrain better like this.”He stepped back and allowed her to get to her feet.“Always be aware of your surroundings. Always.”

Together they ran back to the top of the cliff and back towards the main house. Fallon felt exhilarated and alive—perhaps more so than she had ever felt before. She was no fool. Her time with Strode and her brush with death had taught her there were dangerous times ahead, but she and Hayden would face them together.

CHAPTER 19

FALLON

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