Chapter 28

(Isabella’s POV)

We arrive back at the pack house late and get Ariana settled in her room. Santiago shows me to my room next. It is right next to his.

Santiago clears his throat. “No one has a key to these rooms but you and I,” he says as he hands me a key. “Goodnight,” he says.

I smile. “Goodnight.”

The room is about the same size as Santiago’s. The color scale is gray, also like Santiago’s.

I’m not sure how he managed to have fresh bedding brought in in my favorite colors, but he did. The rug is a deep purple with gold and cream accents, a Persian-style rug. The purple matches both the sheets on the bed and the plush velvet-covered wingback style headboard with deep button tufting.

We have an adjoining bathroom. I change into my pajamas, absolutely exhausted from the day, and fall hard into the plush king-size bed. Before my head hits the pillow, the world goes black.

The next day, I wake feeling more refreshed than I have been in forever. I sleepily wander into the bathroom to take a shower. Santiago wanders in at the same time. I freeze and just stare at him with widened eyes.

“Good morning, Bella,” he says.

“As I exit the shower, I wrap myself in a towel.”

“I was up early today, joined the Gammas on the hunt,” he says.

I smile like an idiot and nod as words escape me.

Sweat glistens against his tawny skin and trickles down the black tribal ink that spirals down Santiago’s neck, bicep, and part of his chest. Santiago’s upper body is completely exposed as he is shirtless.

He wears a bandana tied around his head. Dark hair falls over the sweat-soaked fabric.

He’s wearing Mossy Oak camouflage pants and boots.

I slowly make my way out of the bathroom. His icy blue stare meets mine and I find it hard to avert my gaze.

My panties are damp, thinking of him peeling the rest of his clothes off definitely doesn’t help the situation.

“Seeing Jesse never made me feel like this, Bella. Our man is beautiful,” my wolf says.

She continues to pant in my mind.

“Strip and go join him in the shower,” she says. “His wolf wants us. “He won’t turn us away.”

“Good grief,” I tell her. “You need a cold shower!”

“Fine, as long as he’s in it.”

I roll my eyes.

“No.”

Santiago eats breakfast and dinner with me, Ariana, and Levi. We’ve been given permission to go anywhere we like in the territory. Ariana and I spent time exploring the gardens and then went for a swim in the indoor pool.

We get together before bed and watch a scary movie on the big screen television. Santiago and I sit together on the couch. When the man jumps out of a dark corner I jump and scream.

Ariana giggles, “Isabella has never liked scary movies too much, but she’ll watch them when I ask her to.”

Santiago clears his throat, pulling me from my thoughts. I realize that I have basically jumped in his lap.

“Oh, wow, I’m sorry,” I say and scoot back to my cushion.

He smiles an actual smile, which really seems like a rarity for him. These perfect little creases show up on his face. His icy blue eyes meet mine and I all but melt.

After the movie, we all say goodnight and go to our respective rooms. Santiago walks me to mine and opens the door for me.

“Thanks for a nice day, I say. “Dinner was delicious, and the movie was a lot of fun.”

He smiles and nods. “Yes, it was a good day. I enjoyed everything as well.” He kisses the top of my head. “Sweet dreams, Bella.”

I smile and go inside my room. I am sure to lock the door and change into my hunter green baby doll pajama set with boy shorts. I brush my hair and throw it up in a messy bun, then I climb into bed.

I’m deep in my dreams before my head even hits the pillow or eyes completely close. I’m in the mines under my pack grounds. I’m young, like eight or nine years old.

A silver blade dipped in wolfsbane stabs me in the belly. I run into the vault. I see my parents running towards me.

Suddenly, Jesse shows up. He locks eyes with me and murders them. The Beta family slams the vault door closed and spins the dial around.

The earth rumbles, resonating through the bottoms of my feet. Wooden beams and metal mesh crash down in a cave-in that brings half the mountain down on top of me. I’m buried alive.

I scream and shoot up in bed, throwing the covers way off of me, clutching my stomach.

“No, no!!!! Mom, Dad! Beta!!!”

I didn’t hear Santiago run into the room through the adjoining bathroom. He scoops me into his lap and holds me tight. “Bella, wake up. It’s only a nightmare. It’s not real, it’s only a nightmare.”

“The healing gemstone,” I whisper. Sweat glides across my forehead like cooking oil in a pan.

Tears rain down from my eyes. Santiago doesn’t move. He just holds me tight.

I look at him deadpan in the eye. “Have I woken the entire pack house?”

“No, our floor is just the two of us and soundproofed. Do you want to talk about your nightmare?”

I tell him the details of my dream and about the healing gemstone that Jesse is after. “He thinks I know about this thing and that it will cure his infertility. It’s the reason he accepted our mate bond and pursued me in the first place.”

Without thinking, I turn to face him, straddling his lap. “The dream must mean something. And, in it, I get stabbed by silver that is dipped in Wolfsbane. I was just a little kid. Why would I dream that? And Ariana’s parents slam the vault door closed with me inside while Jesse murders my parents. I don’t know how it's significant, but I know that it is.”

Santiago’s hands grip my hips, pulling me down and limiting my movement. My eyes meet his. Through the thin material of my pajamas, I feel his manhood harden.

My wolf moans in my head. “Initiate now, Bella. Kiss him. He wants you.”

“No, he doesn’t.”

“His wolf does. I sense it. He craves to mate.”

“I’m sorry,” I say and start to climb off of him.”

He grabs my hips again and holds me with one hand, and pulls the blankets back with the other. Then he turns my body to a cradled position, stands up with me and lays me down in the bed next to him.

“No need to be sorry, Bella. I’ve never heard of this healing gem or the lore you speak of within your pack. It’s worth exploring. We can research this. And, I’ll have Singer look into it too, if you’d like?”

“Yes, I’d like that very much. Thank you.”

“Of course.”

“What do you need right now? We can go down to the library or the kitchen? Or, are you ready to go back to bed?”

I yawn instantly; we look at each other and chuckle.

We decide sleep is the best option.

He tucks me in and starts to leave.

“Hey, Santiago?”

He looks at me with those icy blue eyes that seem to shimmer through the moon beams shining through my window.

“Would you mind staying a while…just till I fall back asleep?”

He doesn’t answer, just scoots close to me and lets me go back to sleep.