I Called Her Mine

Little Dove

Present, Parker's POV:

"Dirt get back here!" I howled into the wind. He might just be a pile of dirt, but he's faster than he looks. A storm was brewing, mixing with the orange of the fall canopy. The wind tugged my red wool scarf away, pulling me deeper into the forest. "Dirt the storm is getting worse! You have to come back!"

Only the wind responded forcing me deeper like a mother guiding her child. I couldn't leave him out here, it was too dangerous. Accepting the storm as my guide, I followed it. Leaves brushed against each other, the branches they were tethered to, groaning. Others were whipping back and forth, I picked up my pace.

"DIRT!" I cried out, holding the scarf to my neck. I stumbled forward, the wind urging me on impatiently. Somehow over the wind and the rustling leaves around me, the sound of a bell made me turn back. But when I turned around... no one was there.

"BELLE?" I called out. Only nature responded. I couldn't be mistaken, I knew the sound of her bell. A thin twig broke free of its branch, it hurdled toward my face like the wind was welding a small dagger. I dodged it just before it made contact with my cheek. Dirt returned to my mind again, I had no idea how such strong winds would affect him magic dirt or not, he was still just dirt.

I turned back around to follow the stream of wind, but froze in place instead. "Max?"

She was there in a red wool scarf like mine and a baby blue jacket like the one she used to wear when we went camping. She seemed unchanged, her Hazel eyes lively even in this dying forest. Inches from me, I could reach out and touch her but I didn't. Her face anchored me, the guilt anchored me.

She looked me up and down, the storm not affecting her in the slightest. "You know how Dirt likes to explore," she told me, almost scolding me except her voice was flat.

"Like you?" I managed to chuckle. She looked down, her eyes focused on some object. I followed it to see my arms wrapped around Dirt, he was grinning and relaxed like an idiot.

When I looked back up at her, her face was paler, her freckles more prominent. "You can find a pile of dirt, but you can't find your own sister," she scrutinized. The storm became more violent with her anger. I took a step back.

Her eyes hardened now matching the collapsing environment around her. "You're selfish, you're pathetic, you can't even protect me how do you expect to protect my pack?"

Her voice rung in my mind even as I awoke upright. My chest was heaving, Tristan's old T-shirt clinging to my back with sweat. When I looked over to where Tristan should have been laying, his spot was absent. Catching my breath, I wiped the sweat droplets from my forehead with the back of my hand.

Beside the bed, snoring lightly in his planter's pot was Dirt. Oblivious to everything as usual.

I wouldn't believe the dream, I wouldn't even think about it. Right now I was more concerned with where my mate was, he never left my side while we slept. I peeled the blankets from my legs, numbly forcing them to work after hours of sleep. With little idea of where I would find him, I left the room.

When I found him he was in the basement gym, doing pull ups in the dark. His plaid blue pajama pants hung lowly on his hips as he hauled his muscular body up and lowered it back down. He continued this motion, his back to me meaning he didn't know I was there yet. After a few more seconds of both concern and admiration (that body is totally mine) - I called out his name.