Violent spasms ran up and down my legs as I raced down the dirt trail, leaping over the over the boulders scattered along the path. Ignoring the tremors, I pushed forward. The exercise is good for me. It helped to me clear my head and stay sharp. Still, no matter how many miles I ran, it would never be enough to rid my mind of the vivid images from last nights dream.

Nikolai. Kennas voice taunts me as I sprinted through the woods, dodging low-hanging branches. Her angelic voice was like song stuck in my head, but only the chorus plays on repeat and I couldnt change the station or tune it out. How I wished I could get her out of my head.

Why did I have to pick this trail to go down today?

Of course, it really wouldnt matter which trail I picked. Kenna is everywhere I go, like an echo buried deep within my soul. Yet, today I felt her presence dancing along the outskirts of my mind. Every time I heard the whisper of her voice in my head, she drifted out of the shadows, making it impossible for me to focus on anything other than her.

Frustration twined through my chest, crippling any and all hope I had of having of a good day. All I could do was focus on the sounds of the forest around me and try to ignore her siren call.

Kennas face flashes in my mind, causing me to skid to a stop. My heart pounds wildly, threatening to burst through my rib cage. Every breath was ragged and coarse as the air scrapes my throat. I press my palms to my eyes to erase her from my sight, and the blue and red dots that shroud her face from my view gives me some reprieve from this torment.

When the speckles of light finally clear, shes gone. But I know, no matter how distant she is from me, I feel her like an anchor that is chained around my soul. Even if her face was gone from my sight, shes a scar on my heart I cant deny.

I trudge onward with the determination to purge every remnant of Kenna from my mind. But shes etched into my bones. She haunts me, and I couldnt escape her. So, I focused on the sunlight shifting through the green leaves, turning them yellow.

Its the small things I focused on.

The small town of Moon Valley starts at the edge of the forest. The corner of my lips quirked up in a smile. Moon Valley is my home, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this its the only place I ever wanted to be .

The crackle of my shoes treading on the pavement thundered in my ears as I jogged the path between the forest and the town. There was only one place I needed to be right now and that was at home.

My leg muscles twitched as I go up the steps to my back porch. Moments like these made me infinitely grateful that Im close to the forest. It made it easy for me to slip out into the wild whenever the urge takes over. As I pulled the screen-door open and pushed through the back door, I took a deep breath of the cold, icy air that swept over my face. The air flowed around me, licking my hot, sticky body.

All thats calling to me now was an ice-cold drink. I moved to the refrigerator and tugged on the door. The kitchen was illuminated with yellow light as I reached for a bottle of water and chugged it down. The cold water soothed my parched throat and rejuvenated mebut only for a while because Kennas face intruded on my mind again.

Why cant I stop thinking of her?

Maybe a tiny part of me hoped to see her again. My chest tightened at the thought of running into her. Sparks of lust popped like fireworks within me as I sank down on the couch.

I shook my head in an attempt to rid myself of her face. It seemed like a constant war these days. The desire and passion I feel for herto see herwas all consuming. It wasnt like this, so strenuous, before I became the alpha of Moon Valley. But I guess its just something I had to learn to deal with now that Im connected to my pack in such an intimate way. Knowing that what I had with her is gone sucked, but for some reason, I cant shake her. Perhaps it would be easier just to banish her from Moon Valley and the pack. But I couldnt do that to her. Banishing her would put her in danger and tear her from her family. I just wanted the anchor to drop from my chest and let me breathe.

She rejected me. So why on Gods green earth am I still hung up on her? So what if she comes back? Shell do what she always does and leave.

Anger suddenly crackled inside me, and I crushed the empty plastic bottle in my hand until it crumbled under the pressure. With a swift whip of my wrist, I lodged the plastic bottle at the wall. I glanced down the hallway, empty as usual, and my heart falls.

Its so easy to imagine her leaning against the door frame, wearing nothing but one of my button-down shirts. The image is crystal clear that it broke my spirit. I rubbed at the tight ache in my chest. Its like barbed wire curled around the center of my being. The sharp razors sliced into my heart as she pulls the end of the wire.

The mere thought of Kenna caused my body to respond. I have two choicesgo for another run to distract myself from the pain of the memories, or hit the shower and let the fantasy play out. How easy the choice was when all I wanted was her. I moved down the hallway, envisioning Kenna luring me to her. Her finger clawed the air, beckoning me to her. I can see her so clearly, as if she were standing right before me in nothing but my shirt. Her long legs stretched up to the hem of the shirt and hid just enough of her skin to tease me.

I smirked to myself as I peeled off my sticky shirt and walked into the bathroom. White, fluorescent light flooded my eyes as I flicked on the light and moved to turn on the shower. The water poured from the spout, filling the room with the roar of a waterfall.

How I wished everything didnt remind me of her, then my mind wouldnt slip back to old memories. Old memories that are so clear, I could almost reach out and touch her. The roar of the water from the shower reminded me of the secret pond with its raging waterfall and crystal-clear watersthe first place I took her. Its so vivid in my mind that my heart breaks. I closed my eyes and stepped into the shower, letting the fantasy of that first time play out as the water rained down on me.

Hey, Nikolai, you there? Over. The crackle from the walkie-talkie in my room violently snapped me from reliving my memories. For a moment, I wondered if I heard APs voice or if somehow, in the back of my mind, I knew I had to stop thinking of her.