Free Dream Warrior: (Dark Warrior Alliance Book 1) by Brenda Trim, Tami Julka Page A

I miss you so much. I was able to get new detectives assigned to your case. They told me that Jag did this to you and that he is dead now…” she broke off and let the tears flow.
    Her sister crouched next to her and smoothed the tendrils of hair from her face that had escaped her ponytail and handed her a tissue. She wiped her eyes. Cailyn was always taking care of her. It warmed some of the ice from her heart. Her sister was the one she went to when she had been called a ‘freak’ and teased at school. When Elsie’s first boyfriend had dumped her they shared a gallon of ice cream.
    “I’m so sorry that you are going through this. I wish I could take your pain away,” Cailyn cooed.
    Elsie put her arm around Cailyn and hugged her tight. “I love you, sis. Thanks for being here for me.”
    “I wouldn’t be anywhere else. We’re all that we have now.” They sat like that, with one arm around each other, in silence, for some time. Her arm fell to her side when Cailyn crouched, making kissy noises.
    “Come here, kitty, kitty,” her sister crooned. She looked over and noticed a beautiful, white cat approaching Dalton’s burial plot. The animal was pure white but for one black spot on one of its front legs. They laughed as it rolled over and exposed its stomach for attention.
    As they petted the cat, it dawned on her what seemed familiar about it. “Look at the eyes on this cat. The intense, green color reminds me of Orlando’s eyes.” Picking up the cat, she stroked its soft fur. The cat curled into her chest, purring loudly.
    “I wonder whose cat this is, he has no collar. He doesn’t look malnourished or anything,” Cailyn speculated as she reached over and stroked the cat’s head. They both scanned their surroundings, searching for anyone it might belong to. There wasn’t another soul in the place. It could be lost. Unfortunately, she had stuff to do and didn’t have time to look into it, so she set it down with a final pat to its head.
    She stood up and watched the cat run into a stand of trees at the outskirts of the grave sites. She turned to her sister and blinked against the tears welling in her eyes. “As much as I don’t want you to go, we’d better get you to the airport.”
    Hey sister wiped her cheeks with her thumbs. “Hey, none of that. I’ll be back in a couple months for your graduation.”
    *****
    The day Zander had waited for his entire life had finally occurred, yet it brought no peace. He was going out of his mind. Images from his dream with Elsie tortured him relentlessly. His connection to her grew by the minute, and through that bond he sensed her conflict. She shifted from grief and sadness to guilt and shame and back again with dizzying speed. He surmised that she was agonizing over the passion she not only welcomed but instigated in the dream.
    This was not how it was supposed to be. He had been given the biggest blessing in the realm yet there were no parties, no big announcement, and no celebration. The Goddess had not blessed a single soul with their Fated Mate for seven hundred and fifteen years. This was huge news, and he wanted to share it with his subjects and give them the hope they had longed for, but fate was biting him on the ass. He had been given a human female as a mate, and while he was honored, he was floored that he had been given a weak mate who could easily be taken from him. And, his mate was involved with a vigilante group that hated what she believed were his kind. The cherry topper would be that her husband had been killed by his enemies and she refused to even entertain the idea of a romantic relationship with anyone. She was determined to remain faithful to her dead husband. Trapped by the sun and unable to tolerate anymore, he sent Orlando to his mate’s apartment.
    The warrior informed him that he had followed her and her sister to the cemetery where her husband had been buried. That explained the grief. He had ordered Orlando to shift and stay