Chapter Fourteen: What is a Mate?

Honorera was dreaming.

She was in the forest again, walking in the waning evening light. She was not scared of the dark, ever. It embraced her, as the forest embraced her. She was looking for something again... no she was looking for someone. She headed for the clearing, for the rock. She felt a little strange, her arms ached and her head felt heavy, even in the dream. It was there again, that sensation that someone was watching her, moving toward her, and she tensed, ready to run. Who was in the woods? Was it Mr. Shepherd? All the times in this dream she had run away... but this time something urged her to move toward the stranger, to find him, to see him. "I know you are there." She called into the night.

"Don't fear me, my love. Come to me," he answered her. She knew that voice, deep and sexy. She moved toward the sound and saw a shadowy figure moving between the trees. She wondered if it was a trick. It simply wasn't possible that a man like Mr. Shepherd would even s