09/23&24/2017

Kristin jolted awake, eyes widening as she took in the room around her.

After realizing she was back in Ryder's room, she sighed.

Kristin had to get up and go somewhere else. She didn't want Ryder to see her like this. Not again.

She sat up and looked around the dark room, trying to quiet her breathing.

The only problem was that she couldn't breathe, so her panic was growing.

She slid off the bed but couldn't support her weight on her weak legs and slowly collapsed on the ground.

Resting her back against the side of the bed, she brought her legs up to her chest and hugged them, trying to find comfort.

This time she hadn't awakened screaming, but it was a lot worse. The heaviness of her chest and her gasping for air woke her up, and worse, now she couldn't walk.

Kristin sat on the floor beside the bed, squeezing her eyes shut and fighting her body to take in air for what seemed like hours, but it was only a couple of minutes.

The bed moved and Ryder peaked over the side, down at Kristin.

"Kristin, come here," he whispered to her.

Refusing to face him, she remained silent. She couldn't bring herself to speak at a time like this, she couldn't even catch her breath.

Although her crying was quiet she was sure Ryder could see her body slightly shaking.

"Kristin, come on, look at me," Ryder moved closer to the edge.

She shook her head, "Go back to sleep," she was able to barely whisper.

Ryder slid off the bed and walked over to kneel in front of her.

Kristin instinctively hid her face in her arms so he wouldn't see her crying. She hated when people saw her cry.

Ryder lightly touched her arms to pull them away from her face but she resisted.

Instead of trying to get her to look at him, Ryder stood up.

Kristin thought he was going to leave but soon felt him sit down beside her.

"Nightmare?" he asked quietly, already knowing the answer.

Kristin sniffed and nodded her head.

"You don't want to talk about it?"

Shaking her head, she knew talking about it would only cause her to panic more.

Kristin opened her eyes at the feeling of Ryder's arm wrapping around her and bringing her against his side.

Small tingles spread throughout her body at his touch, making her sharply inhale.

She kept her arms wrapped around her legs but she picked her head up to glance at her side pressed against him.

"Why aren't you wearing a shirt?" she quietly muttered, distracting herself. That was why she could feel their connection more than usual.

Ryder chuckled, "I don't like wearing shirts when I sleep."

She could feel him shrug his shoulders and she remained leaning against his side with his arm wrapped around her.

Why did she feel so safe with him holding her?

She knew they were mates and everything, but she had never felt this sense of protection before and it was weird.

Weird, but she really liked it.

Glancing back down, she noticed his tattoo was showing from his side. Curiosity burned through her as she decided to ask about it.

"It's a rose," she softly said, trailing her fingertips over the small black ink.

Ryder tightened his hold on her, "Yeah, I got it three years ago."

Leaning her head on his shoulder, she continued tracing the rose petals on his skin, liking the tingles created from their touch.

Ryder sighed, starting to relax, "I got it after my mother died."

•. •. •. •. •.

Chapter Forty!

I'm so sorry I had to cut the chapter short but I'm very sick and haven't had time to write more.

Thanks for reading.

Vote if you'd like.

Chica_2016