Ghosted Soul

CLAIRE

I froze, my gaze fixed on Zachary’s outstretched hand.

If I took it, I would have to dance with him while pretending to be Chloe Danes. How could I do that?

Ugh, Claire, don’t be so dramatic. It’s just one dance! Chloe’s voice echoed in my thoughts.

“Umm…are you okay?” Zack said.

I had been staring unfocused at his hand. Like a total weirdo.

“Err—” This was turning into the coffee shop all over again.

Get a grip and go dance with the man before he thinks you’re insane.

“Okay,” I said in a rush of breath. My palm tingled as I placed my hand in his.

We walked to the dance floor, where dozens of couples were swaying to the music.

Zachary placed one arm around my waist, and the fire already burning in my gut moved lower.

I tried not to let my rising attraction show as I put my hand on his shoulder, and we began slowly turning to the music.

“What’s your name?” he asked in that voice that made my toes curl.

Thankfully I’d had time to get this important question right.

“Chloe Danes.”

Each lying word dripped like poison, and the fire in my veins turned to sickness.

“I’m Zack Greyson. You have a beautiful name, Chloe,” he said.

Thanks, but it’s not really mine.

“Thank you. I saw you playing the piano. You were amazing,” I said, then realized I was gushing. I felt a hot blush creep up my neck.

“Do you play?” he asked with a grin.

My heart pounded, and I pressed my face against the soft fabric of his tuxedo.

He smelled like sandalwood and clean soap.

What am I doing? I shouted to myself. ~I barely know this guy and I’ve got my nose buried in his suit!~

I put some distance between us, trying to collect my thoughts.

“Yes, I played the guitar a little,” I replied.

“Played? You don’t anymore?”

Crap. “I mean—I’m just really busy—”

“Who are you, Chloe Danes?” Zachary said, interrupting my mumblings.

He leaned closer until his breath caressed my ear. I felt my knees go weak.

I pulled back to meet his eyes.

“What do you mean? I’m a wolf with the Texas Pack…”

“No. I mean who are you,” he said more emphatically.

“Because…you’re my mate.”

***

“What?”

What!? echoed Chloe in my head.

“You’re my mate, Chloe. I knew it the second I scented you, while I was playing the piano.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. “I can’t be your mate.”

I can’t be any werewolf’s mate. I’m a human.

He’s your mate, not mine. Right? I asked Chloe in my head. But she was silent.

Pain pierced my heart like a dagger.

“You’re wrong,” I choked. “You’ve got the wrong girl.”

But Zack’s face was serious. “I caught your scent and I knew.”

I cringed at the suspicion I saw blooming in his eyes.

He removed his hand from around my face, frowning. “But—you also smell—different,” he continued.

Oh God.

“What’s wrong with the way I smell?” I said, striving for a light tone despite the hammering of my heart.

His face remained stern. “You smell—wrong. I don’t know how to describe it. But it doesn’t change what I know. You are my mate.”

Zachary raised his hand and gently cupped my chin, gazing into my eyes.

Chloe’s eyes, not mine.

I couldn’t breathe. If I looked into his face for a moment longer, all my secrets would come spilling out.

I turned from him and ran from the ballroom.

***

CHLOE

Claire fled the ballroom. I felt tears fill my eyes but couldn’t lift a finger to wipe them away.

I’d gotten used to Claire piloting my body over the past five months, but it never got any less weird.

I was sprawled on the floor in the bedroom that had been my prison and my sanctuary since waking up in the cemetery.

My wolf was curled at my feet, her fur rough against my leg.

There’s no way, Claire thought to me. ~There is absolutely no way that this is happening.~

She raced down the long corridor, heading for an exit.

I just can’t believe it. I cannot believe he is your mate.

Mine? I felt nothing when Zachary Greyson had asked Claire to dance.

I mean, I’d noticed that he was ridiculously good-looking and had excellent taste in Armani tuxedos…

But for a werewolf, finding one’s mate is like the heavens opening up and shining a beam of light down onto your one perfect match.

Or so I’d heard.

I’d felt none of that, though I was more than aware of the attraction that was coursing through Claire’s veins.

I wanted to tell her to be careful. To tell her to run before Zachary had a chance to hurt her.

Because of course he would hurt her. That’s all men knew how to do.

Claire pushed her way through the back doors and stepped onto a stone terrace. The wind whipped through her hair.

Her breath was coming so fast I thought she was going to hyperventilate.

I shouted at her, my words silently traveling into her mind. I heard her replies in my own.

Claire, you have to calm down. We can figure this out.

What did he mean I smell wrong? She sounded completely panicked.

I have no idea, but if you don’t chill out, you’re going to faint and hit your head on the marble. Which won’t be fun for anyone.

How are you not freaking out about this? He’s your mate! she insisted.

He’s not my mate, Claire.

What do you mean, of course he is. He just said it!

Fucking listen to what I am saying. Zachary is not my mate.

What?

He’s yours.

CLAIRE

Chloe’s words clanged through my skull.

He’s yours.

I closed my eyes, bracing my hands on the terrace railing.

I opened my eyes in our shared space.

Chloe was lounging on the pouf chair that sat in the corner, gently stroking the head of the massive wolf who lay at her feet.

“What the hell are you talking about?” I demanded as I stormed into the room.

Half my focus remained on the girl standing outside in the “real” world, in case anyone interrupted me.

This was too important, I needed to talk to Chloe in person.

“I’m a human. I can’t be mated to a werewolf!” I cried, flinging myself onto the bed.

“Wolves have been mating humans for a long time. It’s unusual, but definitely not unheard of.”

“He thinks I’m you! He thinks that Chloe Danes is his mate, not me!”

Chloe came to sit beside me on the bed.

“Okay, the way I see it,” she said, “you just found out that one of the most powerful werewolves in the country is now bonded to you. Right?”

“Yeah…”

“So I say we stick close to him, and maybe eventually we can figure out how to get you out of my body and back into your own.”

“Why would Zack know about stuff like that?” I asked skeptically.

“How the fuck should I know? But I do know that Raphael Fernandez, the Alpha of the Millennium, is mated to some crazy-powerful woman with these like…abilities or something. Maybe she could help?”

“No. No way!” I said, getting to my feet. “Can’t I just tell him to leave me alone?”

Chloe snorted. “Good luck. A werewolf mating bond is like…like a really big magnet. He’ll always be drawn to you, always want to be close to you.”

“That’s so creepy,” I said with a grimace.

“It’s not actually. Not for us. Finding your mate is—it’s something every wolf dreams about,” Chloe replied.

“Even you?” I asked her.

She looked up, and for a moment, her face twisted in pain.

“Maybe.”

I paced the room. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t just lie to him and pretend that I’m you. It’s hard enough with your parents. I won’t do it.”

I stopped and looked at Chloe. “We need to leave. Run. Somewhere. Anywhere.”

“Like back to Amarillo? Do you want to try that again?” her words dripped with derision.

I winced. About a month after I’d been in Chloe’s body, I had traveled by bus back to my hometown.

At the time, I’d managed to convince myself that I could handle seeing my parents.

But when I got to their house after walking from the bus station—I’d seen them through the window and choked.

They were sitting at the kitchen table, eating dinner and sipping wine.

I hid in the shadows outside, every fiber of my being calling out to my mom and dad.

They were talking too quietly for me to make out their words through the open window.

My mom raised her glass to her lips and smiled at my father.

In my faint reflection, I saw a tall girl with high cheekbones and full lips.

That girl wasn’t their daughter.

Their daughter was little more than a ghost.

I could never go home.

I’d cried during the entire ride back to Houston.

“That’s not fair,” I said to Chloe.

“None of this is goddamn fair, Claire,” she snapped back. “But I’m telling you that you cannot run from this. And you don’t know, he might be able to help us.”

“How the hell am I going to tell him the truth?”

“Don’t,” Chloe said, narrowing her eyes. “You can’t tell him yet. Get him to take you back to Lumen first.”

“I can’t just use him to get—” but Chloe held up a hand, cutting me short.

“Do you hear that?” she asked.

I listened. From the “real” world, I heard the sound of approaching heels.

I had lost focus on the party going on around me.

Thankfully, it was getting easier and easier to switch smoothly from my mental space to my physical one.

My bare arms were prickled with goosebumps.

The clicking heels came to a stop as Chloe’s mother, Norma, walked up next to me.

Her eyes were filled with concern.

“Chloe, honey? Are you okay?” she said quietly. “I was wondering where you were. Everyone’s getting ready for Maxine to throw the bouquet.”

“Okay, Mom. I’m coming,” I said with false cheer. I followed her back inside, closing my eyes as a rush of warm air enveloped me.

I scanned the room for Zack, but he was nowhere to be seen.

A group of giggling girls had gathered on the dance floor. The bride was standing on the raised dais next to the piano.

I remembered the effortless way Zack’s fingers had danced along those keys as he played.

Those same hands had been wrapped around my waist only a few moments ago.

Could I really be his mate? My heart began to race at the thought.

Maxine waved at her wedding guests. A bouquet of fresh white roses was clutched in her hands.

My mom pulled me to the front just as Maxine turned around and launched the bouquet of roses toward the waiting girls, who screamed in unison and reached out for it.

The flowers soared in a wide arc and landed directly in my arms.

A groan of disappointment went through the girls, but I barely noticed. I was too busy staring at the bouquet in my hands.

As I watched, the crisp white petals folded in on themselves, becoming wrinkled and desiccated before my eyes.

I jumped in shock, releasing the bouquet which crackled dryly as it hit the polished floor.

I saw confusion on the faces of the other girls. I quickly backed away, out of the crowd toward my table.

What the actual fuck? Chloe asked in my mind.

Okay, you win, I told her.

Maybe we need some answers.