Page 11 of Allegiance

His waking hours.

His alone time.

His whole life.

She walked away when her job protecting Jinx had ended, and still, he couldn’t shake her.

Dakota was seriously struggling with all of it too. It was to the point that he wanted to hunt her down and stalk her wherever it was that she was living.

It was all kinds of wrong, but he was there. It was that ‘I need her’ feeling, ‘or I’m going to die’.

It scared him too.

All he knew was that he had no peace.

When he told her to have a good life, he meant it. There had been no malice or anger toward her.

The bottom line was this.

Honestly, he wasn’t fit for any type of connection with anyone. He wasn’t good for her, The Hunters, or himself. He certainly wasn’t good for a child, and Violet, who had survived unspeakable things, deserved so much better.

His plans had been to run for it.

He’d made a vow.

He’d help them take down Chevy, and then, and only then, he’d be gone.

Well, unfortunately, that was taking longer than anyone anticipated, so now, he was stuck there. Not only was he fixated on her, but it felt as if his feet were cemented into place.

He couldn’t leave.

Dakota just didn’t know why.

And with each day, the dreams became more vivid. He’d been able to wake himself up before he touched her, most of the time, but not now.

Now, he was helpless.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to break away.

Not.

At.

All.

He was trapped, and he knew what was about to happen. Each dream began the same with her chasing him through the swamp, and then catching him.

Each dream ended before he could figure out what her cryptic words meant.

And each dream only broke his heart more.

Why?

Dakota was in love with her.

He missed seeing her so damn much, and that scared him. This love was more than he’d ever felt for anyone before.

Not Elizabeth.