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I blinked, clearing my mind, and watched his every movement to keep it in my mind that I could do it too.
Once he was halfway down, he looked up at me and nodded. “Come on, sweetheart. You got to come down now.”
I yanked the ponytail holder out of my hair, quickly tossed it back up again so it was out of my face, and then set to work climbing down. I wiped the back of my arm across my brow and turned around, feeling for the first ledge with my foot.
I lowered myself down. I gripped the tree roots so tightly my knuckles turned white, and my nails dug into my palms.
At the second spot I stuck my foot, it slid until my heel had nothing underneath it, and I was gripping the dirt wall with just my toes. I squealed, my breath coming rapidly as I looked down.
Lincoln was right beneath me. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m right here. I won’t let you fall.”
No, he’d probably try to catch me. I wouldn’t get hurt because he’d take the brunt of the fall for us. I’d be okay, but he wouldn’t. I wasn’t going to let that happen.
I gritted my teeth and wiggled my foot, getting a better hold. I clasped the branch in front of me tightly and lowered my other foot down. The root crackled, making me wince and bite my lip hard enough to draw blood, but it didn’t break.
Blood dribbled down my chin, and I fought the urge to swipe it away. Get down first, then worry about it.
The root let loose from the dirt, sending little clumps to the ground. I flinched, bracing myself, but thankfully didn’t fall.
“Easy, sweetheart. It’s okay. Take your time. We’ll make up time when we hit the water. It’s downstream, so the current will carry us. With all the rain, it’s moving pretty fast.”
I gulped and made sure my footing was sturdy before I lowered my left foot to the next ledge. My foot sank into the mud, making my sneaker get stuck, so I had to wiggle my foot to free it.
I moved my hands to the next branch and held on for dear life when my ankle rolled. I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead on my arm.
Howls cried out again. They seemed farther away this time, but that didn’t mean I didn’t need to get moving.
Lincoln was right beneath me, and he kept whispering words of encouragement to me the whole way down. I didn’t even realize that I was close to the bottom until he circled his arms around my waist and lowered me the rest of the way down.
He planted a kiss on my cheek and then pressed his lips to my ear. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
I shook my head and nestled into him.
The moment was short-lived. Howls filled the air again, and this time, they sounded closer. What were they doing? Maybe there were multiple groups. I didn’t know, and we weren’t sticking around to find out.
Lincoln took my hand, and together, we went over the rocks. They were just as jagged and large as they looked from up top. At least we had the benefit that the wolves wouldn’t be able to come down this way, not without changing first.
Water rushed ahead. When Lincoln said we were going downstream, he never mentioned there would be rapids.
The air felt chillier down here, and gooseflesh pimpled my skin even though I was fully dressed. I couldn’t imagine how cold Lincoln must’ve been. He wasn’t wearing shoes either. His toes must be freezing and the bottom of his feet sore. If he was in pain, he didn’t say anything.
But that was Lincoln. He was strong, stronger than even he realized.
We reached the water’s edge, and Lincoln dipped his toe into the water. He scrunched up his nose and shivered.
I choked out a laugh. “That bad, huh?”
He turned to me with a lifted brow. “It’s definitely not the beach.”
I swallowed. “Maybe we should just pretend that it’s a warm, sunny beach with crashing waves.”
I looked out over the rolling rapids. This was definitely no beach, and the water looked deep. It was hard to tell how deep from where I stood. The water was a murky, dark-green color.
Lincoln smiled and offered his hand to me. “I like that idea. I don’t think you ever told me which beach you wanted to go to.”
I slid my hand into his. Lincoln took a few steps forward, putting his feet in the water. He sucked in a deep breath, clenching his teeth together.
I shifted on my feet, flinching when another wolf yowled in the distance. Lincoln took another step into the water, gently tugging me toward him. I questioned whether I should take my shoes off so they didn’t get wet, but there wasn’t a great way to hold on to them. I settled on just taking my sweater off.
