Page 25 of Awakening His Mate

I jolt at the panic in Roux’s voice. What the fuck? I push up from the couch and rush into the kitchen. Everyone is gathered on the porch, looking out to the lake. Cade and Sawyer are running toward it, and it takes me a second to realize why. There’s a figure floating in the water.

Instinctively, I know it’s Dove, and my throat tightens so much I can’t breathe.

I take off at a sprint, stumbling over the uneven ground. I don’t care about anything other than reaching her. My wolf whines, urging us to be faster, wanting me to give him control, but I refuse. He wouldn’t be able to drag her out of the water or save her life.

My heart pounds in my chest as I get closer to the banks of the lake.

“Dove!” I scream her name, even though she won’t hear me.

I surge into the water, the cold lapping over my feet as I wade deeper until it reaches my thighs. It’s so cold that it makes me suck air through my teeth as the frigid temperatures instantly send waves of pain through my legs.

“Fuck!” I hiss, but I don’t stop moving.

My gaze remains locked on her form, bobbing on the surface, until she goes under.

I let out a terrified yelp, the shouts from behind me fading to nothing as I’m forced to swim when my feet no longer touch the bottom of the lake.

Please be okay.

I repeat this litany over and over as I head for the spot where I last saw her, and without a single thought about my own safety, I dive.

The water is heavy against my weakened limbs, and my chest hurts as I hold my breath, my fingers seeking her out in the dark water. Panic swells through me when I find nothing.

My lungs burn with the need to breathe, but I ignore it and keep searching.

Just when I’m about to give up and go up for air, my fingers hit something solid. I grasp it with an iron grip, dragging it toward me until I can see what I’m holding.

It’s Dove.

Her eyes are closed, her hair fanning around her like some kind of ethereal halo.

I flail my legs in the water and kick for the surface, trying not to dwell on the what-ifs.

As soon as we break out of the water, I suck in a lungful of air, gasping and coughing as my body tries to clear my airways. Dove is a dead weight in my arms, even with the water making her lighter.

Spluttering, I turn her and brush her soaking hair out of her face. It sticks to her gray skin, making it hard, but I keep trying. I need to see her, though when I do, I wish I hadn’t.

Is she… dead?

No. I’d know, wouldn’t I?

I’m sure the others are saying something, but I can’t hear them. I don’t care. There’s only silence as I look at her, even though the water laps around us and my breath tears out of me. “Dove. Open your eyes.”

She doesn’t.

Fuck. I need to get her back to shore. To Halle.

Just as I start to pull her to dry land, her body reflexively sucks in a breath. She thrashes against me, trying to push me away, but I hold her tight against my body, refusing to release her.

I don’t relax even a little until her eyes flutter, her dark lashes in stark contrast against her skin, and then open. White orbs greet me, unseeing, and my heart squeezes so hard I gasp.

“Fuck. Dove. Fuck.” I clutch her to my chest, holding her, scared to let her go in case she disappears. I manage to get us into shallower water, my boots finding purchase at the bottom of the lake. It’s then that my fear turns to anger. “What the hell were you doing?” My words are shaky, accusatory. Even though I know she won’t answer, I need to say them, to get them out.

“Trying to live.”

I’m so stunned she spoke that I lose my footing, dragging us both into water up to my chest before I’m able to stand again.

“What does that mean?” I demand. She doesn’t answer. “Dove? What does that mean?”

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