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Draven’s heartbeat wildly in his chest. Flora floundered beneath the surface, sucked in by the current. Her hands flailed and her feet kicked as she struggled.
Fuck. He couldn’t let her die. Not when she’d only just entered his life.
Using every ounce of strength he had, Draven leapt from the riverbank toward where Flora floated toward turbulent waters. The moment his feet left the ground, he knew it wasn’t going to be enough. He pumped his legs as if they’d magically hit an invisible barrier that would allow him to run the rest of the way, but the help he needed never came. As he landed in the freezing water, his lungs constricted and his thigh caught the point of one of the jagged rocks beneath the surface, slicing deep.
A roar tore from his throat, drowned out by the water rushing around him. He kicked against the pain and lunged toward where Flora’s blonde curls bobbed just beneath the surface. Draven tugged his sleeves down over his hands and grabbed her upper arm, yanking her toward him.
Flora coughed violently when her purple lips broke the surface, spitting up the water that had been suffocating her lungs. She thrashed against him, trying to fight his grasp until he whispered softly against her ear.
“I’ve got you, Luna.”
She stilled against him and gritted through panted breaths. “I’m. Not. Your. Luna.”
Draven heaved a sigh of relief. They weren’t in the clear yet, but if she could fight with him, it was a good sign.
“Can you kick?” His leg had started to heal, but there was no way he’d be able to swim them alone across the river.
Flora blinked repeatedly, and though her voice held the edge of a sharpened knife to his throat, he could sense her fear. “I can kick just fine, but I can’t see.”
“I’ve got you,” he reiterated, uncaring that she may not want him to.
It had been agony to be away from her the entire day. So even though they were caught in a river that could kill them with one wrong move, he knew better than to let the feeling of her against his chest go unappreciated.
They navigated the river slowly, kicking in unison against the current. His wolf paced within him with the need to ensure she was okay. Just because she was breathing didn’t mean she was safe. She was disoriented, and they had no idea what had caused her initial panic on the shore.
When they made it to the other side, Draven hooked his hands under Flora’s legs and wrapped an arm around her, moving her safely up the sandy beach. He set her down carefully on the sand and tucked a hair away from her face. When her gaze met his, he could see her eyes were dilated far beyond what they should be.
Flora jerked away and shrieked when his hand touched the cup of her ear. “Don’t touch my skin.”
Draven stilled, staring at the skin where he’d just accidentally touched before backing away. His heart constricted in his chest, and his wolf howled.
He couldn’t touch her.
His gaze fell to her chest where a soft glow pulsed. He hadn’t noticed it before.
Mateo hollered from the other side of the river where he and Kade had caught up with the horses. “Get her shirt off!”
His words echoed the thoughts that filtered through Draven’s mind, but he hated hearing them from his enforcer’s mouth. Especially after Mateo had filled his day with every reason Flora was too good for him, and he needed to grovel like the pathetic coward he was.
Mateo wasn’t wrong, but he also didn’t carry the burdens Draven did.
“Like hell he’s taking my shirt off,” Flora snapped and wrapped her arms across her chest.
Draven knelt in front of her with his hands up so she could see he wasn’t going to hurt her again. He pointed to where the stone sat under her shirt. “Flora, your chest is glowing. It’s the stone.”
Flora stilled, her eyes tracing his movements as he reached for the collar of her shirt, careful not to touch her skin as he ripped the fabric down her chest. When he exposed the moonstone, it sat between her breasts, glowing as bright as a star in the sky. His eyes narrowed and he leaned in, examining the spot where it sat against her flesh.
The skin was pink and raised bubbles had formed around the stone as if her flesh was boiling from the inside out.
“Fuck,” he whispered at the same time Flora gasped. “It’s burning your chest.”
Draven didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the stone, but the moment he did, his hand started to smoke. He let out a deafening growl and dropped the stone back against Flora’s chest.
She winced when it hit her skin. “It doesn’t hurt until you pull it away, but even then it’s manageable.”
“Your skin is bubbling, Flora,” Draven growled, his mind working double time to figure out what to do next. “I don’t give a shit if it’s not hurting, I am getting the damn thing off you.”
Draven tore his shirt from his body, ripped a scrap from it and carefully wrapped the material around the stone. It heated against his hand, but didn’t burn as it had before. He pulled the stone from around her neck and set it down on the ground between them.
