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CHAPTER 15
LILY
Bright light, wind and breathlessness slammed into me. I blinked, my eyes burning in the frigid air. I tried to move, sit up, but my limbs treaded nothing but air. I was falling.
A scream lodged itself in my throat but before I could force it out, icy water engulfed me, filling my nose cavities and biting into skin. My head went under water. A stream of bubbles escaped my mouth - a scream muffled and almost completely lost in underwater ambient. The current dragged me along, my exhausted body unable to fight against it. I didn’t know which way was up or down. My legs kicked and arms flailed, but my head remained below the surface.
With burning lungs, and blurry vision I searched under frothing water, trying to find my way back to the surface. I couldn’t seem to focus on anything, my eyes were too heavy in the murky water. The only thing clear to me was that I desperately needed air. My legs kicked out again and finally, cold air grazed my face, greeting skin with a chilly sting. I gasped, desperately drawing oxygen into my lungs.
My body was being dragged along the current, strong flowing water surrounded me, and high stony walls towered on either side of the banks. My eyes stung as light reflected off the wet rocky surfaces and waves continued to slam into me, threatening to push me under again. I kicked and swam, but my efforts were useless against the stream, my fingers dumb and untrustworthy. The edges were too slick to grip onto and my head went under water again.
I fought relentlessly, my hands and arms thrashing, trying hopelessly to grab onto anything. I was being flung and tossed like a piece of driftwood, my body tumbling down stream. The river was too deep for my feet to touch the bottom.
Gasping and coughing, I surfaced, tears of desperation mixing with angry grey water. I was going to die. My eyes burned as they searched for an exit. A person. Anything. How had I gotten here? Where was I? I didn’t recognize a single landmark and there was no one in sight.
The harsh jab of a sharp-edged rock slammed into my back as I was twisted and turned in the current. For a moment, my head went under again, pain shooting through my entire body. I yelled out as my nerves were set on fire. Still confined in a watery prison, the current captured my screams and carried them away into the unknown.
As I surfaced again, I drew in deep, wheezy breaths, the sting in my back almost paralyzing. Everything hurt and my energy levels were draining quickly. Too quickly. This couldn’t be it. It couldn’t possibly be how I’d meet my end.
MIA
I sat back, watching Gunnar nervously as he barked out orders to the warriors and trackers from Shadow Creek. He was supposed to be in bed, resting, the stitches and bandages still crisp and new around his head and chest. But we’d been here for hours, and I feared Gunnar was feeling much worse than he led on.
The doctor had said he should take it slow and let his wounds heal, but Gunnar had other plans. We’d come right back here after leaving the hospital, and Gunnar joined the search with Grimlark warriors the moment his feet hit the ground. I understood the importance of the missing woman - to some extent - with her possibly being Raiden’s mate, but it didn’t change the fact that my mate was hurting and recovering from his own injuries.
I watched him carefully as he paced up and down, wanting to join in the search again. I’d made him promise me earlier that he would stay behind with me and let the trackers do what they were supposed to. After all, they’d need someone to report back to, someone who knew the woman and would be able to identify her.
Gunnar was in no shape to travel, whether he’d admit it or not. To be honest, I preferred it that way. After what we’d witnessed in those white hellish eyes, I didn’t want my mate wandering around after nightfall; who knew what else lurked in the dark corners of the forest?
My palms were sweating, my stomach a tight knot as I watched the wolves move in and out of the undergrowth, some of them being lowered down the gorge with ropes attached to pulleys. Raiden made me anxious too. I couldn’t help it. After hearing the horrific story of how his childhood sweetheart had disappeared and that this woman - the one I might have killed - could be her… I swallowed, pressing a palm to my chest. I didn’t know what it would have meant for me and Gunnar. For our future in Shadow Creek.
Gunnar had promised he wouldn’t let any harm come to me. He also assured me that Ray would never blame us for what happened, and if he did, Gunnar would take the fall. I couldn’t let that happen. I wouldn’t. After seeing him bleed like that today, I realized he was just as much human as any of us. He was mortal as I was, and we could be taken from each other any second. Blinking at the sting behind my eyes, I studied his anxious movement, the stiffness of his broad shoulders. I’d drop everything for him. If we needed to run, then we’d do it together. Me and him.
Gunnar stopped pacing for only a moment, his eyes glazing over. I knew that look and saw it often whenever he spoke with Ray. It was the mind-link. Alpha to Beta. Had Raiden found something? I looked down; my fingers trembling. Please, please, let her be alive. Let it be good news. Gunnar’s eyes returned to normal, and he glanced at me. The slight shake of his head would be undetectable by most, but I saw it and closed my eyes, exhaling a deep breath. Nothing yet.
Raiden had been the first of Shadow Creek to arrive. Shortly after, a group of his most trusted warriors and trackers made their appearance and he’d left them in his Beta’s hands. It only took a point of Gunnar’s finger to have him jogging into the forest, chasing after a scent long since smothered by the icy river below. It was strange how quickly things could change. How one’s life could be turned upside down in the blink of an eye. How unpredictable this life of ours truly was.
My gaze roamed down my mate’s form. His short, military-style hair was almost completely hidden under bandages, his bright blue eyes weary and tired. There had been so much blood yesterday. The ground was still stained by it in places where he had kneeled and crawled, trying to find me. I sat with my back towards it. Even if it had changed from crimson to a dark rustbrown colour, I knew it was his and the pain it brought me was too much. Too raw. The images were still fresh in my mind. I couldn’t bear looking at it, although the smell continued to linger in the air, making my wolf restless. She paced endlessly in my mind, howling and begging to be let out.
Even though the doctor reassured me it was normal for a head wound to bleed so much, concern still harassed my thoughts. The worst gash had been above his brow, but a smaller slash sliced over his cheek. I stared at it; the stitches horrid and black against angry red skin. Because Gunnar didn’t want the bandages obstructing his vision, the stitches were left exposed to the elements.
It would leave a nasty scar, of course, and I found myself glancing at it every now and then, expecting it to burst open and bleed. He needed to calm down, stop moving around so much and give himself time to heal. I couldn’t see the wound across his chest as my father had brought us fresh sets of clothing when we were at the hospital, but I knew it was there, just beneath the fabric. Although the cuts had been clean and needed only disinfecting and stitches, my stomach had churned at the sight. Having to stand by, watching the doctor sew him shut was torture, even if Gunnar had been given anaesthetics to numb the pain.
Around us, everybody ran around, desperately trying to find the missing girl. From the moment I saw her, my life had been a chaotic blur. Part of me hoped for good news, but deep inside, I knew what would come. There was no way someone could’ve survived the steep fall down the gorge. Even if they did, the strong current of the river brought along a whole new set of obstacles.
I wasn’t the only one thinking it. When I looked at the faces of the men around me, I knew they had the same thoughts; that she was dead and their search would end in heartache.
Sighing, I turned my attention back to Gunnar and found him already watching me. My heart splintered. There it was - the look of defeat in his eyes.
