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I squeezed his shoulder in support. “Come on, we can’t help from up here.”
Sitting on the edge where the rock seemed to be the thickest, I swung my legs into the gap and eased off until my feet met the sloping wall. Climbing wasn’t something that I’d done a lot of, seeing as the forest of the Pack Lands wasn't home to many rock faces, but my natural strength meant my fingers had no trouble holding my weight as I made my way down.
It was steep and unstable. The rocks shifted and slid around us as Zeke climbed beside me, but nothing mattered more than getting down to our Alphas.
My limbs froze as a terrified cry sounded from below, followed by a flash of light. We were only ten feet from the bottom now, and I jumped the final distance without hesitation in my need to get to my mate. Zeke’s weight landed heavily beside me as another fiery flash made me squint. Another smaller cry gave me her whereabouts. Blinking fiercely to make my eyes focus in the changing light, I finally saw her. On her knees under a weak orb of light, I felt a split second of relief before I spotted the stain of blackness racing up behind her.
Before I could react, her light sputtered out. Thick blackness covered us as Cordelia screamed again, her voice hoarse and full of pain. A sound of sickening glee echoed in my ears as the metallic scent of hot blood hit my nose.
Ignoring the tide of emotion and panic that threatened to overwhelm me, I let my wolf free.
In a flash of sensation that I barely registered anymore, my wolf burst from my skin and dove into the darkness. Releasing control, I relied on his instinct. Jaws snapping, he attacked the shapeless smear of black that surrounded our mate. Surprise shot through me as his teeth sank into something solid. An ashy, rotten taste filled my mouth as he ripped the creature away from her, a ragged screech bellowing from it. With a snarl, my wolf flung the thing away into the shadows. The shriek that sounded a moment later told me it was moving away, and I grabbed control of my wolf as he tried to go after it. That thing had the advantage in the dark, and I needed to get to Cor.
Turning, I frantically searched for any sign of her. The only light now was the dim circle at the bottom of the collapsed tunnel, and I sprinted back to it as I spotted her laying still in the centre. Pulling my human form back to the surface, I shifted and collapsed on my knees beside her.
“Are you hurt?” Zeke barked as he reappeared, dragging a groggy Liam into the light and dropping him next to where he had laid Cordelia.
I shook my head as I checked her breathing. “No.”
Liam groaned quietly as Zeke helped him to sit. Blood dripped down from a cut above his ear, but he seemed otherwise ok.
“Is it dead?”
I ran my hands over Cor’s body as I answered Zeke’s second question. “No.”
Wincing at the feel of her swollen wrist, I set it beside her and reached for her bloody shirt. My gut dropped as I ripped it open and saw the damage. Deep gouges ran under her ribs, the one furthest right actively pumping blood with every beat of her heart.
“Fuck,” Liam croaked as he looked down at the state of her.
Zeke shoved me to the side as he tore off his shirt, balling it up and pressing it firmly against her stomach. The move made her jolt, a gasping groan escaping her mouth as her eyes flickered. I moved up beside her head and pushed the hair off her face.
“Sweetheart, open your eyes,” I ordered, forcing steel into my voice to try and pull her awake.
I tried to push strength and reassurance down our bond as she opened her eyes groggily. The usual sparks of amber light were missing, her gaze glazed over a little as she dragged in a deeper breath and winced.
I grabbed her unhurt hand and gave it a squeeze. “Just keep breathing, beautiful, it’s going to be ok.”
She looked down at Liam and Zeke with a pained frown, her breathing speeding up as she took in the situation. They were having a hissed debate as they examined her wounds. Panic rose up in me again as I saw that Zeke’s shirt was already soaked through, but I deliberately turned away and grabbed her attention again.
“I hurt it,” I said in a low voice, giving her a forced smirk. “It tasted like utter shit, but now we know it can bleed.”
She gave me a ghost of a smile, but her answer was lost as her lashes fluttered shut.
“No!” I snapped, grabbing her chin. “Don’t close your eyes!”
She gasped slightly and opened them again, the effort of doing so obvious.
I let myself get lost in her eyes as she stared up at me. As she had from the first moment I’d seen her, she hooked on something deep inside and drew me in. And as always, I went willingly. Her soul called to me, singing a song that I knew rang in harmony with my own. It always would.
Still, I shook my head. “Not yet, sweetheart. We have a whole life to live first.”
I brushed away the tear that fell down her cheek, glancing back at the others. Heavy dread hit me as I took in their broken expressions. My heart thudded and then shattered as I turned back to see her lose the fight, her eyes sliding slowly out of focus.
It took me another moment to realise that she wasn’t breathing.
“No, no, no, no,” Zeke moaned as Liam folded in on himself, pressing his head to her shoulder.
Denial raged through me as I flattened a hand on her chest, searching for the beat of her heart. A dull, slow thump made my eyes squeeze shut, needing to feel every pulse that proved she wasn’t gone. Blocking out everything else, I focused on those beats. On the slow, wet sound of them. On the heat that still radiated from her skin.
