Chapter 3

Levi

No. This can't be.

I blink a couple of times to make sure I'm seeing the fabric correctly. My pulse is racing so fast that I have to pant just to catch my breath. I want to reach down and take the strip of fabric, but it's too far down.

Which only means one thing.

Arya jumped off this cliff.

My hands start to shake. I fall to my knees, the pain in my chest too much to bear.

This is all my fault. She jumped because I didn't take it easy. Because I didn't bother to explain. I just told her what I thought she needed to hear, with no regard to her feelings. Even though she's been my friend for the longest time. Even though she's my mate.

But maybe I'm mistaken. Maybe she's still here somewhere and my human form isn't doing its best in tracking her scent.

I step away from the cliff and take a deep breath, channeling my wolf, Thunder. Slowly, he takes over, transforming my body into a majestic black wolf with golden eyes.

We can track scents better as wolves, and we have the ability to know where the scents end. I sniff around in my wolf form, trying to track the scent, and it goes all the way down to the bottom of the cliff.

"She's gone," Thunder whispers in my head. "I can't smell her scent any farther. She's dead."

"She can't be. . . ."

Pain racks up my body in the most intense way I never knew before. I want to let it out and scream at the top of my lungs, but the thing that escapes my lips is a long and mournful howl.

Soon enough, the whole forest is echoing with howls. They heard my message and they know now that we have lost a member.

But it’s incomparable to the pain I have knowing I lost my mate.

Heavy footfalls suddenly appear behind me. I turn around and immediately recognize the wolf form of Arya’s brother, Mr. and Mrs. Clarke’s real son, Daniel. He doesn’t speak to me, but I can feel his pain.

Mr. and Mrs. Clarke soon appear as well, including Arya’s friends, Cindy and Riley. They all look at me for answers, but I can only look at the cliff to signal what they probably already know.

“Is the girl nowhere to be found?”

The booming authoritative voice shakes up the forest. It’s Alpha Mathias. He is in his human form, but everyone bows at his presence.

“Everyone, please return to your homes for safety,” he announces. “We will be updating you about the status of Arya Clarke.”

Everybody leaves, their footsteps shaking the ground until I’m left standing face to face with my father.

“Are you sure you don’t know what happened to this girl?” he asks in a low voice.

I shift back into my human form. “No. I have no clue.”

“Very well.” Alpha Mathias stares at me meaningfully. “We should find Arya Clarke if we are not to delay your crowning ceremony. If not, I’m afraid you will have to wait.”

* * *

Arya

The moment my feet leave the ground, I feel free. Free from bad thoughts. Free from pain.

All I can feel is the rushing wind in my ears as gravity takes hold of me and begins to pull me down. I close my eyes, waiting for the thud and the greatest pain that will end it all. I feel myself getting closer and closer to the water. I wait for the impact. Any moment now. . . .

But the impact doesn’t come.

Splash. My body sinks into the bottom of the river as I expected, but I feel no type of pain. It seems that my body isn’t even here. I just hear the water splashing around me, and I gasp, which causes the water to pool in my mouth.

Maybe this is how I’m going to die. Not by the impact of falling, but by drowning.

But I do have to wonder why I wasn’t hurt by falling at all.

Still, that’s something I don’t have to worry about now. The raging waters in this river will surely finish the job.

Another massive push from the water hits my body and pushes me farther under. My feet are now touching the riverbed. I let go and let myself get carried under, but then a strange wave hits and suddenly I’m starting to float.

What’s happening? Why am I being carried to the surface?

Panic seizes me and I start to thrash around, but that only propels me closer to the surface of the water until I find myself washed on the side of the river.

I cough, letting all the murky water flow out of me. I look around and find that I’m so far away from camp. I don’t even know where I am now.

Everything is starting to turn blurred and murky. My senses are dull and my limbs are getting heavy. I inhale, and the only thing I get is water and not air.

Soon enough, consciousness leaves my body and I’m gone. . . .

How long I was out of it, I have no clue. All I know is that I could feel my body floating in the water when I start to rouse, but the pain in my body is enough for me to wish that I never recovered.

However, I’m still alive. My exhausted body gets washed ashore. I let myself get pushed against a small dip in the riverbank, closing my eyes as the pain gets more intense. I groan, and just then I hear footsteps approaching me.

My legs are jelly. I don’t know what to do. I want to run or maybe jump back in the river and get carried by the current, but I can barely even lift my head..

Swallowing hard even with the grit in my mouth, I stay in my place. But before I can even try to say something, the footsteps get louder. Suddenly, about six men loom over me and press their spears against my neck.

“NO!” I rasp in fright. “Please don’t kill me!”

“Silence, Rogue!” the man closest to me commands. “What are you doing in our territory?”

“What?” I stammer. “Please, I’m not a Rogue. I am. . . .”

I trail off. What am I again? Where did I come from? Who am I?

I shut my eyes to focus and think about those details, but it seems that the harder I think, the more the information slips away. Panic rises up my throat, but I really have no answer even though I know in my heart that I should know.

“I can’t remember who I am,” I whisper, tears brimming my eyes. “Please help me. I don’t remember anything.”

That doesn’t have any effect. They press the spears closer, and I can feel the cold tip poking at my skin, an ounce of force away from decapitating me.

The man huffs, lighting up a torch and bringing it close to examine my face. I flinch and close my eyes because of the sudden brightness. I hear him gasp.

“This is impossible,” he whispers, then he turns to the other warriors. “Lower your weapons!”

The spears get brought away from my neck, and relief floods me. I open my eyes to see if they backed away, but I only end up face to face with the man in the middle.

And he looks astounded. Almost horrified. I want to ask what’s wrong but I don’t want to risk it.

He turns back to his men and lifts me off the ground in one go. “Call the King. Tell them we found her.”

“Found who?” I blurt out, my fear coming back in full force. “Who?”

He doesn’t say anything, but one of them runs as fast as he can. I’m shivering full on now, and something strange is happening with my body. I don’t know if it’s just the fear, but I feel feverish and anxious, like something horrible is about to happen.

I step back unsteadily, hoping to get carried down by the river but the man grabs my arm and puts me in place. I whimper, opening my mouth to plead with him to let me go, but then a really tall man suddenly bursts out of the clearing. His face gets illuminated by the fire.

And my heart stops.

Why do I feel like I know this man, with his blond hair and blue eyes?

I start to shake in my spot. My body is starting to get weak. Am I dreaming? What’s happening to me?

Shaking from head to toe, I back away from him. He holds out his hand and signals the men to stay behind, but he himself continues to walk closer to me.

“Leave me alone,” I tell him, but my voice is so shaky that it’s no use. Nausea is rising up my throat and my vision is starting to spin. “Stay back and don’t come any closer.”

He doesn’t listen to me. He keeps getting closer. “Don’t fret. I will never hurt you. I’m just happy I finally found you. The scent . . . it tells me everything I need to know. You finally made it back to me.”

“No.” Black spots begin to dance in my eyes. I stumble back, and a wave of weakness overcomes my body. “I don’t. . . .”

The rest of my words vanish when my entire body goes slack. I’m fainting, and I know I will lose any kind of sensation any second now.

But the last thing I feel is the man catching me.

“Welcome home,” he whispers. “My daughter.”