Chapter 6: Fall... Fall In...

POV: Asha

The world slowed in motion.

My eyes widened as the ledge disappeared from beneath my heels.

For a heartbeat, there was a terrifying silence. Then, gravity dragged me down.

I felt weightless as the building’s external wall rose in a blur of grey granite and creeping ivy.

A screech tore out of my throat, but the wind swallowed it whole.

Rylie!

I searched for my wolf, but still got silence in response.

The cold air slammed into my face, tearing my hair from its braid and whipping my thin dress around my legs.

The stone walls, dark sky illuminated by the moonlight, and the lit windows of several houses in the distance blurred past one after another until I couldn’t tell where the ground ended and the heavens began.

For one impossible second, my mouth closed up, and everything felt strangely peaceful.

So… this was what dying feels like. No more running, rejection, or fear.

I squeezed my eyes shut, my hands moving instinctively across my abdomen in a desperate and useless attempt as I braced for the stone ground.

I’m sorry, I whispered to myself. However, I wasn’t sure if I was apologizing to the pup who would never see the light of day, or to myself.

Suddenly, something solid caught me. Strong arms wrapped around my waist, and with it came a powerful heartbeat that thundered against my cheek.

Then came the rain-soaked woods scent from earlier.

My eyes flew open.

With the moonlight, I made out Zade’s face.

As my dark brown eyes met his pitch-black eyes, his arm tightened around my waist, and he twisted faster than I expected.

The world spun with us until his body was beneath mine.

His shoulder slammed into the stone edge of the lower terrace with a loud crack. I shrieked, a contrast to his groan as the impact jolted through us both.

We slid across the sloped roof, loose tiles shattering.

Before I could draw a breath, we tipped over the edge into free-fall once more.

He curled around me, tucking my head into the crook of his neck as his large hand shielded the back of my skull.

Then, the ground slammed up to meet us.

As the impact shook through me, everything exploded into pain and the world turned to black.

For a moment, silence filled it.

The sound came back first.

It was muffled, like I was underwater, but I could still pick up thudding footsteps and the yelling I couldn’t make out.

“Breathe…”

The voice sounded far away.

“Breathe, damn you!”

Something warm cupped my neck. Fingers trembled as they pressed against my pulse point.

I struggled to peel my eyelids open, but they still felt too heavy.

“Alpha?”

“Get the healer!” The first voice roared with sharp authority, but beneath it was panic.

After one last wave of struggle, my eyes finally opened.

My vision cleared enough to make out the face hovering over me.

Zade’s.

His face was so close I could feel his breath against my cheek as he stared somewhere else. His black hair looked messier than before, a streak of blood smeared on his forehead.

Surprise swept over me as I saw his eyes were wide with terror. For a moment, I stopped breathing.

His expression froze, and then, the vulnerability vanished so quickly I wondered if I had imagined it.

He stiffened, a muscle ticked at the edge of his jaw as he stood up, towering over me even more.

“You’re alive,” he said in a voice flat and devoid of emotion.

He didn’t offer me a hand or ask if I was in pain. However, I was certain it was his voice I had heard earlier.

“Don’t ever do something so stupid again,” he spat out icily. “You do not have the permission to die.”

I stared at him, unable to think clearly.

“Don’t move; the healer will be here soon.”

He turned around and moved a few paces forward, his shoulders heaving.

My gaze shifted to the three-storey building I had just fallen out of. Aside from a full ache in my hip, I felt fine.

Which must mean that he had taken the entire force of the fall.

Moonlight caught something dark running down his arm.

Blood, lots of it.

I inhaled sharply. The shoulder of his shirt had been torn open, revealing a deep and angry cut that stretched from his shoulder blade toward his collarbone.

It was because of me.

I pushed myself to a sitting position, hissing through the pain that shot through my hip.

Footsteps pounded closer, fast. The woman I had seen earlier, Hera, came into my line of sight and headed straight for him.

For a second, I could see just how well they fit each other.

I inhaled softly as I felt a slight pull at my heartstrings. A feeling I shook off instantly, as there was no reason to care about that.

Hera’s eyes darted at me for a second before returning to him.

“Zade?” she whispered hesitantly.

Zade? No one addresses an Alpha by their name except… were they…?

“Why are your hands shaking? Are you okay?” Her follow-up questions drew me out of my head.

I looked down at his hands. They were hanging at his sides, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles had turned white. But she was right. They were shaking uncontrollably.

He didn't answer. Instead, he just stared into the darkness of the forest tree lines about thirty meters away, his nostrils flaring.

Why is he shaking? Is it anger? Shock? Fear? I shook my head. It certainly can’t be fear; he’s an Alpha.

Silence filled the air as the wind picked up.

“Hera?” Zade voiced out.

I frowned as Hera faced the same direction as him.

“I know,” she nodded. “Something’s not right.”

Something greyish from the bushes around the perimeter flashed in my peripheral vision.

I whipped my head to the side to see a man running forward. A milky film clouded his eyes like frost over glass.

My gaze fell on the silver blade in his hand, gleaming in the moonlight.

I followed its line of sight, and my stomach dropped when I realized who he was aiming at.

Me.

“Move!”