Chapter 8 - the fall

Cassy’s stomach dropped, everything slowing down around her as she tipped backwards. She couldn’t believe she had allowed Katie so close after seeing what she did to Emily, and now the bitch smirked with a triumph that made her blood boil. Cassy’s arms reached out, but no one was close enough to grab, no one even noticed she’d been pushed, the scream to warn them caught in shocked lungs. Only one wolf was turned towards her, his eyes widening with horror.

She locked eyes with Alpha Jason just as she passed the point of recovery, where any semblance of balance or core muscles could’ve saved her. He reached out to grab her, but he was too far away, and it was too late. With nothing behind her except the steep drop, Cassy fell.

Wind rushed like a torrent around her as she cut through the air, as if it was trying to lift her back to safety. Instead, it hammered against her, brutal and swarming, carrying the startled shouts of the wolves above. She heard Zac’s voice above them all, following her down the cliffside as if it could save her. Though it was quickly lost to the wind as the distance between them grew at a startling rate.

On the southern side of the mountain, the cliffs weren’t as rocky, but they were the steep. It allowed Cassy to fall for long seconds before she collided with the mountain’s sheer side. It grabbed at her body, tugging and clawing at her clothes, loose rock biting into her skin. She wrapped her arms around her head to protect it but cried out at every cut and slice as she tumbled. 

She was falling dizzyingly fast, a blur of movement, bright and dark, sky and rock, over and over like a torturous cycle she’d be stuck in forever. Well, not forever. The bottom of the mountain was rushing upon her, an abrupt end that’d crack bones and split flesh upon impact. She couldn’t let that happen. It was a sure way to die.

Then, like an engine running out of steam, she began to slow. Cassy would call it a miracle except she was mid-air when it happened. Everything around her ground to an almost halt, leaving her inches hovering off the ground, moving in a sluggish impossible spin.

She tried to move, to reach out and grab the mountain side, but she couldn’t move her body at all. Not her head, her arm or her legs. They were as semi-frozen as everything else around her. However, her mind and her eyes whirled. 

‘What in the Goddess’s name is happening?’ She thought as she continued her slow turn to face the sky.

Her arms, cradling her head, blocked the edges of her vision as she looked around but when she saw a bird frozen, mid-wing beat, an answer came to her. A preposterous one, but what else could be happening?

‘My bloodline power.’

Shock rushed her, but she had to force it down as her brain scrambled to understand what was going on, what her new ability was and what it meant for her keeping her identity hidden? Her turmoil pulled at her pheromones, urging them free as a defence mechanism to her panic. It snapped her out of her spiralling thoughts, and she slammed her control back in place, but a wisp of her scent escaped. It carried away with the breeze, away from the pack and dispersing to nothing. Her focus was back, and she pushed away the multitude of questions she couldn't answer, because death was coming for her no matter how much time had slowed. 

The base of the mountain was still a way below, but nothing stood between her and its brutal welcome. No rocks to grab, no cliff edge to land, no lake to absorb the impact. Then, she saw the branches. Dotted down the mountain side, breaking through cracks in the rock, thin branches hung green and happy in their flush of sunlight. There wasn’t much to them, but it was Cassy’s only hope to break her momentum.

As if making the decision for her, time sped up again, returning Cassy to the onslaught of a spinning world. The sudden return left her dazed but she fought to focus, trying to catch a glimpse of one of the branches.

‘There.’

Her arm snatched out, hand clutching the thin bit of wood. It ripped through her palm without mercy, barely slowing her descent as it slipped from her grasp. She hissed, but didn’t waste breath on the cry forming in the back of her throat. Instead, she reached again for the next branch, this time bracing for the pain. Her skin burned as she squeezed her fist around it, praying to the Moon Goddess that she’d stop moving. The friction slowed her momentum enough for Cassy to reorientate her body, rolling to her back so she was falling feet first. She used the new position to push her feet against the cliffside and create more resistance.

Gradually, she began to slow. Hitting the ground would still hurt, but it wouldn’t kill her. Maybe. Though, Cassy made one last attempt before she accepted her fate. She saw a slightly thicker branch protruding from a large crack and grasped it. With all her effort, she clung to it, even wrapping it around her wrist for good measure. It passed through her grip, but just as the end of the branch closed in, she stopped. 

Completely. 

Ragged breaths tore from her lips, her already aching body now a world of pain as the cuts, bruises and bangs of her tumble caught up to her. Her hands were the worst, blisteringly hot with the rub of rough wood, but unable to find any relief as they both clutched the branch, leaving Cassy half hanging, half pressed to the mountainside. She was still too far from the base to just let go, but there was no way she could climb back up. She was stuck, unable to do anything but hang.

“Hang on.” A voice called to her left.

The immediate snarky retort that bubbled in her mind held still on her tongue behind clamped teeth that pressed together with the pressure building in her arms. She’d just carried Emily halfway down the mountain and then climbed it again. Her whole body was exhausted and felt more broken with every passing second.

“That’s it, you’re doing great.” The voice called again.

Was it getting closer?

Cassy had assumed it had rung down from the packhouse, her energy too low to dare move around and look before, but new hope made her risk it, and she was glad she did. A warrior was headed towards her, using the ledges and rocks that were the beginnings of the formations of the rocky cliffs she had climbed earlier. They were meters away from the path she fell and far spread, but the warrior moved using the cliff’s surface to slide between them and the ledges to break his momentum.

‘Zac,’ she thought, relief blooming within her.

But as the warrior bound closer, she scrunched her gaze to focus on his features. Sharp features against an edged jawline, with broad shoulders, strong and set. Though similar to Zac, the warrior was taller and larger and didn’t wear his familiar smile.

‘Stay still, Cassandra. I have a plan.’ Alpha Jason’s mindlink was as strong as his usual voice, a commanding tone that made every muscle in her body freeze.

Cassy frowned, daring a glance up to the edge she fell from. Tiny dots peered over it, staring down at her but doing nothing to help. Was Zac up there, watching her? It was a daring venture to try and rescue to her, but Alpha Jason was attempting the feat. Maybe Zac was helping? Somehow? She couldn’t work out how, but she was certain he wouldn’t just watch her fall to her death and do nothing about it.

‘I’m almost there, Cassandra. Stay calm.’ 

‘I’m calm. But my fingers are getting so calm, they’re struggling to hold on. Could you hurry it up?’

She tried to bite back the sharp edge of her voice, but with adrenaline running high and Alpha Jason telling her to stay put, as if she could do anything else, Cassy wasn’t sure she managed. She winced and waited for a reprimand, but instead a low chuckle entered her mind, surprisingly warm and bringing a small smile to her lips that made her feel like she wasn’t dangling, helpless on a cliffside.

‘I’ll do my best.’

With that, there was the sharp crack of bones and Alpha Jason’s wolf form emerged. It was stark black and huge, far bigger than Cassy’s own wolf. He bounded forward on quick, sure paws, like he rescued people from that cliffside all the time, and was with her seconds, using thick, sharp claws to stay still at her side. 

Cassy’s mouth was open, staring at the Alpha with new eyes that tried to calculate just how fast he could’ve completed the first trial. He moved like he knew every rock and surface of his pack. Maybe he could even run the entire territory blindfolded. 

“Hello.” She said, because what do you say to someone while hanging from a cliff?

‘Hello.’ He rumbled back.

An odd tension twisted between them when their eyes met. An easy humour that was unexpected in the life-or-death situation. Cassy hadn’t talked to Alpha Jason much, not since he was a pup, and was only around him when he wanted to speak to Alex, but even then, he spoke directly to his sister. Not that she had cared, she just wasn’t on his radar. She supposed that had changed. Now, she would forever be; the girl who fell off the cliff that I had to rescue.

Though, he wasn’t looking at her with the annoyance or pity she expected from such a statement, but with a newfound interest. Curiosity and wonder combined with an intensity that made her cheeks heat. She felt the urge to look away, but couldn’t convinced her eyes to move. They were glued to him, wondering how the stone Alpha, that the women were poking fun at earlier, could hold so much emotion in his gaze and make her feel safe when she was hanging onto life by a thin branch.