Chapter 6: Dropping on the Lap

- RODERIC

"Lucas, get out," I muttered, not bothering to open my eyes. "And stay out."

"You need help getting down the rocks, Alpha," Lucas said from somewhere behind me. His boots crunched on the frozen gravel, the sound far too close for comfort. "Don't act like you can just glide down there."

"I can slide down on my ass perfectly fine," I snapped, finally cracking one eye open to glare at him. "I'm naked under this blanket, Lucas. I don't need you staring at my junk while I do my daily ice-bath routine. Go wait by the tree line."

He let out a heavy sigh but didn't argue. He knew that tone. He dropped the bag of medicine onto a flat stone, turned around, and tramped back up the ridge until he was out of sight.

Finally. Absolute silence.

I hauled myself out of the makeshift wheelchair, dragging my dead weight down the smooth rock ledge until my lower half slid into the plunge pool. At the start, the water was just cold enough to raise goosebumps. But the second I got deep enough by that waterfall, everything changed as the water suddenly turned warmer against my skin.

The volcanic pressure in my chest spiked, sending a heavy wave of white-hot heat surging down my arms. The glacier water began to hiss and steam around my shoulders, the uncontrollable energy of my power melting the shelf of ice beneath my hands before it could even try to freeze me.

It was supposed to stimulate the nerves. Supposed to keep the muscles from completely turning to mush while we figured out how to break the hex in my spine. Personally, I thought it was just a daily exercise, but it gave me an hour of peace away from the pack house.

I leaned my back against a smooth boulder, letting the water gently brush against my hips, as I stared up at the grey sky.

My mind immediately drifted back to the council meeting. The elders were back on their usual bullshit, breathing down my neck about finding a Luna. A pack needs a female alpha and an heir, they said. I’d nearly bared my teeth at them. A Luna? For an Alpha who couldn’t even stand up to pee?

It was a joke. I cursed those old bastards under my breath, watching the mist rise from the water.

If the Moon Goddess wants me to have a mate so bad, I thought bitterly, she can just drop the girl right onto my lap. Otherwise, they can all shut the fuck up.

The second the thought crossed my mind, a massive roar echoed from the top of the waterfall.

I didn't even have time to look up before something massive broke through the mist. It wasn't a log. It wasn't a boulder. It was a person, plummeting straight off the ledge of the falls.

The person hit the deep pool with a sickening splash, sank for a second, and then came thrashing up for air. I just stared, completely paralyzed as the current shoved the person forward. It dragged the body toward the shallow bank right where I was sitting, both arms giving out entirely.

Then, the person fell forward.

It was a woman!

Instead of smashing into the jagged rocks, she landed sideways right across my lap. Her dripping wet head hit my thigh, and a mass of tangled, dark hair plastered itself right across her face, hiding it completely.

I held myself completely still without a single reaction. I just stared down at her blankly, my eyes probably rolled back in absolute disbelief.

But then, the shock wore off, and reality set in.

A woman lying across my thighs. Her weight was rubbing against my genitals. It brought a sudden, heavy rush of heat straight to my lower belly and down to my cock. And surprisingly, she didn't burn!

I froze, panic flaring in my chest. How the hell was I reacting to her? I was supposed to be completely dead from the waist down. The doctors said the nerves were totally fried, yet this random, soaking wet girl lands on me, and my body suddenly decides to remember how to work? It was impossible. It made no sense.

Dammit!

She stirred against me, letting out a weak, raspy cough. She blinked, squinting up through the wet strands of hair, her eyes finally focusing on my face, then down at where she was lying.

"Oh," she croaked, her voice completely shot. "Uh... sorry."

"You're heavy," I lied, my voice dropping into a low growl to hide the fact that my heart skipped a beat. "Get off."

She tried to push herself up, but her hands slipped on my skin. She froze, her eyes widening as she realized I hadn't shifted an inch to help her. She looked at my legs, still submerged and completely motionless under her.

"You... you can't move?" she whispered, staring at me as though she’d just figured out a puzzle. "Are you paralyzed?"

"You got it," I muttered. "Now get off me before you freeze to death."

Something clicked in her wide eyes, panic, mostly. She didn't argue. She hurriedly scrambled backward, splashing awkwardly into the shallower water, and swam a few strokes over to the edge of the pool.

As she dragged herself out onto the gravel bank, the thin, tattered clothes she wore clung tightly to her skin, making them practically transparent. I caught a full view of her shifting into the light, naked body clearly visible underneath the wet fabric. It left little to the imagination, showing off her long legs and the curve of her tempting ass.

Who the hell chooses to swim in ice water like that? Crazy woman.

"Hey," I called out, my voice raspy. "Who are you? What pack are you from?"

The girl didn't answer. Her eyes darted around the bank, landing directly on the flat stone where Lucas had dropped my gear. My dry clothes were sitting right there on top of the bag.

Before I could even figure out what she was doing, she lunged forward, grabbed the entire pile of my clothes in one swift motion, and hugged them to her chest.

"Hey! Drop that!" I shouted, trying to heave my upper body forward, but my useless legs anchored me to the spot.

She took a couple of steps back, looking at me over her shoulder like she was terrified and running out of options.

"I'm sorry!" she yelled over the roar of the water, backing up toward the dense trees. "Thank you for the clothes! I'll compensate you for them later, I swear!"

"You little thief!"

"I'll pay you back!" she screamed, and then she turned on her heel and bolted into the brush, disappearing into the woods.

"Lucas!" I roared, the sound echoing off the canyon walls. "Get your ass down here right now!"