The thought invigorated me and I pushed myself a little harder. My leg muscles were starting to fatigue but I ignored the feeling because I was getting close and all I needed were a few more strokes to get to that finish line.
And that’s when disaster struck.
Something sharp and jagged grazed against my leg, shredding through my skin. The pain was crippling. It pulled me under. Taken by surprise, I cried out, leaving my mouth open. Water drained into my throat and down into my lungs. My chest burned.
My uninjured leg touched the bottom. It was decorated with broken seashells and other dangerous elements. Nonetheless, I pushed against the ocean floor and propelled myself upwards.
Now my foot throbbed as well.
Breaking the surface, I sputtered and coughed, trying to expel the saltwater that had gotten into my system. Using just my arms, I kept myself afloat but I knew it wouldn’t last. The current was strong and the waves rougher than when I had started. I would never make it back to the shore in my current state.
“Help!” I cried. I was probably just wasting my breath but it was my one and only option. “Help!”
Squinting, I prayed I would find someone walking the beach but it was empty.
“Help!” I shouted, even louder this time.
Around me, the water was a deep shade of red. The moonlight illuminated its crimson properties. My stomach churned. If there was one thing I couldn’t handle, it was the sight of blood.
I became woozy and lightheaded. I was on the brink of passing out and if that happened then I was as good as dead.
Breathe, Jane, breathe, I told myself over and over again.
I forced myself to inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. It helped but it didn’t solve all of my problems. There was still the matter of getting back to the shore.
A wave smacked me in the face and, once again, I was pulled under.
My strength was dwindling.
Would I be able to make it back to the top or was this where I would find my watery grave?
Chapter 2: Landon
“We have to find it,” I growled. “It is the only thing we have left.”
“And how do you suppose we are going to find it, when you don’t even know where exactly it is that you lost it. We traveled over forty miles last night. That medallion could be anywhere.”
His words infuriated me. “Watch your tone,” I warned, as my upper lip curled back to reveal a full mouth of deadly teeth.
“Alright, alright.” Roman held up his hands to signal his submission. “There’s no need to get all Alpha on my ass, Landon. I get it. But —”
My growl deepened. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I was close to shapeshifting into my wolf form and showing him a piece of my mind. “We keep looking for it and that’s the end of this discussion.”
Roman sighed and waded into the river. A second later, he disappeared into its depths. I soon did the same. My eyes burned as I opened them underwater. Everything was blurry, but I was hoping that the jade on the medallion would be bright enough for us to see, even if it happened to be half-hidden under the muck.
My lungs begged for air but I ignored them, as I ran my hands along the bottom, hoping to find what I was looking for.
Roman grabbed me by the nape of the neck and dragged me out of the water. “You’re going to end up killing yourself,” he said. “And I’m not going to let that happen. If we want to rebuild the pack then we both have to survive long enough for us to find a mate.”
“Well, right now, you’re pushing your luck.”
“It’s just a piece of jewelry.”
I slammed Roman against a nearby tree trunk. It shook so violently that many of its leaves came fluttering towards the ground.
Roman held my gaze. “What are you going to do, Landon?” Roman was my Beta, yes, but he was strong enough to be an Alpha as well. Tit for tat, we were rather evenly matched. I was stronger and he faster. Squared off against one another, neither had a clear advantage.
Nevertheless, I tightened my hold on his shirt. The fabric was bunched up inside my fist as my nails became sharper, threatening to tear through it. “It’s more than that,” I said. “It is the last piece of our ancestry that we have to hold onto. Without it we are —” I was interrupted by a strange sound carried on the wind.