Chapter 188

Fiona

Is this really the only choice?

Can we not run back the way we came and escape from there?

Laxus probably could, but me, I couldn’t. I’m not fast enough and definitely not familiar enough with the surroundings to know where to go. I’d get lost and then attacked before I could make it fifteen feet into the forest.

“You don’t have time to debate this, Fiona. If they catch you- if I can’t protect you- they’ll kill you. Is that what you want?” Laxus growls. He doesn’t look back at me, but I still know he’s just trying to help.

“I know! I know!” I cry, moving toward the water. It’s our only chance. If I can hide, Laxus can get rid of these wolves, and we’ll be fine.

He said he’s the best fighter in Ethan’s pack, so I’ll have to trust that he can take care of this without any help. But there’s three of them and one of him.

“Get lost!” I don’t know if he’s talking to me or them, but I move.

Water seeps into my sneakers, sending chills into my body as I slosh through the cold water. His words jarred me to action, but the three wolves coming closer have me hesitating. Can he win against all of them?

When he doesn’t answer, I turn to find him rolling on the ground with two wolves on top of him. Claws slice through the air as he shoves them off. I gasp.

“Look out!” I wasn’t fast enough.

The third wolf slams into Laxus just as he was getting to his feet. They fall to the ground, which gives the other two wolves plenty of time to pounce.

“Stop!” I scream, turning toward the shore again. I can’t let him die for me. This isn’t what I want. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

“No, Fiona! Go!” Laxus yells. I watch, amazed, as his claw tipped fingers sink into one of the wolves’ necks. Blood spurts as he rips through its skin. Worry fills me when he cries out. One of the wolves has his teeth in Laxus’s calf and is trying to drag him away from the water.

Torn between my fear and my need to help him, I stand, waist deep in the water, and watch my new friend fight for both of our lives.

Pulling his leg back, Laxus again kicks one of the wolves in the face. Faster than I can track his movements, he then turns, throws the wolves off, and shifts. His blonde wolf bares sharp fangs at the intruders, warning them to stay back.

He stands between me and the three wolves, swiping sharp claws at them as they continually try to get around him. It’s clear what they want.

Me.

I’m the weaker link, and once they get rid of me, they think Laxus will be easier to deal with. It makes me wonder if they think we’re mates, or if they’re just so evil they want to hurt anyone in their path.

“Don’t you dare die, Laxus! If you do, I’ll… I’ll kill you,” I shout as I wade deeper into the water.

My teeth chatter against the cold as water floods my body, reaching my shoulders. I have to keep going. Once I’m gone, Laxus can focus fully on the fight.

I do my best to ignore the snarls and the yelps of pain from behind me, but when one of the wolves’ howls, I turn. Laxus has his teeth in the shoulder of one wolf while the other one on top of him is digging its claws into his sides.

His blonde fur is coated in red, but he doesn’t release his hold on the wolf beneath him.

Then, as I wade in the middle of the water, I realize there’s only two wolves with Laxus. I spin in the water, using my shaking arms to turn until I find the third wolf. He’s coming toward me, aiming directly at the water, his goal clear in his eyes.

“Laxus!”

I don’t know if wolves swim well, but if they do, there’s no way I’ll be able to get away from this thing.

Fear tightens its icy hand around my throat until a blonde furry head pops up from the pile of fighting animals, and his eyes narrowly focus on the wolf entering the water. A furious snarl rips from him as he thrashes against the two holding him down.

His claws rake across one of the wolves faces while his hind legs push against the other, sending them both falling away.

Laxus, even beaten and bloody, jumps up and darts toward the wolf coming for me. Just as that wolf enters the water, Laxus closes his jaws around the wolf’s scruff and yanks him back.

Our eyes connect.

“Run!” I hear his voice ring through my mind as clearly as my own thoughts, and I do. I turn, channeling every bit of power I have into my arms to swim away. He’s hurt, yet he’s still fighting to give me my best chance at getting away.

The waterfall pummeling the pool shoves me back as I get closer, making me work harder than I ever have to swim. I get close, and it pushes me away.

I get close again, and it pushes me under.

My clothes, soaked and freezing, grow heavy the longer I’m in the water, and I realize I’ll have to dive. The only way to get through the waterfall is to go underneath it.

With one last glance back at Laxus, I do what I have to. I dive. It takes less than thirty seconds for a rush of water to slam into my back, shoving me down and spinning me around. Water slices at my face. Bubbles blind my eyes.

I claw at the water, trying to turn right side up, but it continues to push me, shoving me further and further into the cold and dark abyss.

Pain slams into me as I collide with something hard. Without meaning to, my mouth opens and water rushes in.

Everything spins.

My throat burns.

My chest tightens.

I can’t get back up. There’s no up or down. No way out as my body begins to sink, shoved down, down, down, until stars dance in my vision and darkness creeps in.

I couldn’t make it.

It’s the last thought I have before the darkness fully clouds my mind.