Chapter 238

Cara’s POV

As I fell through the seemingly endless sky, I heard a familiar wolf howl. Alaric. But he was too far off to help me this time, and midair as I was, quickly careening toward the bottom of the ravine, he wouldn’t have been able to do anything anyway.

The ground was quickly approaching.

Was this going to be it?

After every other hardship I faced, I was going to go out in a long fall, after being tripped during an obstacle race?

It didn’t seem fair.

Not after the car accidents, the assassination attempts, the illness, the fight in the woods…

The faces of my kids flashed before my eyes. I wished I held them a little tighter before I had left this morning. Did they know how much I loved them?

Did Alaric? How I wished I could kiss him again, just once more. But then… once would never be enough. A lifetime of kisses wouldn’t be enough either.

My heart pounded. Tears welled in my eyes.

I didn’t want to die. Not like this! Not now!

I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the hurt.

“Cara…” Lucy called to me, and then again. “Cara!” Her voice was urgent, panicked, and growing louder.

Suddenly, my body jolted, and I shifted.

Then, I hit the ground.

Alaric’s POV

Panic and fear surged through my veins as I ran in wolf form down the path through the ravine, desperate to get to where Cara had landed.

Others were with me, trying to stop me in their wolfy ways, likely not wanting me to witness what was surely a gruesome sight. But I easily surpassed them with my speed.

Gruesome or not, I would find my mate. I would see what was done. I would mourn, if necessary.

No one would keep me from her, not even in an effort to save me from potential trauma.

My heart in my throat, my wolf’s grief already making my own thoughts foggy, I finally pushed through the brush and into the clearing where Cara had fallen.

There… I found her.

Cara was in wolf form, almost entirely unharmed. She was stretching her legs, as if she had just woken from a long nap and not fallen off of a cliff.

In a rush, I raced to her. She perked as I came closer, likely scenting me.

I whimpered as I neared her, then walked around her, checking for injuries. When I neared her face again, she leaned forward and licked my furry cheek. Tilting my head, I pressed my brow to the side of her neck. She leaned into me, accepting and comforting me.

I didn’t know how it was possible for her to have survived that fall, but it had to be thanks to Lucy. Once again, she had come to the rescue.

Such a brave, valiant creature, the perfect match for my lovely mate.

This reconnection, this reunion, wasn’t just between Cara and me. Shifted as we were, this was the perfect opportunity for our mates to see each other again. It had been too long.

My wolf, who long ignored me, slowly came back to me, joy replacing the spite he had so often felt for me.

“Our mate,” he said. “Happy and safe.”

It was amazing the depths of the feelings we could share for each other, when our mating bond had been broken long ago. It was almost as if we didn’t need it. Our love transcended all that, surpassing fate itself.

Or perhaps it was fate that was having the last laugh at our expense.

It was as if the Moon Goddess was teasing us, You thought I’d led you escape my will?

Her will or not, I didn’t care. Not when the person I got to be with was Cara.

Slowly but surely, my wolf seemed to feel the moment when Lucy started to pull away again. The strings in my heart pulled tight and he whimpered.

Then, from one blink to the next, Cara returned to her human form. I shifted too, so that I was able to pull her into my arms. First, I searched her over again, looking for injury. It’d be easier to see in human form, as frail and fragile as we were like this.

“I’m okay,” she said. “Lucy saved me.”

I looked at her face, trying to hear her despite the way everything seemed to be ringing in my ears. She had fallen such a far way down. How was it that she could just be alright? It didn’t make sense, but I was so, so grateful.

…Just how strong was Lucy really?

“Is Lucy okay?” I asked, remembering how quickly she shifted back to human form.

“She just needed to rest again,” Cara said.

Cupping her cheeks with my hands, I leaned in and pressed my forehead to hers, so glad to be with her. She gripped my shoulders tightly, likely feeling the same.

“I didn’t think I’d get to have this again,” she said. “For a moment there, I was afraid that was it.”

“Me too,” I said. My heart lurched as I relived that moment.

I would have held her forever, there in the ravine, content in never letting her go from my sight and my arms again.

But, too soon, her brothers came rushing out from the brush.

“Cara!” Aidan called, with Ryan close behind.

They rushed to us, and we separated in time for them to pull Cara into a tight hug. After the initial relief, they pulled back.

“You have to go to the hospital,” Ryan said.

“I’m fine,” Cara replied. “I feel okay.”

“No way you drop from that height and are fine. You have to get checked out,” Aidan pressed. He looked to me. “Right, Alaric?”

Aidan and I hadn’t been on the best of terms since Cara’s diagnosis. For him to look to me for support now felt like an important step. That I was already on his side only helped matters.

Looking at Cara, I sad, “I would feel better if you went.”

Returning my look, she sighed. “Very well. But first, I want to confront Lilia. I think she tripped you.”

“She definitely tripped you,” Aidan said. “It’s on video.”

“There’s proof?” she said, hope in her eyes.

I felt hope too. Maybe this would finally be what it took to take down Lilia. She had to know what she was doing. She had set up Lilia to fall and hadn’t expected her to survive. I hadn’t seen the tape, but if Aidan said it’s on there, then it had to be. And likely the truth could be seen as well.

“Unfortunately,” Ryan cut in, frowning, “I don’t see the evidence helping us.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, outrage already building up within me.

“As soon as it happened, Lilia forfeited the race,” Ryan said. “She appeared to be rather shaken. People said she started wailing in regret over what happened.”

“It’s a ruse,” I said, very familiar with Lilia’s tactics at this point.

“I know that,” Ryan said defensively. I unclenched my fists, realizing how aggressive I was becoming. He saw that as the apology it was and continued. “We know that. But to everyone else, when she says it’s an accident…”

I cursed. “People believe her.”