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Terror filled eyes meet mine a moment before the river swallows her whole.

Without hesitation, I leap toward her. The breath explodes from my lungs as I crash into the ice-cold water, the violent current catching me and dragging me under.

Still in my Fox form, my muscles burn with every stroke as I fight to stay above the surface. Raw panic claws at my throat as I scan the river, searching for her. “Rapunzel!”

In the distance, I see Finik balanced atop a submerged boulder. He leaps onto a hanging branch overhead and scrambles to the shore.

Through the churning chaos, I catch a glimpse of Rapunzel’s silver hair shimmering beneath the turbulent waves. Shifting back into my two-legged form, I dive beneath the water and grasp her long braid, dragging her up from the riverbed.

She breaks through the surface, gasping for air, her eyes wide as she clings to me.

“Hold tight,” I instruct as I wrap one arm solidly around her, navigating the current to swim to the opposite side.

When we reach the shore, I push her up onto the riverbank as she coughs several times, violently expelling the water from her lungs.

Without warning, white hot pain sears across my back as sharp claws dig into my flesh and the Wolf Shifter jerks me away from her and back into the water.

“Ren!” Rapunzel calls out from the shore as Sevryn pulls me under.

We’re both in human form as we fight beneath the churning water, tumbling along the riverbed as the current drags us downstream.

Kicking out, I manage to free myself and push up through the surface. Dread coils tight in my chest when I see the water disappearing over the edge of the cliff up ahead.

Sevryn crashes into my back, but I spin and punch his shoulder, pushing him away and closer to the waterfall.

“Ren!” Rapunzel calls out.

I whip my head toward the sound of her voice, watching in wonder as magic arcs from her hands, and a thick vine explodes from the riverbank. Leaves unfurl and flowers bloom as it thickens into a living rope, stretching toward me as the river drags me closer to the steep drop off. “Grab hold of it!” she yells.

I reach for the vine, barely managing to grasp the end. Gripping it firmly, I struggle to pull myself toward the shore, fighting against the strong current, but my weight is too heavy and it snaps.

Time slows, my pulse pounding in my ears. Rapunzel’s eyes lock onto mine, wide with horror, as the current drags me over the edge of the falls.

CHAPTER 24

RAPUNZEL

Raw panic floods my veins as I race along the riverbank to the edge of the cliff. Finik clings to my shoulder, his tiny claws digging into my skin, but I barely feel it as I scan for any sign of Ren.

Fog-like mist rises from the waterfall, obscuring most of my view of the churning river and forest below.

“Ren!” His name rips from my throat in a feral cry that’s swallowed by the thunderous roar of the falls.

Devastated, I fall to my knees. “Ren, please.” Tears stream down my face. “You can’t be gone.”

Finik chirps mournfully in my ear, climbing slowly from my shoulder down to the ground. My heart aches as he shuffles to the edge of the cliff and peers over, his tiny nose twitching with confusion and sorrow.

“I know, Finik.” The words escape in a broken sob. “He's gone, and I never told him—”

Emotions lodge in my throat and I cannot speak around them as crushing regret settles deep in my chest. I never told Ren how much he truly meant to me.

Tears blur my vision as I think of his smile, and how my pulse would race each time his eyes danced with mischief whenever he teased me. How I wanted more than anything to give him my heart, despite the uncertainty of my past.

Silent sobs wrack through me. “I should have told him.”

“Told me what?” Ren’s voice echoes nearby.

My head snaps up, my heart freezing in my chest.