Page 51 of Wild Games
My paws enter the water. Cold shocks through my pads, but I don’t slow as he scoops up the crystal and grips it in his other hand, like it’s going to be able to help him.
“Think about what Dean will have to deal with if you kill more people.” His voice rises to near hysteria. “You already attacked an alpha. If you kill me too, they’ll put you down.”
Maybe. Probably. The council doesn’t look kindly on wolves who can’t control themselves, especially those who savage pack leaders. But they also don’t like alphas abusing their power or cheating in competitions, and they especially hate dark magic.
“Zane is already watching you. He knows you’re a mess, and now you’ve tried to murder his father? He’ll take you away.”
He might have a point, but my wolf doesn’t care about any of that. All he wants is for Camille to be safe.
“I’ll let her go.” He tries one last bargain. “I’ll testify. Tell them everything. That Ryan didn’t know what was going on. That you had no choice but to take Alpha Williams down.”
He takes another desperate step back, still in the shallows but getting closer to a danger he doesn’t even realize is there.Water swirls around his upper thighs as he carries Camille with him.
She’s limp now, barely conscious, supported only by his grip on her shirt.
The crystal is still in his hand, too close to her for my liking.
It’s no wonder she’s out cold.
“Fuck, Jax, please.” His voice breaks completely. “I’ll do anything you want.”
Deciding this has to end now, I lunge.
He releases Camille to throw his hands up in defence, but his actions are useless. My weight drives him backward into the shallow water, jaws finding his shoulder. He screams as we go down together, thrashing in the knee-deep water.
But Camille...
Released from his grip, she sways for a moment like a felled tree, her weak legs trying to hold her up but then, in horrifying slow motion, her momentum carries her backward, one step, then two, closer to where the bottom drops away.
She tips back, with no attempt to catch herself and no strength left to swim, then drops straight down into the black depths. There’s no splash. No struggle. She’s just… gone, swallowed by water so dark, it might as well be oil.
As I release Tanner, tearing a chunk of flesh from his arm and striking him hard enough to take all the fight from his limp body, all I can see is blonde hair, fanning out like seaweed across the surface before disappearing into the abyss.
She sinks instantly, just dead weight vanishing into black water that swallows her without a ripple.
24
JAX
For one heartbeat, pure rage demands I finish what I started. Rip out Tanner’s throat like I did Williams’s and let him bleed out into the water around us. Make him pay for touching her, threatening her, letting her fall.
My bloodlust is overwhelming as the red mist of a wronged mate makes it hard to think straight, but Raven’s calls for help from the lakeshore infiltrate my mind enough to make me refocus on what’s most important.
Camille’s sinking. Every second I waste on revenge is another second she’s underwater. A second closer to losing her forever.
I shift back to human form in the water and snatch the crystal from Tanner’s hand. Punching him hard in the face once more for good measure, then I grab his hair and shove his head under the icy water to stun him.
Water fills his mouth mid-scream, cutting off the sound.
Let him figure out how to save himself. My mate needs me.
Flinging the crystal as far out into the lake and as far from my mate as I can, I dive.
The water is shockingly cold, and it steals my breath, even as I fight to swim deeper. My eyes adjust quickly, but there’s justmurky darkness with a few pale shards of moonlight penetrating the surface, casting eerie shadows through the water.
Where is she?
I keep searching, diving deeper, fighting the urge to surface for air. The pressure builds in my ears, my chest, but the lake bottom is still invisible below. My lungs burn, but I push further down, searching desperately for any sign of pale skin or golden hair in the gloom.