Page 9 of Lost Fate

I pause. I don’t know what I’ll do. But I definitely won’t be happy.

When we get to the top of the cliffs, I pause and look around. I love it up here. There’s something about looking for miles in either direction and seeing nothing but the bare tops of the mountains as the wind howls around them that makes me feel… at ease.

While I’m enjoying the view, Leander’s big body comes up next to me. We both look down into the lake, which is crystal clear. It’s also deceptively deep, considering how clear of a blue it is, and I’m about fifteen feet or so above it. I know from experience that it’s somewhere around thirty feet deep in the middle, where the water turns from a bright turquoise into a dark indigo. I’ve always wanted to jump from here. So…

I give him a wolfy smile. I shift back into my human form. And I jump off of the cliff.

The shock of the ice-cold alpine lake steals the breath from my lungs. I kick off the bottom and come up, gasping for air as my face breaks the surface of the water.

“You know, I just recovered from a tree falling on me. I don’t think jumping off a cliff is the best idea,” I hear Leander growl.

I turn. He’s at the edge of the lake, shifted as well, and I avert my eyes because if I look at him naked…

There’s a splash. And a shriek.

“Fuck me, Ember! You didn’t say it would be this cold!”

That gets me. I turn back, treading water with a smile. “It’s an alpine lake, what did you expect?”

“Not to be completely turned into a popsicle!” he says from between clenched teeth.

I swim over. The water is so clear that he can definitely see my naked body through the lake, but that doesn’t matter. We’re shifters. We’re comfortable with each other’s nakedness. And my lust for him is definitely one-sided. I’m the only one being creepy, and I can get over that.

Right?

“I never said it would be warm. I said it would be an adventure.” I smile.

“Fucking hell. I’m not used to this.”

“Oh, really? How do you know?”

He shoots me a dark look. “I’m from Florida.”

“Well, sounds like you could really use a cold plunge, Florida boy!” I tease. “Not all of us are lucky enough to grow up where the water is pleasant. Plus, maybe it will freeze some more brain healing out of you.”

Leander growls and swims closer. “You didn’t do this thinking that I needed to have my memories frozen back into me.”

“No,” I admit, trying to keep my eyes above the water. “But I did think it would be refreshing.”

“Refreshing is a cold beer and a nice breeze. This might be hell.”

“Oh, fine,” I huff. “Get out then.”

He blinks at me. “Into the freezing air?”

“You could shift.”

“I don’t think fur would even help,” he mutters.

Without thinking, I reach for him. I pull him close, keeping my legs closed by wrapping my arms around him.

He is shaking. Guilt floods me.

“Sorry,” I murmur, willing my body heat to infuse into him. “We can get out.”

“Or not,” he says in a gravelly voice.

I freeze.

---