Page 30 of Loki's Enemy Mate

On the other side, I placed Loki on the ground and looked him over. From what I could see, he’d bashed the side of his head on the rock as he fell. The wound still bled freely, and I put my hand over it, trying to stanch the flow. However, I only had to wait a couple of minutes for it to finally stop. He looked a fucking mess, but he was still breathing and the rest of him looked relatively untouched save for a few bruises and scratches. I wasn’t sure if he would be alright. Head injuries were strange things. Sometimes people just didn’t wake up.

Loki would though, right? He had to.

The emotions welling up inside me threatened to overwhelm my senses. I knew I had to distract myself and there was only one thing that could do that. The cave. We were still trapped and as far as I could tell, there was no way out.

Forcing my emotions down, I left Loki on the stone. I went back to the water, searching the gap to the outside like Loki had for any weaknesses or clues. Most of it was too thick to think of breaking through. But there was one section that was considerably thinner, possibly less than a foot of stone separating us from the outside world. I stood there for a moment, thinking it through. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to break it away with my bare hands and we didn’t have any tools. I could attempt to ram it with my shoulder, but I had a feeling that was just going to lead to a dislocated shoulder or worse, broken bones. Still, I wasn’t ready to give up. Survival was possible. It had to be.

I reached down again, trying to feel where the stone was the thinnest. As my hand slid through the gap, I brushed a loosestone the size of my fist. The moment it did, a thought struck me. Grabbing the rock, I pulled it out of the water and turned it over in my hand. Maybe I couldbreakthroughthe wall.

With nothing to lose, there was no reason not to try. Hefting the stone, I reeled my arm back, got my fingers out of the way, and slammed the rock against the wall with my open palm. A loud bang echoed through the cave, my ears ringing from the impact. But, as I pulled my hand away, I heard a few small shards drop down into the water below and get swept out by the current. When I looked at the wall, I could see the definite indent where I’d damaged it.

Hope flared in me like a fire in my belly. Reeling back once more, I struck the rock again and again, little flecks of stone breaking away with each impact. However, I’d gone no more than a few minutes before the rock in my hand had broken apart too much to be useful. I wasn’t giving up though. I walked over to the pit and put my entire weight against the stalagmites I’d wedged my foot into. They snapped off easily, my strength renewed by my determination to make sure Loki and I survived.

Then, I went back to the wall with a new, sharper stone in hand and started the process again. Each time I struck the wall and more stone chipped away, I felt myself grow stronger. I no longer felt the cold of the water or the sense of doom I’d had before. Instead, I was filled with an obstinate rage that set my blood on fire. My body shifted in its Alpha form, claws, fangs, and fur appearing as my muscles swelled to their limits. Growling and snarling, I chipped away at the wall like a wolf gone mad.

We were going to get out of this cave. And once we did, we were going to be mates. Come hell or high water, we’d figure it out. I’d never stop trying to figure it out until Loki was safe in my arms forever.

I wasn’t going to stop until we were both free.

Chapter Seventeen: Loki

Iwoke to the clang of stone against stone. At first, I thought I was dreaming, but the sound grew to a level where it was making my head hurt and that’s when I came to. I sat up, immediately aware of how cold I was and the throbbing pain on the left side of my head. Reaching up, I found my hair was matted with blood, although it seemed the bleeding had stopped. However, no matter how much I tried to push the pain away, the clanging wouldn’t stop.

That’s when I finally opened my eyes and saw him standing in the middle of the river, beating the cavern wall with a rock. To my surprise, it wasn’t his nudity, the flexing of his muscles, or the way his cock swung back and forth that caught my attention first. It wasn’t even that he was in his Alpha form, claws, fur, and fangs gleaming. Instead, it was the fact that there was a beam of light shining on his face from the wall in front of him. Every time he struck the cavern wall, it was cut off for a moment. Then, as he pulled back, it seemed slightly bigger. I had to shift to the side before I fully comprehended what he’d done.

He was breaking his wayoutof the cave.

“H-Heimdall?” I croaked, my throat drier than I thought possible.

The clanging stopped instantly as he turned to look at me, his body drenched in sweat. For a moment I could see the fierce determination on his face, that he was going to get us out no matter what it took. And then, as soon as his gaze met mine, it melted into relief. Without a word, he ran through the water toward me, tossed his rock to the floor beside me, and scooped me up in his arms.

“You’re okay,” he whispered, holding me tightly. His skin was hot and sweaty, his scent stronger than I thought possible. “God I was so worried…”

Everything was still a bit hazy, but I found the strength to hold him back. However, I made no attempt to hide my body’s reaction to him. Between the sweat, his musk, and his arms around me, I was aroused before I knew it was even happening. Somehow, even after everything I’d been through and a head injury, my dick still had a mind of its own.

“W-What happened?” I managed to ask, still holding tight to him.

“You fell,” he replied simply, his voice shaking. “There was a hole, and you fell.” He buried his face in my neck, the sob in the back of his throat all too clear. “I… I thought you were dead. And then… I wasn’t sure you’d wake up.”

I felt that strong man quaking against me, and he held tight. He’d truly been scared. Even though this wasn’t the first time I’d seen him break down, it still surprised me. I always thought Alphas were supposed to be nothing but stoicism and bravery. It was why I detested Thor and his weakness when it came to Flynn. But now that I was experiencing it myself, I was starting to realize how wrong I’d been. HowcruelI’d been.

“I’m okay,” I whispered into Heimdall’s ear. “I’m right here.”

Heimdall’s body seemed to shrink in my grasp, his Alpha form fading back to human as he held me. And then, just as quickly as he seemed to diminish, he suddenly toppled to the side. I managed to catch enough of him to stop his head from hitting the floor. For a moment, panic rose up in my chest, gripping me at the throat. But as I laid him down gently and saw the soft rise and fall of his chest, I realized he was just exhausted.

“You spent everything you had trying to save me, didn’t you?” I whispered, brushing the sweat soaked hair out of his face.

I pulled myself over to the water’s edge just long enough to get a drink before I returned to his side. Curling up against him, I let our bodies lend each other warmth to fight away the cold of the cave around us. I was still feeling dizzy and both of us needed time to recover.

So, with a whispered promise to myself to figure out how to keep him once we woke up, I allowed myself to slip back into a peaceful slumber at my mate’s side.

???

When I woke, it was darker than before, the light from the hole in the cavern wall all but gone. However, I didn’t feel panicked about that. With a big pair of muscular arms wrapped around my chest, I wasn’t afraid of anything. Heimdall’s chest was pressed against my back as he pulled me tight against him, like a giant teddy bear to keep me company through the night.

However, this teddy bear was packing a bit more than most. It didn’t escape my attention that his massive erection was pressed firmly against my ass. Every now and then it would twitch, his hips grinding against me as he searched for friction.

“Heimdall?” I asked, checking to see if he was awake.

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