Page 55 of The Onyx Covenant

Then Orion slides to a sudden halt ahead of us, the rest of us nearly crashing into him. We’ve run straight to the edge of a cliff, a sheer drop with the river churning far below. The roar of a waterfall fills the air, and I can barely make out the white water waiting to claim us.

The wild pack’s howls sound near once more. Orion stares at me, then at the water below. A choice passes between us without words. He turns to Aria and Rachel, who presses her muzzle briefly against his in understanding.

Then he leaps, his powerful form arcing out over the abyss before disappearing into the darkness below. Rachel follows without hesitation, her gray form vanishing into the mist. I hear the splash of their bodies hitting water, but in the chaos, there’s no telling if they’ve survived the fall.

A snarl from behind jerks my attention back to the immediate danger. Three wild wolves have broken through the tree line, the gray Alpha the largest in the lead. I don’t wait for them to attack. I charge, using my larger size and shifter strength to slam into him.

My teeth find his throat, ripping through fur and flesh until I taste blood. He thrashes wildly, claws scoring my sides, but I hold firm. Kieran is beside me in an instant, taking down a second wolf that tries to flank me. His fighting style is all controlled fury—quick, vicious, and efficient.

I throw the Alpha aside, his body limp and broken. But more are coming. Many more, their eyes reflecting moonlight as they close in.

“Go!” I try to shout, but it comes out as a commanding bark. I lock eyes with Aria, then jerk my head toward the cliff edge. She understands, limping quickly to the edge before gathering herself and leaping into the void.

Kieran snarls beside me, refusing to leave. Loyal to the end, the stubborn fool. I growl at him, baring my teeth until he backs away. Then he turns and makes his own jump, his russet form briefly silhouetted against the mist before he’s gone.

I turn to find Lyra still standing there, her silver form trembling but her stance defiant. Why the fuck hasn’t she jumped? The wild wolves are regrouping, at least a dozen of them edging closer, emboldened now that only two shifters remain.

I rush to her side, nudging her roughly toward the cliff edge. She resists, her lavender eyes wide with fear. Not of the wolves, I realize, but of the fall. The wild wolves charge, and there’s no more time for coaxing.

I grab her by the scruff of her neck, my teeth gentle but firm in her silver fur. She struggles for a second, then goes still, trusting me. I’m already moving, carrying her with me as I make a powerful leap from the cliff edge.

For a moment, we’re suspended in air, the twin moons our only witnesses as we fall together into darkness. I loosen my grip, not wanting to injure her when we hit the water.

The impact is brutal, the cold shocking even through thick fur. The waterfall breaks the water, making the fall not as deadly as it could have been.

The current drags Lyra farther from me. I fight to the surface, lungs burning, head twisting to catch any glimpse of silver among the churning black water.

But with the current pulling me, I slam hard into a rock, pain exploding through my skull. The world spins, water filling my lungs as I struggle to stay conscious. The last thing I see before darkness claims me is a flash of silver fur in the moonlight, then nothing.

Lyra…

ChapterTen

LYRA

Cold. So fucking cold it burns. The impact slams into me like a thousand blades, stealing my breath and shocking my system. The current tears me away from Theron instantly.

Something primal kicks in, and I surrender to the shift, letting my wolf form melt away. The transformation is swift, bones and muscles re-forming as my human body emerges. In water, I’ve always been stronger as a human—my mother made sure of that, forcing me to swim in icy rivers since before I could walk.

My head breaks the surface, and I gasp, lungs burning as they fill with precious air. The roar of the waterfall crashes behind me as the current drags me downstream. My bag clings to my back somehow, the weight pulling at my shoulders.

“Lyra!” Aria’s voice carries over the rushing water. Thank the moon she’s all right.

“Here!” I shout back, catching glimpses of bodies farther downstream—Kieran’s dark, reddish hair, Orion’s broad shoulders, Rachel struggling against the current.

The river is carrying them away, but I can’t follow. Something’s wrong. Something’s missing.

“Theron?” I call out, spinning in the water, scanning the dark surface.

Nothing.

Then I see him—face down, unmoving, his human body bobbing lifelessly in the current a dozen yards away. His black hair spreads across the water like spilled ink, blood mixing with it in sickening swirls.

My veins turn to ice.

“No!” The word tears from my throat as panic floods my system.

I dive forward, arms cutting through the freezing water with desperate strength. The current fights me, trying to drag me along the same path as the others, but I battle harder. Every swimming lesson, every hour spent in frigid waters with my mother’s stern voice pushing me to be stronger—it was all for this moment.

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