Page 144 of Sweetheart: Part One

Instead, it felt like someone had just taken a pickaxe to my heart—one I hadn’t previously known actually existed.

It must be the remnants of Drake’s time with me.

It had to be.

But what I shared with Drake wasn’t hers to ruin.

With a flare of anger, I ripped her grip from my arm and shoved her into the churning water.

THIRTY-SEVEN

VEX

The world was icy cold.

Despair and panic were claws in my throat just as much as the water streaming down it and into my lungs. I tried to reach the surface, my eyes stinging. A flash of lightning was another shot of terror, scattering all thoughts.

I was going to die.

Through the water and rain I could see him standing there, wet silver hair billowed in the wind as he watched.

An alpha, just like my father.

Over and over and over, she surfaced from those nights.

Alive, if barely, until I couldn’t watch it anymore.

Until I couldn’t hide in a closet and cover my ears and pretend to sing while she could do nothing…

But… It was supposed to be different…

Ebony was my mate.

He was going to watch me die.

And now I was too weak to stop it, just like she had always been.

EBONY

Ah.

Fuck.

Vex hadn’t been lying.

She couldn’t swim.

If I didn’t do something, she was going to drown.

That thought collided with one of the strongest alpha instincts I’d ever felt. It burned through everything, and a low growl rose in my chest at even the slightest notion that anyone might leave her to die.

I was in the water in a second, reaching for her and dragging her against my chest. She didn’t stop flailing wildly, and it was a challenge to drag her the few feet back to the edge. I grabbed the ledge and hauled her up first, a genuine panic seizing me as I wondered if I was too late.

It had beenmomentsshe was under.Noone died from that. And she’d been kicking me.

But what if she did?

I hauled myself from the pool next, clothing and hair heavy and waterlogged. I reached out desperately to check on her. She coughed up lungfuls of water, her whole body trembling.

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