Page 76 of Her Reborn Mate

I got up and faced the members of the pack.

“She gave her life for all of us. Not just the wolves, but every single soul that lived in that town,” I said, my voice shaking. I could see in the periphery that the cops had gathered on the beach to see what was happening. People from the square had come down the steps and were crowding the docks, all of them commenting on what could have happened out there in the sea.

They didn’t know. None of them knew their lives were saved by the girl who had been treated like crap in this town all her life. They would never find out that the person who wished to break free from this cursed city came back to sacrifice her life for the people who lived in it.

“Will, there’s a crowd gathering. We have to leave,” Vince said as he wiped away the tears from his eyes.

“I will not leave. I’m never leaving this spot,” I said, looking out at the sea. “I will wait for an eternity if I have to, hoping for her return. One day, she will return to me.”

The pack members attempted to drag me back from the docks, but I broke free from their holds. I walked over to the edge of the docks and looked at the sea, my tears falling into the water below me.

Chapter 33: Alexis

It wasn’t a possibility that had occurred to me until there remained only fifteen seconds before the bombs would explode.

Without thinking much about it, I shifted into my wolf form and dove into the icy water. My wolf body smoothly dove into the water, and I swam as far below as I could to save myself from the explosion, all the while keeping a count inside my head as to how many seconds were left.

Not only did I dive deep, but I also swam forward. But when the explosion happened, the water around me turned boiling, and if it hadn’t been for my speed, I would have burned in that water. Had this not occurred to me, I would still have been on the ship, and those exploding bombs would have torn my body asunder.

It was the bond that propelled me to save my life. It kept tugging at the last minute, not allowing me to resign myself to a fate of death. As I swam, the explosion caused underwater waves to lurch me forward, breaking my swimming stride as I was pushed forward in the dark water, losing all sense of direction.

My breath was giving out, and the surface was too far away for me to make my way to the top and breathe again. I could see the flames of the ship’s wreckage on the surface. If I were to go above the surface now, the flying debris that caught on fire could just as easily end the life I had saved in the nick of time.

So, despite facing a shortage of oxygen, I swam some more till I was out of the radius of the explosion, and then I broke past the surface, drawing deep breaths.

I could not believe that I had saved my life in such a short time. It didn’t need to end in fire and flames for me. I was safe. Safe to go back to shore and rejoin my mate. I could only assume that he was down there at the docks by now, mourning me.

There was a long way to swim, and even though I was in my wolf form, I doubted if I’d be able to make it back there against the cold and the sheer length that was between me and the docks.

I didn’t know how I was doing it—other than sheer will—but I swam and swam until my limbs gave away, and it was only when I had exhausted my body in its entirety that I turned myself on my back and floated toward the dock. My wolf body provided excellent buoyancy, allowing me to swim toward the shore without much effort. Now that I was out of immediate danger, I didn’t need to swim faster than required.

Ten minutes of fighting the waves and struggling to breathe passed, and I found myself under the docks. I could see that the pack members had all assembled there. I could even see Will standing there at the edge, looking sullenly down at the water with tears dripping down his face.

I rose out of the water and shifted back into my human form at just the right time to catch onto the dock. I latched onto it and pulled myself up, panting and shivering.

“Alexis?” Will’s voice was ever so soft and marked by disbelief.

“Will!” I gasped as I lay there on the docks, my body cold and breathless.

He immediately took off his jacket and threw it on my body, covering me, then knelt and hugged me tightly. Against the cold of my body, his hot tears pressing against my cheeks provided me some comfort. His body was warm, and mine became warm in his embrace, reducing my shivering. I could not see clearly, what with there being so much saltwater in my eyes.

“I thought you had died!” Will gasped. Behind him, the pack suddenly came forward, surrounding me from all sides. I was grateful that they decided to do that, to shield me from the eyes of the rest of the townsfolk that had gathered around the docks, all of them witnessing the still burning wreckage of the ship.

“I’m sorry about your ship,” I said, smiling at him. I could see him much more now that the saltwater was out of my eyes.

“Never mind my ship! I was so lost. I thought you were gone. You don’t even know what was going through my mind. I am just glad that you are alive. Oh, Alexis,” Will said and hugged me even tighter.

“Did we save them all? Are the townsfolk safe?” I asked, getting up on my feet. My clothes were drenched. The sooner we’d get back to the commune, the better.

“Yes,” Vince said, coming forward and hugging me tightly. “We saved them all. No bombs went off in the town. We were lucky enough to collect them all and dump them onto the ship. Speaking of that, you’re never allowed to deceive me like that! I thought you were going to help me push the ship into the sea, and the next second you decided to just start it and sail in the opposite direction.”

Will first looked at me and then at Vincent, completely boggled.

“Will, Vince, that would have never worked. Don’t you see how big that explosion was? It’s still burning. People would have died if we had done that,” I said. “And speaking of dying, I’m going to die if I stand here any longer in my wet and cold clothes!”

“How did you even survive?” Will asked as he wrapped his jacket around my body and picked me up in his arms.

“I jumped at the last moment. I wasn’t feeling any suicidal impulse to end my life. That’s why I jumped. Also, our bond took control of my body at the last minute. I needed to be alive. I realized that it was a better option than just sacrificing myself,” I said.

---