WILLA

After years of running from monsters, unknown forces, and the voices in my head... this was how it ended.

Drowning at eighteen in a freezing fucking lake.

I gasped as water flooded my mouth and dragged me under again. The cold burned my lungs, biting my flesh.

I wasn’t ready. This wasn’t where I thought my life would end and definitely not in front of someone who was supposed to be my mate.

"Dash!" I cried, barely keeping my head above water. "Help!"

He just stood there at the edge, arms still folded, watching.

"Help me!" I screamed, voice cracking with desperation. "I can’t swim!"

Silence. The worst kind of silence.

"Lance!" I shouted, heart beating wildly.

A sudden gust of wind swallowed my voice whole. God... I really was going to die.

The thought terrified me, clamping tight around my heart and squeezing until I could barely breathe.

I tried counting to ten in my head to calm the panic. It didn’t work. Tears stung my eyes but refused to fall in the bone-deep chill.

I glanced up at the sky. No moon. No stars. Just heavy grey clouds pressing down on everything.

I made one last desperate push forward, but my limbs felt like lead. Exhaustion was setting in fast.

"Forgive me, Nyra," I whispered as my head slipped under again. I was too weak to fight anymore.

I held my breath for as long as I could, lungs burning, until I couldn’t anymore. My eyes squeezed shut. I stopped fighting and slowly let myself sink deeper into the freezing dark.

"I taught you how to swim. Stop playing and get the fuck out of the water!"

Elliott’s sharp voice cut through the water. It was the last thing I heard before the darkness swallowed me whole.

DASH POV

I glanced at the golden Rolex on my wrist, then back at the spot where Elyse had fallen in.

It wasn’t too far from where I stood, but far enough that I’d have to jump in and swim to reach her.

My brows furrowed as I waited for her to surface. Five minutes had passed. It shouldn’t take anyone that long to come up for air.

"Joke’s over," Kol said behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder, scowling.

"Where the fuck is she?" he growled through clenched teeth.

"In the water," I answered flatly.

"Where?" he pressed.

"What the fuck?" I snapped, jabbing a finger toward the lake. "Are you slow or something? She’s in the damn water!"

"I can’t see her," Elliott said, like I was the blind one.

"Then I have no idea where she went," I shrugged.

Kol spun on me, grabbing my shirt and shoving hard. "What the fuck did you do?"

"A dare," I replied.

"A dare?" He stared at me in disbelief. "What kind of fucking dare ends with you throwing someone into a lake?"

The kind she agreed to. I’d warned her to stay out of the game. She’d pushed her way in anyway, even dared me after all my warnings. I gave her multiple chances to back out.

She didn’t.

And now that I was returning the favor, suddenly I was the villain. I gripped Kol’s wrist and yanked his hand off my shirt.

"Perhaps you should go in and find her," I said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "She’s clearly waiting for her knight in shining armor to save her from the distress I caused."

Kol’s fist slammed into my jaw before I could even blink. I gasped, clutching my throbbing face as I stared at him in shock.

"You piece of shit!" he roared, flexing his hand. "If anything happens to her, I’ll fucking kill you!"

His threat barely registered. The pain from the punch radiated through my skull, promising a brutal headache. I grimaced at the metallic taste of blood in my mouth.

"Elyse!" Elliott shouted, his voice cutting through the night. "I know you can swim. Stop playing and get the fuck out of the water!"

No response.

The boys waded into the lake until the water reached their shins.

"Elyse!" they yelled together.

Still nothing.

My heart tightened as I checked my watch again. Twenty minutes. I stared at the dark spot where she’d gone under. No one could hold their breath that long.

Even if she could swim, she wasn’t a diver. She wasn’t trained for this. So...I swallowed hard as an ugly thought pushed its way in.

Could she have drowned?

No. I shook my head sharply. Of course not.

I was right here. I wouldn’t have just stood by and watched her drown.

"Wouldn’t you?" my wolf, Eli, snarled inside me. "You can’t even save yourself. How the hell would you save her?"

"Shut up," I growled back at him.

"You can’t swim," he taunted.

I clenched my jaw and took a shaky step toward the water as the boys started swimming now, shouting her name frantically.

My legs trembled. Cold sweat slid down my face despite the chill in the air. I twisted open the top button of my shirt and sucked in two deep, desperate gulps of air.

"How do you get into a lake when you’re terrified of one?"

"Eli!"

"You killed her!" he barked, fury flooding my veins like poison.

"She’s not dead," I hissed. "Now shut the fuck up. I’m trying to concentrate."

"Can you feel her? Do you smell her? Do you sense her at all?!" Eli bombarded me.

I couldn’t. I’d been trying for the last ten bloody minutes, but all I picked up was the strong salty air and the overwhelming scent of the other boys.

"See?" Eli sneered. "You’re just as worthless as the day you killed your mother. You destroy everything you touch. You’re a fucking killer, and I’ll make sure you—"

"Shut up!" My voice echoed across the shore as I slammed the link between us shut.

Silence fell inside my head, but it didn’t last. Flashes of old memories and ugly truths I’d buried long ago pushed through anyway.

"Elyse..." I whispered.

For one horrifying second, I saw her — floating lifeless on the surface, hair fanned out like white feathers, face eerily peaceful.

Panic clawed up my throat. I stumbled toward the water, but a strong hand yanked me back.

"We’re doing everything we can to avoid another casualty!" Lance snapped. "Stay the fuck away from the water. We’re diving in to find her."

His words dragged me out of the vision. I blinked hard. The lake looked normal again. No body. Just an illusion.

Nausea surged up my throat. I forced it down, but it wouldn’t stay. Spotting a tree nearby, I staggered away from the shore and toward it.

I retched violently against the tree, everything I’d eaten recently pouring out of me in a hot, bitter rush.

"Call 911, and the local lifeguard," Kol ordered, voice tight. "It’s an emergency!"