Page 61 of Their Alpha

Then, with a blink, my brain seemed to right itself, and I realized the situation I was in. Goode and I had been standing right by the edge of the cliff when he’d caught me and picked me up. The earth really had given way, and we’d slipped down. The more I concentrated, the more I could feel the rocks under my body as I continued to slip.

I still had a chance. With mud and rain in my eyes and no real idea of what was going on, I flailed until my hands caught hold of something. It was hard and jagged, and pain tore through my fingers and palms, but I was reasonably certain I’d managed to catch hold of the cliff face.

“Fletcher, help me!” I called up. “Artemis!” I had to let them know I was alive, that I was still there, still fighting to be with them.

I heard a growl and a cry from below me that was just enough to reveal Goode had managed to catch himself as well. I didn’t dare to look down to see how close he was or how he was holding on. I didn’t want to see how much of a drop there was below me, although I’d looked over the edge of the cliff the day before. It was a long way down, with sharp rocks at the bottom.

“Gideon!” Fletcher’s voice sounded from so close above me. “Gideon, I’ve got you!”

I blinked up and cried out again when I spotted Fletcher’s dark form only about a yard above my head. He flattened himself on the ground above me and reached down.

I let go of the rock holding me up with one hand and reached, but even though our fingertips brushed for a split second, the effort made my grip on the rock loosen, and I jerked down a few inches, well out of Fletcher’s grasp.

“Gideon, no!” Fletcher cried out. I could feel the depth of his despair, and it broke my heart.

But that was just it. I couldfeelhis despair. I could feel his love and his fear that I might be taken from him as well. I could feel it like thick tendrils of vines curling around my arms and my torso and reaching inside me. I could practically see the ropes binding us together.

“Fletcher?” I called up at him, more with wonder than with fear.

The tendrils I felt from Fletcher weren’t the only ones. In fact, What I felt from Fletcher was wound around something thicker and stronger that I felt from Artemis, even though I couldn’t see him. I knew he was there, just out of my line of sight. The connection I felt with him seemed to be joined with my womb, but it didn’t stop there. That was just the anchor point, but the bond encompassed all of me, drawing me toward him, him and Fletcher both.

“I’ve got you,” Artemis’s voice sounded from above the edge of the cliff. “I’m coming, love.”

A moment later, Fletcher pulled back and disappeared and Artemis took his place. He reached down, but it wasn’t just his hands that extended to me. He had a rope of some sort that he’d doubled into a large loop. He lowered it to me and said, “Can you get this around your body? I can pull you to safety if you can somehow get inside the loop.”

I sent feelings of confidence and my ability to try through the bond that I could now sense fully between us. Artemis gasped above me, like he’d just realized it was there, too. His surprise and joy came pouring back through the bond to me.

If I needed anything to help me find the strength to get the rope around my body, that was it. I was so determined and so buoyed by the love and strength I felt from Artemisthat I didn’t even question whether I’d be able to secure myself in the rope. I slipped one arm through, then switched my grip on the ragged cliffside so I could slip the other one through as well. As soon as I had the rope looped around my torso under each arm, I knew I’d be okay.

A second later, Goode clamped a hand around my ankle, holding on tight. I cried out just as Artemis tried hefting me up. I felt his confusion when he pulled up only to have me sink lower.

“Let go of me!” I called out, glancing over my shoulder to Goode at last.

I wish I hadn’t looked. The drop down to the rocks was deadly. The ocean beat hard against the rocks, sending white spray splashing everywhere. Goode had a tentative foothold on a thin outcropping of rock, but he now had both hands tight around my ankle.

“Grab hold of the rope!” Fletcher called above me.

I was deeply confused for a moment, since Artemis already had me secured. That was when I saw a second rope descending down the cliff face to Goode.

“Grab hold!” Fletcher called again. “I’ll pull you up.”

“Never!” Goode shouted up in return. “He’s mine! I want what’s mine!”

“Let go of Gideon and take the rope and I’ll pull you up so we can discuss it,” Fletcher shouted in return.

“No!” Goode growled. “I refuse to allow an omega to have any power over me. I will not be saved by an omega!”

“Alpha or omega, it doesn’t matter,” Artemis called down to him. “Let go of Gideon and take the rope and we’ll all be safe.”

“No!” Goode shouted again. “I’ll make you pay for this! I’ll take what’s mine and?—”

That was as far as he got before his words turned into agasp and his grip faltered. I was soaking wet, and my shoes and socks were sodden. The weight of Goode hanging off my ankle had caused my shoe to slip. Fletcher’s rope was right there, but Goode’s hesitation and refusal to take up the offer of help that was right there was his downfall.

When my shoe slipped all the way off, his grip on my ankle went with it. It didn’t matter how much he grabbed, everything was wet and soggy. He lost my ankle, his footing gave out, and with a loud cry, Goode flailed and tumbled into the crashing darkness below.

I closed my eyes so I didn’t see it, but I heard a crunch above the waves and the rain, and Goode’s cries were suddenly silenced.

“Come on, sweetheart. We’ve got you,” Artemis called down to me.

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