The last I remember, I was thrown off a porch and then I was doing anything I could to desperately leave this farm.
My headlights are still on, and the sight in front of me causes a scream to catch in my throat.
“You’re okay. You’re okay.” I don’t recognize the voice, but it is soothing as it wraps around me. “There you go, I’m going tomake my way to you. But you can’t move. You’ll take us both down.”
My hands shake as I finally understand my predicament.
The hill.
The one which had seemed so intimidating when I first arrived. On my way down, I slid across it with the help of the snow and right off the edge of the road. Now I hang precariously halfway off of it. A several hundred feet drop directly in front of me.
“I’m nearly there. I’m going to open your door, and I want you to jump into my arms. Can you do that?” The voice hums soothingly, it is closer now.
“My seatbelt.”
He pauses, but then I can see him as he approaches my window. He is all shadows as only the reflections of my headlights catch his form. And while it is objectively terrifying, the sight of him soothes just a small piece of my terror.
“Slowly move and ready yourself to undo it. And then on the count of three, I will open the door, and you will unclip it at the same time. You have to be quick though. Can you do that?” The words are level, as if he’s teaching me how to ride a bike and providing the necessary support.
Except I don’t know how to ride a bike. No one ever taught me.
I’m not sure why that’s the thought that decides to land. But it is.
Shakily, I move very slowly, until my hand hovers just over the latch to the seatbelt. In the crash, the mace has disappeared, but my bag is visible.
Inside contains the last of Tony’s items. Vinny had destroyed or taken most of his clothes, but these I had managed to keep.
What if my car falls? What if these are gone too?
A whimper creeps out from my lips.
“It will be fine. I will get you, I promise,” the alpha assuages.
He has mistakenly assumed what my worry is. What a normal person’s concern would be.
You’ll take us both down.
His words land firmly in my skull. I won’t put him in any more danger for my own connection to material items. Even if they were Tony’s.
“I’m ready,” I say as firmly as I can. But the words come out shaky through my chattering teeth.
It’s so cold.
“Good.” In the shadows I can see as his hand reaches out for the door. “One.”
I shift my feet the tiniest bit to ensure I will be ready.
“Two.”
My breath catches in my throat.
“Three.”
I unclip the seatbelt just as he whips the door open. The entire car creaks as I launch myself at the stranger.
And then I am in his arms, his scent engulfing me. There is one heart-stopping second that I think my car will be fine, but then there is a loud mechanical scream as it tips over. I watch as the headlights disappear below.
Burying my head into the stranger’s chest, I inhale him as my emotions overlap on top of each other.
