Page 44 of Knot All Is Ruined: Part 2

“Would it help if you saw the others make it over?” Sorin asked as he stroked a hand over my head trying to calm my fears I knew he could still feel.

“It might,” I admitted.

“I’ll go next,” Lucian announced, causing me to turn my head to look at him. “Then I’ll be there waiting to catch you.”

God, that man could be so sweet sometimes. How the hell did he survive his father all these years?

“Promise?” I asked.

Pulling me out of Sorin’s arm, he cupped my face and kissed the hell out of me to the point I was breathless. “Yes, My Heart, I promise.”

Nodding, I moved out of the way when he released me and Victor stepped up. “All right, so the plan is you come running full tilt towards the gap. Then I’ll grab your arm and fling you as you jump. You’re the largest of us, so that means no hesitation, no second-guessing, you fucking run straight ahead.”

Rolling his shoulders and shaking out his limbs, Lucian prepared. Sorin was already throwing over the heaviest packs so they didn’t weigh us down or cause us to become unbalanced. Toma managed to catch most of them before they hit the ground, but one pack was heavier than he expected and almost fell headlong off the outcropping.

“Toma,” I screamed, darting forward.

The man sat back and landed on his ass, clutching the pack for dear life. “Hoollyy shiiit.”

“Are you all right?” I demanded, my heart pounding in my chest as I refused to look down. The last thing I needed was the mental image of where he would have splattered on the ground.

“Y…yeah,” he stammered, then cleared his throat and stood. “Maybe a warning that it’s heavier than the others might be a good call.”

“Sorry, man, I should have said something,” Sorin admitted. “That was the worst of them, but I might suggest backing up a little since Lucian’s coming over.”

Toma took a few steps back, setting the pack out of the way but keeping close enough to help if something happened. Lucian jogged in place for a second then I could feel the shift in him as he charged off to the end of the stone shelf we were standing on. His footsteps pounded like the beating of my heart as he flew over the gap as Victor swung him forward, adding to his momentum. For a full three seconds, my heart stopped beating as Lucian arced through the air. He crash-landed but rolled into it and Toma was there to make sure he didn’t end up going off the side of the damn mountain.

“He’s good,” Toma called.

Before I even had time to recover, Petru was flying through the air and landed on the other side with slightly more grace. With a forward somersault, he popped back up on his feet and jogged a few steps to slow himself down.

Three down, four to go.

“I’ll go next,” Cris decided. “This way, she can see someone lighter like herself making it over this thing with ease.”

How I envied his confidence right now. Cris kept a pack on since he was lighter it shouldn’t cause a problem and some things we’d picked up at the base, really shouldn’t be thrown around. Starting as far back as he could, Cris darted forward. Just as Victor grabbed Cris’s arm, he stumbled over a rock, but he was going too fast and was too close to the edge for him to stop. To my horror, I realized he wasn’t going to make it. There wasn’t enough speed anymore to carry him far enough.

My throat seized up, making it impossible for me to scream, and just when I thought I was going to watch Cris die, Lucian was there. With a rope around his waist, the Alpha reached out to Cris and managed to grab the pack. Toma and Petru held tight as the eight of both men hit the end of the slack pulling them forward. Rushing to the edge, I dropped to my knees, looking down to see Lucian with a dangling Cris clinging to the straps of the pack below.

“Cris, grab my leg,” Lucian instructed. “You need to help me get some weight off this pack, or the straps are going to break. Grab my leg and see if you can climb up on me.”

I wasn’t sure if Cris heard him or not since the man didn’t move. He just hung there, stunned.

“Corporal Cristofor Nems, look at me,” Lucian barked. The command was so strong I flinched just hearing it.

However, it did the trick and Cris’s head snapped up to look at Lucian, fear and panic in his gaze. “Don’t drop me. Please don’t let go.”