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.
