Chapter 17
Asterion
“Not.”
One moment, Katie is standing right in front of me, asking me absurd questions about dried meat while in the throes of a panic attack, and the next moment, she is gone, her scream piercing the silence.
The moment repeats in my mind in slow-motion as I jump over the edge after her. The look of sheer panic in her eyes as she tipped backwards, her arms bundled up inside the fur so she could not even catch herself, is not a memory I will soon forget.
Snow coats the mountainside in a sea of white, obscuring jagged rocks and spindly shrubs beneath.
It also makes spotting Katie nearly impossible as the fur she is wrapped in blends in with the surroundings.
I slip and slide down the side of the mountain.
Drifts of snow shift beneath me until I tumble, rolling some of the distance, before I find my feet once more.
I catch a slice to the ribs at some point, but I do not feel it.
The blood thumping in my ears drowns out all else.
I have tunnel vision for Katie only, my gaze constantly zigzagging across the terrain, looking for anything that might give away her location.
“Katie!” I yell, my voice echoing out in the night.
Fear creeps its way into my chest, crushing my heart in its grip.
I must not panic. I will find her. I rub at my sternum, at the steady ache that has settled there, and I tell myself that it is a good sign.
The mate bond would cause me undeniable pain if the fall had been fatal.
But I also know that she has been injured enough for me to feel it through the bond.
“Katie!”
All I want is to hear her snarky voice call out to me in return, but instead, the mountain behind me rumbles with a deafening roar, snow cascading down from high above in an avalanche.
I curse, the snow chasing me toward the base.
It takes me out at the knees until I am partly riding it.
I have no choice but to let it drag me along, fighting to keep from being sucked beneath the surface.
“Katie.” My voice cracks. I cannot see her anywhere, and then I cannot see anything at all, losing the battle to keep myself adrift.
Snow tumbles over my head, turning white to black, pushing me along, and tossing me beneath icy cold waves.
I collide with something solid, taking the wind out of my lungs. I feel like I am drowning.