5. Jp
JP
I hear the splash first. A sound anyone who’s spent their life on a boat knows. A deep, sickening sound as something—or someone—hits the water. And I know without having to look that it’s her. I scan the deck looking for her, but she’s gone.
Seconds ago, she was there pawing at Cass after hooking him. The whole thing was so fucking ridiculous I went back in to grab the first-aid kit, intending to let him suffer a little. Then…this.
Chaos. And the air around me is flooded with the smell of panic.
A shriek. A scramble of movement. Voices rising in confusion. Then Daisy’s panicked scream.
“JP, JP…She went over! Sterling went over!” She gestures frantically to the leeward side of the boat.
My body moves before my brain catches up. I rush to the side of the boat, hands gripping the railing as I scan the water below.
Nothing.
There’s nothing but swirling sea water. The ocean is dark, vast, and churning. No bobbing head. No struggling limbs.
Just open water.
A second. Two. Three.
Then I see it. A flash of pale skin beneath the whitecaps, a flail of arms that don’t break through.
She’s not coming up. She’s not swimming. She’s sinking.
The years of experience kick in and I strip off my shoes, coat and sweatshirt and dive.
I hit the water hard, the cold stealing my breath before I push myself downward. Years of training and rescues but none have had me panicking like this, my body desperate to find her.
Everything is frigid. Brutal.
The shock almost locks up my muscles, but adrenaline keeps me moving. Instinct keeps me swimming. I see her—just below me, flailing, bubbles escaping her lips as she fights to reach the surface. All I can think is… not her . Anyone but her .
She’s panicking.
Her movements are erratic and wild, her body twisting against the pull of the current, her hair swirling longer than I expected. I push harder, faster, until I grab her, my arms locking around her waist.
She’s tiny. Even with all those curves she fits against my body, like she was made for me. My arms trap her against my chest. Caging her in so she stops panicking and I can swim us both back to the boat, which is now more than a dozen yards away.
Her body shudders against mine, still struggling, her instincts telling her to fight—until she registers my arms around her, pulling her to the surface. Then her arms are a vise around my neck.
Her hands grip my shirt, fingers digging into my skin, clinging to me with everything she has in her. Something primal kicks in, a burning ferocity to protect her. I hold on to her tighter.
And I kick hard toward the boat.
We burst through the water, with Sterling gasping, choking, coughing violently.
“I’ve got you, woman. Relax and hold on,” I growl, my voice rough, too raw: a bark of a command. She stops struggling, stops trying to climb my body.
She’s shaking uncontrollably, her body curling into mine instinctively, and I barely notice the others shouting from the deck.
Cass and Daisy are leaning over the edge, their faces tight and drawn with worry. Cass is pale, and his expression is something I’ve never seen before—tight with fear that verges on panic, his body vibrating with it.
I can feel it slam into me through the bond, a sharp, tangled web of emotions I have to shut down before it overwhelms me.
Out of all of us, he’s the least in control of his emotions. He often struggles with keeping himself from being pulled under by his feelings and flooding the bond with them. Right now, he’s a fucking mess.
A life preserver hits the water near us, thrown by another passenger on the boat but I don’t need it. I have her. And judging by the death grip she has on me, she wouldn’t let go, anyways.
I adjust my grip, my arm locking around her waist, kicking hard toward the boat. Every movement is driven by urgency, by pure instinct. But as my arm grips her below her breasts, I notice she’s not wearing a life jacket.
What the fuck was she doing on this boat without one?
I can tell her Omega feels the wave of emotion vibrating through me, she tries to loosen her grip, as if preparing to push away from me.
“Don’t let go,” I bark, voice low and sharp.
She shudders against me but obeys. A whimper escapes her as her frozen fingers dig into my soaked shirt.
Even with the adrenaline pouring through me, her whimper affects me.
Leaning into her neck, I nuzzle her, trying to assure her that the fury she must feel in me is my protective instinct, not anger at her.
The rest of the world can fuck off as far as I care.
“It’s alright, new girl.” I hold her tighter, guiding her to the boat, forcing back the animalistic urge to snarl at anyone who let this happen.
The moment my feet hit the ladder, strong hands reach down.
Cass grabs the Omega first, lifting her up like she weighs nothing. I want to hold on to her, feeling like I’m the only one who can keep her safe.
She gasps as she’s hauled over the railing. I climb up right after, soaked and freezing. Water streams off her as Daisy rushes forward, wrapping her in a blanket. She doubles over, coughing up way too much sea water. She’s pale, and water runs off her in rivulets.
Before I can process anything, Cass is in her face.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” Cass growls, his voice sharp enough to cut through the chaos still thrumming in my chest. I’ve never seen him angry at an Omega; at any woman, for that matter. I open the bond and am speared by the intensity of his fear and anger.
Sterling flinches. I’m caught by surprise at how unusually responsive she is to his Alpha nature. He barks at Daisy all the time and she just gives him the finger.
It’s quick—a barely-there movement, a tiny hitch in her breath—but I catch it.
And so does Cass. But he’s too keyed up to back down. I get it. Cass has always feared not being there to protect the people around him. I’m just shocked at the depth of what is coming through the bond.
She blinks up at him, still dazed, still shaking so hard it’s a wonder she’s upright.
Shock has to be settling in. Her lips are blue, her skin pale, and I can see the moment she tries to pull herself together, tries to form words—but nothing comes out.
Instead, a sob breaks from her and tears leak from her eyes.
Cass is breathing too hard, too fast, the Omega’s sudden tears about to send him over the edge. His jaw is tight, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. He’s scared, but Cass doesn’t know how to do scared.
So instead, he’s just fucking angry. I start to move to get him out of there, to give him the space he needs and let him get his head together. To shield Sterling from the storm brewing in him.
The last thing we need is for him to lose his shit on her in front of all our passengers.
“Jesus Cass, back the fuck up and lay off.” Daisy is in front of him, moving between Cass and her before I can get there.
“Sterling, talk to me,” Daisy says, turning her attention to Sterling and giving her back to Cass. My clever sister knows that Cass’s intensity isn’t helping the Omega, but that there is no malice in it, either. Her hands rub heat into the girl’s arms, pulling the blanket tighter around her.
But Sterling isn’t looking at her. She’s looking at Cass.
I can see a moment of realization in her, a glimmer of surprise: she can feel his anger, but not as the rage it is presented as, no.
No, she feels it as the fear that lingers behind tenderness when someone you care for is threatened.
She’s not used to Alphas looking at her like that – like it would matter if she lived or died.
And something inside me twists. Cass takes a breath like he’s about to snap at her again, and before he can, I step in front of him, blocking his view of her.
“Cass, enough. Why don’t you go and grab more blankets,” I offer, my voice low, edged.
I can see him desperately trying to dial it back. His head snaps toward me, but I don’t back down. I may not be prime, but we’ve been together for so long that it doesn't matter. I let my Alpha power slide into my voice and the bond.
“ Enough ,” I say low, “Chill the fuck out.”
Cass glares at me, nostrils flaring—but he doesn’t push it.
Instead, he shoves a hand through his mist-dampened hair, lets out a long breath, and turns to go get more blankets. I can feel the relief he feels of having something to focus on.
I turn back to the girl. Sterling doesn’t move.
She just stands there, wrapped in a blanket, looking like she has no idea what just happened.
She shivers uncontrollably, trying to speak, but her teeth are chattering so hard she can’t get the words out.
“Cass, got those blankets yet?” I shout. Cass comes up from behind me and hands me my jacket and his sweatshirt, as well as another blanket. I toss the blanket to the deck. It’s soaked anyways.
I strip off her wet jacket and her soaked sweater, exposing her torso.
Her plain t-shirt is soaked and nearly transparent.
I run my hands up her bare arms briskly a few times.
She should be naked, skin to skin, but I don’t think she’d want that.
Instead, I pull Cass’s sweatshirt over her head—still warm from his body—and help her get her arms the rest of the way.
I pull her into my arms and hold her close to my chest, wrapping my jacket around her shoulders.
Rubbing firmly up and down, trying to warm her up.
“We need to get her inside,” Cass says, voice even, but I can hear his barely maintained control. The weather is about to turn and she needs to be inside in a bath and then tucked into bed, wrapped in blankets. I knew this was going to be a disaster.
“Yeah,” I mutter, not looking at him.
I scoop Sterling up before anyone can stop me, her body small and trembling in my arms. She lets out a weak noise of protest, but I don’t let go. I can’t.