Pledge to Me

Chapter Two

Welcome to the next chapter! Let me know what you think so far!

Pic of Anders (No model, this image was created with AI and licensing belongs to me)

Enjoy!

XOXO,

Rina

Chapter Two

That weightless feeling lasted all of two seconds before a hand gripped the front of my jacket, jerking me forward. The movement caused my pack to slip off my shoulders, making the freefall my body had been promised.

Leo's teeth gritted as he pulled me up over the edge, grasping any part of me he could reach to get a better grip. When I made it over the edge and onto the safety of flat land, my chest heaved with what very well could have been the end.

"You good, Micah?" Anders asked, over the pattering of the rain.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Staggering to my feet, I glanced over the edge. I could have died. I almost died. My eyes trailed up to the male who watched me closely. Leo's gaze was piercing, peeling every layer of my skin until he saw everything underneath.

"Thank you," I told him quietly, not even sure he'd hear me over the pouring rain. But he nodded once, letting me know he either heard me or read my lips.

"We'll go back for your pack when the storm clears up," Anders said after glancing over the edge. "For now, let's keep moving."

Not sure when he became our defacto leader, but I nodded and followed anyway. Seemed like the path of least resistance. And if Leo was fine with it, then I wouldn't have a chance to protest anyway.

The cold was biting through my clothes, despite the thermals underneath my uniform. We trudged forward, thankfully avoiding any more of the treacherous paths. It took about an hour or so of travel before we finally saw a dark little shack in the distance. A breath of relief washed out of me, sagging my shoulders, and providing just a bit more adrenaline to make it to our destination now that it was finally in sight.

The feeling must have been collective because our pace picked up drastically. When we made it to the tiny cabin, it was clear it needed a lot more than a bit of love. After shooing away some critters that made their home in the abandoned structure, I immediately went to work and got a fire going in the mini hearth. There wasn't a lot of wood stocked inside so we'd have to be strategic with how much we used until it dried out outside.

There was a single bedroom with a large bed and threadbare blankets and sheets, clearly eaten by some pests. The bathroom was outside, if one could even call it that. It was vintage, to say the least, just a hole in the ground for waste. The kitchen was a bit more workable. A woodburning stove and plenty of cabinets for storage.

We'd have to build quite a lot to survive for the month, but the bones were good. That's a plus at least.

I pulled off my jacket and the rest of my clothes, the others doing the same. We laid them out around the fire to dry. The others still had their blankets from their packs. I went to the bedroom to pull the blanket off the bed, not caring that I was baring my ass to the world.

When I came back into the living room, if one could even call it that, Leo was there, in all his naked glory, holding his hand out. I frowned at him.

"What?" I asked, about to pull the blanket around me.

He jerked his head toward the ratty blanket. Confused, I handed it to him. He held his own pristine blanket to me. Dazed, I grabbed it, then watched as he wrapped the ratty, tattered cloth around his shoulders and padded over to the fire where Anders sat.