Alphas and Angels

Alphas and Angels - Chapter 11

"Just a little bit further," Jeremy calls out. I look towards him, far from me and near the top of the hill. He adjusts the backpack on his shoulders as he looks down at me, smiling all the while.

I want to smack the smile off his face.

I'm by no means unfit. But, the downside is that that doesn't mean I am fit. I can keep up just fine, I'd imagine, with humans. But now, with Jeremy the Werewolf Boy, I'm finding that my stamina might have been greatly overestimated.

I put my hands on my hips and take a couple of deep breaths. My forehead is coated in a layer of sweat that I can feel beading and dripping down the sides of my face. Similarly, the tank top I'm wearing is clinging to my back, and I fidget uncomfortably at the feeling. Besides that, Jeremy instructed me to wear a bathing suit underneath, and it certainly doesn't work as nicely as underwear as I would have hoped.

We've been hiking for over an hour now, my only respite being the times we get to go downhill. Jeremy promised me the hill we currently stand on is the last one we will have to clamber, and while I'm thanking my lucky stars, I wish I could just lay on the ground and sleep. A strange feeling, considering I've never slept a day in my life.

Wiping my forehead on the back of my hand, I decide it would be better to get this over quickly and put all my strength into clearing the hill. My legs burn in protest, but I remind myself that a break awaits us at the top.

"I was wondering if you'd make it," Jeremy says, a teasing smile on his lips as I finally make it next to him.

"You're really trying to make this a bad date, huh?" I mutter bitterly, glaring at his pleased smile. He's standing in the sun, out of the comforting shade of the trees, and I feel the heat on my cheeks, burning them and I'm sure giving new color to my face. It's a scalding hot day, and Jeremy mentioned it was somewhere in the upper 80's.

"Great things are worth the struggle," he says, taking my hand in his. "Besides, we're almost to where I wanted to take you."

"If it's too much further you're going to have to drag my corpse," I whine as he begins pulling me forward with him. He just laughs at me, assuring me it's just over the crest of the hill.

As he pulls me forward, I selfishly take his strength and let him be most of the driving force behind my movements. I take a moment to view my surroundings. After a while, the forest all started looking the same--trees, rocks, dirt, some more trees and dirt--but now it's beginning to thin out and give way to more rocky terrain. I would be completely and utterly lost without Jeremy, who seems to know where we are with perfect precision.

The woods are lovely, but as I look at Jeremy, I realize they couldn't compare. The sun is high in the sky, giving a new brilliance to the color of his hair and the smoothness of his skin. He's wearing a form-fitting shirt, and sweat causes it to cling to him further and reveal what's underneath--every curve, every angle of his toned physique.

I never expected myself to care much about these types of things, but it seems every piece of him is something to care about. The way the muscles in his back flex, his calves strain, everything about him is magnificent and beautiful. And when he looks back at me, the sunlight hits his eyes just right and makes them turn into pure, molten oceans of golden brown.

"We're here," he says as I stare at him in awe, effectively snapping me out of my admiration.

I look forward, my breath catching in my throat as I look out to the vast expanse of water in front of me. We're high above it, nearing the edge of a cliff. The water churns gently, a dark blue color that looks so refreshing to my heated skin. Jeremy guides me over a fallen tree, and then we are mere feet from the edge. I chance a look down, realizing how high above the body of water we are. 30 feet easily, maybe closer to 50. It fills me with equal parts awe and terror.