Healed by the Alpha (Hunted Book Two)

Chapter Fifty Three

Emily

I saw Dom slip and my heart leapt into my throat. My body jumped into action without even thinking. I grabbed into his arm just as he fell over the edge and strained to keep him upright. I gritted my teeth against the pain in my knees and pulled as much as I could to get him any kind of stability. I could feel his legs kicking out from underneath him as he struggled to gain any kind of leverage on the wall.

Finally he stopped struggling and the weight on my arm became considerably lighter. I shifted all of my body strength to my core and pulled as hard as I could. I could feel the progress but I couldn't be happy just yet, I needed to get him inside first. I let go of his arm as he reached over and lifted himself inside the cave. He was shaking, whether that was from fear or cold it was hard to tell. Maybe it was both?

I ran over to him and covered his body with my own, "are you okay? Are you cold? Do you need anything?" I couldn't stop the questions from spewing from my mouth. I wanted to help him, but I knew what he would tell me to do before the words even came from his mouth. "Find Malik." I shook my head, "I can't just leave you here, you'll probably freeze to death after a fall like that." He placed a hand on my arm, "I'll be fine, I'm going to try to find stuff to make a fire."

That I could agree with. As much as I wanted to take care of him, he didn't need to to take care of him. He could manage it all by himself. I just couldn't stop worrying about him. I wiped my knees down and sprinted further into the cave, it was pitch black, but it didn't take me long to find Malik. He was curled into a ball on the floor in front of me. Thank goodness he wore clothes to bed, I don't think my stomach could've taken seeing him naked.

"Dom!" I shouted into the darkness. I heard my voice reverberate off of the walls as it traveled around to reach him. I saw a spark of light from the way that I'd come and thanked the moon goddess that at least we'd have a fire to warm up next to. I felt by Malik's nose just to check he was still breathing and then I started to sit him up. Dom came a moment later and instantly started to check Malik over. "How he made it all the way up here without a scratch and completely unconscious is an absolute mystery," he marvelled.

We both took him under an arm and dragged him to the mouth of the cave where the fire had been made. After placing him down behind the fire and making sure he wouldn't sleep walk again, we decided to go exploring. On the walk deeper into the cave I decided to create conversation, "how exactly did you make the fire?"

Dom tapped the side of his nose and smiled at me, "Alpha secrets." The further we walked the more I could see, I was getting concerned about the mysterious light until I realised that the cave had an opening in the roof. This meant that the moon could shine straight down and, in turn, light whatever was underneath it.

"I'm really grateful that you came with me," Dom said, barely a whisper. "I could've died without you here." I smiled at him sincerely, "I would never let that happen. Who else would I get to play around with as much?" Dom's arm snapped out in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. "Shhh." He told me, "listen." I strained my ears, at first I couldn't hear anything. I was starting to think he was playing around with me until I heard it too. The sound of rushing water. "Is that what I think it is?" I asked him. "It's either a waterfall, or we're in for terrible shock."

We turned a corner in the cave and there, right in the middle of this wall of rock, was a moon pool with a waterfall. "How does the water even get up this far?" I questioned, not actually expecting an answer. "For once," Dom started to say, "I actually don't have an answer."

A smile made its way to my face and I ran forwards and stopped at the lip of the pool. All around, the rock looked like it was twinkling with thousands of stars. My mind instantly flashed back to the night Dom took me to the starry beach in the dream realm.

"It's the light." Dom said, coming up behind me. "It makes the water look magical." He didn't stop walking, not until he'd wrapped his arms around my waist and placed his head in my shoulder. He was looking straight at the water, I was trying hard not to freak out. "It's almost as beautiful as you."

I snuggled myself deeper into his arms, taking in all of his warmth. "I bet the water is cold.." I speculated. Before I could stop him, Dom let go of my and walked straight through the water. He was wading until the whole bottom half of his body was covered.

I could see his teeth chattering from a safe distance away, "is it cold?" I laughed. He nodded briefly before running out of the water at the fastest speed I'd ever seen. My laughter bounced from the walls and Dom looked up following the sound like his life depended on seeing where it would end.

When his eyes met mine again they were clouded over. "You have the most beautiful voice I have ever heard," his feet were moving towards me, "the most beautiful face I have ever seen..." he stopped an inch away from my face. "And I want you Emily. I have wanted you for so long and I don't want to wait anymore."

I gulped down a breath, trying to calm my beating heart, "I want you too. I don't want you to wait. I don't want to wait." And then, the Alpha of Dawn placed his hand on either side of my cheeks and kissed me. It was long and passionate and full of affection. So what if he wasn't my mate, the more time I spent around him, the more I was sure I wouldn't want anyone else the way I wanted him.

It was time we stopped lying to ourselves and pushing the feelings away.

It was time to take chances and be brave.

It was time to be healed by the Alpha.