Mated to the Alpha and His Beta (Lanie Stanton) novel Chapter 444

Chapter 444
Lanie

On deck, I clung to the railing with every bit of strength I had or could steal from my wolf. The yacht pitched as each wave took us higher Than the one before it. Up, up, up, and then down, we’d plunge into the well left behind by each crest.

I thought I might be screaming, but I couldn’t hear my own voice above the sound of the storm. Rain slashed at my face, cutting into my cheeks and forcing me to close my eyes. My feet slid out from under me.

With determination, I redoubled my efforts to get to my daughter. Hand over hand, I hauled myself along that railing, getting closer an inch at a time to where Stella stood at the front of the yacht. I could hear my mates shouting through our mind link, but their voices sounded so far away I couldn’t understand what they were saying. I knew they would be fighting to get to her the same way I was, though.

This yacht might sink, but we’d swim, if we had to.

I couldn’t Seek the way Stella could. I had to open my eyes despite the cold, icy slashes of rain. I squinted against the harsh pellets of hail now pelting me. They bounced off the deck and made it even more slippery than it had been before. My feet tried to go out from under me again. My hands slipped off the railing. I went to my hands and knees on the slick wood. The boat rocked, up and down, worse than a roller coaster.

“I will crawl to you, if that’s what it takes,” I sent to my daughter, not knowing if she could hear me. Praying to the Moon Goddess and to whatever deity would listen that the sound of my voice would reach Stella. That she knew her mother was coming for her.

My nails duck into the wooden deck, swollen with saltwater. The boat pitched, and I fell forward, hitting my face against the deck. Pain flared, but I fought it. My wolf didn’t try to fight for control, understanding that this was not a battle she could win. She sent me her strength, though. Her wolf’s stamina. Without it, my exhaustion would have sent me into unconsciousness.

I forced my head up. I could see my daughter’s dark shape, still at the front of the boat. I thanked the Goddess that Stella hadn’t been swept overboard. Even as I watched in horror, another immense wave rose up like some great beast and swept over her. I held my own breath as the water cascaded toward me. It buffeted me against the deck, slamming me against the side of the cabin where the captain sat to navigate. As the wave receded, I was pulled toward the back of the yacht again. The water sucked at me like a greedy mouth trying to draw me into a monstrous gullet.

It was alive, I thought. The water. Alive. Hating and hungry.