Twice Tempted: Between Two Alphas (Mia and Cameron) novel Chapter 87

Chapter Eighty-Seven

Something thumps my chest. I double over and heave.

My ribs are broken.

I feel the cracked edges cutting into muscles as I puke up what feels like an ocean.

Valaria’s above me. Her hand is curled into a fist.

She looks worried.

I’m not the first to drop into the depths of this pool, I realize.

There was no guarantee that I would See.

Or that I would survive.

Fuck these Seers for not giving me all the facts.

I am a mother.

I had a right to leave this island and to hell with whatever this purported ‘gift’ might be.

Before I allow Nala to unleash our rage on this Priestess, I stand up. The pain in my chest is brutal. It’s probably a miracle she didn’t punch straight through my sternum.

Or maybe her pounding on my chest is what prompted the vision with Cassian?

I don’t know what is real or what to believe.

“You didn’t know what would happen,” I say, daring her to contradict me.

She doesn’t reply.

Yeah. Nope. I’m out.

They had no right to make that decision without sharing the risks. Awakening Ceremony, my ass.

I could’ve died.

And that could’ve crippled or killed Cameron.

And I would have done that willingly, leaving behind my kids.

“Cameron!” Is he okay? Did I foresee…

“He’s alive,” Valaria tells me.

A shuddering breath leaves my body and it triggers another coughing fit.

“Seeing is only the first step,” Valaria begins.

I start to shift. My legs extend and my face contorts.

Maybe it’s reactionary.

Because I’m naked and still tasting the salty, alkaline water that invaded my throat and lungs.

Or because the fear of dying–of knowing just how close I came to it, has me wanting to place as much distance between myself and this place as I can.

I don’t know.

I don’t care.

I need to see Cam and my kids.

I push my body to shift completely.

I feel wild.

“I need to go to Wyoming,” I tell the pilot.

“This plane doesn’t have enough fuel for that.”

“Get us en route and plan to refuel then.”

“Enroute to where, exactly? Wyoming is a big state.” He doesn’t say it rudely. Just matter-of-fact.

I recall the mountains in the background. I think it was South Absaroka. It’s a giant wilderness preserve spanning from Wyoming into our packlands in Montana.

“Shoshone National Forest,” I tell the pilot.

He hands me some kind of GPS unit. “Can you give me the actual coordinates? I have to file our flight log…”

“Sure.”

I fumble with the device, zooming on the map while I try to link with Cameron.

Cameron, I call to him. Where are you?

It’s hard to connect.

We’re moving into position, Mia. We’ve staked the wraiths. I’ll signal you when we’re done.

You need to wait. Do you hear me! Don’t go!

But there’s a rush in my head that’s almost like static.

Cam’s syncing with his pack. They run silent when heading into battle.

And I know, despite my vision, that I’m already too late…