Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future

| crouch down and try to make myself look as small as possible. | feel a lump of tears in my throat but |

refuse to let him see me cry, as | plead again, “Ryan, please don't do this. You don’t want to do this.”

My teeth chatter and | shiver as the frigid wind swirls around me. | look over the side of the deep

ravine. The river at the bottom is raging dark red in the moonlight with giant chunks of ice and snow

swirling in the current. Blood River. If | try to jump, I’m going to die on the rusty rocks just below the

surface. If | were in wolf form maybe | would have a chance. Maybe. That’s not an option now. | turn

back around to face my fate. "Please! Please don't do this, Ryan! Dagger, please let me talk to Ryan!" |

beg for mercy. The wind gusts hard against my bare skin, chilling me to the bone. | am shivering

violently, wishing | was somewhere warm. | hug myself, in a hopeless attempt to protect my naked

body. Dagger takes advantage of my distraction and takes a step forward, lowering his head in

preparation to attack. Only ten steps separate us now.

In the distance, howls can be heard and hope flickers in my heart. Please Goddess, Mother, please

help them get here in time. We both look in the direction of the sound. From down the mountain, the

thundering sound of wolf paws gets closer and closer but it still sounds so far away.

| look back at Dagger and notice glimmers of light reflecting in my peripheral vision. | flick my eyes into

the distance behind him, three wolves are silently stalking Dagger in a triangular formation. Two large

dark brown wolves and a giant white wolf in the center with one green eye. Saint! My heart leaps at the

sight of him. Saint and the other two wolves are downwind. Dagger doesn't seem to notice, | have to

keep distracting him before he catches his stalkers’ scents. | just need to give them enough time so

they can get close enough to catch him.

“Ryan please, come on, just shift and we can talk about this. No one has to get hurt,” | continue to beg,

giving Saint and the other two wolves time to get in position.

“Ryan, if you want me to go back with you, w- we can figure something out," | choke out the words as |

lie to him.

Dagger paws the ground as if he is considering his next move. He thinks for a moment, then growls

deep and angry just before he launches his giant body at me. | brace for impact, fully prepared to be

thrown off the edge of the ravine but the impact never comes. Saint leaps at the same time, grabbing

Dagger firmly by the neck. They sail toward the edge of the cliff, wrestling for control.

“SAINT, NO! The cliff!” | scream as | duck down. It's too late, both of the wolves fly over the edge and

disappear into the night. “NOOOOOO!!” | wail as | turn and looking at the space where they were just

suspended in the air. | watch Saint, still growling and snarling, attached to a struggling Dagger’s neck

as they both splash into the water and sink into the frigid, swirling currents of blood- red water.

My heart suddenly feels like it's being ripped in athousand pieces. An endless hole opens up inside of

me and starts to swallow me whole. The pain of the mate bond breaking is excruciating. It feels like it

will never end. “SAIINNNTTT!!!! BROONNX!!!” | howl at the top of my lungs. | start to run forward.

“Kas! No!” Milo grabs me roughly around the waist before I'm able to throw myself off the cliff after

Saint. °

“Milo let me go, let me go! | have to help him! Don’t just stand there! We need to go after them. We

have to save Bronx,” | cry hysterically and growl as Milo drags me away from the ledge. | hopelessly try

to fight my way out of his strong grip.

“No, Little Sister. No, we are not cliff jumping tonight, come on, we have to get back down the

mountain,” his voice is firm and calm. How can he be calm right now?! »°

My arms start to go numb and | can’t talk. Is it from the cold? Is it from the shock? | don’t know. Is Milo

really giving up that easily on his Alpha? His best friend? Isn't this just a dream? | just want to wake up

now. The dream has turned into a nightmare.

The other wolf comes over and Milo sets me on top of him, wrapping my arms around its neck for me.

“Hurry up, she’s going into shock and it’s below freezing. Hypothermia is probably setting in. We need

to get her to the pack hospital. I'll mind link Lenora and let her know we're on the way,” Milo says

hurriedly before he shifts back to wolf form too.

| feel numb. He's gone. Bronx and Saint came to save me and they died. They're dead because of me.

The wolf I’m riding sprints full speed. | don't know how long he runs. | don’t care. It doesn’t matter.

Nothing matters now that Bronx is gone. | am hollow. Infinitely empty. | close my eyes tightly trying to

block out the world as the wolf races down the mountain. The sun is up now. Lenora, Ashley, and

Delilah all come running out of the packhouse. They pull me off the wolf and wrap me in blankets. It

doesn’t matter though, | can’t move my body. Everything is numb from disbelief. | have no idea if I’m

cold or not.

“Get her inside, take her to the hospital wing. | don’t think she’s hurt, but she’s in shock. She saw Saint

go over the edge,” | hear Reggie's voice. | hear other voices yelling in the distance but | can’t hear what

they're saying.

| close my eyes for a moment. When I open them, I’m in a room in the pack hospital. People are

shining lights into my eyes and taking my pulse. They place warm heavy blankets over me and hook

me up to machines.

“Luna, you can rest now. You'll feel better when you wake up,” | hear a nurse say. No, no | won't feel

better, lady. Delilah comes to the bedside and takes my hand.

“Go away,” | say to her and pull my hand away. | can’t find the strength to have emotion in my voice.

“Kas, please listen,” she pleads.

“No. Go away. Leave me alone, Delilah. You've done enough.” °

She looks around the room for a moment then turns and walks away. I’m pretty sure | hear her crying

before she leaves the room but | don't care. The room is quiet now, except for the rhythmic beeps of

the heart monitor. The sound is soothing. A deep dreamless sleep comes quickly.