The Alpha's Saviour

Chapter 1

I grimace at the nasty cuts across his forehead, right cheek, and jaw, his clearly broken nose, and the blood dripping down the side of his face into his wet dark hair. A quick glance confirms that he has suffered some serious injuries, his left forearm is bent at an odd angle, and his shoulder on the same side appears to be dislocated, maybe broken at the collarbone as well.

And that's just what I can see on the outside.

It seems too cruel for him to die after committing such an act of heroism, but any other outcome seems unrealistic looking at him now, deathly pale and still.

I shake my head and refocus, silently thanking the gods for mandatory health and safety training as I start CPR, even though my limbs feel tired and heavy from dragging him ashore. I pray that the approaching sirens get here quickly. I'm aware of someone sinking to their knees in the mud beside me and gripping the man by his shoulders as I continue compressions.

"Cooper! Jesus, this can't be happening." The man beside me says, leaning over to take his pulse again. Suddenly Cooper jerks and coughs violently, choking and retching as his body expels the water from his lungs. Tears of relief prick my eyes as I tilt his large shoulders over to allow the water to pour past his almost blue lips and into the dirt.

"It's ok, you're going to be ok," I whisper into his ear with as much conviction as I can muster. I smooth back the hair from his beautiful deep brown eyes as they blink open slowly. I hear the rattle of a stretcher being carried down the bank and paramedics surround us, crouching down beside him to take over.

I attempt to stand from my kneeling position to give them more space but collapse backward when my legs refuse to work, landing on my ass on the hard ground. Strong hands reach under my armpits from behind, gently pulling me up to a standing position and back a couple of steps so that I'm out of the way.

"Thanks," I mutter, looking over my shoulder at my helper but he isn't even looking at me, he is staring at the man on the ground and knows him well judging by the look on his face. He pushes his jaw-length blonde hair back roughly with one hand, blinking back tears and cursing under his breath. I'm not optimistic that his friend is out of the woods yet, so I say nothing. Once my jelly legs start to work again and can hold me upright on their own, I step away and wrap my arms around myself and watch as they load Cooper onto a backboard to carry him back up the hill.

My body starts to shiver now that the initial adrenaline rush has passed and the cold that has seeped into my bones finally registers with my brain. My legs start to give way again but the man behind me catches me before I hit the ground. He turns me to face him, holding me steady by my shoulders and I stare dumbly into the brightest pair of icy blue eyes that I have ever seen. He bends down till we're eye to eye and looks at me with concern as my teeth start to chatter, before slowly looking me up and down, taking in my wet hair and lack of clothing.

"Are you ok? Fuck, I think you need to get warm..." he looks at me, expecting me to move or to formulate  some kind of an answer, but my brain can't seem to force out any words through the fog in my mind and so I just continue to stare. I don't think I even manage a nod.

He frowns before sweeping me up into his arms, and my head rolls back to rest on his shoulder as I just kind of flop in his arms, all my energy spent. He adjusts my position and holds me tightly against his solid chest before turning to carry me up the hill behind the stretcher. A deep rumble reaches us, sounding almost like a growl to me, and he jerks his head up quickly to stare at his friend, before looking back to me with a curious look on his face. After depositing me carefully on a waiting stretcher parked behind one of the ambulance's open doors, he cups my face in both hands and leans in close.

"Cooper would be dead without you; I have no words." He shakes his head before meeting my eyes again, "Thank you." I grip his hand and give it a quick squeeze.

"Is he going to be ok?" I manage to stutter out as I am strapped down and loaded into the back of the ambulance.

"He'll be ok." He reassures me, giving me a little wink before nodding once, sprinting to the back of another ambulance where Cooper is and jumping in beside him before the doors slam closed. There is a crowd gathered now, drawn by the flashing red and blue lights, all huddled around with worried faces and speaking in hushed voices.

So much for laying low and avoiding any drama.

All that work trying to find somewhere to hide and build a new life, and something tells me I've just ruined it all. I shut my eyes and despite the paramedic beside me asking me to try and stay awake, I feel myself drifting into sleep as the siren turns on and the ambulance pulls away.

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