The Alpha's Daydream ✔️

Chapter 26

3368 words

My eyes close, the force of the wind pushing my lashes flat against my skin.

I am breathless, my limbs flailing in the freefall that has enveloped me like a scorned lover.

In the fraction of a second I have to think, I know this will end badly. No one falls head first off a sixty foot cliff into a solid pool of glassy water and survives. If I had jumped myself, I could have angled my body to enter with my feet, breaking the surface tension and thus protecting my fragile body.

But I was not given that choice. I was pushed, left grappling for traction, slipping before I could even utter a cry of alarm.

A rough and throaty howl startles me, and I open my eyes in time to see a dark form looming above me, coming closer and closer as they have thrown themselves off the cliff after me.

Malachi!

His black hair is rushing back with the speed at which he reaches for me, his determined eyes riveted on me.

Time seems to disintegrate. I don't know how long I have been falling, all I am aware of is my mate falling towards me like my own saviour from heaven.

My own angel.

For as I watch him, I see in the sunlight around him the outline of silver wings, so light and transparent, yet strong and graceful as he angles his body towards me. When his arms wrap around me, caging me against himself, I know I will be alright.

I can survive this in the arms of my mate.

With a snap of the wings on his back, he twists us around, so when we reach the water it isn't my skull that takes the impact.

Water engulfs us, traps us like an icy cocoon, but all I see are the crystal blue eyes of my mate. He keeps our gazes locked as we plummet down, deep under the water, a rush of bubbles surrounding us like moonlit fireflies on a summer night.

We stop descending, and we float suspended, lost in the mystery between us.

My body realises I have no breath. My lungs begin to scream in echo of my earlier scream. A painful heat sears my insides as I thirst for oxygen.

We don't reach the surface fast enough. My cold fingers tighten on Malachi's shoulders, clawing at him as if he can give me relief from this watery prison even as he kicks upwards in swift strokes.

Malachi must notice my desperation as he wraps his hand behind my neck, pulling me closer, then places his mouth over mine.

And breathes into my lungs.

A riot of emotions tumble through me as I suck in the much-needed air. The spark of his lips. The simultaneous beating of our hearts. His large hands that have slipped under my shirt and hold my waist firmly and warmly.

I think we have reached the surface as a coolness wraps around me, presumably the late afternoon breeze. But I don't notice. My arms are holding Malachi in a death-lock as I keep my lips pressed against his, receiving sustenance like a starving man in a desert.

Like a drowning girl in a swimming hole.

When I feel him smile into the kiss, I dare to pull back. I blink the water from my eyes, stunned by what just happened.

"You okay?" Malachi asks, and it takes a moment to register the question as I can only stare at the beautiful face that is millimetres from mine. A part of me thought I might never see him again. A part of me thought my skull would crack and my organs explode as I hit the crystal surface of the water.