When my senses return, he is no longer on me, and Beh is screaming my name-sound. I shake my head and push myself up on my elbow as I try to focus on the two of them not far from me. He has a firm grip on her arm and is pulling her to him as he backs away down the beach.
Crying out again, I jump up and rush over to them. The man is lifting my mate up off the ground, and she is screaming and kicking out with her legs. He looks up at my approach, growls, and throws Beh down to the rocks below him.
Just before I reach him, I see a short piece of driftwood on the ground in front of me, and I crouch to grab it with my hand before I leap at him again. He swings his arm and connects with my shoulder, but I grip the driftwood tightly and swing it at his head.
He screams in pain and wraps his arms around his head. I hit him again, this time across his back. He waves an arm at me, but I duck out of the way, and his swing is ineffective. The next time I swing, I connect with his jaw, and he flies backwards against the rocks.
Rolling unsteadily to his hands and knees, he scampers on the ground for a moment before he gains his footing and runs for the trees. With a scream of victory, I run for Beh, who is lying motionless near the water. Dropping to my knees beside her, I lift her head from the ground and push her hair out of her face.
“Beh!”
Her eyes are closed, and she doesn’t stir when I call out her name-sound. There are visible bruises forming on her cheek and arms, but I don’t think those would cause her to sleep. I wrap my other arm around her shoulders to lift her further from the rocks.
There’s blood all over the rocks where her head landed. Beh’s hair is red and matted, and her blood is all over my hands and her face. I pull her into my lap and hold her tightly, trying to push the blood away from her skin, but it keeps coming out of a gash near her temple. She must have hit her head on the rocks when he threw her to the ground.
I keep trying to push the blood away with my fingers, but it just doesn’t stop. It drips and pools on the ground as I cry out her name-sound, but she doesn’t open her eyes. My chest feels like it’s trying to crush itself, and my throat is tight and sore as I cry out for her but receive no answer. My hands shake as I hold her head against my shoulder and rock back and forth. I feel warm tears leaking from my eyes.
I don’t bother to push them away.
My forehead hurts when I squeeze my eyes shut and tuck my face against her tangled hair.
“Beh?” I shake her shoulders a little, but she does not move. I shudder as tears stain my cheeks again, and I turn my face to the sky and scream.
I don’t know how long I sit on the rocks, holding my mate against my chest—I only know that as the wind blows colder, it finally gets my attention, and I look up to see the sky turning red with the sunset.
Beh has not moved.
I gasp and cough, trying to clear my throat so I can breathe properly and then decide I just don’t care. My stomach roils, and I have to turn my head over my shoulder as I retch. I swallow hard through bile and mucus in my throat and cough again.
“Beh?” I whisper. I run my thumb over her cheek, and her skin is cold. I’m gripped by another sob as I lay my ear against her chest, barely able to keep my grip on her as I listen closely…
…and hear the shallow but steady beat of her heart.
I need to get her back to the cave to warm her.
Stumbling to my feet, I lift her in my arms. Part of me wants to just run as fast as I can to get her to safety, but her furs are still lying on the ground near the edge of the lake, and I don’t want to risk falling and dropping her. I refuse to put her down though, and I hold her with one arm as I bend at the knees to reach her furs and place them over her body. I gather everything I can in this way and tuck her close against my body as I begin to walk.
It’s good I know the paths as well as I do because I can’t focus on where my feet are going, only on the woman in my arms and the blood on her face. Another cry rips through my chest as I keep up my slow but steady pace, trying to make sure I don’t jostle her too much.
The sun sets behind my back just as I reach the steppes on the other side of the pine forest. I can see the cliff that holds our cave, but it still takes some time to get there. Making my way up the slight incline and then through the tight crack while carrying Beh isn’t easy, but I hold her tighter and manage to get inside.
It’s dark, and the fire is nothing but embers.
As carefully as I can, I lay Beh in our furs at the back of the cave. I place the side of my face against her chest once more. She still hasn’t moved at all, but I can hear her heart beating. Taking a deep breath, I stumble to the fire and quickly rekindle the flames, add logs, and rush back to Beh’s side.
She is still, and her skin remains chilled.
I rub my hands up and down her arms in an effort to warm her and then grab all of the spare furs from around the cave to pile them in the depression where we sleep. I lie beside her, wrap her in the furs, and push her hair from her forehead again.
The gash no longer seeps blood, but it is nasty looking even in the firelight.
“Beh?”