After everything he’d done, betraying her, planning to humiliate her in front of everyone, she didn’t believe he’d care enough to search. Not really. Not beyond appearances.

So once those two warriors reported what they saw... the fall, the impact, the water turning red...

That would be enough.

Everyone would believe the same thing.

That she was dead.

Once they believed she was dead, everything would end cleanly.

No more ties. No more packs. No more chains dragging her back.

She could disappear. Go somewhere no one knew her name. Start over. Live a life that was finally hers.

That was the plan.

But her body was breaking.

By the time she pushed herself toward the unclaimed shore, the damage caught up to her. Her vision blurred, dark spots bleeding into everything. Every stroke drained her faster than the last, her strength slipping through her fingers no matter how hard she fought to hold on.

She could feel that she was close. So damn close to the shore.

And yet...

Her limbs turned heavy. Her body felt like it was being dragged down, weighed with iron. The water pulled at her, cold and relentless, threatening to swallow her whole.

She tried to move.

But nothing responded.

And slowly... she began to sink.

Then, through the blur, she saw movement.

Figures on the far side.

Lights cut through the darkness, sweeping across the trees as a group moved along the forest line. Some stood near the shore, calling out, voices carried by the wind, faint and broken, words she couldn’t make out.

And they were searching. That was enough.

Instinct took over.

With what little strength she had left, Ashley forced her uninjured arm up. It felt impossibly heavy, like lifting stone, but she pushed through it, fingers trembling as she waved weakly above the water.

This was it.

Her last gamble.

If they saw her, she’d live.

If they didn’t... Then this was where it ended.

On the shore, the group was still searching.

Their missing companion had been gone for hours. She’d said she was just stepping away for a bit, too shy to relieve herself close to camp. No one questioned it. If anything, they understood. Out here, with no proper facilities and only tents pitched by the lake, the girls needed to think about their privacy.

So they let her go.

And they waited.

At first, it was nothing. A few minutes turned into half an hour, then an hour... until unease started creeping in. By the time night fully settled and she still hadn’t returned, that unease turned into fear.

The girl sharing her tent was the first to speak up, her voice tight as she called for everyone to start looking. That was when it hit them that this wasn’t normal.

Not after what the forest rangers had warned them.

Wolves had been sighted on the far side of the forest. Hungry ones. The kind that might start pushing into other areas if food ran scarce. They’d been specifically told not to wander off alone.

And she had gone anyway.

The group didn’t hesitate anymore. The men grabbed flashlights, forming search parties, sweeping the forest and shoreline while calling out her name, voices growing louder, more desperate with every passing minute.

"Clarissa! Where are you?!" the man shouted into the darkness, his voice cutting through the forest.

Only the hollow hoot of an owl answered him, followed by the constant, eerie chorus of insects.

"Clarissa!!"

Their shouts stretched into the dark, echoing across the lake, until one of the men by the shore caught a flicker of movement in the water. At first, he dismissed it as nothing more than ripples, maybe fish brushing too close to the surface.

He almost looked away. Almost. But then something broke through the water, a thin shape, like a stick rising for a second before dipping again. His instincts snapped. He swung his flashlight toward it, the beam cutting across the surface, and he froze.

There was a thin pale arm sticking out of the water, and it was slowly sinking.

"Clarissa!" The name barely left his mouth before he was already moving. He dropped the flashlight, tore off his shirt and shoes, and sprinted into the water. The moment it reached his waist, he dove forward, cutting through the lake with strong, practiced strokes. He was the best swimmer among them; if anyone could make it in time, it was him.

But when he reached the spot...

She was gone.

A spike of panic shot through him. Without hesitation, he dragged in a deep breath and plunged under. The cold swallowed him whole, vision dim and murky, but then he saw her.

A figure.

Sinking.

Her pale body drifting deeper, slipping away inch by inch.

He surged forward, pushing harder, faster, until his hand finally caught her arm. Without wasting a second, he pulled her up with all his strength, breaking through the surface with a sharp gasp. The woman was limp, unconscious.

He had no time to think.

He hooked an arm around her shoulders, holding her above the water as he kicked back toward the shore, dragging her with everything he had left.

"I found her!!" the man shouted from the water, his voice breaking through the night as he swam hard toward the shore.

Those closest to him snapped their heads up. "Here! Over here!" they yelled, waving the others in, scrambling into position as they rushed to help.

By the time he reached shallow water, his arms were already shaking from the cold and strain, but he didn’t slow down. He staggered forward, carrying the woman against his chest until the others waded in to meet him. Together, they pulled her onto the shore and laid her flat on the ground.

"She’s not moving, check her breathing!"

No one hesitated. One of them dropped to their knees, hands already positioning for CPR. Gender didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except saving her.

They tilted her head back, ready to breathe into her...

"Cough—!" Ashley suddenly jerked, a mouthful of water spilling from her lips as her body convulsed. She choked and gasped, dragging in air as life snapped back into her lungs.

She’d made it.

Just in time.

Ashley coughed weakly, her body trembling with each shallow breath. A beam of light suddenly hit her face, making her squint as she tried and failed to turn away.

"Wait... she’s not Clarissa..." one of the men blurted.

The flashlight swept over her again, slower this time, and the moment it did, the mood shifted.

Her face was deathly pale, lips drained of color. One shoulder sat at a wrong, unnatural angle, clearly dislocated. And when she shifted slightly, more of her injuries came into view, long, jagged wounds along her arm, streaks of blood across her back, the kind of damage that made it painfully clear she hadn’t just fallen, she’d barely survived it.

A sharp breath rippled through the group. Some of them even recoiled.

"Miss... what happened to you?" one man asked, his voice tight, then immediately realized how pointless that was. She could barely stay conscious, let alone explain anything.

"Forget that, she needs a hospital," the man who saved Ashley snapped, urgency cutting through the shock. "Now!"

The others didn’t argue.