Transcendence(75)

I run, my arms spread out wide and my throat becoming raw with my screams. He stands to full height and flings Beh to the side as he prepares for my onslaught. I do not care that he is larger. He is trying to take Beh from me, and I will not let that happen.

I can’t.

I can’t be without her.

We collide, and our bodies fall to the ground, half in and half out of the water. With a quick roll, he is on top of me. I feel the sting of his fist against my face as I struggle to right myself. He hits me twice more before I manage to punch back, sending him to the side. I follow him, trying to gain ground as I swing my arms wildly with the hopes of hurting him. We roll over each other, first with him on top, but I shove against him with all of my strength. As I pull back to hit his face, he kicks at my stomach and throws me off of him altogether.

I land on my backside near the water line but push myself to my feet quickly. He comes at me, ducking his head at the last moment and ramming into my stomach, knocking the air from my lungs. Falling to the rocks, I gasp and hit his back a few times but to no avail. I twist and turn as we grapple and manage to get my knee against his chest to shove him from me.

I can hear Beh yelling, but I can’t look at her right now. My back is aching from where he knocked me to the ground, and I can still just barely draw breath. As the other man regains his footing, I pick up rocks and start hurling them toward him in hope of hitting him in the head, but my aim is off, and he comes at me again.

We circle each other, and I know that I can’t beat him with just strength. He is far larger than I, and his strength much greater. My chest hurts, and I can feel bile burning the back of my throat at the thought, but in my mind I know I can’t win. If I don’t win, he is going to take Beh and put his baby in her instead of mine. He may even take her away from me completely.

I scream at the very thought and try to jump up and gain some advantage in height, but he is prepared for me and throws me easily to the ground. He jumps on top of me, and again I feel his fists. One strikes my temple, and for a moment everything goes dark.

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.