Chapter 9

The whistle blew

“Game on babe”

I took off paddling left and right, I looked around and he was not on either side of me, I turned around and he was still at the starting line

“What, giving up already?” I yelled back at him

“Just giving you a head start” he yelled back “sweetheart” he added through mind link, making me smile, I turned and started paddling again, I got halfway and looked back he was still at the starting line

“Ready or not here I come” he growled each row of his made him shoot forward like a rocket, I turned and paddled left then right, and within seconds he was right next to me

“still think you can beat me without your wolf?” I stuck my tongue out at him and he chuckled

“okay fine, have it your way, but because you’re so cute I’ll use one hand…okay” he smirked and put his hand in his pocket

“Let’s do this” I said calling my wolf out, my hands turned into paws, and I gripped the paddle tight and focused all my strength on it and with a growl I dipped the paddle in the water and paddled hard and deep, the boat shot to the right

“Aaaaaaaaahhhhh” I screamed, my head

“Splash” my head hit the water and my body submerged underwater, I wiggled, twisted, and pushed but nothing worked, I couldn’t get my legs free, they were stuck in the canoe

I was quickly running out of breath,

‘shit I’m stuck’ I looked up the surface seems so close and yet so far

‘I need to breathe…I need to breath’

“No don’t… hold on a little longer” my wolf yelled, I gulped trying to recycle the little air I had in my lungs, my head felt like it was going to explode, my lungs called out for air and the communication between my head and my body was keeping me from taking a breath was interrupted by my lungs, my mouth opened, and I took a deep breath

‘It burns’ my hands gripped my neck trying to bring some relief and my body pulsed repeating the cycle inhaling the lake desperate air, my vision blurred, I looked up at the surface it looked so beautiful with the sun shimmering on it, I shot my hand up trying to grab some of it looks

‘it’s so pretty’ I thought to myself as the sweet serenity of sleep came, I felt no pain, the peace was overwhelming, an angelic hum echoed in the in my ears the lullaby telling me to give in

“Breathe baby, breathe” the sound echoed in this tranquil abyss “please don’t leave me, breathe please…please…PLEASE! A sharp pain on my chest shot me back to life

My eyes opened to the image of Kein hovering over me, his jet-black hair dripping wet, his eyes full of worry, his breath hot on my face, I tried to speak but all I could do was cough, the entire lake came shooting out of my mouth, my lungs burned with each breath I took

“Thank goodness, how do you feel?” I tried to respond but my body refused, only allowing me to cough “it’s okay don’t speak” he pulled me into a hug and held me close, his lips brushed mine lightly and he kissed me softly, I felt like I was kissing a feather he kissed me so gently that it brought tears to my eyes, he kissed me for what felt like hours not letting me go in this moment I was his universe the sirens from the rescue boat finally broke our kiss

We got back to the other side of the lake and April threw herself at me

“Oh my God Alicia, you almost gave me a heart attack, are you alright?”

“I’m sorry…but I promise you…that…I’m…okay” the words came out one by one as everyone gathered around me whispering, pointing, and gawking

“Okay everyone, let’s give them some space…come on!” Kein pushed them all back, Louren looked at me with an awkward look on her face, I walked over to her

“What is it?”

“I’m not sure if this is the right time to bring this up but Tim is here”

“Who?”

“Timothy, I told you about him remember” she shot her eyebrows up at me

“Oh, my Go… Louren what the hell?” she gestured to him telling him to come meet us “Louren I said no” I grunted through clenched teeth

“Hi, you must be Alicia, I’m Timothy” he held his hand out to me

“Nice to meet you” I took his hand

“That must have been scary” he said still holding my hand

I heard Kein growl

“Yes, it was one close call” I chuckled tugging my hand out of his, I spotted Kein from the corner of my eye storming towards stomping his feet with his hands balled up in fists

“Hey, looks like they’re ready to hand out the awards” I everyone’s eyes followed my pointed finger

“Don’t move” Kein’s growl echoed in my head

“You’re sure eager to get your award” April said nudging my arm

“I didn’t win, I almost died there is no way I won anything” I shrugged

“Anyway, let’s go see” she took my hand dragging me to the awards table, Kein walked slowly with his hands in his pockets looking intently at me

“Uh… go ahead…I’ll catch up” she nodded and rushed to joined Tina and Louren

Kein looked at me, his face soft as he flashed me that gorgeous smile of his, he stood in front of me intoxicating me with his scent, whenever I’m with him the whole world seems to disappear, he has a way of calming me down and making my heart race at the same time, I looked into his hazel eyes and bit my lip remembering his feather like kiss

“I can’t leave you alone for a second”

“Jealous?” I winked at him

“A little, I’m always jealous these days because of you” he breathed “so who is he?”

“My date”

“What?” his face got read and he growled, I chuckled, I love that I affect him this much, his face softened at the sound of my laughter, and he chuckled “you my love are going to be the death of me”

“Back at ja babe” I said with a smile and a wink

“President Keng it’s time to announce the winners” Secretary Yeon shouted from the stand, he nodded, and we started walking slowly

“Well, who is he?”

“Sorry I wasn’t lying…he is really my date…Louren brought him here as a blind date” his jaw clenched, and I chuckled again “you’re behaving like such a child

“So, are you… going on a date with him?”

“Yeah why not” he stopped and looked at me

“You can’t be serious, are you trying to hurt me right now” his eyes full of grief

My anger flared up

“Hurt you, for once in my life I want to do something for me, I stayed away from dating because I was waiting for you, and then I almost died today still waiting for you” I walked away from him and stood by Aprils side

“In third place is the accounting team”

“In second place is the legal department” we all cheered as they got their certificates and medals, they all enthusiastically accepted their awards with their hands up in the air roaring loudly “yeah we did it” they boomed

“In first place is the foreign correspondence team” we made our way through crowd as they patted us on the back, I bowed as President Keng put the medal around my neck

“Thank you sir” I said looking up at him

“Don’t go on the date” I scrunched my nose up at him and walked to my teammates

“And the MVP award which has now been renamed the Life and Death award goes to…drum roll please” the sound of drums rippled in the air as everyone beat their thighs creating the drum sound

“Miss Alicia Thompson!” I laughed covering my face with my hands

“Thank you sir” I chuckled as he handed me the MVP plaque, I lifted over my head and the crowd cheered, I started to walk back to my team when Kein grabbed my hand, I looked up at him

“What are you doing?” I looked around frantically hoping no one is looking at us holding hands

“Go out with me instead” he whispered

“What?” I pulled my hand away

“Go on a date with me”