#Chapter 44 Kadeem is going to drown

Kadeem

Kadeem gasped as water flooded his mouth and nose. His arms windmilled through the churning water, searching for anything to grab onto.

But there was nothing. Only the deep end of the pool, stretching endlessly below him.

Panic seized his chest, squeezing the breath from his lungs. His heart hammered against his ribcage as if trying to break free.

Through the haze of terror, a single thought surfaced: I'm going to drown.

After everything he'd survived, this was how it would end. Not in some epic battle, not while protecting his pack, but in a stupid accident in his own gym.

He struggled to stay afloat, kicking his legs frantically. Then a flash of copper red fur and bright green eyes filled his mind. Ardal.

A surge of adrenaline shot through his veins, and with it came a rush of memories. Running through moonlit forests together as children. The first time he'd kissed her, nervous and fumbling, as teenagers. Their wedding day, when she'd walked down the aisle in a cloud of lace