Authors Note: I am sorry. 2020 has had a lasting effect on my life. This unfortunately included my writing schedule. I am going to make you a promise with this story. I will post a chapter every Sunday. This will help keep me focused on the story as well as allow you to follow along. So see you tomorrow for our first Sunday date. As always happy reading.

Chapter 53

POV: Ren

My arms started to burn as I held Brady from falling over the cliff. I am holding his ankle. I could feel the joint starting to separate. His ankles muscles stretched to their limit, feeling his skin tighten as it tried to support his weight. The last thing I wanted was to just have his foot, my stomach rolled at the thought. I needed a better hold. Moving my foot that is hooked to the cave entrance, holding both of us from falling off the cliff. I kicked into the rock wall forcing my foot into the hard stone. The thick smell of blood penetrated my nose. I could feel a stream of the sticky surface slowly escaping from where my foot penetrated. It worked its way up my leg dripping down my body. Coating me with the sticky sweet life essence.

Gripping Brady's ankle as tight as I could I yanked him towards me. His body dragged awkwardly in unconsciousness. I did not want to be the one to kill a member of the pack. Yet, I also did not want him to wake up. That would have caused me a different pain. The strain in my shoulders is painful, the muscles stretched to capacity. I yanked him again. Pulling his leg underneath me. I readjusted my hold on his form. Digging my nails into the flesh above his hips. I knew it would leave marks. He deserves to know how close to death he truly was. I would never hurt one of the pack, if it was going to be anyone I am glad it is Brady. Now only his shoulders and head hung over the edge. I sighed. I could support his weight a lot more now. I took the opportunity to roll my shoulders. Both my shoulders popped painfully as I rolled them. I might have to get Grandpa Carlisle to look into them. Heck, I might need an entirely new set of shoulders after this strain. Stupid half-vampire.

I might be half-vampire but I still have a human side. That human side really came out in moments like this. Moments that I knew if I was one of my parents I would not be stuck laying in the snow anchoring someone to the cliffside. If I was a full vampire no one would be able to hurt me. I would be able to fight one wolf on equal footing. The thought made me mad, why can't I just be a full vampire right now.

The wind increased. I shivered. Focusing on not moving my leg, or we would both be going over the cliff. Brady is so top-heavy that he could easily topple over the side. My body was so entwined with his that I would have been tossed off the cliff with him if he slipped. I held him tighter, feeling my fingers penetrate his skin further. My clean human killing record was something that is important to me. I did not want to kill my first human because I knocked him unconscious, and he fell over the edge of a cliff. One of my fingers made it past his layer of skin, his blood intermixed with mine. It caused my throat to burn. Reminding me of how thirsty I was. Trying to think of him as a human to keep my record clean.

Why could Brady not have just listened! If he just listened he would be safe. Not having me hold him from falling to his death. The stress overwhelmed my senses. All I could feel was thirst and fear. If he falls what do I tell Jake? What will I tell the pack? I could play it off as an accident but my scent is all over him. My scent and now my blood staining his skin. There is no way I could get away with calling this an accident. They will call this murder. I would have killed a member of the pack. Not just a human, a pack brother. If he goes over this cliff I will have to say goodbye to Jake. He would not want to be with someone who killed one of his brothers. Imprint or not, that is not possible.

I cried harder. The fact that this boy can fuck up my entire future. For what! Just because he wanted to have sex with me. The fact that he tried to pressure me into having sex. That when I say no we end up in this situation. Maybe I should have just let him have what he wanted. I could deal with that memory. So what if I felt dirty after it would not have resulted in death. If anyone found out that Brady had slept with me. I paused. If my friends found out it would be different than some of the other pack members. Seth would be furious, he knew that Brady had an issue with understanding the word no. He might blame himself for not coming to find me. All my friends would blame themselves. Emily would refuse to feed Brady, Clare would never let Quil run patrols with him. Kim and Jarred would be the only two outspokenly on Bradys side. At least I hope.

Would Jake care? I had never talked to him about why I did not have sex before him. It is not that I have any options. The man unconscious under me was a persistent one but, not the only one to offer. I wanted to be with someone I could trust. Jake was the first person that made me feel like I could show him everything. The way we connected on a physical and emotional level. That does not mean that I could not have meaningless sex with Brady. We would not be in this position if I just let him have his way with me. If he did it from behind it would have allowed me to silently cry without him seeing. I would beat myself up for that decision. Maybe that was the better decision for me to make. Then at least I would not be holding Brady to the edge of the cliff. Then at least I could return to Jake after Brady used me. Or at least be able to keep my life relatively the same. If he goes over I am a murderer. If he assaulted me then I am a slut, he dies, I am a murderer. I could not choose which was better to be considered.

Jake had tried to sleep with my mom. Yet he and she are best friends still. I bet if they did actually sleep together that they would still be best friends now. Maybe I should have just bitten the bullet and not fought Brady. I just could not do that to Jake. I could not cheat on him. No matter how confused and upset I was. I could not do that to the man I loved. He deserved better than me.

He deserves someone who would not run away when they got hurt and confused. If that person ever came into his life. I would step aside. I cried thinking of Jake with someone else. That is a possibility right now. I know I texted Jake before everything went down but, that does not mean he is on his way. This could easily be the last day of my life. The last chapter of my story. The rock wall that I am hooked on could let go. I could fall. I could die. This could be my Humpty dumpty moment. I cried.

I felt the strain hit my shoulders again. I tried yanking Brady closer. It caused the opposite reaction. When I pulled him it released rocks from under him. Causing more strain to hit my shoulders. Tears came to my eyes because of the pain. Between my shoulders and my ankles, I felt my body being stretched. The feeling increased as Brady started slipping. Why was he so top-heavy!

The wind picked up, pushing the loose rocks around us to make the descent down the cliff. I could hear rocks above the cave begin to shift. A rock fell from above us, crashing into our outcropping of rocks. It penetrated the ground next to us. The stone sounded strain right before it let go. The ground next to us dropped away. Panicked I tried to look up to see if we would get hit by a falling rock. Brady twitched in his sleep. It shocked me, making me lose my grip. I quickly adjusted before he could slip. I heard a rock falling and I braced myself. It hit my left shoulder. A loud pop sound came from my left shoulder. I could not move my left arm.

I Screamed. I was now at my pain threshold. My shoulder ripped farther. It felt like my arm was going to detach. I could not hold him much longer. Brady was going to drop to his death. I was going to kill him. Tears streamed down my face and froze as they fell.

I screamed one more time. A scream of desperation.

It was answered by a howl.

Looking over I saw Jake in wolf form. Relief rushed through my body. The lack of tension allowed my ankle to lose grip on the mouth of the cliff. Feeling myself slipping off the cliff.

(Review question: would you have let Brady fall?)