Page 41 of Adored By the Wolf

“In order to prove to yourself that you weren’t scared of ghosts?” Denis said. “And with your own lives, no less.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” I said.

A determined look settled on Millie’s face, and my wolf went on alert, but I pushed him back, telling him I was right here and that I would take care of her. But the more determined she looked, the more I got worried too. “Millie—”

She held up a finger, and the next thing I knew she was sprinting toward the edge of the cliff. I lunged after her, but she went over the cliff right before I was able to grab her. All I could do was watch in slow motion as her body fell straight down into the water, her limbs flailing every which way. The sound of her screaming echoed through to my bones, and my wolf howled. I was then in the air, dropping straight toward the water before I knew what I was doing.

As soon as I felt the cold water envelop me, I started looking for Millie. I couldn’t see clearly due to the churning water, but when I popped up, there was Millie, floating on her back as she swam backstroke back to the cliff, laughing her head off.

I waded in the water, just staring at the magnificent sight in front of me before I realized that my legs were getting numb. Pushing out with my legs, I swam powerfully toward her, not relaxing until I was standing next to her on dry ground.

Millie had the largest grin I’d ever seen on her face. “I’ve never done anything like that before,” she squealed, jumping up and down.

“You seemed to enjoy it,” I said carefully.

“Immensely!” She swung her arms around my neck, and I pulled her close, holding her tightly.

My wolf purred. I sunk my face into her hair and gave her a kiss on her ear.

“You missed,” she said in a teasing voice.

I leaned back to look at her, and she said again, “You missed.”

I didn’t need a second invitation. I leaned down until our lips touched. Her arms tightened around my neck at the same time my arms pulled her in even closer. I let go of any inhibitions I had and let myself show her how much she meant to me. My mate. My one and only. She was mine.

We eventually came up for air, and it was then I heard Denis yelling at us from above, “You two better get up here before you catch a cold. The water is usually cold, but it’s freezing at this time of year! I can’t believe you young ones—thinking you’re invincible! The last thing I need is Theo McCullough accusing me of killing his son because he was dumb enough to jump into a freezing lake in the middle of winter!”

I just laughed as I led Millie back up the makeshift steps that had been carved into the cliff.

We met Denis up top, who was there with two parkas and towels. “Get yourself over to those trees and out of those wet clothes. You two are crazy. Absolutely nuts. I’ll never understand what makes people do stupid things like this.”

“Denis, you’ve done your fair share of stupid things.”

“Sure, when I was . . . Oh! Just get over there before you get sick!”

Laughing, we headed to the woods and picked a large tree to change behind before coming out wrapped up in warm socks and a long parka.

“You’re just going to have to trudge back to the house in those socks, and then I’ll give you new ones.” Shaking his head, Denis led us back to his house, where he started a fire and gave us more warm towels. “Don’t you two be moving from that spot. I want you nice and toasty before you head home. I’m just going to go dry your clothes.”

“Thanks, Denis,” Millie said, reaching out to hold his hand.

I saw Denis’s cheeks turn pink, but he hid it by muttering under his breath about being young and stupid as he turned to go.

“How are you doing?” I asked Millie when it was just the two of us.

“Great, actually.” Her cheeks were rosy, and I wondered if she had gotten too cold. Concerned, I reached over to wipe her hair away from her face, placing a hand on her forehead to check her temperature.

“I really am okay, Jacob. That was such an adrenaline rush. I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“Were you trying to scare away ghosts too?” I asked her, half joking.

“In a way,” she said, looking down at her hands as if the very thought of ghosts had drained her of all courage.

“What if I promised you I will always be there to protect you from ghosts?”

Her eyes looked at me like they didn’t believe me, and I couldn’t blame her. It was a baseless claim, but I couldn’t help repeating it again. “I promise to always keep you safe from ghosts, Millie.”

She frowned. “You can’t—”