Rain, rock, mud, and fog-those were the only things Alyssa could recall before losing consciousness.


    She had used thest ounce of strength in her lithe body to push the hiker up toward the patrol team.


    All


    she hoped was that the hiker would be safe and sound.


    Alyssa couldn’t call herself apetent park ranger and wear her badges if she hadn’t prepared


    herself


    for the risk of death. She wasn’t afraid of it as long as it was a meaningful death.


    Frankly, she didn’t used to be so brave. In fact, she used to whine and cry whenever her father and


    stepmothers tried to bring her to the doctor for a shot.


    She was 11 when she met him. That was when everything changed.


    His bravado and determination were like the lighthouse she needed to guide her out from dark waters.


    How he had intercepted danger to rescue her had permanently shifted her outlook on life.


    It was the first time she had witnessed how selfless one could be for another.


    Even if he had hurt her countless times after they married, Alyssa still couldn’t deny it.


    She couldn’t deny just how much Jasper had changed her life for the better.


    It was as if he had rewritten the very stars.


    Everything seemed to happen in a sh.


    Alyssa had a strange dream. In it, her parents and brothers celebrated her childhood birthday with her.


    Jonah lifted her into his arms and ced her onto a mountain of presents while Ss sang her “Happy


    Birthday” off-key.


    Liam raised her birthday cake to her lips, where she blew the candles out while Axel ced a toy gun


    in


    Belonging ? N?velDram/a.Org.


    her hand.


    Jasper also appeared in her dreams, with vivid recollections of the battles they fought together on the


    battlefield, the first time she saw him while tending to Newton, and the cold-hearted manner in which he


    handed her divorce papers, ultimately driving her away.


    A sudden pain spread out from the center of her chest, flooding her head and limbs.


    Alyssa jolted awake, taking loud, hurried breaths as her body came back online. The sweat and rain on


    “I’m still alive… I’m alive!” she cried, tears of relief falling down her cheeks.


    If it wasn’t for that bastard and the hurt he had caused her, she might not have woken up from her


    death-


    like sleep!


    Just then, she recalled that she was still in danger.


    She had been washed away to some unknown location, her backpack hanging limply on a nearby


    branch.


    while she remained half-buried in rubble and rock off a ledge. She was nearly buried alive at this point.


    “Shit!” Alyssa forced herself to calm down.


    She muttered to herself, “I cannot die. I mustn’t! What would happen to Winston if I did? To Jonah and


    Ss and Liam and … If I’m still alive, that means it’s not my time yet! I decide when I want to go!”


    Just then, the branch above her let loose a loud snap.


    Alyssa dared not say another word. She quickly pulled herself out from the rock and climbed onto safer


    ground. Just as she did, the branch above her snapped in half.


    The longer end fell right into the bottomless pit of the mountainside beneath her feet.


    Alyssa’s heart nearly leaped from her throat at the sight, but she couldn’t be bothered to feel scared.


    She


    needed to find a way to make it to higher ground so she could call for help!


    The wind and rain picked up, water clouding her vision while chills racked her limbs.


    The only thing keeping her climbing right now was her determined will to survive.