The Luna Choosing Game by Jane Above Story

Chapter 0558 Nicholas POV Panic and fear waged war in my heart as | swam down into that water and saw Piper, the woman who had claimed my heart more than once, losing consciousness. Her eyes were slipping closed. She was running out of air.

Veronica was doing her best to drag Piper to the surface, but Piper was barely kicking now. She was dead weight, dragging Veronica down too.

My heart was in my throat. My stomach twisted uncomfortably. Piper looked dead. She was drowning, | was losing her.

I couldn't lose her.

Kicking downward, | reached out for Piper. | still had fresh air in my mouth from before | dived underwater, so the moment Piper was in my arms, | touched her face, tilted her head, and brought my mouth down to hers.

Ackiss of life, | breathed my air into her lungs.

Relief surged through me as | felt her stir against me. She was alive.

As | ended the kiss, Veronica was still there, waiting. She reached for Piper, and, with Piper kicking again, we all pushed toward the surface.

Movement brought my attention down to the depths beneath us.

And there, | saw the shape of merfolk man with a massive fish tail, rushing toward us - toward Piper. As he came closer, | recognized him as that asshole prince from the merfolk ball. The one who had tried to make moves on Piper, and then wouldn't listen to her rejection.

This asshole had already tried to take something that didn't belong to him, and now he was trying to take Piper's life? My inner wolf howled in raged, his anger rising in tandem with my own. My fingers curled, my claws breaking through my skin.

| exchanged only a passing glance with Veronica, who

immediately understood. She took on the bulk of Piper's weight. Together, they breached the surface. Piper, thankfully, could have air of her own.

Now, she just needed someone to protect her from the danger beneath her. And | was more than fit for that task.

| pushed myself into the space between Ronan and Piper just as Ronan came near. Rather than grabbing her, Ronan instead found himself clasping a six foot tall pissed off werewolf.

He recoiled at once, until | reached out and sunk my claws straight into his shoulder. He cried out.

| wished | had the spell to breathe and speak underwater, not to help me with this fight, but because | wanted him to know the full depths of what he'd done here.

This fucking asshole dared to touch what was mine.

‘Who did he think he was to touch Piper? My friend. My lover.

My bloodthirsty wolf growled in my mind, My mate. We must protect her! Ronan's wild eye gaze was filled with both fury and fear.

Perhaps he had thought he would have been able to get to Piper without opposition - that he could simply swoop in, murder her, and leave without being waylaid.

Well, surprise, Prince Ronan. Piper is loved and valued and would be protected until my dying breath.

Ronan grabbed my arm, then twisted and began to pull me down, deeper into the water. Was this what he had planned for Piper? To pull her down until her air ran out?

The thought turned my vision red.

Yes, Ronan might have the advantage here, being able to breathe underwater. In addition, his tail made him fast and his swimming strong.

But | didn't need to swim to beat him. | just needed my muscles and my claws.

With my wolf roaring in my mind, | drew back my claws and then clamped them down on Ronan's neck, right over his gills.

He cried out as his blood spilled out into the water. The anger diffused entirely from his eyes, replaced now only with fear. If he wanted to drown me, he had to keep dragging me down, but to do so would mean his certain death. | wasn't about to let go first.

No one touched what belonged to me.

The he dared hurt Piper. Dared touch her.

These acts would not go unpunished.

| curled my claws deeper into his scaly flesh. And finally,

his will broke. He slipped his massive tail between us, and using the immense muscle there, flicked me away from him. | kept holding on. My claws did more damage on the way out, tearing throw his skin.

Blood fogged the water. Sharks would be attracted soon.

Ronan turned tail and fled as fast as he could.

The force of his tail kick pushed me upwards. | was running out of air, but my rage fueled me forward. | kicked and kicked until I breached the surface and sucked in a fresh breath.

My first thought, as the fury ebbed, was for Piper. Was she alright? Where was she? | needed to see her.

| searched the beach with a fast sweep of a gaze. There was a small crowd and someone on the sand. Piper? Before | could start to swim toward them, a hand came into my vision. How singularly focused | must have been to not notice the small boat drifting towards me until it was directly at my side.

Julian shook his hand in front of my face. "Get in." My wolf was still raging. | struggled to do anything but seek out my mate. But the reasonable part of my mind reminded me that a boat would be faster travel than my own tired legs. So | grabbed Julian's arm and together, we managed to get me onto the boat.

"Go," | said, before my feet ever touched the floor.

Julian signaled the driver and the boat barreled forward

toward the shore. Since it was a small speedboat, we were there in a flash. The boat was light and could come close to shallow water. When it reached as close as it could, | jumped out of the boat and rushed ashore.

Despite being able to breathe now, | couldn't catch my breath, until the crowd parted somewhat and | saw Piper sitting upright on the sand.

Thank God.

I pushed my way between Jessica and a cameraman. | didn't care about either of them. About anyone really, but Piper. | needed to get to her, to feel her, and make sure for myself that this wasn't a dream. That she was alive.

*Nicholas," she said.

| dropped to my knees in the sand beside her.

Her beautiful brown eyes locked onto mine. She looked worried - for me? Didn't she know the fear that had wormed through my whole body, clenching my heart, at the thought she might

be hurt? "Nicholas, are you -?" Her voice cut off as | reached out and pulled her to me. | buried my face into the crook of her neck and shoulder.

Beneath the saltwater, | could detect her scent. | breathed itin, trying to take in as much of it as | could.

1 would pull her fully into me if | could.

As it was, | crossed my arms around her back and kept her buried and safe up against my chest.

That asshole Ronan was still out there. He would need to be handled.

But for now, Piper was here. She was safe.

My wolf whispered, We protect our mate.