Hi everyone
I know that you are excited about Jax and Sven but as an author sometimes you have to write whats talking to you.
While I was away on vacation Lea began to tell me her story and I want to share a little of it with you all. This is un-eidited and may change.


You can now add this book to your goodreads account at anytime
XOXO
Aurora
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...


Fighting to breath
CopyrightAurouraRoseReynolds

Looking out at the ocean you sometimes forget that it’s dangerous. The sea is like a woman, you have to respect her, listen to what she’s telling you and never ever doubt that she has the power destroy you.




Prologue

“Its so beautiful.” I whisper cuddling deeper into Austin’s side as I look up at the night sky. I swear you can see every single star there is when the nights are clear like this.
“Yeah.” He grunts making me smile as his fingers on my arm move in soothing strokes.
“We graduate in two weeks.” I say while butterflies erupt in my stomach. Austin has been my boyfriend since I was sixteen and since the very beginning we have talked about getting married as soon as we graduate high school I know that a lot of people would say we’re too young but ever since the day I laid eyes on him I knew that he would be my husband.
“Lea Wolf.” He says and those butterflies begin to fly faster, I scoot up and place my hands on his chest and rest my chin on top of them while searching his face. Austin looks older than his eighteen. His hair is a dirty blonde that is shaggy and normally wild. His jaw has an ever-present layer of scruff and his lips that I love so much are full, soft and warm but my favorite thing about him is his eye’s they are a crystal blue that reminds me of the glaciers near my house. “Your going to be my wife Lea, are you ready for that?” He asks running his finger down the center of my face and bringing them to rest under my chin while his thumb sweeps across my lower lip.
“So ready.” I say watching anxiousness form on his handsome face. I know that he thinks I’ll want more than the life of a fisherman’s wife, the life living in a small town but deep down I know that this is all I will ever need. As long as I have Austin I don’t need anything else.
“Graduation then Vegas.” He rumbles pulling me up to rest completely on top of him.
“Graduation then Vegas.” I agree then smile as his hand on the back of my head pulls me closer until we’re sharing the same breath.
“I need to get you home.” He breathes against my lips then rolls me to my back and looms over me before dropping his mouth down to mine.
“I wish we could stay out here all night.” I sigh when his mouth leaves mine.
“Me too baby but I promise you when summer starts we’ll sleep outside under the stars on the boat in the middle of the ocean, out there you can see everything.”
“I would like that.” I say wrapping my arms tighter around him and giving him a squeeze, he pushes back and stands before holding out his hand for me to take before helping me out of the back of his truck where we had been laying looking at the dark starry night.

“I wonder what’s going on?” I question as we pull up in front of my parents house where the sheriffs car is parked.
“Don’t know.” Austin mutters sounding concerned as he shuts down his truck and gets out walks around the hood and opens my door and lifts me out setting me gently on my feet. As soon as we make it up the front steps and into the house my confusion turns to concern as I see my mom sitting on the couch rocking back and forth while sobbing hysterically.
“What happened?” All eyes turn my way and my mom lifts her head and begins shaking her hand frantically while tears stream down her cheeks.
“Have a seat?” Sherriff Jefferson says in a tone that I have never heard from him before as he holds his hand out to me.
“Mom?” I whisper, my stomach begins to knot and I feel Austin’s arm slide around me pulling me closer into his side.
“I.” My mom says then covers her face with her hands and sobs harder the noises coming from her ripping into me making it hard for me to even breath.
“What’s going on?” Austin asks, pulling me around and tucking my face into his chest. Even though I know deep down what the sheriff is going to say nothing can prepare me for hearing them out loud, every single one of them strangles me until I’m fighting to breath.
“Sorry Lea but your dad’s boat disappeared this afternoon after he called in a mayday. The coastguard found his boat, which caught fire; they also, found his skiff that was empty. They are still searching the water for him but with the temperature it’s not looking good.
“There’s still a chance right? He could still be alive?” I ask
“There’s always a chance.” Austin says holding me closer.
But there wasn’t a chance, my dad’s body was never found. They believed that when his boat caught fire he tried to get into his skiff and somehow ended up in the water and either drowned or froze to death.





Chapter 1
20 years later


“Lea you need to breath.” I tell myself as I drive my car onto the ferry that will take me from Anchorage to Cordova. I never thought that I would be going home again, not after so many years away but when my mom called to tell me she had cancer and that she wanted to be in the home her and my father shared I could only tell her of course. Even if that meant me going back to a place I left behind, to people I left behind. The only thing that I could hope for was I would never see Austin. That somehow the town I grew up in had sprawled out and the population became similar to Manhattan lessening the chances of me ever seeing him again.
Twenty years ago I was crushed under the weight of the loss of my father. I realized then how easily life could change how quickly someone that you loved could be taken from you and I knew then that I couldn’t stay in Alaska with Austin, not when there was a risk of something happing to him. I also knew after mentioning leaving to him that he never would, his family had been fishing in Alaska for generations. He grew up loving the sea, grew up knowing he would spend his life doing something he loved and that one day he would pass his love for fishing down to his son. I knew I couldn’t ask him to choose me so I left him behind even though in leaving him I left a piece of myself. My only hope was the parts of me I was able to salvage would be enough to get me through the rest of my life.

Leaning over the side of the ferry I look down at the water then hold out my left hand. Five years ago I got married, I thought Ken could heal me I thought that the parts of me that were left after losing my father and leaving Austin would finally be full. I knew my father would want me to be happy and I knew from talks with my mom that Austin had moved on so it was time for me to do the same to stop believing that that he would come after me, that our love was more then just a young girls fantasy.
I tried to give Ken all of me I tried to make things work but in the end I failed and he found what he was looking for in someone else. I wont say it didn’t hurt that I wasn’t devastated by the loss of us but I brought it upon myself when I gave him our vows but didn’t follow through on my end.
Slipping my wedding ring off my finger I feel tears pool in my eyes as I drop the metal band into the ocean watching it disappear before squeezing my eyes closed. There was no going back and now wasn’t the time for me to feel sorry for myself. I needed to pull myself together enough to take care of my mother. My mother who had flown out to Montana to see me every few months since I left home, my mother who after the loss of my father was never the same. I wasn’t sure how I was going to cope with her illness or eventually the loss of her but I knew that I would need to find a way especially if I was going to survive myself.

“Lea?” My eyes open and I turn my head. “Lea Lamb?” I feel my eyebrows pull in confusion as I take in the woman in front of me.
“Rhonda,” She points at her self and smiles. “We went to school together.”
“Rhonda?” I repeat in shock the once chubby girl who didn’t have many friends but was always my lab partner had become a stunning woman with red hair that fit her fair skin, her face was round but her cheek bones were pronounced showing off her button nose and full lips. “How are you?” I ask stepping back from the edge of the boat.
“Good, great really” She smiles bigger and places a hand on her stomach, which I realize is large and round but the stylish coat she’s wearing minimalizes it.
“You look beautiful.”
“You do to but then you were always beautiful.” She smiles then waves at someone over my shoulder. When I turn my head I see a handsome man wearing jeans a hoodie and a vest walking towards us. His long hair is pushed back away from his face and his skin is tan, his sunglasses hide his eyes but there is something familiar about him.
“Ben look whose here.” Rhonda says and it takes everything in me to not run away when Ben looks at me pushes his sunglasses up to the top of his head and frowns. Ben was Austin’s best friend in high school and judging by the look of hate he’s giving me he’s not happy to see me.
“What are you doing here?”
“Ben.” Rhonda breathes coming to hold onto my arm.
“No, you know the way she left Wolf,” He says looking at Rhonda then looks at me and snarls. “Why are you here?”
I knew that I deserved this but I wont lie and say it didn’t burn just a little that someone I had once considered a friend was looking at me like I was the scum of the earth. I was hurt too, yes I left but he never came after me, he never even asked my mom where I was if I was okay Nothing
“You know why she’s here Ben.” Rhonda says softly moving to stand at his side resting her hands on his chest. His eyes leave me and go to her, his face goes soft as he wraps his hand around the back of her neck dropping his forehead to hers and talking gently. I take two steps back then pull in a deep breath.
“Stay away from him.” Ben says standing and turning his head my way.
“He wont even know I’m in town.” I tell him taking a step back then turning on my heels and heading to my car where I sit for the rest of the ferry ride.




~*~*~


“Mom.” I call as I walk into the house. The smell hits me and it’s exactly the same as when I was little. It’s so familiar that I almost choke on it as it saturates my lungs.
“Honey.” Mom whispers from the couch where she is lying covered by one of the many blankets she knitted.
“Are you okay?” I ask going to her side getting down on my knees. She still looks the same as the last time I saw her a month ago. Her hair is long and grey her face tan from her hours in the sun planting flowers and her eyes a brown similar to mine. It’s hard to believe she is so sick that she only has months to live. The doctors caught the cancer to late and it has already spread from her uterus to her stomach. They said she could try chemo but she refused saying that if she was going to die she would do it on her terms and not while having poisons pumped into her body. I couldn’t say I agree with her. The idea of her leaving me behind kills me every time I think about it, I want her to fight but it’s not my battle.