Can’t Win Me Back by Ginger Sue

Chapter 2343

Elias frowned deeply; his worry etched onto his face.

"We've been shouting Ms. Alyssa's name the whole way. With so many of us calling out, she should've heard us by now if she were nearby!"

In a deep voice, Jasper said, "The wind is too strong, and then there's the heavy snowfall. Our voices are being drowned out. Lyse might not hear us at all.

Lyse.

Her nickname slipped from his lips before he even realized it.

"I'm just afraid she's injured-or worse, fainted. If she blacks out in this cold..." Elias trailed off, his voice heavy with dread. "On a day like this, she won't survive long. She'll freeze to death."

The group exchanged uneasy glances, the reality of his words tightening their chests.

It wasn't that Elias was being a doomsayer. Rather, this was the cruel reality that might actually happen.

Crater Mountain claimed lives every year. Danger lurked unpredictably in the woods on the mountain-anything could unfold.

"Let's split up," Jasper commanded, his eyes fixed on the shadowy forest. His voice carried an edge of desperation. "We're not leaving until we find her."

Elias hesitated. "But what if-

him off, his voice trembling with fierce determination, 'I'll make this place my grave. I mean

and strode into the

heavy sigh. "They're right when they say aristocratic families raise people with

trudged through the snow,

didn't mean just a hike. She wanted them to retrace their past. If he were Alyssa, where would he go?

that day surged back-the harrowing brush with death, the suffocating fear, and the unspoken bond of survival that had tethered them

doesn't protect you,

world swirled in dizzying chaos. A heavy thud echoed as his strength gave out, sending him crashing to his

I have to find

fists, he clawed at the frozen ground, forcing himself to stand. His muscles screamed in protest, but

the midst of hopelessness,

ruthless and

against the rock. The pure white snow blanketed her

her eyes shut, her lips a chilling shade of purple as hypothermia took its toll. Disoriented and barely clinging

would be frozen stiff, and she would be at

daze, fragments of heartwarming childhood memories flickered in her mind-a fleeting warmth against the

seemed to fade from her senses, replaced by an unexpected warmth. In the depths of her daze, her late mother had appeared, her arms wide open, enveloping Alyssa

Don't be afraid.

and gentle woman stroked her hair. "I know that you've been through a

"Mom... I'm exhausted...