Chapter 2 Spike
SPIKE
The snow felt like home against my hooves. Pure and untouched. It was perfect. Running through the forest during a storm was my favorite escape. It was the only time I could truly be myself without worrying about human eyes spotting a big-ass reindeer where no reindeer should be.
The cold air rushed through my fur, and my breath created clouds of steam that evaporated almost as soon as they left my nostrils.
I came across a fallen log and jumped over it, unwilling to slow down until I got my two-hundred-mile circuit in.
This workout was the only thing I did to stretch my legs and work up a sweat.
Building custom metal statues and jewelry was my passion. It helped keep my mind working and my creative side fed, but it didn’t work my muscles. I needed to kick dirt—or snow as the case may be—for a few hours every day or I was like a volcano ready to erupt.
And so I ran, fast and far. Leaving my human stresses behind and letting my reindeer take over for a little while.
The usual route I took was basically an obstacle course through the woods that covered half the state, but today I felt a pull to go south.
Not too far off my path but on the other side of the highway that I usually didn’t cross.
My antlers occasionally brushed against low-hanging branches as I ran, but I didn't mind.
It was all part of the daily dance between me and the forest. My forest. The one my grandpa claimed after his time pulling a sleigh up north.
"Retirement property" was what he called it every time I came to visit as a kid.
And now, a few decades later, I was still running those same paths he’d shown me. My parents were no longer around, but I still felt the same connection to my ancestors today as I did back then.
Though, something had been different lately. Something had been...missing.
I slowed my pace and let my hooves sink deeper into the fresh powder as I caught my breath. The storm was picking up, and I was one of few animals out in the open. All the smart creatures were seeking shelter, but I was made for this.
Hell, I lived for this.
I had a half-finished commission waiting for me when I got back. A set of wedding collars for a couple wolves I met online. My forge would be cooled and my human hands would be itching to finish everything tomorrow.
But tonight was for my reindeer. He was in charge. I was just a passenger on this ride.
I shook my antlers to dislodge the buildup of frost and started running again. My vision was sharp, adapted perfectly to the low light and swirling snow. Just another gift from my ancestors.
Grandpa used to tell stories about guiding the sleigh through blizzards that would ground modern aircraft and the magic that let them fly. I didn’t believe all that stuff about flying magic and bonds and fated mates.
But as I got older and saw actual magic with my own eyes, I knew there was something to the old stories. Especially at this time of year.
That deep connection to someone wasn’t something I’d ever felt outside of my family. Never had a sense of belonging to someone else's story. Someone who could be more to me than a friend or lover.
Mate.
My reindeer had been pushing that word to me more and more often. And he was right. That was what the hollow feeling in my chest was. The need that had been growing inside me these past months. The growing emptiness that even the thrill of the storm couldn't quite fill.
The snow was falling hard enough that the wind was driving it horizontally. My fur was thick enough to keep me warm, but even I had to narrow my eyes against the assault. The thought of heading back to a nice fire and a glass of whiskey was sounding better with each step.
Then I heard it.
Through the howling wind there was a sound that didn't belong in my forest. The sickening crunch of metal striking something unyielding…and then silence.
A car accident.
I froze in place, my ears swiveling to pinpoint the direction. The sound had come from the road that wound through the valley. It was a treacherous route in the best weather conditions, but in a storm like this, no one had business being out there.
Before I could think twice about it, my hooves were carrying me downhill toward the source of the sound. I wasn't usually first on scene for rescue missions, because it was generally better to let humans handle their own problems.
But something pulled at me this time.
Something urgent.
Something I couldn't ignore if I tried.
I half-ran, half-slid down the slope, weaving between trees as the pull grew stronger with each stride. It was like a rope around my chest was drawing me forward, unlike anything I'd ever felt before.
As soon as I broke through the tree line, I saw it immediately. Just off the shoulder of the road, a small blue sedan had plowed into a massive pine. The front end was crumpled like paper, and steam was escaping from the hood, but there was no movement inside.
There were no sounds coming from the wreckage except the tapping of snow on metal as it tried to bury the car for the winter.
But then there was something else. A heartbeat.
This one was slow. Too slow. Fading.
I circled to the driver's side and peeked in at a still figure slumped against the steering wheel. It was a young man. His face was turned away from me, but I could see blood matting his hair where his head had struck the side window.
The heartbeat I sensed grew fainter, and I knew if I left to find help, he would die.
So I had no choice.
Just as easily as taking a breath, I shifted into my skin and tore open the car door. The cold hit me like a physical blow, but even fully naked, my skin could handle the temperature.
"Hey." My voice was rough from not speaking to anyone in a few days. "Can you hear me?"
There was no verbal response, but he turned toward me, his blue lips pushing against my warm skin as I drew him into my arms.
“I’ve got you, kid.” There wasn’t anyone else in the car, so I grabbed the single duffle bag in the back and started running.
As I held him against me, something sparked between us. Something electric and primal and undeniable. My breath caught in my throat as the truth of what was happening filled my mind.
This omega was my mate.
I had no time to process the implications because he was dying, and every second he was out in the cold brought him closer to the point of no return.
I needed to get him warm. Safe. Home.
The man weighed almost nothing in my arms, reminding me just how fragile human bodies could be.
His head lolled against my shoulder, but I could feel his shallow breaths against my bare chest. "Stay with me. We’re not too far.
" We were a few miles from my cabin, but my body heat could only keep him warm for so long.
As if the universe was finally on my side, the storm eased up, and I began to run. I couldn't shift back to my reindeer form while carrying him, but I was stronger and faster than a mere human, so the upward slope and uneven terrain didn’t slow me down, even in bare feet.
The cold bit into my exposed skin, but I hardly noticed it. All my focus was on the man in my arms, listening to the soft flutter of his heart as if it were an extension of my own.
"Almost there." The silhouette of my cabin finally appeared through the curtain of snow, and the relief I felt was palpable. "Just hold on. I've got you."
As soon as I got to the door, I shouldered it open and carried him inside. The embers in the hearth still glowed, providing enough warmth that it felt like a furnace after the outside chill.
Without a lot of options, I laid him on the bearskin rug in front of the fireplace and knelt beside him to build up the fire. My hands shook as I added logs, coaxing the flames higher until they roared in the stone fireplace.
Once I was sure the room would heat quickly, I turned back to the man and truly looked at him.
He was soaked through, shivering under the clothes that were now plastered to his slight frame. The blood from his head wound had left a streak down the side of his face, stark against his pale skin, and his lips were still blue.
I knew what I had to do.
As if handling something made of the most delicate glass, I began removing his clothes. His jacket came off first, then the sweater beneath, revealing his cold porcelain chest that was covered in goosebumps. I wrapped a blanket around him and then moved down to his shoes, socks, and jeans.
I hesitated at his underwear but practicality won out. The wet fabric would only draw heat from his core. Besides, I was a responsible adult. I could be around a naked man without doing something inappropriate.
As soon as he was bundled up in front of the fire, I retrieved my medical supplies from the bathroom cabinet. I wasn’t a doctor, but I’d patched up enough scrapes and burns over the years to feel confident I could close the small cut on his head.
Most head wounds bled dramatically, and this was no exception. Once I’d cleaned it up and added a few butterfly bandages, the bleeding stopped, and I felt one of the bricks on my chest lift.
I was more concerned about his temperature. Even in the blanket by the fire, he was still shivering and not waking up. I needed to warm him, fast.
Survival 101 taught that hypothermia could be counteracted with skin-to-skin contact.
And since I produced more body heat than a human, it was the prudent thing to do.
Still naked myself, I slid beneath the blanket and pulled his limp form against me.
It took a moment to arrange his limbs so he was cradled against my chest. His skin felt like ice, but I held him close, willing him to wake up.
"You need to open your eyes, omega." I spoke into his hair, careful to avoid the bandaged area. "Please wake up. I've been waiting for you without even knowing it."
The wind rattled the windows of my sturdy cabin just as the stranger who somehow felt like the most familiar person in the world took a deep breath and then another.
I felt the exact moment his heartbeat synchronized with mine like two puzzle pieces were clicking into place.
I didn't know his name or where he'd come from, but I knew with absolute certainty that everything in my life had just changed. The hollow space inside me didn’t feel hollow anymore. It felt full and warm and complete.
"I've got you, omega," I whispered, pressing my lips to his forehead in a gesture that felt both protective and possessive. "I've got you, and I'm not letting go."
Against all odds, through a blizzard and a near-fatal accident, my omega had found me.
Now I just had to keep him alive.