Chapter 8
Shane
I watched Kevin's truck taillights disappear down the mountain road, red dots swallowed by darkness. My brothers knew everything now. No more secrets. No more carrying this burden alone.
"That went better than expected," Raven said behind me.
I turned to find her still filming, her camera capturing the empty lobby with its peeling wallpaper and broken windows. The red recording light blinked steadily in the darkness.
"Turn it off," I commanded. "All of them. Now."
She looked up from her viewfinder, those dark eyes questioning. "I'm just getting some B-roll footage—"
"I said turn the cameras off, Raven. I'm done sharing you with your subscribers tonight."
Something in my voice made her hands move immediately, switching off the main camera, then the smaller ones she'd positioned around the room. The moment the last red light died, I was on her.
I pressed her against the wall, my hands bracketing her face as I claimed her mouth with all the intensity that had been building while we'd played ghost hunters with my family. She gasped against my lips, and I took advantage, deepening the kiss until she was clinging to my shoulders.
"Shane—"
"Mine," I growled against her throat, sucking hard enough to leave a mark. "All evening, watching you with my brothers, seeing how perfectly you fit with my family, knowing they could see what you mean to me..."
I lifted her easily, her legs wrapping around my waist as I carried her to our makeshift room. The mattress on the floor wasn't much, but it was enough. I set her down and started stripping off her clothes with efficient movements.
"Someone's possessive tonight," she breathed, but her pupils were blown wide with want.
"You have no idea." I pulled my shirt over my head, satisfaction overwhelming me when her eyes tracked hungrily over my chest. "Do you know what it did to me, hearing Kevin say you were good for me? Having Neil's quiet approval? Watching Sam's wife already treating you like a sister?"
"Made you hot?" She reached for my belt.
"Made me realize I'm never letting you go." I caught her wrists, pinning them above her head with one hand while the other traced down her body. "You're not just mine for the week anymore. You're mine forever."
She arched beneath me as my fingers found her already wet. "Demanding much?"
"You haven't seen demanding yet." I released her wrists only to flip her onto her stomach, yanking her hips up. "Going to mark every inch of you. Going to fill you so full of me that everyone will know exactly who you belong to."
"Shane, please—"
I thrust into her in one smooth motion, both of us groaning at the sensation. No gentle buildup tonight. Tonight was about claiming, about possession, about making sure she understood that she was never leaving this mountain without me.
"That's it," I growled, setting a punishing pace. "Take all of me. Such a good girl, letting me use this tight little body however I want."
Her fingers clawed at the sheets as I pounded into her. The sound of skin against skin was erotic and pushed me higher. When I felt her getting close, I pulled out, flipping her onto her back.
"Want to see your face when you come on my cock," I said, sliding back inside her. "Want to watch you fall apart knowing you're mine."
"Yours," she gasped, her nails raking down my back. "Always yours."
I hitched her leg higher, changing the angle, and she cried out. "That's my girl. So perfect for me. Going to keep you here, barefoot and pregnant, taking care of our family."
"Yes," she moaned, clenching around me. "Want your babies. Want everything."
That broke the last of my control. I drove into her harder, faster, chasing both our releases. When she shattered around me, I followed immediately, filling her with everything I had.
We lay tangled together afterward, both breathing hard. I kept her pinned beneath me, not ready to separate yet.
"Stay," I said against her hair. "Not just the week. Stay forever."
"We'll figure it out," she promised, pressing a kiss to my chest.
But I needed more than promises. I needed certainty. I needed her legally bound to me in every way possible. Soon.
The next morning as I was getting ready to go back to my cabin, Raven was still fussing with her camera and taking pictures.
“What are you doing?” I asked, wanting to get out of here before Walt realized we were going.
"I need decent internet to upload the Halloween special today."
Every protective instinct I had flared to life. "You better make sure it’s not going to bring any urbex shitheads up here."
She rolled her eyes. "Trust me."
"It’s prime Halloween material with ghosts and stuff.”
"Have I broken one promise to you? No. So when I say trust me, you trust me. Besides, I have a plan to make this place urbex poison."
"How?"
"You'll see. But I promise, after my videos go live, no one will want to come near this place."
Before I could respond, we heard Walt's voice from the dining room, agitated and loud.
We found him moving chairs around frantically, setting them up in rows like he was preparing for a meeting.
"I believe," he kept saying. "I should have been there. I should have believed Rebecca. I have to find her and Jimmy and tell them I’m sorry.”
"Walt, it's okay." I moved toward him slowly, hands visible. "They aren't here right now."
"Yes they are." His weathered face was flushed, eyes wild. "I saw them go upstairs to the office. They're looking for proof, but it's dangerous. The fire will kill them, if I don’t get them out.”
I grabbed his wrist, checking his pulse. Racing. His breathing was shallow and rapid, classic panic attack symptoms but with his heart condition...
"Walt, I need you to sit down."
"No. I have to warn them." He pulled away from me, stumbling toward the stairs. "You need to get out too. Rebecca! Jimmy! Get out! Get out now before—"
He stopped mid-sentence, his hand flying to his chest. His eyes went wide with pain and fear before he collapsed.
"Walt!" I dropped beside him, immediately going into paramedic mode. His pulse was thready and irregular. Classic cardiac event. "Raven, get my med kit.” I pulled out my satellite phone. “Dispatch. I need the bird. Cardiac event, 83-year-old male."
She ran for the medical supplies while I gave our coordinates and I started chest compressions.
"You're not dying on my watch, old man.” I kept my compressions steady. "One and two and three and four..."
Raven returned with my bag, her hands shaking as she opened it.
"I need you steady," I snapped without looking up. "You're mine, and mine don't fall apart. Breathe."
The commanding tone worked. Her hands steadied as she handed me the supplies I needed. I got the oxygen mask on Walt, administered aspirin and nitroglycerin, all while maintaining compressions when his heart stuttered.
"How long until help gets here?" she asked.
"Fifteen minutes.” Too long. But I'd kept people alive for longer.
Walt's eyes fluttered open, focusing on me with sudden, perfect clarity. For the first time in years, he was completely present.
"Shane?" His voice was weak but clear. "I'm... where am I?"
"You're at the lodge, Walt. You had a heart attack. Help's coming."
He looked around, seeing the decay, the abandonment. Understanding flooded his face along with tears.
"It's all gone," he whispered. "They're gone. Rebecca and Jimmy... I should have believed her."
"It wasn't your fault."
"You saved me, son." His hand found mine, grip weak but determined. "You gave me more years than I deserved. But it's time." His eyes looked past me to something I couldn't see. "Rebecca and Jimmy... they're waiting."
"Don't talk like that. You're going to be fine."
But we both knew I was lying. I could hear the fluid building in his lungs, see the gray tinge to his skin.
The helicopter arrived faster than expected, the sound of rotors shaking dust from the ruined ceiling. The flight medics took over, getting Walt stabilized and loaded.
"You coming?" one asked me.
I looked at Raven. She was pale but steady, my warrior woman who'd held it together because I'd told her to.
"Go," she said. "I'll take your truck and head your cabin like usual."
I kissed her hard, possessive and claiming. Then I was running for the helicopter, leaving my woman alone in the abandoned lodge while I tried to save the only father figure I'd ever known.
RAVEN
I watched the helicopter disappear over the tree line, my heart still racing from the adrenaline. Walt's words echoed in my mind: "Rebecca and Jimmy... they're waiting."
The lodge felt different with Shane gone.
Emptier. More oppressive, and full of secrets.
I headed to Walt's room to gather anything he might need at the hospital.
The space was tucked into what had once been the manager's office, and Shane had done his best to make it comfortable.
A narrow cot with military-neat blankets.
A camp chair beside it where Shane probably sat during Walt's bad nights.
Medical supplies organized on metal shelving—insulin vials in a small cooler, blood pressure medications lined up by day, bandages and IV supplies for emergencies.
The walls were covered with Walt's careful notes—ski conditions that would never matter again, staff schedules for employees who'd never come, reminders about the holiday party that existed only in his fractured timeline.
My throat tightened seeing his shaky handwriting: "Check heat in dining room" and "Order more salt for walkways. "
A small shelf held Walt's few personal items—a faded photograph of the lodge in its heyday, a Swiss Army knife with "W.H. 25 Years of Service" engraved on it, and several library books about Vermont history, all decades overdue.