CHAPTER TEN – Nicolette
I woke up feeling remarkably refreshed. The sun wasn’t peeking over the mountains yet, and I didn’t want to move to grab my phone to see the time, but I bet it was early.
Snuggled in deeper, my butt bumped up against something big and warm. I smiled, thinking the dogs had gotten in during the night. My furry bed mates. I’d never imagined myself as a dog owner, but the huskies had worked their way into my heart.
Still mostly under my blankets, I turned to hug whichever dog was next to me and instead found myself face-to-face with an Alpha. I yelped and jolted out of bed with my heart pounding.
My surprised cry jerked Ezekiel out of his quiet sleep and on his knees on the bed. He looked wildly from side to side as if we were surrounded by ninjas. Atka, who had been on the foot of the bed, jumped down, barking and wagging his tail. Kavik sat up and yawned, stretching as I didn’t just wake up with a man in my bed. A gorgeous, tussled haired Alpha, but still, an uninvited man in my bed.
“What the fuck?” My voice was dry and cracked.
Ezekiel ran a hand through his thick blond hair as he relaxed. How could he be relaxed? “Good morning. Sorry to startle you. How did you sleep?”
Was he casually asking me how I slept? Could he not see how freaked out I was about this? “I actually slept wonderfully. It was the waking part that’s the shock. What are you doing in here?”
Finally getting a clue, his eyes widened. “Oh, Nicolette, don’t worry. I heard from the hall that you were in distress, and when I came in, you were having a nightmare. I soothed you, and I guess I fell asleep too.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. Was he lying? He wasn’t a person I’d thought would lie, but really, I didn’t know any of these Alphas. I’d only been there for a few days. Plus, I didn’t remember any bad dreams. The little I could recall was good, very good. Happy dreams.
Folding my arms, his gaze fluttered down to my chest. And did he have an erection? “Seriously? You don’t just crawl into a bed with a woman without her permission. How do I know you didn’t… you know...”
Ezekiel’s gaze whipped back up to meet my increasingly furious glare. “What? No. No, I would never take advantage of you.” He slid off the bed and held up his hands, slowly rounding it and coming toward me. Oh yeah, he had a massive boner in his sweatpants. My thighs clenched. “It wasn’t like that. I needed to help you. I comforted—”
“You got into bed with a sleeping woman who didn’t know you were there. That’s just creepy.” How could he not see that? I probably slept so hard because of jetlag or just dealing with my heat. Even if I was having bad dreams, that was no excuse to come into my room and what? If I didn’t remember him coming in, then he could have done anything. I’d heard stories of what happened to Omegas when Alphas couldn’t control themselves. And me, in a house with only Alphas. “What did you do?” My voice raised another octave as I held up a hand to tell him to stay back. “What did you do?”
Anger made my face feel like it was on fire. Maybe a few times in my life I’d been mad enough to live up to the stereotype of redheads having fiery tempers, but this took the cake. The cake and the whole fucking kitchen.
“Nicolette,” Ezekiel drew out my name. His body tensed as if I might suddenly run or attack. “Nothing happened. I came in and cuddled you. That’s it. I would never disrespect you or do anything that might harm you in any way. I would rip apart anyone who tried.”
He sounded sincere, and of all the guys here, he was the sweet one. But how did I know? I’d just woken up with him in my bed. “I just can’t.” I shook my head and pointed to the door. “Leave. I can’t talk to you right now. You shouldn’t have come in here.”
He held out a hand to me. “Please. I only wanted—”
“I don’t care!” I could hear myself starting to shriek. Sucking in a big lungful of air, I repeated loudly, “Leave.”
“Okay, I’m going.” Ezekiel backed up, eyes on me the whole time. He clicked his tongue and the dogs followed. “Just know I only came in to comfort you. That’s all I wanted.”
The bulge in his pants said otherwise. I stood my ground until he left with the huskies and shut the door behind him. Once it closed, my strength fled my body and I stumbled back against the frame of the bathroom door and braced myself so that I would keep from falling to my knees. I quivered as I took several deep breaths.
I didn’t know what to do. Would I have to put a lock on the door? Would that be enough if any of the Alphas wanted to get in? I flicked on the bathroom light and did a quick examination of myself. There didn’t appear to be any evidence of anything untoward having happened. We’d both been fully clothed. Maybe he was honest in saying he only came in to comfort me.
But the point was that he came in without my permission. I couldn’t let that slide by.
Wide awake and full of adrenaline, I ran a hot bath. I rifled through my collection of essential oils and ended up putting a little bit of everything in. I needed all the calming I could get.
I soaked for a long while. Maybe I fell asleep a little too. Who knew. By the time I was dried, dressed, and sorted out what boundaries I was going to set with the Alphas, the sun was up. My phone said it was nearly ten.
The dogs trotted up to me wagging their tails as I left the bedroom, but no one else greeted me. The house was empty.
There was a note waiting for me in the kitchen from Ezekiel. He apologized for scaring me and hoped we could talk about it later. Oh, we would. The Alphas had gone to work and would be home in the evening.
Then it slammed into me. I was alone again.
I swallowed heavily and put on the kettle for tea. They’d just be gone for the day. They had to work. It would be good for me to have time to think about things. Yet the weight of isolation closed around me as if the house itself were pressing against my body. It made it hard to breathe.
Bursting out the front door, I let the dogs run out as I took in deep breaths of the cold air. But it didn’t help. No one was out there. I was alone on top of a mountain.
No. Wait. Kodiak’s father lived nearby, and he was retired. They mentioned Savva needing help with his greenhouse. The tension eased in me. That was a wonderful reason for me to introduce myself and help out.
The kettle whistled and the dogs came running back. Trying to put the events of the morning out of my head, I had a light breakfast with my tea and bundled up for a walk. It couldn’t be that far away. Shae had mentioned Savva lived up the other fork in the driveway.
My spirits were high, and the walk wasn’t that long. Atka and Kavik knew exactly where to go. Yet when I knocked on the cabin’s door, no one answered. Only then did I notice the tire tracks in the snow from a truck. He must have gone to town, and a wave of sadness washed through me that he hadn’t stopped by to see me.
Savva’s home was nowhere near as grand as his son’s. It was a simple one story with a steep slanted roof. A few of the logs oozed sap from splits. A workshop and a garage sat on either side of the cabin. The greenhouse was just behind the workshop. The glass was up, but it didn’t have a door and it was a mess inside.
I didn’t want to start anything until I met Savva. It was ridiculous to think of waiting around in the cold for him to return. I didn’t know how long he’d be gone, but I didn’t want to spend all day alone at the cabin.
Shae! She said she lived a few miles down the road. That wasn’t too far.
I made a stop back at the house to put a few pieces of pie in a container as a thanks for picking me up from the airport yesterday and warmed up with another quick cup of tea. Then I was walking down the road with Atka and Kavik happily trotting along with me.
Up and down, and twist and turn. At the top of the third big hill I’d climbed, I was regretting my decision. I needed a car, or I could get one of the guys to show me how to drive a snow machine and a four wheeler.
I huffed and removed my beanie since it felt like I was overheating. The dogs sniffed the trees and logs, not even breathing heavily. “You know, I can dance for hours, but walking up mountains, it isn’t my thing.”
Surveying the way ahead, I couldn’t see where the road went or how far Shae’s place might be. She’d said anyone would be able to hear her dogs barking from miles away, but there was only the rustle of trees and a thousand drops of melting snow. “Maybe her definition of a few miles was more like ten.”
Atka looked at me and gave a small ruff.
I laughed. “More than that? I’m not surprised. We should turn around and get home. I can make some dinner and hope the guys are home soon.”
Turning to look in the direction I’d come, I sighed. I couldn’t see how far I’d come, and the thought of walking back up those hills made my feet ache. The road twisted to the west. If I took a shortcut through the woods, I could shave off a lot of time. My sense of direction was good. My friends always had me navigate when we were at the mall.
I couldn’t remember the last time I hiked through the woods. Had I ever? My outdoor life was spent on tropical islands, and the vast majority of it on the beach.
“My first hike through the woods. This is exciting.” I grinned at the dogs as they bounded ahead of me, jumping through the snow and over logs.
I picked the tallest pine tree in the distance and made that my marker. It would take me up to the top of the next hill, and then I could see where to go from there. “Easy. I should have been a girl scout.” Finding it helped me not to feel so alone to talk out loud, I continued my ‘conversation’ with Atka and Kavik. “None of my sisters were in the scouts, so I never thought about doing it. I had ballet, jazz, and tap, and piano. Those kept me really busy. I wonder what the kids around here do for fun. Do they all fish and play in the snow?
“My dad would fish every day all year if he could. And when he retires, he might just do that. You two would like him. He spoils everyone in his life. Imagine all the dog treats and toys he’d give you.” I laughed as I continued to walk. The snow crunched underfoot and the many drips as it melted were becoming like a symphony.
I did a pirouette, a small jump, and spun again. “My own stage with my beautiful audience.” Giggling, I bowed for the dogs, but they weren’t paying attention. “Maybe I’ll teach you two to dance and make you an internet sensation.”
To occupy my mind, I considered it. I knew dogs could be taught to dance, but after watching Atka chase a squirrel and ram his head against a tree trunk trying to get it, I decided against it.
My mind wandered to what happened yesterday and this morning. My heat triggered, Kodiak devouring my pussy, and waking up next to Ezekiel. Plus I couldn’t forget Silas being an ass. This wasn’t at all how I imagined meeting a compatible Alpha, or even Alphas, would go. I would have to call my friends when I got back and talk through everything with them.
I approached the next hill and stopped. It was far more steep off the road. The snow would have me slipping and sliding down on my butt. Turning, I couldn’t see the road any longer. How far had I gone off it? It couldn’t have been that much.
The tree I was using as a marker was still ahead. I could go around the steep part, and it would still be shorter than taking the road.
Pushing onward as it started to snow, I wrapped my scarf tighter and covered my mouth and chin. Big and fluffy flakes floated lazily down. No more chattering on to the dogs. It was time to get home.
It took me an hour to get to the tree, but there was still more hill ahead. I leaned against it, breathing heavily after climbing up the slippery slope, and narrowed my eyes at my surroundings. “This was the tree… right?” I was no longer certain. “I need a map.”
I plucked my cell out of my zipped coat pocket. No signal.
Holding it up and slowly spinning, I still couldn’t get a connection.
“Shit.” Panic was starting to well up inside of me. I was alone, out in the middle of nowhere…
“No. I haven’t gone that far from the road.” I refused to let myself freak out. I was smarter than that. I didn’t need a map. “I can just turn around and follow my tracks back to where I started.”
Except farther down the hill, I couldn’t see my tracks anymore. The snow had been falling steadily, and only my newer tracks were still visible. On top of it, the wind was starting to pick up with a hiss of snow through branches.
A choked cry escaped me. Be calm. Be calm, Nicolette.
I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead to the tree and took in several deep breaths. “We’re fine. Everything’s fine.”
Positive attitude. I truly couldn’t be that far from the road. Also, I was on an island. It was maybe ten miles from the east coast to the west, and I was closer to the east than the west. That much I did know. Plus, the main road circled the entirety of Mitkof Island.
“See? Everything will be okay.” Opening my eyes, I straightened. The wool of my hat stuck a bit to the bark of the tree. The torn and shredded bark. The clawed bark.
Bear!
I shrieked and scrambled backward away from the tree only to fall on my ass.
The dogs were fast by my side barking at… What?
I frantically looked around. A chilling gust blew snow in my face, making it difficult to see. My breaths came in gasps and my heart threatened to break out of my chest. Nothing. Snow, trees, and more snow.
But the tree was a sign that there was a bear around. A very big bear by how high it clawed the trunk.
I was lost in the woods with no way to protect myself. It was cold and starting to storm, and it would be dark in a few hours. Tears streamed down my cheeks.
Screw a positive attitude. I was well and truly fucked.