Chapter 7
7
RUBY
M ac and cheese never tasted so much like tension.
The powdered sauce and boiled noodles mix with beef jerky chunks—Knox's suggestion to add protein—while canned green beans and stale crackers round out our five-star mountain cuisine dinner. Still, after the day's hike and drama, even this basic meal feels like heaven. And hot chocolates for dessert.
Outside, it's pitch black with the storm howling while we gather around the fireplace, its warmth the only real comfort in this situation. Mrs. Peterson has claimed one of the couches, stretching her legs across it, while Sarah sits on my couch and James on another one, with his ankle propped up. Mia and Kym arrange themselves artfully opposite me. Knox is currently at the rear of the room, checking in with the base on the radio.
"I just think it's sad," Mia says loudly to no one in particular. "When people don't respect boundaries."
Kym nods sagely. "Or established relationships."
I shove another forkful of mac and cheese in my mouth to keep from responding. The cheap pasta tastes like cardboard and spite.
"Some people just don't understand their place," Sarah chimes in, surprising me. When did she join Team Bitch Girls?
The fork freezes halfway to my mouth. "I'm sorry, what exactly are you implying?"
"Oh, she speaks!" Mia's fake surprise would win her a high school drama award. "We thought you only talked to Alphas."
"Only specific Alphas," Kym adds with a sneer.
James shifts uncomfortably. "Hey, maybe we should?—"
"It's fine," Sarah cuts him off, and I get up to set my plate on the table before I'm tempted to throw it. It's also when I notice Knox is still on the phone, not paying attention to our conversation, though I wish he would.
Back on the couch, they're all watching me, clearly waiting for my response.
"I'm used to people making assumptions about me. Though usually, they're better at it."
"Was that a threat?" Mia sits up straighter.
"An observation." I force my voice to stay casual. "Like how I've observed you two throwing yourselves at Knox all day with zero success. Must be frustrating."
Kym's face turns an interesting shade of purple. "You little?—"
"Everything okay out here?" Knox's voice cuts through the tension. "Radio says the storm's settling in for the night."
"Perfect!" Mia's transformation from fury to sugar would give me whiplash if I wasn't so nauseated by it. "We saved you a spot."
Knox drops into the space they make for him between them, and they immediately press closer like bookends. The sight shouldn't bother me, but it irritates me to no end.
"I found some games in the back," he continues, seemingly oblivious to the way Kym's practically in his lap. "And books, if anyone's interested. We should also figure out sleeping arrangements - there are five single beds in the back room. James has one, obviously. And Sarah next to him, perhaps?"
She nods eagerly.
"One for me," Mrs. Peterson quickly pipes up.
"I'll take a couch," I offer. Anything to avoid being trapped in a room with my new fan club.
Knox stares at the two girls. "You both take the last beds?"
"Where will you be staying," Mia coos, batting her eyelashes at him.
"The couch since I want to keep watch on the weather."
"Then we'll stay, too!" Kym announces. "In case you need help. Plus, it's so much warmer here."
Great. Just great.
While part of me contemplates going into the bedroom, I feel safer near Knox. Especially seeing Sarah turned against me, too.
Knox shrugs. "Sure. Your choice. Okay, that's settled. Now, anyone want to hear a story?" Knox asks, and something in his voice makes me lean forward despite myself. "There's an old legend about these mountains in winter."
"Is it scary?" Mia clutches his arm.
"Sounds great," I add, and others nod.
"Only if you believe in the Yuki-onna." His eyes lock with mine as he begins, and suddenly, it's like everyone else fades away. "The Snow Woman. They say she walks these peaks during the worst storms, beautiful and deadly. And if you're found alone in the mountains at night, she will come and kidnap you." A log shifts in the fireplace, sending sparks flying. Someone gasps.
"They say she appears like a ghost," Knox continues, his voice dropping lower. "A woman in white, with skin pale as moonlight and lips blue as frostbite. Her feet never touch the snow... she glides above it, leaving no tracks."
"Stop it," Mia whispers sarcastically, but she's leaning in, too.
"Ten years ago, a hiker went missing up here. They found his camera two months later when the snow melted." Knox pauses, letting the silence build. "Want to know what was on it?"
We all nod, the fire crackling ominously.
"The last photo showed a white figure in the distance, barely visible through the snowstorm. But when they zoomed in..." He leans forward. "They saw she was looking directly at the camera. And smiling."
The wind howls outside, rattling the windows. Half the group jumps. Goosebumps race up my arms.
"They say that's how she hunts. She creates devastating snowstorms, waiting for someone to get lost. Then she appears, pretending to help..." He glances around the circle. "And if you follow her..."
Another log shifts, sending up a shower of sparks. This time, most of us yelp, except for James.
"What happens then?" Sarah whispers.
Knox's tone drops to just above a whisper. "They find you in spring when the snow melts. Frozen solid. With a peaceful smile on your face... and your hair turned pure white from terror."
The fire pops loudly, and Mia screams, burying her face in Knox's shoulder. Kym's laughing nervously at her.
"But that's just an old legend," Knox says, his normal voice returning. But when his eyes meet mine again, there's something else there. "Although... they never did find that hiker's body."
The wind picks up outside, whistling through the trees, and suddenly, the warmth of the fire doesn't feel quite enough.
Knox is staring right at me, grinning, softening the fear he's caused.
That's when I notice Mia's and Kym's glares toward me, while Knox's lips curve in a small smile as he starts a new story.
Eventually, he's told us three tales, and I'm curled up with my pillow into a ball. Mrs. Peterson is on her feet, clearly had enough, starting to distribute blankets and pillows before she goes to bed. Knox helps Sarah take James to the bedroom.
Then he's back, setting up the couch somewhere behind mine
"Sleep well," he murmurs. Mia and Kym take the remaining couches, aggressively fluffing their pillows and in my line of sight.
The fire crackles, casting shadows on the walls. Outside, the storm rages, but here, it's almost peaceful… if I ignore the death glares from across the room. And I pretend I'm not hyper-aware of Knox in the room with me.
Thinking of him makes my skin tingle and my heart race.
How am I supposed to sleep when he looks at me like that?
Or when Mia and Kym might murder me in my sleep?
And why, despite everything, do I keep thinking about Garrett's kiss while drowning in Knox's scent?
Pain explodes through my shoulder as I hit something hard and cold. For a moment, I can't process what's happening—why am I not on the couch, why is everything so dark, and why can't I breathe? Then snow fills my mouth as I gasp, and the metallic click of a lock sliding home brings reality crashing into focus.
I scramble to my feet to find myself standing outside the cabin and in the snow, the door shut. I blink the sleep out of my eyes, and I know I'm a deep sleeper, often not hearing my own alarms in the morning, so it hurts to know I slept through being carried.
Not to mention, those psychotic bitches must have thrown me outside!
Fuck!
Wind whips around me like invisible claws, and the absolute darkness seems to close in around me as I rush to the door. I'm wearing only what I fell asleep in—jeans, long-sleeved thermal shirt, and socks. No jacket. No shoes. No chance if I don't get back inside.
"Hey!" I slam my fists against the main door, my voice scraped raw by the wind. "Let me in! Open the door!"
Nothing. Of course, nothing. Through the window, I can spot the mud room door is closed—no one will hear me over the storm. I think back on the couch where I'd been sleeping. They must have waited until I was deep under. Two of them to carry me? Oh, I bet they had help from Sarah. Dread coils through me, colder than the wind.
Another gust nearly knocks me off my feet. I hug myself, trying to preserve what little warmth remains, but my clothes are already soaked from the snow. How long before hypothermia sets in? Twenty minutes in these conditions? Less? Knox's story about the Yuki-onna echoes in my head—beautiful and deadly, claiming lost travelers in storms just like this one.
I glance behind me to complete darkness, and I feel exposed and so alone.
"Not like this," I whisper through chattering teeth. "I'm not dying because two Omegas can't handle rejection."
I force my already-numbing feet to move, fighting through knee-deep snow around the cabin's perimeter. Pine branches whip against me, dumping more snow down my back. Each breath feels like swallowing ice.
"Please," I whisper, though I'm not sure who I'm begging—God, the universe, or the snow woman herself. "Please don't let me die like this."
My breath comes in ragged clouds as I stare into the darkness, Knox's story clawing at my mind. The wind whips through the skeletal branches overhead. Something howls from the mountains, or is that a woman's keening cry? Terror slides down my spine as I bolt along the side of the house. My heart pounds against my ribs, and every shadow seems to reach for me.
The first window I find belongs to the back bedroom. Through a gap in the curtains, I can make out the shapes of beds in the darkness. I pound on the glass harder than before.
"Help! Someone wake up!" But my voice and banging on the glass are stolen by the howling storm that rattles the windows.
They don't hear me. They're dead to the world.
My fingers have lost all feeling by the time I find the back door. More pounding, more screaming, more silence. The wind cuts through my wet clothes like knives, and my thoughts are starting to get fuzzy around the edges. Bad sign. Very bad sign.
One more window a few steps away. I just have to try one more window.
I'm so cold I can barely lift my arms to bang on the glass. My legs give out, dropping me into the snow. Ironic, really. I survived my parents, survived Marcus so far, survived everything life threw at me, just to die because of two stupid Omegas.
A hoarse scream rips past my throat, but it's drowned out by the storm.
Through the darkening edges of my vision, light suddenly spills across the snow. A door opens. Warmth. Please be warmth.
"Ruby?" Knox's voice carries pure horror. "Oh God, Ruby!"
Strong arms scoop me up, cradling me against a chest that feels like fire against my frozen skin. I try to speak but my jaw won't work right.
"I've got you," he murmurs, already moving. "When I saw your couch empty, I searched for you through the cabin until I saw movement outside through the back window and came to find you. But I have you now. Just hold on."
We pass through the door into blessed warmth, but I'm shaking so hard, I can barely process where we're going. Upstairs? I didn't know the cabin had stairs.
"C-Cold," I manage.
"I know, sweetheart. I know." His voice carries barely contained fury as he shoulders open another door. He sets me on the edge of a bed piled with blankets.
"We need to get these wet clothes off you. Now." His tone brings no argument from me as I sit there, shaking, struggling to move. "You're in the early stages of hypothermia. We have to get your core temperature up."
I try to grip my shirt, but my fingers won't cooperate. Knox's hands replace mine, stripping each wet layer. There's nothing sexual about it, though in other circumstances, having an Alpha undress me might send my reaction into overdrive. Right now, I can't think past the bone-deep cold.
"Arms up," he instructs, peeling off my soaked shirt. The rest follows quickly—jeans, socks, everything—then he's wrapping me in layers of thick blankets. "Lie down."
I collapse onto the bed, shivers wracking my entire body. Knox slides in next to me, pulling me against him so we're face to face. He's adding another blanket over us both. His body heat seeps into me slowly, painfully, as feeling returns to my extremities.
"F-Found me," I manage after what feels like hours.
"Heard the front door close." His arms tighten around me, his voice rough. "When I saw your couch empty... Fuck, Ruby. Did they hurt you? Besides..."
"J-Just threw me out." Speaking is easier now, though I'm still shaking. "Didn't expect the psycho level of j-jealousy."
"I'm so sorry." He presses his face into my hair. "I knew they were intense, but this... this is attempted murder."
"O-Over you."
"I'm so sorry." He pushes strands of hair off my face. "I'll take care of them for doing this. I give you my word."
There's silence between us, and I can't stop staring at this handsome man and how I ended up in his arms in this situation.
He blinks, those hypnotic blue eyes catching the faint light overhead, and I find myself sinking into them, trying not to notice how his arms feel like shelter around me.
My thoughts are a storm—the biting cold, the terror, the way he found me... and oh God, he'd seen me completely naked before he wrapped me in these blankets. Heat crawls up my neck despite the persistent chill in my bones.
"Oh look, there's color coming to your face. Good." He rubs his knuckles across my skin, his touch impossibly gentle. "You had me worried."
"Only a minute?" The words slip out before I can stop them.
His expression darkens. "If I'd been even a minute later?—"
"But you weren't," I murmur, trying to stop shivering. "You found me."
"I would never forgive myself for setting all this in motion," The words come out like a growl, possessive and protective all at once. His hand cups my cheek, and I lean into its warmth without thinking. "Rest now. You're safe."
"W-What does that mean?" My eyes are getting heavy, but I fight it.
"Mm? Just rest now."
"Thank you for... for coming after me."
He pulls me closer, tucking my head under his chin. "Sleep," he commands softly. "I'm not going anywhere."
I want to stay awake, to memorize how this feels, but exhaustion pulls at me. The last thing I register is his heartbeat against my ear, steady as a drum, and his whispered words that sound almost like a threat.
"No one will ever hurt you again."