Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
The cabin door shut behind her with a soft thud.
The sound was nearly swallowed by the gust of wind.
For a moment, Liana hesitated on the front porch of the cabin.
Her gloved hands gripped the railing as she took in the swirling whiteness before her.
Snow drifted down in a slow hypnotic spiral.
She inhaled sharply. The world had been reduced to a blinding blur of silver and gray.
She should go back inside.
She knew that.
But her stomach twisted with a different kind of unease. It wasn’t fear but restlessness.
Guilt.
Eddie had been working all day from the moment she’d woken up. She’d shoveled, chopped wood, fixed a few things out in the yard, getting them ready for whatever was to come. Everything she did appeared to be deliberate and efficient. The woman was capable of taking care of them.
And Liana? What had she been doing while the alpha had been out in the cold working?
She’d cleaned the kitchen. Dusted a house that didn’t have a speck of dust. Straightened up the bathroom and living room. All of which had taken a little over an hour.
Liana wanted to help. To contribute. To matter in this place that wasn’t her world.
She just wasn’t used to someone taking care of her.
She’d been on her own and providing for herself since she had graduated from college.
Her parents had raised her to be self-sufficient.
So to have someone literally do everything for her—drove her crazy.
Her gaze turned toward the direction of the buried road. Somewhere down that slope, under layers of snow, would be her car waiting for her. Her phone, her tablet, her chargers—everything she owned that connected her to the outside world—was locked inside that vehicle.
What if something happened?
There wasn’t a phone in the cabin. Eddie had said it proudly like it was a badge of honor to be completely disconnected from the world.
No signal. No service. No interruptions.
Apparently, she was determined to take a break from her clan. The beta had been put in charge while she had taken some time away.
But again, what if something happened and they needed help?
Liana was even more determined to go after her phone and charger.
The wind bit through the scarf she’d borrowed.
Due to her dunk in the creek, she was unable to wear her coat.
It was still wet. When she’d been going through the cabin, she’d found additional clothing and outwear.
Whoever the coat belonged to must be a giant. It practically dwarfed her.
Her boot sank in the drift. The cold nipped at her cheeks immediately.
“I’ll be fine. It’s not that far,” she whispered to herself.
She remembered the trek when Eddie had rescued her.
They had arrived at the cabin in no time.
She blew out a deep breath that puffed into the air as a white cloud.
The snow was deeper than she’d thought. She took another step, and this time she sank down to her knees.
Each step was work. It was a battle between her stubbornness and the snow.
Eddie’s warning replayed in her mind.
That road is probably covered under a good three feet of snow. You’re not getting near that car without a snowmobile.
But Liana had grown up in Colorado winters. She wasn’t some delicate flower. She could handle a ton of snow.
Right?
She kept her focus on the faint line of dark pines ahead, her guess at the direction of where the street was located.
The wind howled and threw some snow against her.
The first flicker of doubt that entered her mind was when she glanced back.
The cabin was gone, swallowed by the flurries of snow. There was only whiteness behind her.
Her stomach dropped.
Okay…maybe it’s a little farther than I thought, she told herself. She forced her legs to continue moving. She tried to go faster, but with the amount of snow she was trudging through, she was probably going the same speed, if not slower.
“Just a bit more. I’m sure I’ll see the car any second now,” she muttered.
A few more minutes or maybe an hour passed.
Nothing.
She didn’t see anything but snow. Endless, swirling snow.
The cold had definitely set into her. She didn’t feel any pain anymore when it came to her ankle. The throbbing she had been used to feeling had dulled until she could barely feel it. She tried to convince herself that it was a good thing. Maybe she was getting used to the cold.
Except she wasn’t.
Halfway through another drift, she stumbled and caught herself on one knee. Her breath came out ragged through the scarf.
“This is not the time to be falling.” She chuckled. Not that she found any of this funny. She closed her eyes and breathed in and had to focus. She refused to be like one of those characters in a horror movie. “There’s no one chasing you. Take your time. Keep going.”
She stood and stretched. It couldn’t be much longer. It hadn’t taken Eddie long to make it from the crash site to the cabin.
Something cracked in the distance. A sharp, clean snap.
Liana froze as her heart skipped a beat. Her gaze swept across the area near her, but she didn’t see anything.
“Eddie?” she called out. She raised her voice against the wind. “Eddie, is that you?”
Silence.
The wind shrieked, and she almost jumped out of her skin. For a moment, she thought she’d heard something else woven into the sound. Like an animal, but it sounded wrong. Her pulse spiked.
It’s just the wind and my imagination, she tried to convince herself. She pushed forward and continued on. She had to fight to keep her footsteps steady and even. She tried to keep her mind on something else—anything but the potential of a wild animal stalking her.
Of course, her thoughts went to Eddie.
The feeling of her strong body pressed to Liana’s.
The way Eddie’s voice changed when she’d whispered her name in her ear this morning to awaken her.
The way she’d touched her. Made love to her. Protected her.
Was Eddie truly real? Had all of this been a fantasy and she had just been wandering along, lost, ever since the crash?
A tear slipped down her cheek and froze almost instantly. No, she knew Eddie was very much real. There was no way that the universe would be so cruel as to make everything she’d experienced with Eddie be a fantasy.
Liana didn’t want to die out here. Not like this. Not when she’d found a woman who cared for her and made her feel alive.
The storm thickened. Flakes flew into her face, making it harder for her to see. She hunched deeper into her coat, one gloved hand shielding her eyes. The snow came in sideways now, a curtain of white noise. Her sense of direction vanished completely.
She had no idea where she was and if she was even headed in the right direction.
“Okay, girl. You got this. Just turn around and retrace your steps. The cabin is warm and waiting for you. Eddie won’t even know you’ve been gone.” She was trying to stay calm and not lose her shit. She spun around and glanced down. The bottom of her stomach gave way.
The wind had erased her tracks. Every mark of her boots was gone.
“Well, fuck.”
Panic clawed up her throat. She turned in a slow circle, trying to seek any landmark that would help her. She squinted to see if she might catch the silhouette of the cabin, but the world looked the same in every direction.
White, white, and then more white.
Her breaths came faster now. She tightened her scarf and tried to keep moving. The reasoning that the car had to be somewhere near kept her going. But the cold was starting to steal her thoughts. They drifted like the snow, surrounding her and landing everywhere.
She remembered the warmth of Eddie’s arms, the roughness of her palms on her soft skin. The languid rumble of her growl. The quietness of her in the aftermath of their lovemaking when she’d rested her head on Eddie and listened to her heartbeat slow down. The world had certainly felt safer then.
That memory was a lifeline. It kept her going. She would make it back to Eddie. She was one determined woman, and if she knew anything, she would survive this.
“I’ll be fine,” she whispered. Her lips were beginning to feel numb. “Eddie will be pissed, but I’ll be fine.”
Her eyes stung from the wind. Her fingers burned under the gloves. She tried to keep her mind busy. She counted her steps, named all of the colors that she did see, but the howling of the wind in her ears drowned out everything.
Then came another sound.
A distant, guttural howl.
Liana froze. Her blood ran cold. This time it wasn’t the wind. That was surely a live animal. She turned sharply and scanned around her. The sound echoed again. This time it was closer, threading through the trees.
“Eddie?” she called out. Her voice cracked as panic took over. “Please!”
Nothing answered but the wind.
Her heart hammered against her chest so hard she could feel it all the way in to her fingertips. She stumbled forward, half running, half falling. She had to find the car. Had to find some kind of shelter. The snow blurred her vision, her lashes heavy with ice.
Shapes formed off in the distance. Her breath caught. The road. She was sure of it. She could see a faint dip in the landscape where the road must be buried.
And there was a darker shadow. The outline of something—her car! It had to be.
Relief flooded her so fast she almost sobbed.
“Yes,” she gasped. She dragged herself through the snow toward the car. “Finally!”
The howl came again.
Closer.
Terror gripped her. Liana didn’t dare look back. Every instinct screamed for her to move. She half ran, half crawled. The snow was up to her thighs now. Her ankle screamed, but she barely felt it. Her lungs burned. She didn’t care.
Her fingers, stiff and clumsy from the cold, brushed the frozen metal of the driver’s door. She could have cried.
She yanked on the handle. It didn’t budge. Ice crusted over the edges, sealing it tight.
“No, no, no.” She tugged harder, pounding her fist on the frame until pain shot up her arm. The handle finally gave a little, but it still wouldn’t open. The cold had welded it shut.
She leaned her forehead on the window. Her breaths were coming in hard pants, and she fought the dizzying blur in her vision.
Her reflection stared back at her. Her lips were dark, her lashes thick with ice, and there was nothing but fear in her eyes.
She wasn’t going to die here. Not when she’d come this far.
Her head snapped up at a howl that was too close to comfort. Her breath fogged the glass as she peered through the frost. And then she saw it. A shape creeping through the storm. Dark fur, massive shoulders, eyes that caught what little light there was and gleamed like embers.
A wolf.
Huge and wild, and somehow it looked wrong.
Her body locked up, breath frozen in her chest. The thing was watching her. Studying her.
“No,” she whispered.
This had to be the feral wolf that Eddie had told her about.
This was no ordinary wolf. It took another step in her direction.
She fumbled for the door handle again. Her gloves slipped.
She ripped them off and ignored the burn of the cold against her bare skin and yanked with everything she had.
The door groaned, ice cracking around the seal, and finally gave.
She threw herself inside and slammed it shut behind her. She hit the lock, her hands shaking. The air inside the car was frigid. Her breath floated in the dim light like mist. She curled up in the seat, shivering and trying not to make a sound. The silence pressed in around her.
Then came the crunch of snow.
Liana turned her head slowly toward the windshield. Through the patch of glass not covered by snow, she could see it. The wolf. It stood in front of the car. Steam rose from its breath in the icy air. Its fur was dark, matted, and the shoulders rippled as it prowled. Its eyes were locked on her.
It stalked closer one step at a time. It circled the vehicle. It brushed the side, and the car shook slightly. It dragged its claws along the side of the car, damaging the metal.
Liana pressed back in the seat, every nerve screaming, her pulse pounding in her throat.
“Eddie,” she whispered.
The wolf stopped in front of the car. It lifted its head and howled.
The sound tore through the storm. It was wild, guttural, and tortuous.
Liana clamped her hands over her ears. She trembled, and her eyes burned with a new set of tears. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. All she could do was pray that somewhere out there, Eddie had heard the howl—and her prayer.
The wolf lowered its head again and paced slowly through the snow. It was waiting. Watching.
Liana sat alone in the freezing dark, her breath fogging up the glass. The only response to the wolf was the wind. She closed her eyes and prayed that Eddie would come to her rescue.