Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
The snow was relentless. Thick white flakes hurled sideways as if the wind had lost its mind. Eddie stood on the front porch with her eyes narrowed at the swirling storm. Her chest burned from chopping wood, her muscles were coiled, but that wasn’t what had her jaw locked tight.
It was the sight of Liana’s footprints—half filled, half frozen, leading away from the cabin.
Eddie cursed under her breath. Her bear prowled beneath her skin. It paced and snarled. Their mate was out there in this mess. For what? A phone that was probably dead. A few clothes? Her stubborn, beautiful, and reckless human didn’t understand the danger these mountains held.
Eddie pulled her coat shut, but it did little to ease the heat rising inside her. She stepped off the porch with the snow crunching beneath her boots. The cold bit into her face instantly, but her bear’s blood kept her warm enough to move without hesitation.
She followed the trail down the slope toward the tree line. The storm was growing heavier by the minute. Visibility was shrinking fast. The scent of Liana lingered—soft, sweet, and tinged with the faint metallic sting of fear. Eddie’s gut twisted.
“Why would she not listen to me?” she growled.
Her boot sank deep. The world had turned into a blur of white and gray shadows. The wind shrieked through the pines like warning cries. The farther she went, the weaker Liana’s scent became scattered by the storm.
Then she heard it.
A howl. Low. Long. Wrong.
Every muscle Eddie’s body grew taut. That wasn’t the call of a wolf pack. It wasn’t any pack that she knew. This was something else. Something broken.
Her bear roared inside her chest. The sound vibrated through her bones.
She didn’t think or hesitate. She tore off her coat and gloves and dropped them onto the ground.
The shift rippled through her like wildfire.
Her tendons snapped and reshaped. Her bones expanded and thickened.
Her body stretched, and her skin disappeared underneath a wave of golden-brown fur, until Eddie the human was gone and in her place stood a ferocious grizzly.
Eight feet of raw fury.
Her breath steamed in the freezing air. Her talons dug trenches in the snow. Her nostrils flared—and there it was. Liana. Her scent, faint but distinct.
And the wolf.
A snarl ripped from her throat as she barreled forward. The snow exploded around her with each stride. The storm clawed at her, but she didn’t slow. Her heart pounded with a single instinct.
Protect their mate.
The tracks twisted through the trees, toward the old forest road. Eddie crashed through the drifts, branches snapping under her weight. Then she saw it. The shape of Liana’s car half-buried and the shadow that circled it.
The wolf.
It was massive, its pelt a patchwork of matted gray. It’s eyes were a wild, sickly yellow. This was no sane creature. It reeked of rot and bloodlust.
Eddie let out a thunderous roar that shook the air. The wolf turned and snarled at her. It set its sights on Eddie. That was what she wanted. She didn’t see Liana, but going by the misted windows, assumed she was inside the vehicle.
The wolf faced her, then lunged.
They collided with a sound that split the storm.
It was a clash of beasts, teeth and claws.
Eddie’s weight sent them both tumbling into the snow.
Her massive paws struck the wolf. She knocked the wolf down, but it jumped right up and lunged at her again.
It snapped at Eddie’s throat, and she slammed it down to the ground. The snow flew into the air around them.
She bit down on its shoulder. The fur and flesh gave way beneath her jaws. The wolf howled, twisted, and tried to rake her belly with its claws. Eddie was the stronger of the two.
She was an alpha.
Her bear was in charge, but Eddie was still in the background. Her bear growled and refused to let the wolf go.
Mate. Our mate. You die, her bear roared.
The fight was brutal and primal. The snow turned crimson beneath them. The wolf writhed, screeched, but Eddie’s rage didn’t waver. She fought with purpose—love.
And that made her unstoppable.
She hurled the creature, sending it crashing against a tree. It landed hard and struggled to rise. It fled into the forest, disappearing into the white blur of the storm.
Eddie stood there with her chest heaving, her sides streaked with blood that wasn’t all hers. Her talons flexed, but the bear’s fury subsided as the new scent hit her.
Liana’s fear.
She turned toward the car. Through the slush and shattered snow, she could see movement. A brown face behind the windshield.
Liana.
Her mate.
Her heart thudded painfully.
Eddie fell down on all fours and lumbered toward the car until she reached the driver’s side. She could smell Laina’s panic. The sharp tang of adrenaline mixed with cold and tears.
Slowly, she stepped back and forced herself to calm down. Her body trembled as she shifted. Her bones ground together, and fur pulled back into flesh until she stood naked and human again. Steam rose from her skin in the frigid temperatures. She pressed a hand to the window.
“Liana,” she said. She cleared her throat. The sound of her voice was rough. “It’s me.”
Liana’s eyes were wild with shock, then relief filled them.
Eddie yanked on the frozen handle. Her muscles strained until it gave.
The door flew open with a groan, and the rush of icy air hit them.
Liana’s body trembled in the driver’s seat.
She reached over and grabbed a bag and tossed items in it.
She frantically gathered the things she’d come for.
Eddie watched her and had to bite back the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
“Eddie,” Liana gasped. “It was out there—”
“I know,” Eddie said. Her voice was firm but trembled. She crouched and scooped Liana up without another word. Her skin burned against the freezing air, but she didn’t care. She could feel how cold Liana was. How close she’d come to real danger.
She held Liana tight to her chest. Liana buried her face against Eddie’s neck.
“I just wanted—”
“Don’t,” Eddie interjected. Her voice was low and sharp. “Not right now.”
The wind howled louder as the snow bit at her bare skin. She turned and trudged back toward the cabin. Each step was heavy. The weight of her anger matched the storm around them.
Her mate was safe and alive.
But her fury scorched through the relief like acid. She’d nearly lost her—again.
The snow charred Eddie’s bare skin like fire, but she didn’t slow. Liana’s shivering form was clutched tightly to her chest, her heartbeat racing rapidly. Eddie’s strides ate up the distance, her breath forming thick clouds in the frozen air.
By the time the cabin came into view, its outline blurred by the storm, her legs ached and her lungs stung from the cold. The world was pure silence and white fury with only the gentle hum of the generator breaking up the monotony.
She climbed the porch steps in two strides and kicked the door open with her bare foot. Warm air hit her like a sigh of relief. Inside, she lowered Liana carefully onto the thick rug in front of the hearth.
A sense of déjà vu overtook her.
The fire had dimmed to glowing embers. She moved over to it and fed it a few logs and tried to coax the flames back to life. Within a few minutes, the fire roared and bathed the room in light and warmth.
“Eddie, I—”
“Don’t,” Eddie rasped. She stood and watched the flames. She didn’t look at her. She couldn’t. “You could have died out there. Again.”
Silence blanketed the room.
Eddie drew in a deep breath and tried to contain the storm that raged inside her. She turned sharply and disappeared down the small hallway. She had to force herself to move, to do something instead of exploding.
She stepped into the bathroom and went over to the tub. She ran the water until steam rose. The generator powered the heater that fed the pipes. She leaned against the sink and gripped the porcelain, her knuckles going white.
Her reflection in the mirror was a stranger. Wild-eyed, streaked with dirt and blood. Her hair was a tangled mess from the shift. Her bear still clawed beneath the surface, restless and unsettled.
“You almost lost her,” she whispered. “Again.”
Her throat burned. She closed her eyes and forced a slow exhale through her lips. She had been careless. She should have kept a closer eye on Liana. Explained the dangers of the wild to her, warned her again about the wolf she’d spotted.
Maybe she should have stopped what she was doing when Liana had come outside and gone immediately to the car to gather her belongings. If she had, Liana wouldn’t have taken it upon herself to go and try to retrieve her things.
She opened her eyes and stared at her refection. She would have to speak with Liana about all of the dangers that would follow her as the mate of an alpha.
Her hands shook as she went over to the tub and turned off the water.
She went to fetch clean towels and placed them on the vanity.
When she returned to the living room, Liana was sitting up with a blanket wrapped around her.
She stared into the flames, but Eddie wasn’t sure she was truly seeing them.
Eddie’s heart skipped a beat.
Without a word, she knelt beside her. She scanned Liana for any signs of injury.
“Are you hurt?” she asked. The words were tight and clipped.
Liana shook her head. “No. Just cold.”
She didn’t offer to help her up. She couldn’t. Not yet. The sight of her, afraid and almost frozen in that car, had carved something deep and raw inside her. She didn’t trust herself to touch her without breaking down completely.
But then Liana tried to stand and winced. Eddie’s restraint crumbled.
“Easy,” she murmured. She slipped an arm around her and helped her stand. She took the bulk of Liana’s weight when she leaned into her. “I’ll need to recheck that ankle.”