Chapter 45
45
SS swung around too, and let out a yell as he caught sight of the dog team. “Get the fuck away!” he yelled. The wolf growled and snarled at the dogs.
Maura ran toward the sled as fast as she could, although “running” was the wrong word for her headlong dive through the snow. It was all she could do to stay upright and not end up face-first in the icy white fluff. When the team reached her, Lachlan called out, “Whoa,” and as the sled drew up alongside, he swung her up behind him.
As she found her footing on the runners, her arms wrapped tightly around Lachlan to stay steady, he called out, “Haw” to the dogs. They seemed more than happy to keep turning left until they were running away from the wolf.
It took all of Lachlan’s attention to keep the dogs focused on working together instead of panicking about the wolf. But Maura trusted that he’d manage them just fine, and allowed herself to look back over her shoulder.
The wolf was paying no attention to the dog team. Maybe he saw them as too big of a target. Maybe he perceived the dog team to be retreating away from his territory, and therefore no longer a threat. The large human, on the other hand, with that familiar machine that made the terrible sounds, that one kept yelling and screaming…and there was that other vibration that made him dizzy and disoriented, and he was pretty sure that human was the problem, the one who kept producing that awful sound and…
Maura watched open-mouthed as the wolf went into headlong chase mode. SS panicked and stumbled back toward his snowmobile. He tried one last time to start it, and this time, it worked. The engine roared to life. He opened the throttle wide.
For a moment, Maura feared he’d come after them. But he was still focused on the wolf, which was loping toward him. The dog team was going at a nice clip now, since they were using the track they’d made coming this way. Pretty soon she’d lose sight of him. She craned her neck to watch.
SS didn’t head their way, nor did he head toward the cliff. Maybe he didn’t really want to die. Instead he gunned the snowmobile and spun it toward the wolf with a wild scream.
At that point, she saw no more—the snow horizon rose up to block her view. She couldn’t hear anything except the receding drone of the snowmobile engine. Maybe he was heading into the forest. She hoped not, since that was the wolf’s territory. But SS had never been very good at respecting boundaries. Maybe this time, finally, he’d pay the price.
She hoped the wolf was okay. As for SS, he was on his own.
When they were far enough from Wind Valley, Lachlan called out “easy” to the dogs so they could slow down and get a breather. Maura still clung to his back. She wasn’t sure she ever wanted to let go.
“Are you okay?” he asked her urgently.
She let out a sob. “You rescued me in a dog sled.” She could still hardly believe it. “You’re like a knight in furry armor.”
Was that a blush on his face, or just the reddening from the wind? “My part was mostly mental. I figured out Dr. Reed’s energy device has the unfortunate side effect of interfering with electrical impulses. I knew if we could trigger it, SS’s snowmobile would be disabled, but so would ours. Lasse let me borrow his dog team. Those dogs are the real heroes here.”
Trust Lachlan to be modest even after he’d saved her life.
She looked up at him, emotion welling from the depths of her being. “When I thought I was going to die, all I wanted to think about was you.”
He went pale. “Die?”
“That lunatic wanted us both to go over the cliff into Wind Valley.”
“Good God. I sent him that way because it would give me time to trigger the device, I didn’t imagine—” He looked so horrified that she had to give him a reassuring hug.
“It’s okay. The snowmobile stopped just in time.”
Lachlan looked like he might throw up. He called “whoa” to the team. The dogs came to a stop. As they stretched, or rested, or licked themselves, Fiona, the lead dog, kept an eye on things, and Lachlan scrubbed a hand across his face.
“I need a minute here. Jesus. What if it hadn’t worked? What if?—”
“Lachlan.” She interrupted him before he went over his own cliff of doom-spiraling. “I love you.”
He stared at her blankly, probably still caught up in his worst-case scenario. “What?”
“It all became so clear when I thought he might kill me. This is my life. I’m not going to let it get warped by him anymore. I love you. I trust you. I adore you, my sweet-hearted genius. I know we haven’t talked about?—”
“Doesn’t matter. I love you too.” He caught her in his arms, as joy filled her to the brim. “I’ve loved you from the moment I helped you out of that snowbank. I tried to stop. I tried to be just your friend. But it was always there, buried deep down. Not very deep, actually. You must have known it.” He gestured back in the direction where SS was probably dueling with the wolf. “I didn’t want to be like?—”
“Shhh.” She covered his mouth with her gloved hand. “You could never be like him. You’ve always respected me and what I wanted. When I was flying across the snow with that man, listening to him talk about an epic ending, I realized something. In the back of my mind, there was always this little nagging worry that all of this was my fault somehow. But it was all him. All of it. I can let that go. I did let it go.”
“Right over the edge?”
She laughed. “Right over the edge. Now I’m free of it. And I just hope you didn’t bury that love too deep. Because I want it. All of it.” She opened her heart wide and let her love for him shine out in her smile.
He looked somewhere between dazed and dazzled. “It’s yours. Every last nanoparticle. Not to be too scientific about it.” He grinned and they came together for a kiss of pure bliss.
They didn’t pull away until a low rumble from the west caught their attention. “That will be the famous Skidoo armada,” he said with a wry laugh. “I was wondering when they’d show up.”
“At least they’ll be good for something.” At his raised eyebrow, she said, “They’ll spread the word that we’re fine and that we’re in love. Maybe we’ll even get mentioned in the next newsletter.”
When they were through chuckling about that, he asked, “Ready to go home, my darling?”
“Home sounds good.”
Where was home? She wasn’t sure anymore, but wherever it was, it involved Lachlan. He was her safe harbor, her champion, her love.
Lachlan clucked “Hike” to the sled dogs and they bounded back to their feet, then surged forward, eager for the sensation of snow and wind and speed.
As they hurtled across the snow, Maura tipped back her head and let out a long wolf howl—pure freedom and joy straight from the heart.