Chapter 8
The silence had never bothered Keena before. She’d always welcomed it. For five years she’d sought it out. Silence didn’t ask questions. It didn’t look at her with pity and it didn’t remind her of everything she’d lost.
Silence had become her companion, but today, it felt unbearable.
Keena stood just inside the front door. Her hand still rested on the knob. She exhaled and shut the door, leaned back against it and closed her eyes. The cabin greeted her exactly as she had left it.
Quiet.
No music drifting through the house.
No scent of coffee or candles lingering in the air.
No warm laughter floating from the kitchen.
Her chest tightened.
Without warning, she heard Brice’s voice enter her mind. It had been about how she ate her grits.
“You’ve been eating plain grits your entire life? No cheese? Not even sugar? Just butter, salt and pepper?”
A reluctant smile tugged at her lips at the look of horror that had crossed Brice’s face. Her smile slowly faded because there was no Brice here with her.
That had only been from her memory from yesterday. Her wolf stirred restlessly beneath her skin. She too longed for Brice, but Keena was sure she had ruined any chances she may have had.
She shrugged out of her coat and draped it over the back of the chair near the door. Her boots followed, left neatly on the rug before she wandered farther into the cabin.
She’d always loved this place. The exposed beams. The stone fireplace. The wall of windows overlooking the forest.
After Lizzie had died, this cabin had become her sanctuary. Now it just felt lonely. She crossed the living room and stopped in front of the mantel. Only three framed photographs sat there.
Her parents.
Rue, her and several other enforcers after they’d completed advanced training.
And…Lizzie.
Keena reached for the last frame with careful fingers.
The photograph had been taken during their second Christmas together.
Neither of them had been looking at the camera.
Lizzie was laughing. Her head was thrown back.
Her dark curls bounced around her shoulders while she tried—and failed—to hang an ornament on the very top branch of her tree.
Keena remembered what happened immediately afterward.
She’d walked over and lifted Lizzie off the ground by her waist to assist. Lizzie had laughed so hard at how Keena had picked her up like a little kid that she had nearly dropped the ornament.
Keena’s thumb brushed lightly across the glass. She remembered the image. The day. Lizzie’s smile, but then she closed her eyes.
What had Lizzie’s laugh actually sounded like?
Keena frowned. She tried harder to remember and panic bloomed in her chest.
“No…” She squeezed the frame tight. “Come on. You remember.”
She tried again and failed. She could remember the words Lizzie used. The way she would wrinkle her nose when Keena teased her or the small of cinnamon whenever she baked cookies.
But the sound of her laughter…it was slipping away.
Five years.
She was losing something that she’d never thought she’d ever lose. A tear slid down her cheek.
“I don’t remember.” Her voice was choked and another tear fell. “I’m trying.”
Her wolf whimpered and scratched at her stomach and Keena lowered herself onto the couch with the photograph clutched to her chest.
“I don’t want to forget her,” she whispered.
The wolf nudged her gently. She knew what her animal wanted.
To be free to run.
“Not right now,” Keena said.
Her beast pushed again.
“I’m tired.” She had been patrolling all day. She’d thrown herself into work and had been on since last night, but apparently her animal didn’t care. It was becoming more insistent.
A memory flashed of two wolves racing in the wild together.
Her and Lizzie.
Her wolf wanted her to remember.
Running had always been there. Whenever life had been overwhelming, or they needed to breathe, they would shift and go running. Sometimes for miles or even until the sunrose. They’d simply exist together.
Keena stood.
“Let’s go.”
Her wolf immediately settled. She placed the picture back where it belonged and strode to the back door. She shrugged out of her clothes before she stepped barefoot onto the snow-covered porch.
The cold barely registered.
Moonlight spilled through the trees and turned the untouched snow into silver. Keena closed her eyes and allowed her beast to come forward.
The shift came easily.
Her bones stretched and reshaped themselves while her muscles rolled. Black fur burst across her skin in a familiar wave of warmth sealing in her body heat. Moments later, her wolf stood where the woman once was.
She lifted her nose and inhaled.
Pine.
Fresh snow.
Freedom.
Her wolf took off in a blur without hesitation.
Snow exploded beneath her powerful paws as she raced into the forest. Nature welcomed her like an old friend.
Branches bowed beneath fresh snow, while the moonlight filtered between the tower trunks of the trees.
The only sounds were the steady rhythm of paws striking snow and the whisper of the wind as it moved.
She ran.
Faster.
Harder.
Farther.
Her body remembered paths her human mind no longer thought about. Her wolf knew exactly where to go. She leapt over fallen logs buried beneath the snow and threaded her way effortlessly between trees.
She crossed the frozen creek where she and Lizzie had once spent an entire afternoon chasing each other through drifts taller than either of them.
For one breathtaking moment…she almost felt another set of paws beside her.
Something warmed inside of her.
Lizzie was here.
She slowed down to a slow trot before stopping. She lifted her head toward the moon. The ache in her chest was still there. It always would be, but tonight, something else had joined it.
A set of warm brown eyes.
A laugh that filled the room.
Gentle hands brushing her cheek.
Keena walked slowly to a large boulder atop a small ridge that overlooked Evergreen Hollow. The town glittered in the distance beneath thousands of Christmas lights.
It was beautiful.
She stood there quietly before she turned and headed home. By the time the cabin came into view through the trees, the moon was high in the sky. Keena’s paws slowed. Something was different. Her wolf lifted her nose and inhaled.
A familiar scent drifted toward her on the breeze.
Vanilla, coffee and something sweet.
Brice.
Excitement surged through her so suddenly she nearly stumbled.
Mine.
This time, Keena didn’t argue. Her heart raced as she trotted toward the dark sedan that was parked beside the cabin. Brice stood near the porch wrapped in her thick winter coat. Her hands were tucked into her pockets as she looked out into the trees.
Keena hesitated for exactly one second before she allowed her animal to make the final decision.
She bounded across the snowy clearing toward their mate.
Keena stopped near the bottom of the stairs. Brice turned and froze in place. Her eyes widened as she took in Keena’s wolf. She smiled and gave a little wave.
“So…” she said softly. “There you are.”
Neither of them moved.
The forest surrounding them seemed to hold its breath. Brice slowly walked to the stairs and made her way down. Instead of walking to her, she lowered herself down onto one knee. She rested her hand on her knee and waited.
Keena tilted her head and studied her.
“I came here looking for Keena.”
Keena’s ears perked up at the sound of her name.
“But I’m really happy to see you too,” Brice said. She held out her hand toward Keena’s wolf. Keena’s tail began to wag slowly at first then it picked up speed. “Do you know who I am?”
Without hesitation, Keena’s wolf closed the remaining distance between them until she stood directly in front of Brice who hesitantly reached out a hand and brushed Keena’s head.
“They’re your eyes,” she whispered. Keena’s wolf let out a quiet chuff. A giggle escaped Brice’s lips. “Hi, beautiful.”
Keena’s wolf had no shame. She leaned into Brice and forced her to keep rubbing her head. Brice’s fingers slipped gently behind one ear and Keena’s eyes fluttered closed as a low rumble vibrated deep inside of her chest.
Her animal was loving all of this attention.
“I’ve missed you,” Brice said softly.
Keena’s wolf stepped closer to her, almost knocking her over onto the ground. She rested her large head against Brice’s shoulder and Brice wrapped both arms around Keena’s neck. Keena’s heart skipped a beat. Her animal needed this. She needed to feel something. They had been alone too long.
“I wish I could take away some of your pain,” Brice whispered against her neck.
Had Keena been in her human form, she would have instantly teared up, but her wolf whined and relaxed against Brice even more.
Finally, her wolf took a step backwards.
“Can I talk to Keena now? Please?”
Keena’s wolf turned and took a few steps toward the cabin. She paused and looked back to Brice who still knelt on the ground.
“You want me to follow you?” Brice said. She pushed up off the ground and stood. She brushed the snow from her knees and came over to the stairs.
Let me have control, Keena said. Her wolf hesitated at first, but soon relented. The shift began and once again, it didn’t take long. Her body reshaped itself as the fur receded leaving Keena kneeling naked on her front porch.
Brice’s eyes were wide as she stared at Keena.
“Oh! You’re naked!” she exclaimed.
“Um, yeah. Our clothes don’t shift with us,” Keena murmured. Her lips tugged up at the corners at Brice’s innocent comment.
“Aren’t you cold? Get inside before you catch your death!” Brice rushed up the stairs and pushed her toward the door. Keena rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“I’ll be fine. Never in my forty years have I caught my death from being naked outside,” she muttered.
Keena opened the door and held it open for Brice.
They went inside where warm air wrapped around them almost immediately.
Keena shut the door behind them. The soft click sounded much louder than it should have in the stillness of the cabin.