Chapter 1
***RYAN***
There was no place colder than the New York mountains in the middle of the winter with several inches of snow on the ground and the stars sparkling like they too were covered in a layer of frost. Ryan had seen plenty of nights just like this one from the warmth and safety of his childhood room, but it was entirely different being out in it, struggling to stay warm even through his layers, and he wished he was anywhere but there.
It wasn’t just the cold; the smell of burned flesh floating to him on the breeze made him want to gag, and he moved away a couple more feet, glad that he’d pulled guard duty instead of having to deal directly with the problem.
He glanced back over to the circle of light where Thomas was crying and whining, blaming everything on Walker and Maddie, then turned away, sickened by the sight of the broken man.
Trying to put himself in the other man’s shoes, he couldn’t imagine wanting power so desperately that he’d be willing to kill for it, but the Kappas had proven over and over again they were more than happy to do anything it took to gain that power.
Turning away again, he scanned the woods around them, knowing it was a wasted effort; they were miles from civilization on a dirt road that led to nowhere, the cabin so isolated, it wasn’t even on a map.
He didn’t really care, it made his job easy, but as he stood there, he realized the extra-large cup of coffee that he’d downed on the trip over from Elmwood Junction was coming back to haunt him.
Shifting from foot to foot, he considered his options, then looked over his shoulder again, hoping Jackson had gotten Thomas moving, but the jerk was still sitting on the ground bawling like a baby.
The last thing he wanted to do was get in the middle of trying to convince the other shifter to heal his own wounds, so that meant the cabin bathroom was out, leaving him only Mother Nature.
Noticing Aaron standing only a few feet away, he got his attention and gestured for him to come closer. “Hey, I’ve got to answer the call of nature,” he said. “Can you take my place for a few minutes?”
“I told you not to get that huge cup of coffee,” Aaron said, a scowl on his face. “I should make you stand here and suffer, but it’s too cold out here for that. Just hurry up. Marcus is supposed to be here any minute.”
The mention of the man who held their future in his hands almost made him change his mind, but his bladder was about to burst. “I’ll hurry,” he said, taking off toward the road. “I’m just going to step into the trees for a second.”
He walked a little way down the road, the thought of being spotted by one of the clan elders in such a position making him extra cautious.
After trudging through the ankle-deep snow and winding his way deeper into the trees, he looked around, relieved to see that the lights of the cabin had faded enough that he felt safe.
Getting right down to business, he quickly relieved himself, glancing around the entire time, then quickly stepped away from the tree, feeling immensely better and ready to go back to his guard duty, promising himself he’d never make that mistake again.
He was studying the ground in front of him, following his tracks back to the road, when he heard something crashing through the trees in front of him and froze.
Then, he began scanning the woods around him and sniffing the air.
He picked up the scent of sugar cookies and citrus on the breeze, which confused him, until he saw a woman struggling through the snow a few hundred yards from him.
She was staring at the cabin as she ran from tree to tree and didn’t see him as he slowly followed along behind her, trying to decide what to do about finding her where she definitely shouldn’t be.
The woman finally came to a stop a few thousand feet from the circle of cars that illuminated the scene in front of the cabin, and he winced when he realized what it must look like to her.
“It’s not what it looks like,” he said, trying not to panic. “Our friend is just having a bad night.”
The woman screamed and whirled around, her face white with fear, her eyes like saucers, and he realized that he’d just made a bad situation even worse.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, taking a couple of steps toward her, noticing something strange beginning to happen to him, but ignoring it. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“What happened to him?” the woman asked, her voice shaking, her blue eyes full of fear. “It looks like he needs help; someone should call an ambulance.”
“That’s not necessary,” he said, shaking his head. “I really think you should go, you don’t belong here. Trust me, just go back to where you came from and forget you ever saw this. It will be much safer for you.”
“I can’t,” the woman said, shaking her head. “My car is out of gas, and I was freezing.”
“I’ll get you some gas and bring it to you, just go right now,” he said, unable to stop himself from looking up into the sky. “I’ll bring it to you, I promise, just get out of here before it’s too late.”
“Too late,” the woman echoed, her body tensed to run, her eyes wide with fear. “What’s going to happen?”
“Something you don’t want to see,” he said, striding over to her and grabbing her arm. “You have to go…”
As soon as he touched her, the same weird feeling spread through him, and this time, there was an electrical charge to go with it, surprising him enough that he immediately let go.
The woman must have felt it too; she let out a little gasp, then looked down at where his hand hovered over her arm.
A blush spread across her pale cheeks, and she started backing away from him.
“Maybe you’re right,” she whispered, then turned and headed for the road.
***Paula***
The moonlight reflecting off the snow was bright enough to illuminate the path back to the road, and it was a good thing because Paula’s brain was overwhelmed as she stumbled through the trees.
Her impulsive decision to go for help was clearly just another one in a long string of bad choices she’d made, but this time, she’d actually put herself in danger.
She had no idea what was going on in front of that cabin, but the smell of burned flesh and the cries of the injured man gave her imagination plenty of fuel to work with and those thoughts filled her with terror.
Her brain had already been screaming at her to run when the man came up behind her and for a few seconds, she’d been sure that she’d made the last stupid mistake of her life, then instead of grabbing her, he’d told her to run.
It had been so contrary to what she’d been expecting, she’d been frozen with shock, then she’d looked into his green eyes, and her body had begun to do strange things that had nothing to do with running for her life.
It started out as a tingle all over her body, but as she stood there staring at him, watching as he grew more and more concerned about her being there, the feeling changed, morphing into a wave of desire that took her breath away for a second.
His touch on her arm and the wave of warmth that followed finally shocked her out of her stupor and she managed to get her feet moving.
Now she was stumbling through the trees, confused, scared, and desperate to put some distance between the man and herself before all her worst fears came true.
She’d just made it to the road when the moon was suddenly blocked by something, followed by the whoosh of wings, and she looked up into the sky, gasping when she saw what looked like a huge bird.
Only a second later, she realized it wasn’t a bird because no bird could be that big, and instinct took over as she dove under the lowest branches of a pine tree.
Fighting her way through the branches, she leaned up against the trunk and closed her eyes trying to catch her breath, the sound of those wings right over the top of her head.
When the sound abruptly stopped, she held her breath, expecting to hear something, but there was only silence.
She finally parted the branches and looked over at the cabin.
The bird or whatever it was had landed in the middle of the men gathered in the circle of light, and she gasped, thinking they would all be dead within seconds, then ducked her head again, not wanting to see the blood bath.
When the sound of voices came to her on the wind, she was confused for a second, then poked her head out again, even more bewildered when there was no sign of the creature.
She sat there for a minute more, her mind spinning, then realized that she was getting soaked by the snow she was sitting in and crawled out from under the tree, glancing over at the men in front of the cabin every few seconds.
When she finally stood up, she wasn’t sure that her legs were going to hold her, but she managed one step, then another, and finally broke into a run.
The trip back to the main road happened in a blur of scary shadows and terrifying noises, and she could barely breathe when she finally made it to her car.
Jumping inside, she hit the lock button, then sat there trembling and shaking for a long time, both from the cold and the fear that was still coursing through her body.
It took a long time before she could tear her eyes away from the side road that led to the little cabin, but she finally managed to calm down enough to realize that she was dangerously cold.
Turning awkwardly in the front seat, not about to get out of the car, she managed to wrangle her emergency kit from the floorboard, sighing with relief when she zipped the bag open and saw the fluffy blanket right on top.
When her father had insisted, she put it in her car on her last visit home, she’d done it just to please him, but now she was nothing but grateful for his overprotectiveness.
Wrapping herself up in the blanket while still sitting in the driver’s seat was no easy feat, but once she was finally cocooned in the warmth and softness she instantly felt better.
She sat shivering for a few minutes, feeling sorry for herself and warily keeping an eye on the dirt road, trying not to think about the thing she’d seen in the sky and wondering if she should report it if she ever got back to civilization.
Thinking about her tiny apartment and her nice warm bed made tears spring to her eyes, and she forced herself to push away the thought that she might never get back there.
Noticing her cell phone sitting on the seat next to her, she stuck one arm out, then pulled it back under the blanket and turned it on, hoping to see a few bars.
Huddled under the blanket, she watched as the phone powered up, holding her breath, her eyes glued to the top corner of the screen.
When the icon popped up telling her she didn’t have any service, she moaned, threw her head back against the seat, and closed her eyes, fighting the sobs that were building up deep in her chest.
She was going to freeze to death out here waiting for someone to come along and help her, even worse, there was a strange creature flying around, a fierce-looking thing that could devour her in one bite.
Feeling like a sitting duck, not sure what she’d do if the thing came looking for her, she huddled under the blanket, eyes scanning not only the forest but the sky.
It wasn’t long before the stress of the night began to wear on her, and her eyelids grew heavy.
She fought for as long as she could, but eventually, sleep won, and she drifted off, leaving the fear behind in the peace of slumber.