1. - – Trick
CHAPTER ONE
-
TRICK
Excitement swirled in my guts. Getting out of town with my brothers was the best surprise I could’ve ever imagined.
We haven’t been to the cabin in years! Our fathers used to take us when we were pups.
We spent so many summers swimming in the lake, fishing, running free through endless woods, it was paradise for wolves.
The waning gibbous moon hung low in the sky, the sun’s glow not fully extinguished yet, making it twilight in its truest form. The low light reflected on the snow-covered forest as we lumbered up the mountains.
“STOP! Stop the truck!” Kade shouted.
Kohl slammed on the brakes, and we came to a skidding stop on the icy road.
“What the fuck?”
“I saw something, wait here.”
Kade hopped from the warm cab of the faded, rusty, but ever reliable vehicle, and took off running. Kohl and I glanced at each other in the rearview mirror, then followed Kade with curiosity.
He jumped down the snowy shoulder of the lonely two-lane road, then bent over something I couldn’t see. When we caught up, we found him leaning over a bright pink jacket crowned with a spray of blonde hair and filled by a very cold human body.
“What the fuck?” burst from between Kohl’s clenched teeth, once again.
“I can hear a faint and very slow heartbeat. Bring her inside. Let’s get her warmed up,” I suggested.
Kade lifted her like she weighed nothing at all and ran carefully to the heated truck, holding her close to his chest so she wouldn’t be jostled about.
He sat in the front seat with her in his lap near the vents pouring out heat.
She wasn’t warming up fast enough and her hands were blue.
It would be a miracle if she didn’t lose some frozen extremities.
Kohl took her left hand and rubbed it between his warm shifter hands.
Wolves always run hotter than humans. We could provide enough heat ourselves without the engine running.
I reached over Kade’s other shoulder and took her right hand between mine.
Fingers and toes were furthest from the core body heat and first to lose blood flow in these circumstances.
Once her fingers began to look less blue, Kohl got us moving again.
“We’ll be able to tend to her better in the cabin.”
The rest of our ride was in silence, no doubt each of us contemplating her injuries.
When we arrived at the cabin, I was unable to take a moment to enjoy the view of our cozy refuge covered in snow. Kade gently carried our find inside and placed her on the sofa.
Now that I could see her pale lips and smooth skin, her beauty spoke to me.
Who would mark such an alluring face? She looked like a ghostly Sleeping Beauty, her lashes lying motionless against alabaster, bruised cheeks, her eye swelling and purple.
Her full lips, lacking their usual pink hue, were still enticing even though bloody evidence of violence split them.
Kade removed her jacket and wet boots while Kohl started a fire and I made tea. We covered her with warm blankets, her feet in Kade’s lap while he rubbed them with his warm hands.
We sat around the great room staring at our guest, all three of us lost in thought while she held on by a thread.
If we didn’t see results from our efforts, we would take her to a hospital, but we’ve been raised by a pack and don’t naturally trust humans.
We won’t even call the police when we find out what happened to her to report any crimes.
We’ll handle it ourselves like we always do.
It’s a wolf thing, and as wolves, we won’t be changing our ways.
She moaned and we froze, our attention snapped to her face.
Despite the darkening marks around her eyes her lids fluttered and her damaged lips pursed.
She must be dreaming, which is better than being unconscious.
I breathed a sigh of relief, but Kade remained stiff with worry.
His eyes narrowed as he examined her, his mouth a thin line, lips pressed together.
Anxiety has Kohl pacing in front of the fireplace, poking at it to keep the flames high.
I don’t know what to do with myself either.
My worry for this unknown woman, expressed by tapping my foot.
She sighed into the blankets wrapped up to her chin and I relaxed the tiniest bit, hoping it’s another sign she’s recovering.
As time went by, the color returned to her cheeks.
What we can see beyond the dark marks at least. She mumbles in her sleep and at one point she looks distressed, perhaps reliving what happened to her.
Only a person wishing her dead would have left her on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere under warnings of an impending blizzard.
“What do you think happened to her?” Kohl finally asks, breaking the loud silence.
“Either she’s a professional boxer or some asshole beat the shit out of her,” Kade answered with a scowl.
“I think someone left her to die. We need to figure out who she is and what happened. I don’t know about you guys, but I want to kill whoever did this to her.”
“That won’t be a solitary mission, brother,” Kohl promises.
“Did you catch her scent?” Kade asks, looking between us.
“No. Why?”
“I can’t smell it right now, but she smells incredible. Like warm gingerbread and hot apple cider…perfect.” He smiles at the heavenly beauty with appreciation.
Now I need to sniff her so I can enjoy this amazing aroma he’s describing.
Getting up from my chair I almost bump into Kohl as he moves towards her as well.
He leans over her and his nostrils flare as he takes a whiff.
He moves her blanket slightly away from her face and puts his nose close to her neck taking another sniff.
“Holy shit, she smells amazing,” he says softly.
“Move, I want to scent her,” I whisper, pulling Kohl out of my way.
She looks like an angel, and I put my nose as close as possible without touching her. How would I explain sniffing her if she woke up?
Her scent curls into my own flared nostrils and it’s like someone is baking cookies and serving apple cider. It warms my insides and makes my wolf stand at attention. He’s pushing me to touch her, to rub my cheeks against her cold ones. He wants me to mix my scent with hers. He wants to claim her.
A little freaked out by my wolf's reaction to this woman I’ve never met, I take a few large steps away from her and sit back in my highbacked armchair.
His whining fills my head at the loss of closeness to her.
Gritting my teeth, I force him into submission.
Back off! We can’t claim someone we’ve never met, who’s currently unconscious.
Chill out. In return I get a frustrated grunt as he curls up with his back to me.
He hasn’t had a tantrum in my head since I was thirteen. It's a curious reaction to a stranger.
“Kohl, it’s your turn to cook. I’m getting hungry and my wolf is antsy.” I nudged him with my foot to his heel.
“Yeah, okay. But you have to help me bring in the groceries and our bags.”
“Deal.”
We make quick work putting everything where it belongs, and Kohl starts chopping things on the kitchen island.
We’re having huge venison steaks from a buck we took down two days ago.
We helped with the pack hunt and because we got the biggest deer, our alpha let us get the best cuts from it, an honor we gladly accepted.
Our alpha is my father. He’s tough but fair, and he has a soft spot for the women, children, and elderly wolves.
He takes care of his pack, keeping them safe, fed, and educated.
He’s supportive of wolves who seek higher education and the pack has paid for several wolves to attend college.
Our alpha believes having well educated wolves is a benefit to the entire pack.
He's not wrong. We have three doctors and a nurse to care for our approximately twelve-hundred-strong wolves.
He’s been training the three of us since we could walk to take over for our father’s.
They’re both alphas, but my father is the lead alpha who runs the pack.
Kohl and Kade’s father is second in command, it would be a beta position in some packs, but in the Crimson Cove Pack, he’s second alpha.
Our mother is mated to both of our dads, and she’s the most amazing she-wolf I’ve ever known.
I’m the oldest by barely a year, Kohl and Kade are twins.
Although, we look like triplets if you don’t know us.
We all wear different hair styles and have different ink on our skin to make us unique individuals.
When we were kids nobody but our parents could tell us apart and we were often just called the Hunter Boys.
During our teen years in the search for our own identities, and maybe a streak of rebellion, we made the changes to identify us as individuals.
But we all have our pack mark, a full moon with three claw slashes through the middle, right over our hearts.
Now at twenty-three and twenty-two respectively, we’re almost ready to start our alpha training in earnest. It’s why we came to the cabin, to have a break before we have to get serious.
One last guy's trip before our lives drastically change.
I’m lost in my thoughts when Kade asks, “Will you make some fresh tea? I think she’s waking up.”
I quickly scanned her face and the color is a more pinkish hue than the stark pale blue from when we found her in the snow. But with the increased blood flow her injuries look worse. Her eye is swelling closed and her bruises look angry. While I watch, she moves then flinches. I think he’s right.
I busy myself making a fresh cup of tea and stand in Kohl’s way until the kettle whistles. He moves me with a raised brow, making me chuckle. I enjoy riling him, but I’m too curious about our guest to continue.
With tea in hand I return to Kade in front of the fireplace and set the mug on the table by the sofa.
His eyes are glued to her face. He doesn’t acknowledge me.
It’s like he can’t bear to look away from her.
I don’t blame him, I’m dying to see her eyes too.
I want to ask her what happened and who we need to kill.
She moans softly and it tugs on my heart, it sounded like a cry of pain.
While Kade and I stare, we see her eyes flutter open, and she squints trying to focus on her surroundings.
Before either of us can stop her she tries to sit up.
But we both grab her gently, trying to keep her from moving too fast and aggravating her injuries.
When she notices us she freezes, her eyes wide with fear, her bloody lip trembling.
She looks past us to the place she’s found herself and clutches the blankets closer.
She’s obviously terrified and not knowing what she’s been through or who hurt her, I can imagine waking up in a strange place with strange men must be frightening.
She focuses on Kade first and he offers her a soft smile, trying to look the least intimidating possible.
But at six-foot-four and with tattoos covering his neck and hands, he’s a scary dude at first glance.
He kneels beside her, trying to shrink his massive size to calm her. I kneel next to her head and give her my own toothless grin. No need to show her our sharp teeth when her heart is pounding out of her chest already.
“Hi. I’m Kade. Please don’t be scared. We won’t hurt you. We found you and brought you here to warm up. You were almost frozen.”
She looks at me when I clear my throat, “I’m Patrick, but everyone calls me Trick. What’s your name?”
Her good eye narrows at me and I can see now, she has beautiful gold eyes. The one is so swollen it’s almost closed and I realize I should get her some ice. Apparently, being in the frozen woods had only one benefit—it was keeping the swelling down. But now that she’s warming up, her eye looks bad.
“Hartley.” Her voice is so soft I may not have heard her without my wolf ears. But I have no idea what it means.
“I’m sorry sweetheart, is that your name?” Kade asks in such a soft cooing tone it’s like he’s speaking to a scared child.
She nods, then winces. Kade and I share an angry look, the culprit is going to suffer a torturous death when we find out who did this. Her eyes travel back to Kade hesitantly watching him.
“Do you remember what happened to you?” I ask next, causing her to look back at me.
Pure fear fills her face and she begins to shake with it. I want to comfort her, but I don’t want to frighten her any more by touching her. Kade is already touching her leg through the thick blankets, he rubs it gently, but we don’t know if she has any other injuries.
“You don’t have to answer now. Would you like some tea?”
She looks back to Kade and a tear rolls down her cheek. He picks up the mug and offers it to her.
I add, “It’s nice and warm, I just made it.” I’m smiling like an idiot trying to calm her fears.
Her hand comes from beneath the blanket, it’s small and delicate.
Her nails are covered with glittering purple polish that’s chipped and she has a broken nail that has some dried blood on it.
Her knuckles are scraped, and her hand is trembling so violently I’m worried she’ll spill the tea on her chest.
Kade uses both of his hands to steady the cup and help her bring it to her mouth. She sips it and then swallows hard, before taking another drink. She meets Kade’s eyes and an appreciative grin plays on her lips. He smiles back and then she looks at my smile expectantly.
“Are you hungry? Kohl’s making dinner, he’s our other brother.” She looks between us and it seems like she solved an internal riddle when her smile stretches a bit further.