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“Help!” I scream, praying that someone will hear me.
Someone has to be out here, right?
I think about how quiet it was as I was snowshoeing and my heart sinks.
Don’t stop! Fight him!My subconscious yells at me and I kick at him.
He curses and I hear one of the snowshoes crack as I kick him over and over again. I reach up, trying to scratch his eyes, but he’s wearing a ski mask. All I can make out are his eyes. They are dark brown and filled with such anger that my breath stalls in my lungs.
“Bitch,” he snarls, grabbing something from his pocket.
“Stop!” I screech as I see the white cloth.
I’ve seen enough scary movies to know that there’s probably chloroform on that thing. I try to hold my breath, squirming under him, trying to shake him off of me, but it’s no use.
My eyes start to drift closed and I can feel my limbs growing heavy as I lose consciousness. My last thought is that I wish one of the heroes from my books were here to rescue me.
TWO
Niko
“What’sthe plan for today, boss?” Davis asks as he and Gunner come into my office.
It’s just the three of us on duty today, and I finish checking the weather before I turn towards them.
“We need to do a sweep of the east side of the mountain and—”
“Dibs!” They both say at the same time, and I roll my eyes.
“I’ll be doing that,” I say, and they sigh.
“What are we doing then?” Davis asks.
“I need you to head to the ski resort and make sure that no one has gone off trail.”
“You got it, boss,” Davis says as they both stand and shuffle out of my office.
I took over running the Aspen Ridge Mountain Rescue a year ago when I moved back to town. I had left and joined the Army when I was eighteen, but after eight years, I knew that I needed a change. I never quite felt like I fit in when I was in the military.
Davis and Gunner were in the Army with me, and they both joined me here in Aspen Ridge a few months ago. I was happy to have them. I already knew that we worked well together and it was nice to have a few Army guys around since everyone else who works for the Mountain Rescue is from a different branch of the military.
There’s Ash and Flint, who were both in the Air Force, then Alec, who is the sole Marine in our ranks. The other thing that connects us is the fact that we’re all shifters and members of the Aspen Ridge Pack.
My wolf paws at me, eager to get out in the snow and I log off my computer and stand, heading for the door.
Our headquarters is really just a big log cabin about half a mile from the ski resort. It’s convenient and makes surveying the mountain easy.
I head outside and into the woods. There are a few boxes hidden in the trees around our headquarters, and I stop next to one, stripping off my clothes and tucking them in the wooden box before I shift and take off to do a sweep of the east side of the mountain.
There are only a few rental cabins out this way, and it’s not tourist season so I’m assuming that it will be quiet. As I round a hill though, I pause. My wolf’s ears are piqued, listening for another sound.
I could have sworn that I heard someone yell for help. I wait, tilting my head to try to pick up any sound.
“Help!” Comes the scared voice and I’m off, charging through the snow towards the sound.
We get closer and that’s when I smell her.
Mate!My wolf yells in excitement.
