AllFreeNovel
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That will have to change. They’re twice my size and need their strength.
“You guys went hunting.” I fidget with the sleeve of my shirt. “Wasn’t it a good haul? Enough to last the winter and even store extra at the cabin?”
“We’ve been eating it,” Wolf scoffs. “Five people eating their fill.”
“We haven’t been eating our fill, and you know it.” Leo shoots him a glare. “There are a number of factors at play. First off, we ration every winter. Even with a perfect hunting season and everything going right, the four of us barely get by on our food stores.”
Kody nods, and Wolf sags, closing his eyes.
“Secondly…” Leo ticks off each point on his fingers. “Winter came early, shortening our hunting season.” Next finger. “The caribou were scarce this year.”
“The rogue wolf.” I shudder.
“Exactly.” He holds up another finger. “The pemmican we left behind wasn’t extra. It was part of our normal haul. We left it behind to motivate Denver to make that final supply run.”
“And as insurance if he didn’t.” Kody crosses his arms.
“Factor number five.” Leo extends his thumb, splaying all his fingers. “That final supply run is crucial to our survival. Every year, Denver packs the plane so full of food and gear that it maxes out the payload. Without it, well, we’ve never endured a winter without it.”
“And I’m the final nail in the coffin.” I swallow. “The extra mouth to feed.”
“As if you had any choice in this.” Leo grips his nape. “Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong. But we’ll get through this. We just need to be smart about it. There’s a lot of meat left, but in about a month, we’ll be down to beans and hardtack. We need to start eating like that now. If we cure and preserve the meat we have left, we’ll have the protein saved for the coldest days, when we’re burning the most calories.”
Smart. Everything he says makes sense, but I can’t stop the fear from creeping in.
What will remain of us at the end of this? I know what malnutrition does to the body, and it fucking terrifies me.
My pulse beats a wild tattoo as I scan Wolf’s log of supplies and estimation of consumption. He included the pemmican that still sits in the hunting cabin. Even with that and following Leo’s plan, we’ll run out of food two months before the thaw.
Fuck.
I hand the book to Kody, slump onto the bed, and give voice to a terrible suggestion. “If one of us dies…”
“If you kill him,” Wolf says with no emotion, “we’ll still starve before the thaw. Even if we don’t, we’ll be too weak to get the plane in the air. And what if it needs maintenance or repairs after the long winter? Do we even know how to un-winterize it? And that’s assuming the generator doesn’t fail. Since we don’t have enough wood to keep warm, we’ll die anyway.”
“Which is why I’ve been trying to decode the power system.” Leo grinds his teeth.
“How’s that going?” Wolf sneers.
“Don’t bait him.” I pinch his thigh.
“What did you want to talk to me about?” Leo meets my eyes.
Insignificant things. Sex and relationships and jealousy things—none of it matters with our lives on the line. Damn my big mouth. Why did I have to say anything?
“It’s not important right now.” I shrug.
“That’s not what you said.” Leo stalks toward me. “You said it was important, and it couldn’t wait.”
“A diversion.”
“So you lied?”
Gah! “No.”
“You either lied downstairs, or you’re lying now. Which is it?”
“Leave her alone.” Kody limps forward.
“It’s okay.” I hold up a hand. “He’s right. There’s a conversation I’ve been putting off. I need to clear the air about some things before I suffocate.”
“Go on.” Leo crosses his arms.
“How do I say this?” I clear my throat, stalling.
All motion slows as if the room suspends in ice. Three pairs of eyes, intense and unblinking, become my captive audience.
“I love you.” A whisper. A plea. “All three of you.”
“We know.” Kody grunts.
“Okay, but love has many forms—familial, platonic, romantic, sexual…What I feel for each of you is different, but the depth is the same.”
“We know.” Wolf purses his lips. “You sold your soul for me as quickly as you opened your legs for Leo.”
My heart stops.
Anger radiates off Leo, hot enough to burn tender skin.
Kody presses his lips together, his gaze steady on mine. Not a trace of surprise there.
“Yeah, everyone knows about your liaisons.” Wolf looks away, scoffing. “We hear you.”
Heat floods my cheeks.
“That’s enough.” Leo straightens.
I’ve never wanted to retreat from a conversation so fast. This is mortifying.
And it’s only the half of it.
“There’s more.” I flex my clammy hands. “Should I keep going?”
“What do you mean, there’s more?” Leo’s timbre lowers, taking on a tone I don’t like.
“I kiss your brothers, Leo. And they kiss me.”
