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Early the next morning, I sit on the floor of the armory, watching Leo and Kody collect enough weaponry to take down a polar bear.
I shudder at the thought. “Polar bears don’t wander this far inland, right?”
How close are we to the northern coast? I don’t even know.
“Never seen one.” Kody hands a large rifle to Leo. “Your accuracy is better with this one.”
Leo grunts his agreement.
“What about rabbits?” I stretch my legs. “Why don’t we hunt what the wolves eat?”
With Leo’s back to me, I watch his shoulders tense. He’s annoyed with my questions. Tough shit. I’m with Kody on this. What he’s setting out to do isn’t worth the risk.
Unless it’s our only option.
Across the room, Wolf leans against the wall, looking half-asleep. Only reason he’s down here is because Kody dragged him out of bed by his hair.
“The wolves eat ground squirrels and Arctic hares.” Leo checks the chamber of a handgun. “It would take me hours to set traps and days to catch one. I’ll be half-dead from hypothermia by the time I bring back a rabbit, which would only feed half of us a single meal.”
Oh.
I bite my lip. “You can’t just shoot—”
“Ever shot a varmint in the head while it’s running thirty miles per hour across the tundra in the dark?” Leo glances over his shoulder. “Gotta hit it in the head, Frankie. A gut shot ruins the meat.”
“Right.”
“I’ll shoot whatever crosses my path, but I’m hunting wolves.”
The finality in his tone sinks my stomach. He can’t do this alone, but Kody’s in no shape to join him. Not that they would leave me here without them.
“Wolf.” I wait for his sad blue eyes to lift. “Go with him.”
“I’d rather starve.”
My nostrils flare on a sharp breath.
The pad of footsteps approaches the open doorway. A chill spreads through me, and I’m instantly on my feet, moving deeper into the armory.
“Going hunting?” Denver leans against the doorframe, clad in a crisp plaid pajama set, hair perfectly mussed, looking like a model for L.L. Bean.
Alaska’s best-dressed serial killer.
No one responds.
“You can’t go out there alone, Leo.” A haunting smile squirms on Denver’s cheeks. “Raised you better than that.”
I hold my breath, hoping he doesn’t volunteer to go. The thought of him alone with Leo makes my skin crawl.
But I know Denver can’t take a day off work. The amount of maintenance he does around the property is never-ending. Curing and preserving meat, making shotgun shells, insulating pipes, caulking cracks in the walls, burning trash in the burn barrel, hauling logs from the wood corral—the list of chores goes on and on, and he manages all of it with Wolf’s unenthusiastic help.
“Frankie will be with me.” Leo sets a rifle in my unprepared arms.
Shock renders me immobile, but I keep my expression blank.
Kody doesn’t react, either. He doesn’t stiffen. Doesn’t growl. He must already know this was Leo’s plan. Or at least suspected.
Shit.
I’m going hunting.
In the dark.
For wolves.
In subzero temperatures.
“You’ll get her killed.” Denver scoffs.
“Maybe.” He places another gun in my arms. “You know what’s worse than death? Leaving her here with you.”
“Ouch,” Wolf mumbles.
“I suggest you lock yourself in your room.” Leo straps a pack over his shoulder and turns to Denver. “If I come back empty-handed, you’ll be next on the menu.”
“All bark.” With a chuckle, Denver holds up his hands and backs out of the armory.
Once he’s out of earshot, I whirl on Leo. “When were you going to tell me?”
“Now.” His gaze flicks to Kody and back to me. “I’m telling you now, love. I’m not leaving you here.”
Kody rests his fists on his hips and stares at the floor, eyes stark with something akin to fear. Then he rubs it away and glowers at Leo. “Eight hours. You won’t survive out there longer than that without shelter. Straight to the hills and back. No detours. No chasing after moose and getting lost.”
“Moose?” Hope fills me.
Leo shakes his head. “If by some miracle we saw a moose and managed to take it down, I have no way to haul it back.”
“You could slice open its belly and push Frankie inside.” Wolf shrugs. “You know, to help stave off hypothermia. It worked for Luke Skywalker. Could be romantic. Might get you laid.”
I shoot him a glare and return to Leo. “We’re not taking the snow machine and the cart thing?”
“We’ll take it to the hills but no farther.” His gaze travels down the length of my body, pausing on my legs. “I’ve seen you run. Your cardio is better than mine.”
“I suck at shooting.”
“No, you don’t. But I’ll do the shooting.”
“If something happens to him,” Kody says, “you use those legs to run straight back here, hear me?”
“I hate this plan.” I deflate.
“Come on.” Leo smacks a kiss on my lips. “It’ll be fun.”
63
Frankie
—
This is the opposite of fun.
