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“How’s your head?” The second man walked over and perched on the coffee table. “I’m Cole, by the way.”
“Everything hurts,” I admitted, looking at the fire rather than either of the two guys. They were both much too intimidating.
I pulled the blanket up around my body. Silas stood and wandered off, which helped me relax a fraction. The way he stared at me was too much. He was too much. I wasn’t used to this level of scrutiny. People usually ignored me.
“I’ll give you some painkillers, but sleep is the best thing for you,” Cole said, satisfied I was not at death’s door. “You will feel pretty banged up for a few days. At least Silas found you in time, or you’d have frozen to death out there.”
“Thank you,” I murmured when Silas reappeared and handed me a small bowl of soup with some bread. The soup smelled delicious. Tomato with herbs, I guessed. The minute I finished it, I yawned, and my eyes drooped again.
“Come, I’ll show you to the guest room. You’ll sleep better in a bed,” Silas said while Cole took my empty bowl and plate through to what looked like a kitchen area.
I tried to stand, but my legs wobbled, and my head throbbed. Silas took hold of my elbow and supported my weight, guiding me with a hand on my lower back. It was really hard for me to trust a man, given my experiences, but I knew he was trying to help, so I ignored the voice in my head screaming at me to run. I let him lead me down a corridor and into a small guest room.
“Through that door is a bathroom. I’ve put a set of clothes and fresh towels in there for you,” Silas said, scratching his head and looking uncomfortable. “I’m sorry, we don’t have any women’s clothes, so my stuff will be too big, but at least it’s clean and dry. Cole has left some painkillers on the dresser, so take two now, and they should help you sleep.”
“Thank you,” I said again. His eyes briefly flared gold before reverting to their usual warm brown, and I frowned, not sure if I was imagining things. People’s eyes rarely changed color like that. It had to be exhaustion from everything that had happened.
“Yell if you need anything. Anything at all. One of us will be there. And Eva, don’t worry, you’re safe here.”
There was a subtext to his words, but I brushed it away. I needed to sleep. The door clicked shut, and I quickly used the bathroom and swallowed the pills Cole left me with some more water. The bed was soft and inviting, and the moment my head touched the pillow, I drifted off.
Silas
My head was a mess. In the space of a few hours, everything I thought I knew had changed. I should have been sleeping, but I couldn’t think about anything but her. The way she cringed away when one of us moved too quickly, the fear in her pretty blue eyes, told me someone had hurt her. Badly.
It was insane. She was just some human woman … girl … who’d had an unfortunate accident, and I shouldn’t have been looking at her this way. Once the road cleared, I would get the car towed and send her on her way. Hell, we could even give her money if she needed it. From the state of the car and her worn clothes, she had no cash.
Cole had disappeared so I grabbed a coffee and sat in the living room while the fire crackled away in the hearth. Once it got light outside, I planned to shift and head back to the crash site. Ostensibly to check if she had any belongings in the car, but mostly to see if that guy I saw came back.
It was possible he witnessed the car leave the road and was trying to help, but that’s not the vibe I got from him. My wolf thought he was trouble, and I agreed. His instincts were usually spot on.
There was also Tanner. Fuck knows how he’d react to a stranger in our cabin. Our brother was a loose cannon at the best of times. I was worried he’d lose his shit and scare the female. She was already skittish, and the sight of Tanner having a meltdown would frighten the living daylights out of her.
With Tanner in mind, I pulled my phone from my pocket and fired off a message to him, telling him we had a guest and to call home. He’d ignore it, but at least I’d warned him. I didn’t know when he’d show up, but he’d been gone a couple of weeks, so likely in the next few days.
My thoughts drifted back to the female, and my wolf whined in my head. He was restless and wanted to be with her. He thought we should be comforting her. And a whole lot more. I ignored all his implied suggestions. The last thing the female needed was me in her bed. She’d likely try to stab me or something.
Besides, we weren’t getting involved with her, even if he wanted to. Whereas wolf shifters healed quickly, humans were frail. I didn’t want to be responsible for hurting a human female. Not after everything that went down with Tanner and Jessie-Lynn.
My breath steamed in the wintry morning air as I ventured into the wintry forest. The trees creaked under the weight of snow, and the sky above promised more to come. Winter had finally arrived.
I trotted along the trail, alert for any strange scents.
Winter was usually my favorite season. It was a time when my wolf could run free without fear of encountering hikers or hunters. We reveled in being our true selves, chasing deer and enjoying the thrill of the hunt.
The two or three months when the roads were closed were something I always looked forward to. But this year felt different. It seemed like the worst time ever to be cut off from the outside world.
Not that my wolf cared. He was desperate to see Eva again, but she was still asleep. Cole had checked on her an hour ago and assured me she was fine. It was time to visit the crash site again before anyone else got there.
We made our way through the forest, small creatures fleeing at the scent of our wolf, but this morning, he wasn't interested in chasing rabbits. His focus was on following the trail to the crash site.
Like me, he wanted to see if that man had returned. The guy had seemed overly interested in the car last night, which concerned me. We had scared him off, but he could have come back for another look.
When we reached the clearing, the car was still there, largely obscured by snow. Footprints surrounded it, clear signs of someone's recent presence. The door I wrenched open to free Eva lay in the snow.
I quickly shifted to search inside the vehicle, but whoever came here overnight had been thorough. There were no bags or identifying paperwork in the glove compartment. Nothing to show who the vehicle belonged to. After I searched inside and around the car, I shifted back into my wolf.
It was too cold to linger naked in the snow.
