They were here while we were sleeping. While we were tangled together in the tent, completely oblivious to the world, they were twenty feet away, watching. Waiting.
"Nash?" Aris is walking toward me now, concern on her face. "What is it?"
I step between her and the tracks, instinctively blocking her view. I don't want to scare her. Not after last night. But she's smart. She sees the tension in my shoulders.
"Wolf sign," she says flatly. "Fresh?"
"Fresh enough," I say. "He marked over my scent."
She pales slightly, her eyes darting to the tree line. "That's aggressive behavior."
"It's dominant behavior," I correct. "He's testing us. Seeing if we'll run."
"And if we don't?"
"Then he escalates."
I walk back to the sled and pull the rifle from the scabbard. I check the action, chambering a round. The metallicclack-clacksounds impossibly loud in the silence.
"We keep the rifle out today," I say. "On your back or mine, at all times. No wandering off for better reception. No splitting up."
"Understood," she says. She looks at the gun, then at me. "Nash, are we safe?"
I look at her. I want to lie, to tell her that I'm the best guide on this island and that nothing can touch her while I'm here. I want to wrap her in that confidence I wear like armor.
But we crossed the line. I owe her the truth.
"We are intruders, Aris," I say quietly. "We're safe as long as we're smart. But we are not in charge out here."
"And you should have had this before now," I say. "The morning you climbed for the antenna, there were fresh tracks at the edge of camp. I scuffed them out before you woke up. I told myself I was managing the risk." I make myself hold her eyes. "I was managing you. It won't happen again."
She goes still. I watch her decide something, and it costs me less than I deserve. "No," she agrees. "It won't."
She nods, swallowing hard. "Okay. Smart. Let's go find Waldo."
We mount the snowmobile. I fire up the engine, letting it idle for a second. Aris climbs on behind me. Her arms go around my waist, tight and secure. She presses her face against my back.
"I've got you," she says, her voice muffled by my parka.
It's the same thing I told her yesterday when she was crying.
"I know," I say.
I gun the throttle, and we shoot out onto the river ice, heading north toward the jagged peaks.
The wind hits my face, cold and clean. The engine roars. Behind me, the woman I'm falling in love with is holding on for dear life. Somewhere ahead, a genius caribou is leading us into the rocks. And somewhere behind, a wolf with a grudge is following our trail.
It's a hell of a morning.
And despite the danger, despite the odds, despite the yellow snow marking our death sentence … I find myself grinning.
Because for the first time in a long time, I have something worth fighting for.
Chapter Seventeen
ARIS
The world has changedfrom horizontal to vertical.
