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I glanced back at the shaggy brown wolf following me. His ears perked up. His neck stretched out in front of him as far as he could reach—tense, alert. He peered over me, probably trying to see where I’d led him. The white drifts ahead of us lay undisturbed. No tracks, old or new. I hadn’t followed the same path I’d taken to the road or the path the twins and I had taken to hide. The wind gave no scent clue as it blew at my back, down from the northwest. Having nothing to latch onto, Seff couldn’t possibly have scented Arteisma and Nereida yet.
I slowed my pace to walk beside him. He rubbed his body against mine as if to reassure me I wasn’t alone. As long as we were out in the open, I knew he wouldn’t leave my side. I didn’t know how I knew. It was just...a feeling. A deep, common tie of sorts. And he would do everything he could to ensure the twins’ safety. I felt that as well. Though he was a stranger, my wolf’s heart and our sudden deep connection told me he was trustworthy.
And, at some point, I’d have to show him the dead.
I slowed my pace again, then stopped and shifted into my human form.
“They don’t know you, but they’ll understand I trust you.” I’d taught the twins never to shift out in the open, especially if they were tracking something or someone or being hunted. I turned and gazed into his wolf’s eyes, a slightly lighter shade than his dark shaggy coat. “After we get them settled, I’ll take you to...”To see the dead. My throat grew thick with emotion. “I’ll take you to see my pack.”
He hesitated as if he wasn’t sure, then nodded.
I called out, “If I had a cat, I’d name him Raspberry.”
About twenty yards away, two small mounds of pristine snow shifted and moved. They’d done well to hide and leave not one trace, not one footprint. The two little figures shook the crusted snow from their backs. With chocolate-colored fur and soulful brown eyes, they stood still and silent, waiting.
My eyes burned with tears I refused to shed. How would I tell them?
Your parents are dead. Everyone is dead.
Gods, there was so much fear in their eyes, in the set of their mouths. Fear in the way they looked from me to Seff and back again. I could barely breathe, much less give any words of comfort. I wanted to say something, hold them, protect them, but I didn’t dare break down. These two little females needed my strength more than ever.
“This is Seff. He’s here to help.” At least, I hoped he was.
Arteisma bounded out of the snow straight to the male beside me. Nereida was much more cautious. She took several steps forward, her head hanging low, her dark eyes pinging back and forth between the wolf and me.
Arteisma raced from Seff to her sister and back again, making a clear trail in the snow.
I would wait to destroy her exuberance once we were warm inside my yurt.
“Let’s go home.” I waved a hand to Nereida, then shifted and started the long journey back to our colony.
The heavy snow cover muffled the click-clack of our claws on the wooden bridges connecting the yurts to one another. I made sure our path home didn’t lead us past the Alpha’s yurt. I wasn’t ready to talk about what had happened or where all the other members of our pack lay at the moment.
Arteisma ran ahead to depress the door lever and push the door open. Once inside, I shifted to my human form and motioned toward the loft.
“Go up and get ready for bed.”
Arteisma raced up and around the compact spiral staircase. Nereida took each step slowly, her eyes staying on Seff.
“Go on.” I nodded as Nereida looked back to me. “We’re all safe. I will be up soon.”
Nereida took the last few steps and disappeared into the loft.
I turned at the sound of water hitting the washbasin. The steady stream falling into the catch bucket beneath it sounded like a raging waterfall in the quiet room. Seff stood in my tiny kitchen, wetting a tea towel at the sink. His long, wavy hair hid his handsome profile and nothing else. I took the few moments tofocuson him. I’d seen naked males all my life. It was part of living in a pack.
But this male...this Seff was...perfect. Wide, muscular shoulders, a broad back that narrowed down to a trim waist, a perfect ass atop thick thighs, and seriously sexy man-legs.
I wanted to trace the line of every muscle group, not only with my finger but with my tongue.
I wanted...I wanted...
My skin prickled with an unfamiliar heat.
Young female voices whispered in the loft as feet shuffled on the floor.
The heat I’d felt turned to ice-cold chills.
My pack is dead.
