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Prologue
Demi Fedora had survived a lot of tough times in her life. Back when she was in Phoenix, she’d lived in foster homes until she became of age. Then she’d eventually managed Fulton House, a center for runaway teens. Life had been hectic, and some days incredible dangers had filled the scene.
Her best friends, both FBI agents, Tanner Coleman and Isabella Mendez had always been there for her, giving her the strength to carry on. They not only provided physical safety when things at the center had gotten out of control, but they’d supported her when she’d lost Hank, the only man she ever loved. The man who’d gotten through her steel boundaries and made her vulnerable.
Then he’d died protecting her…
And normal life had come to a full stop. She’d packed up everything she owned and left her home to come and live in the one place from her youth she still remembered fondly… Alaska.
As a child, her old grandfather, John Fedora, had given her the only real tenderness she’d known, and it drew her back now. All this went through her mind as she sat on the porch steps of the cabin he’d left her in the wilds of Alaska.
Everything she’d previously worked so hard to attain suddenly seemed unimportant. For months, she’d slaved to make this derelict place a home again. With the help of Glen Whitestar, a young man her grandfather had mentored years before, and Whitaker Hart, a gold prospector she’d ruefully accepted help from, things had improved immensely.
Now, she wondered if it had been at all worthwhile. Shaking off her gloominess, she accepted her black mood stemmed from hearing that Whit had recently gone missing. Weeks earlier, both he and Glen had been called to fight a wildfire near Ketchikan, leaving her on the property alone.
Until yesterday, she’d been fine, working steadily to get ready for the colder months ahead. Then a fire had started on the other side of the nearby lake, and she’d been in the thick of it, danger all around her.
If it had only been herself she’d had to worry about, she’d have been fine. But stupidly, she’d rescued an injured, orphaned wolf pup who’d bit and clawed her body, fighting her every step of the way. And now she had to suffer the consequences. As a woman who feared and hated dogs because of being attacked as a child, the dilemma that faced her now would be deemed by any sane person as a nightmare.
Wiping away the tears of rage, both from hearing the horrible news from Glen about losing contact with Whit and having to deal with the destroyer canine locked inside her home, she stood slowly, the ton of weight on her shoulders making it difficult.
No doubt, sleeping all night on the floor had added to her discomfort. Stretching in various yoga poses, she built up her determination to deal with the matter at hand.
The old vet, Doc Harper, had instructed her to insert a drug he’d given her into a portion of meat and throw it to the animal. It would put the wolf pup to sleep. Then she was to use the antibacterial cream he’d recommended and apply it to his singed paw, because according to Doc, it would stop any infection.
After waiting the right amount of time for the sedative to work, she’d erect the cage that Duffy, the garage mechanic from Hyder, had lent her so she could keep the wild beast locked up. Christ, considering how much she feared dogs, and wolves were included in that group, she shook her head at the fact that she had been stuck with this little bastard.
Slumping back against the porch, she felt a million years old. After hearing the frightening news that Whit was lost, unlike her usual self, she didn’t want to do anything but take to her bed and sleep her life away.
Unwilling to examine why those feelings had surfaced, she shoved them back down.Not going there.No man would ever reach inside her that way again. She couldn’t stand the pain. Yet the thought of never seeing Whit again couldn’t be borne either.
Stop it. Stop thinking about him.
Impossible!
Meowing sounds from the small box near her knee made her aware that she had another responsibility she’d taken on. Christ, for a person who’d emigrated to Alaska to escape all those ungodly duties from her earlier career, she sure as shit hadn’t stuck to her plan.
Not only had she locked a wolf pup in her house and was now forced to deal with it, but she’d also promised to look after an orphaned kitten who fit into the palm of her hand.
Bringing the furry baby closer for a soft kiss, she remembered why she’d been sucked into taking care of her newest ward. Sympathy for the old vet had surfaced. She’d seen his fatigue and also Norrie’s, her new friend who’d agreed to look after the other three healthy kittens. This tiny runt would require extra attention, and since she didn’t think she’d be getting much sleep at night anyway, she’d relented.
No doubt, waking up in a cage this time would not be acceptable to her other guest. After hearing it’s angry shrieks earlier, she had reason to believe it would be worse after it woke up imprisoned. Knowing she’d brought it on herself, she justified her reason. Once she’d seen the mother wolf save her baby by bringing it to the lake where Demi had also taken refuge from the fire, she couldn’t let it drown.
A sudden thought hit her.And why not?Fighting with her conscience, she shook her head and admitted the truth.
Because you idiot, you just couldn’t.
Another small cry brought her back to earth.
While fetching the bag with the kitty formula, she remembered earlier, when she had returned to her home with Norrie. They’d heard the terrible howls, and she’d admitted, “I’m really tempted to open the door, stand back, and hope the little bastard takes off.”
But of course, big-hearted Norrie wouldn’t hear of such nonsense. “We’ve already been over this. You can’t do that, and you know it. He’s injured, and he’s a baby.”
“Well, I’m exhausted, and I’m a human. Don’t I come higher on the I-don’t-give-a-shit scale?”
Laughing, Norrie squeezed her arm and gave her the look that said quite plainly,quit bullshitting me.
Shrugging grudgingly, Demi grinned. “Okay. You’re right. The bastard’s a baby.”
