Snowy With A Chance 0f Mating (Move Over Fate Book 3)

by Michelle Ziegler

  "Yes, was I expecting you today?"

  His knuckles cracked as he fisted his hands and she noticed the nervous bounce of a foot.

  "Me? No. I don't think so. But, anyway. Are you good at it?"

  She watched him thrust his hands into his pockets, only to pull them back out. He popped his knuckles and shifted his weight side to side continuously.

  She tipped her head. "Uh. Yeah. Thought we'd established that like day one. I mean, I have a chicken to prove it."

  A gentle flake floated down between them.

  "Right. Sure. How are you with finding people who have the uncanny knack of disappearing?"

  "Odd question."

  He nodded. "But? Is it possible?"

  "I guess I don't understand, but yeah, I mean anyone and anything leaves a trace. Magic users are easier to track than humans. I can find anything though, I suppose."

  He bobbed his head once, twice, and then reached out to her and started pulling her.

  "Caleb? Where are we going? I don't have shoes on?"

  He stopped and let her go.

  "Oh. Right. Uh. Shoes and coat. I'll wait here. We're heading into the woods. Evelyn, Mrs. Emerson is missing, or well, more than her normal wondering."

  "She has a normal way of disappearing?"

  "Please? Just go get your stuff?"

  The pleading in his eyes set a shiver down her spine. The hardness she always saw in him gone, replaced by a vulnerability she'd have thought was impossible for this giant.

  She quickly turned and ran back. She didn't know who this woman was yet, but if this huge, strong, menacing man was so unnerved by her disappearance, she'd help.

  Marci ran to the hall closet and grabbed out boots, hat, gloves, and a jacket.

  She hopped towards the door.

  "Sorry. I'm coming. Do you have anything of hers? "Marci called out, stuffing her foot into a boot.

  His voice carried over the wind outside. "Yeah. I've been trying to pick up Evelyn's scent for an hour now and nothing. The snow isn't far off either, and according to Ed, her partner, she didn't go out dressed for the weather."

  She got her other boot on and ran out the door, slamming it behind her.

  She shivered at the wind ignoring the thin shirt she had on as she struggled to slip her coat on.

  "You're ready?"

  She nodded.

  "Here." He quickly tossed a yellow and white spotted scarf at her. "Great, thanks."

  "I'll track next to you. See what you can pick up. How long will this take?" Caleb asked.

  She shrugged. "Depends on how lost she is I guess. A few minutes?"

  He grunted.

  "Just shush and let me concentrate."

  Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and let the fabric blow around in her hands, slipping through the fingers of her other hand. Her magic mapped out the threads of the woman it belonged to. A trail only she could see, developed within her mind like a map. Her eyes shot open, and she was met face to snout with a giant bear.

  "Oh." Marci backpeddled, her feet tangled with each other and she fell. She looked around and saw a roll of folded clothes tied around his leg. The plaid of the shirt the same as what Caleb had been wearing. Her brain knew what she was looking at. She did. But he was massive.

  She had no idea Caleb could shift so fast. She slowly pushed herself up as the bear backed up a few paces.

  "Caleb?"

  His giant head moved once up and down, and he snorted. She supposed that was a yes?

  "Okay then. Uh. You're a big bear."

  A few more deep breaths and the nerves shaking within her quieted.

  The bear rolled his eyes, a very human movement that looked too funny on the animal.

  "And that is much more you."

  A paw the size of her head rose and poked at the scarf.

  "Oh right. Yes. Follow me."

  The pull of a magnetic force, her magic compass, dragged her forward. Caleb lumbered next to her. She tried to speed up realizing how slow she appeared next to him.

  Picking up speed, she tried to jog. Now was not the time to start a new workout, but Caleb's fear grew thicker in the air, and Marci swore she could feel it.

  Her lungs started to burn, and then her legs began to shake. Running would never be her thing. A few more steps and she tripped over a branch.

  Instead of landing on the hard ground in front of her she hit a pile of muscle-covered fur.

  He didn't smell like a wild animal. And she lost herself in the scent. She dug her fingers into his hair. Her magic shifted. The nagging static finally chased away after days of nearly growing numb to all other sensations. Breathing in again, his scent filling her and bringing back every sense that had been dulled away but the burn of her magic furiously searching. She moaned as an unexpected tingling took a short cut straight to her core.

  She froze as he rumbled. Maybe she moaned, maybe he growled she hadn't been here mentally to know. She pushed away and met his large green eyes.

  "I. Thanks for catching me."

  A jerk of his head and he laid down and nodded back towards her. She looked at him and then at his back.

  "You want to carry me?"

  The bear made a grumbled sound that might have been some grumpy retort.

  "That's a yes then? If I climb up on you, you're not going to buck me off or anything weird. Right? And don't get any other ideas with me riding you..."

  She stood rigid at the unexpected comment that said she was at least thinking of him in some way other than just as the handyman.

  The bear's voice rumbled. Could a bear laugh?

  He tossed his head back again, his front paw reaching out.

  She swallowed. "Okay. Fine. Uh. How do I tell you where to go?"

  He tilted his head, the brown of his fur becoming more white as the snow picked up and stuck to him.

  After a moment he stood up and moved to her, he took his paw and pressed against her leg. He pushed the left leg and pointed to the left, and then pushed the right leg and pointed right.

  "Okay. Sure. We can do this."

  The threads of magic began to pulse as she squeezed the scarf tighter. Right. Maybe, once this seemed clear, but something was still lost.

  He laid down once more, and she scrambled atop his back.

  It was one thing to work for a shifter, but working for one in his animal form was new. Marci had never actually been this close to one, never been attracted to anyone this much, and she'd never felt muscles this powerful before, anywhere, especially between her legs.

  A jolt of her body and her fingers dug into his fur as Caleb took off into the tree line. She crouched down, leaning her stomach against him, trying to hide from the wind. Her magic dodged trees and rock as they ran.

  The woman was out there; she could feel it. She could also feel the shock trying to choke her as panic set in. They were going to come dangerously close to the pixie forest, and nothing about that place seemed good. In fact, her magic seemed to shudder and wane as it traveled closer and closer.

  10

  His bear was in control, and Caleb had to go with it. He could feel her as they ran through the forest. Her touch soothed the unrest within them. His bear chuckled as Caleb sat on the sidelines and wondered what the hell all this meant. She ignited a burn deep within him, within them, that he fought to control every second of every day and his damn bear wasn't fighting much off.

  He sprinted through the forest. Marci would push him to turn and they would. Moving as if they were meant to be one. He pushed his bear on; they would find Evelyn, they had to. She was like a grandma he'd never had, and he didn't want to lose her now.

  Caleb's blood still ran cold as the words seeped in. He'd knocked on her door and expected some dirty joke or comment from the woman that refused to age. Instead, Ed had answered, his skin pale, and a haunted worry in his eyes.

  "Evelyn didn't come home last night."

  The man, a human, seemed helpless. Ed was one of the few hu
mans in the town, and Caleb understood why. Evergreen Valley wasn't a common place.

  Caleb swallowed past the panic squeezing his chest, fighting for every breath.

  He sniffed the air as they ran and still couldn't pick up her scent. He'd only ever felt helpless once in his life when his friend had died. Now though, the fear of never finding Evelyn, the panic rose suffocating him. He wasn't helpless, he wasn't weak, and yet right now he couldn't do this, not without the woman on his back.

  Marci didn't speak as they kept running. They'd gone at least a mile. What had she been doing? Evelyn picked the late season elderberries, but this seemed too far.

  He sniffed the air again and caught faint traces of berries, maybe that was a good sign.

  "Slow down," said Marci.

  He quickly pulled back and slowed.

  "There's no magic in these parts of the woods, right? No pixies?"

  Caleb shook his head. There wasn't. He came here all the time, every time he needed to get away.

  "Let me down."

  He stopped and lay on the ground. Marci hopped off and, similar to his bear's tracking, she walked without regard to anything. His bear squinted but couldn't see the trail she followed.

  He studied her, staying far enough behind to give her space. He liked the view. Thank God for the urgency that overshadowed need or he'd have taken her by now. His bear had none and the human side started to lose its grip on his resolve. Her touch, her fingers twining in his fur had had them damn near whimpering in pleasure.

  He controlled himself, but he wouldn't let her out of arms reach. He wouldn't claim her, not now, but he would keep her safe.

  All this time he'd thought moving to this tiny mountain town had been an escape, been a way to avoid caring for anyone ever again. Only if that had been true, he wouldn't be out here. He wouldn't be following a witch blindly. The numbing pain that had made his lungs burn as if a plastic bag were over his head and the next breath would never come, wouldn't have slowly crept back into his world at the sound of Ed's words.

  All this time he'd lied to himself. He cared for these people; he already had people to lose. Marci had simply woken him up to his existence, regardless of what he'd wanted for himself.

  Caleb watched Marci. Her eyes were open, but he didn't think she saw anything. Snow fell in thick waves, blankets starting to form. He looked ahead of her. Roots underfoot tripped her, and a large branch hung just below her eye-line. She didn't blink, didn't waver from the invisible path only she could see. He raced ahead and grabbed the branch within his jaws and pulled it back as she passed.

  She gasped in surprise, the purples of her eyes moving and she finally blinked. "Thank you."

  His bear walked a bit taller after that, his tongue lulling for a split second before Caleb shook them to their senses.

  "She's close, and she's alive. I can't feel anything else though. This is one of the more strange signatures I've seen. I don't think she's exactly human."

  Caleb faltered, smacking himself in the face with the branch as it released.

  His bear grumbled and wiggled his tender snout. Not human? That didn't sound right. He tried to think of memories and moments around her. She'd always been smaller, always a little different. Her scent had always been more sugar-sweet than most humans he'd met. Of course, until now he hadn't exactly been all there.

  He loathed his selfishness. The last few years he'd failed to let anyone in. Failed to notice the people around him that gave him the strength to heal.

  The bubbling of water grew louder with each step.

  He stepped closer and felt the waves of energy. He hadn't noticed where they were until just now. Marci better know what she was doing, because this was too close to the pixie forest for his taste.

  She moved slower, her actions purposeful now. He stepped forward a little more cautious than before.

  He found it odd how easily his bear fell into stride with her as they crept along. With each passing mile, she seemed more a part of him, which was ridiculous. His bear snickered at him, and he stopped thinking at all. He wouldn't win this fight.

  "There. Evelyn's there."

  Sliding to a halt, he stopped and looked around -- tree, tree, and then there on the bank, a small delicate frame near the water.

  Marci hesitated as he started towards the frail fame. He shifted mid-stride and knelt near her.

  "Evelyn? Ms. Emerson, can you hear me?"

  Her eyelids fluttered, but there was no other movement behind her lids.

  "Is she okay?" Marci asked.

  Marci caught up, winded, but staying close by.

  "I don't know. I'm not used to this kind of wound."

  He didn't bother to look up. He was used to limbs missing, gunshots that left messy exit wounds, things that gushed out and all you could do was tie off the injury.

  Instead their blood flowing down the rocks. She'd cut her head and he couldn't be certain why she was unresponsive. Shock? Concussion?

  Sniffing the air, he could smell the blood, and he could catch her scent. For the first time since he'd been here, Caleb noticed the difference in her scent versus a human. She wasn't a shifter, and her scent wasn't the same as Marci or Annie, so not a witch.

  "What kind of wound are you used to?"

  He shrugged and then leaned down to listen to her chest. She was alive for now.

  "The bullet kind that heals or the kind you die from. I'm a shifter, I just heal."

  He wasn't a medic in the military or anything close to it in life. Now, he fixed pipes, walls, faucets, and other things that couldn't die. What did one do with a head wound? He needed to go back to his training. He needed to dig deep past the pain that came with memories of then.

  He glanced up and noticed Marci staring off towards the pixie forest.

  "Do you see something out there?"

  She shook her head. "No. But you're, uh, very naked."

  He glanced down. "Oh, right. Well, hold on." A glance back at Evelyn to make sure that hadn't perked her up. This was one of those moments he hoped she was faking to get a peek at him. Evelyn always refused to grow up, and right now he hoped that was in her favor. She wasn't shy though, and silence couldn't have been a good sign.

  "She's breathing. Watch her for a second."

  As quickly as possible he grabbed the pants off his ankle and turned around. At this point, he didn't know why this mattered.

  "Okay. Is that better?" he asked.

  She pulled her hands away from her eyes. "Yup." Her footsteps crunched against the winter-dry forest floor.

  "She hit her head, and I'm afraid to move her. The blood isn't pooling, but I can smell it."

  Marci knelt. "Why was she even out here alone?"

  He shrugged. "It's Evelyn. She always collects things from the forest. Always giving berries to Annie for muffins and bread."

  "Why is she so close to the pixie forest?"

  Caleb couldn't answer that. There should have been elderberries everywhere.

  Scanning the riverbank and Evelyn, he figured she's slipped on the rocks.

  He glanced around and took in the area. It was strange. What would have brought her this far? Panic wasn't in his vocabulary. He had a steady head, some of that was the bear, and the other part was his years of military training. That or maybe it was the numbness that he couldn't shake. He couldn't panic, but he did have the ability to only focus on one thing. He grabbed the shirt he'd wrapped around his ankle with the pants. He hadn't thought he'd need anything more once they found her.

  He shook it out and laid it across her.

  "Marci. You are a witch, right? Don't you have something that can wake her?"

  She shrugged. "I honestly don't know. That's not how my magic works. I can try and call my sister. She's a healer."

  Mentally he swore. "You'll never reach her out here. Uh. Just stay."

  He stepped a few feet to the river and grabbed a handfull of the frigid water.

  In a single fluid motion, he move
d from the bank to her face and dropped the water.

  She sputtered, and her eyes fluttered.

  Oh, thank God.

  "Ms. Emerson?"

  He studied the movements, not much. Evelyn's eyes fluttered open again, and this time she moaned. "Who?"

  "Ms. Evelyn. You hit your head. Do you remember what happened?"

  He watched her throat move as she swallowed, but she didn't speak.

  "Alright. This isn't getting any better. We need to get her into town. Annie will be able to take her from there. I'd say a hospital might be the next option. We have to get her down off the mountain," said Caleb.

  Marci nodded. She held her hand over the old woman and closed her eyes.

  Caleb didn't know if he was waiting for something to happen, or what, but he admired her. She held herself together in what seemed like a bad situation.

  A few deep breaths later and she opened her eyes.

  "So, she's still in there. I can't get a whole lot other than her soul is fine. I also couldn't find anything broken. My sister always had me help find certain things when we were kids; one was sick and wounded animals. So, I think we are at least safe to move her. How are we going to move her?"

  He shook his head. "I'll carry her."

  Marci gaped at him.

  "What?" he asked.

  "You don't have a shirt on. Or shoes. I can't get her on your back if you shift to a bear either," Marci said.

  His lips twitched at that. Who knew she cared.

  "I'll be fine. I spent an entire year in the mountains without much. My body temperature is higher because of the bear anyway. Let's go. Can you walk this time? I can't carry you both."

  She nodded. "I could have walked the first time. You insisted-"

  "Right. Okay. Sorry, I don't have time to argue. Got it. Let's go."

  "Of course. Sorry. How can I help?"

  He glanced around and noticed the baskets and a small pack.

  "Go grab her stuff," he paused, "please."

  Without another word she went around and grabbed the items. He gently supported Evelyn's head and lifted the woman. She was small and frail, how he'd never noticed made him feel even more an asshole. Without her sarcasm, she looked vulnerable.