When the Winter Winds Blow

by E J Darling

  “You don’t have to go out there. You can stay in here with me until they can’t stand the cold anymore and leave. You can stay, Declan. Stay with me.” She begged him.

  “Lex.”

  There was a knock at the door and all the hope Lexie had that he could stay, vanished in an instant. Declan stood instantly and inhaled the air. His body went ridged and a feral growl permeated the cabin. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Something wasn’t right. Declan’s nose had to be playing tricks on him because there was no way this was happening. He was happy. He had Lexie and there was no room for anything less in his life. He walked to the door, but his body and mind halted him before her could open it. Declan looked back to Lexie, his beautiful Lexie. The woman that loved him through all his faults and stood here with him, ready to face the wolves. She didn’t know it yet, but their world was about to come crumbling down and nothing was going to stop the avalanche that was about to hit.

  The pounding at the door was louder and the demon outside was getting impatient but the last looks of Lexie were worth it.

  “I love you, Alexis Porter. Remember that when I’m gone.”

  Lexie’s face turned to sorrow, and sobs wrenched from her as she dropped to the floor. He couldn’t watch her like this, but this was it. This was the end.

  Two more pounds at the door. Declan inhaled and his bear clawed at him from inside and his skin vibrated. The bear may be ready for this fight, but Declan wasn’t ready, not at all. He was too weak to hold off an entire pack alone. He just couldn’t do it. But he’d do everything in his power to stop them from touching Lexie. They wouldn’t get to her.

  He unlocked the deadbolt and he swung the door open. Shock hit him hard in the chest as he stared at the figure in front of him. This was impossible. Autumn was dead. He’d held her body in his arms and watched as her life left her limp in his arms. He was there when they tore her to pieces. This was wrong. His bear dug in his claws and Declan nearly doubled over in pain.

  “Grim told me you were weak now.” Autumn gave him a sinister smile and cocked her head to the side, “Big, strong, powerful Declan reduced to nothing by a woman who never wanted him. Tragic.”

  Declan growled deep in his chest. “You’re dead.”

  “Is that what he told you? Is that what your broken bear said when he couldn’t face the fact that I walked out on you? It must have been easier than facing the truth I suspect.” Autumn cocked her head and stared at Lexie, but Declan moved in front of her and blocked her view. “Who’s this? Over me so quickly? And with a human no less.”

  Declan couldn’t wrap his mind around what Autumn was saying. Had his bear played his mind so much that he’d given him a new memory to help himself deal with what truly happened? It didn’t matter though. She stood before him in flesh and blood. Her cold eyes locked on his love behind him.

  “Get the fuck out of here and take your pack with you.” Declan was on his last bit clarity, but he wasn’t going to let this angel of death get another glance at Lex. “Lexie. I want you to get somewhere safe. This won’t last long.” He never took his eyes off Autumn. He didn’t trust her to stay on her side of the doorway. She was pack and he knew exactly what that meant. Autumn was a murderer and a coward. She was weak. She’d tried to bring him down with her and she’d succeeded.

  “Oh, my sweet Declan. I plan on taking my pack with me. All of them. And soon, that will include your sweet little play toy in there.” She smiled again and Declan wanted to rip her throat out. He’d loved this vile woman enough to make himself go mad, to fabricate some elaborate story of her death because he couldn’t deal with the thought of losing her. He could remember it all now. The fight, the sex, the sinister smile she gave that he thought was true and real, but she’d been plotting since the beginning. She was a bored dog wanting a toy to play with and he’d been the perfect subject. But as she stood in front of him now, he couldn’t see how. Why the hell did is kill himself for this woman? She was nothing to him now, did nothing for him.

  Declan heard Lexie in the cabin. She was going up the ladder now and finding a place to hole up. His arms were starting to shake, and his legs wanted to give out. A rumble was permeant in his chest, and it wouldn’t be long now. His head was pounding, and his vision was blurring. The moment he heard Lexie go silent, Declan lost it.

  He jumped on Autumn and went for her throat. Every bit of his being wanted her death at his hands. Her real death. The kind she would never come back from. The wolves yipped and howled in the distance, but they were closing in fast. He wanted this done before they were too close and stopped him.

  “You are nothing to me but a ghost.” He growled. Autumn choked and clawed at Declan’s hands, trying to save herself. He may be weak, but he would give every last bit of strength he had to end her life. Her face turned red, then purple before her clawing weakened and she went limp under him.

  Everything went dark for a moment. His body broke and his skin ripped open. The bear inside was taking over and there was no stopping it. The pack was close now and he was going to end all of them. “Goodbye, Lexie.” He roared out in pain but the moment he finally let go, the beast tore out of him and he landed on all four paws in a sprint toward the incoming pack.

  Autumn was dead. He killed her and that fueled his rage. His body had been so weak but his bear, his bear was strong, powerful. Declan felt his strength returning as he ran for the four wolves coming in first. They were stupid to think they could take him. He was the king of these mountains. He ruled them with brutality and force. He fought for the land and for Lexie.

  My Lexie. She’s mine. She must be mine.

  All he could think about was her beautiful dark hair and stunning green eyes. They haunted him in his deep dark sleep.

  The wolves jumped at the last second, but Declan took purchase on a back leg and threw it to the ground like a ragdoll. One bite in the kill spot and he was done for. He roared in pain as the other three locked into his thick skin. They bit and tore at his flesh as he tried to throw them off. It hurt like hell, but it was only fuel to the flame inside him. Two more came for him from both sides and Declan swung his backside around and swung his paw at the other, slashing it with his claws.

  The fighting went on like this forever. They never stopped coming. Declan slashed flesh. He used his jaws to crush skulls, the taste of iron coating his mouth, but still they came. Limp bodies lay around him but still they came. They were weak but they fought as one and the fought in waves. He was strong but he was becoming desperate. He looked around for the alpha, but he was nowhere to be seen. Declan wanted to bite the head off the snake before this was over, before it was his own body lying limp in the snow.

  The wind was fierce, and visibility was getting low, too low. The only light came from the cabin and Declan clamped down on a gray wolf’s ribcage, throwing him into the snow. His deep panting breath fogged his view as the wolves surrounded him once again. There weren’t many left but he was tired. So tired. He heard a scream and Declan tore his focus away from the fight.

  It was Grim. He’d found the bastard, but it was too late. He pulled Lexie by her hair and he screamed again as he twitched and licked the delicate skin of her neck. Declan ignored the wolves surrounding him and focused on the alpha. He would die for touching her. If anything happened to her, he would bring the entire mountain down on them and reap every soul until he took his last breath.

  “You’ve fought well, Declan. Better than I believed you would in your state.” Grim twitched again and the wolves around him yipped and growled, baring their teeth. “You stole these mountains from us and took all that was ours when you bought the land we stand on. You took our food, our way of life. You stole our home. And we are taking it back by force, and we will start by breaking you. We will snap your will to live in half and reap the benefits of these mountains once again.” Grim ran a claw across Lexie’s throat and she whimpered. Her eyes closed and tears flowed down her c
heeks.

  She looked at him through her tears and mouthed the words I love you. No, this wasn’t going to end like this. She was supposed to be safe. She was supposed to be okay. Declan roared and took a step toward them, but Grim pressed his sharp claw into her neck and stopped him in his tracks.

  “Not another step. I don’t plan on killing this beautiful treasure. She’s going to be mine as payment for killing Autumn. She will rule this pack with me by my side and she will have my children. Together we will build this pack back up and we will thrive once again.”

  Lexie’s face slowly faded from fear to something else. Her eyes went cold and she blinked the tears away. “I would never. You can’t have me.”

  “I already do.”

  Lexie’s head flew back and slammed into Grim’s face. It shocked him enough to send him back and he let go of her. She ran. Her legs pumped as fast as they could through the deep snow away from the light of the cabin. There was nowhere for her to go that they wouldn’t find her, but she was trying. The wolves behind him howled and Grim instantly shifted into a wolf.

  Declan took off after Lexie. There was no way in hell he was going to let Grim have her. He’d rather her die than become a breeder for a feral wolf pack. They would rape her. Force her to carry their young and rape her all over again until she died or took her own life. It was no place for a woman like her. She was his and only his.

  Declan was already exhausted but watching the wolves hunt Lexie fueled him and he was at a dead sprint now. She was close, so close that he could smell the fear coming off her. But Grim was keeping pace. His thin withered frame a fair match to Declan’s sore body. He could see her through the snow and blistering wind. She was running for her life but who would end it first?

  The sound of her panting breaths hit his ears and Declan poured every last bit of himself into his once powerful legs. If he reached out just a little, he could taste her flesh. Grim lunged and Declan through himself on top of him. Lexie fell to the ground and Declan, with his last bit of strength, reached out. Grim was so close to her skin and he strained under the weight of the bear, but Declan’s mouth parted, and his teeth pierced her soft flesh. The last thing he heard before the darkness took him was the terrified scream that echoed through mountains and into his soul.

  He’d done it. He’d killed the woman he loved more than his own being. He’d killed her humanity, but the bear had claimed her life. She would be a monster now. A monster like him. Cursed forever. But the wolves couldn’t have her now.

  She was claimed. Forever and eternally his.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  The pain was excruciating and sent lightening throughout Lexie’s body. Every molecule of her body was lit up like a match and she screamed in pain.

  Declan had done it. He’d bitten her to save her from a fate worse than death. He’d claimed her body and taken his life into his own hands. But the pain was too much, it hurt too badly for her to survive it, and Lexie thought she would die. She screamed again as her joints began to pop, and the sounds of breaking bones filled the emptiness. Her skin was alive and ripping itself apart to make way for fur and for a form she would soon take.

  She could hear the monster inside her breathing life back into her sore broken body and she could feel the claws reaching out into the snow. Her back snapped and Declan’s broad head faded into nothingness as her eyes went dark. But it was only for a moment, just a split second where she went from the woman she knew, to the beast she had become.

  Lexie opened her eyes and a rumble came from the pits of her chest and a growl came from her mouth. She barred her teeth and felt the power surge through her. She felt everything, heard everything, and the wolves descended like rats from the sewer.

  There were only seven of them now, and they were small. They’d done everything they could to kill Declan, but she was fighter. She would end this once and for all. There would be nothing left of the rocky mountain pack when she was finished. They would all be in hell soon enough.

  Lexie charged them, not even allowing them to get close to Declan who was now too weak to defend himself. She could smell his blood and she let it fuel her rage. She was a bit clumsy on four legs, but she managed well enough to attack the lead wolf. She threw him to the side with one swipe or her massive claws and went for the second, destroying him before he could touch her. The taste of blood coated her mouth, but it didn’t taste like she thought it would. It tasted like hatred and diseased. The wolves all smelled sick in some way to her new senses and it confused her. Everything was confusing right now.

  A wolf bit into her side and Lexie roared in pain. She used her own weight against the attacker and slammed it into the ground, knocking it off quickly. She turned and bit down on the back of its neck, killing it instantly. Just five more and this was done forever.

  Four more. Three more. Lexie used her anger to her advantage and her claws were the perfect weapons, annihilating the smaller weaker animals that came for her. She stood up on two legs and slammed her front legs down on a wounded black wolf. She heard the snapping of its ribcage and it didn’t get up to move. Two more.

  Their heads were low as they stalked her, trying to find a weak spot. Her body was bleeding and sore, but she didn’t care, the wounds were already healing. One of them leapt at her while the other came from the front. She wasn’t a skilled fighter and they were fast, too fast for her bigger body. The pain on her backside as the wolf shredded her skin was almost too much to bear but she couldn’t stop now, she almost had them all. One got her under the neck, but his bite was weak, and she threw him off her easily, sinking her four-inch long canines into the wolf’s flesh and snapping his spine.

  One left.

  She couldn’t get it off. She tried to throw her body, smash him with her weight, and pulled him off with her teeth but she couldn’t reach. The pain tore through her and he was so close to her spine that she knew she didn’t have a lot of time left.

  Lexie through her body against a tree and the wolf finally lost his grip. She turned to finish what she started but the wolf was lying limp. His body dangling from the mouth of the massive bruin in front of her. Declan was up but he looked terrible. His eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped into the snow.

  A howl pierced the darkness, its song low and sad. Grim.

  Lexie limped over to where the bloody mess lay in the red snow. He wasn’t moving, his back legs limp, and she cocked her head to the side.

  Take your claim. A voice in her head spoke. The wolf whimpered but there was no remorse in Lexie anymore. She’d made a promise to herself to end it and she would. Lexie took one more step closer and slowly brought her paw up, placing it on the wolf’s torn face. With everything she had, Lexie brought all her weight down until she heard the pop of the skull.

  It was over. They were dead. And all Lexie’s demons died with them.

  She limped over to Declan’s body and fell down next to him. She didn’t know when they would wake up, but she would lay here with him in the cold winter wind, until they healed enough to move their bodies. She’d keep him warm until he was okay. She wouldn’t leave him out here in the cold alone.

  She loved him. He’d claimed her. She never thought she would ever be okay with that, but she was. He’d made her into something new, something better. He’d made her like him, and she would stay here with him forever.

  He was hers, and she was his.

  Lexie woke to something cold bumping her back. Her body was freezing and naked in the snow, the air was still and quiet. The storm must have broken sometime in the night, and she must have shifted in her sleep as well. The smell of death covered the area and blood covered parts of her body, but no wounds were visible. She felt amazing. Even the parts of her body that she’d injured in the accident felt good as new and she felt like she could run a marathon. Not even the cold snow was bothering her like it should. The fire in her belly kept her warm as the bear pulsed inside her. She could feel it just under the surface, but she was cal
m and quiet for the moment.

  Lexie closed her eyes and inhaled slowly. She was going to be okay.

  Something bumped her back again, and Lexie was thrown back to the reality of her situation. She turned back suddenly and saw something she hoped deep down she wouldn’t. Declan.

  The bear had claimed him. He should be with her right now. Holding her. Telling her it was okay. But it wasn’t okay. Declan nudged her head and Lexie held on to the scruff of his neck so tightly, trying to will him back into his skin. She wanted to hold him, kiss him, love him, but she couldn’t. She may never get to again. He was in there somewhere, she knew that, but it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t the same as sleeping next to him every night under the same blanket and waking to each other the next day.

  Declan pulled her up to his feet and turned his big body around. He wanted her to follow him, so she did. Lexie stood up and grabbed a handful of his course fur. Together they walked back to the cabin, side by side. Ignoring the gore and destruction around them.

  When they reached the cabin and Lexie’s stomach finally turned when she saw the woman of Declan’s nightmares lying dead near the front step. She was half covered in snow, her lips icy blue and her eyes frozen, forever looking into the deep distance places she’d never go. Lexie stepped over the frozen body and opened the cabin door. The warm air hit her skin and it felt incredible.

  All the smells of the cabin were intensified now, and the cedar logs were more potent than before, but she loved it. She could smell Declan’s masculine scent everywhere and a smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. But it was short lived.

  No arms wrapped around her waist. No beard scratched her neck as he nuzzled in it to view of their Christmas tree. It was Christmas morning and instead of a gift, she’d gotten something ripped from her instead.