Kann’s too, since he’d given her the parka to wear.
Her bare legs and feet probably weren’t helping either.
“We’ve got to get to a phone. I need money and all my stuff is up at the cabin.”
“Is this where your king lives?” Kann asked.
Naomi sputtered and coughed and turned away from the guys until she could control her reaction.
Col stroked her back so sweetly. As if worried something was actually wrong.
“No, no king. This is a hotel. People stay here temporarily to hike and explore the mountain range. Like me. Remember, I said I didn’t live here. I paid for the cabin for seven days. Then I was going back to New York.”
“You are not leaving now?” Col asked, with just the slightest bit of hesitancy.
She shook her head and stood up straight, taking in a deep breath. “No, Col, I’m not leaving.” Naomi leaned against his side and breathed in his masculine scent.
His arm encircled her body and squeezed gently.
“My family is going to freak out when they hear I’m staying in Alaska…well, my sister might not be surprised, but my brothers are going to lose their minds.” She peered up at him.
He was smiling. “Older brothers?”
“Yes,” she answered. “Two.”
“Is your sister coming here?” Kann asked.
Naomi turned and narrowed her gaze at Kann. “No,” she said. “Don’t get any ideas.”
He shrugged. “You are an excellent mate. It would be logical to assume another female in your family could be—”
“No,” Naomi said again, more forcefully this time.
The lion shifter snapped his mouth shut and nodded, but she figured the whole looking-for-a-mate mentality wouldn’t disappear for long.
“All right guys, time to find you some clothes that will help you blend in a bit better.” She pointed toward the small cabin-ish building at the end of the board walk—Denali Mountain Works. She walked through the sludgy mess of snow and ice, trying to find good footing. Before she’d taken two steps, Col lifted her off the ground.
“You should not be walking in this. The ground is so cold it burns like fire,” he said, stealing a quick kiss.
“At least you have boots on,” she replied.
He grunted. “They are not made for this climate.”
“Nothing we are wearing is made for this climate,” Tor muttered from behind them, clomping through the snow on the road up to the cleared paths on the boardwalk.
“So, this entire place is for visitors?” Col asked, staring up and down the massive boardwalk at the resort hotel and surrounding buildings.
Some were private cabins. Some were restaurants. Naomi had stayed at the Chalet one night before heading up to the cabin she’d rented.
“No one lives here?”
“People live in the area, but not in that building. That’s a hotel. Just visitors,” she said. “We need that door.” She pointed again to the log cabin shop.
Col nodded and redirected.
Tor reached the entrance first. “Do we request permission to enter?” the tiger asked, looking back at Naomi.
She shook her head. “It’s a store. Just pull the door open and go in.”
He did as she’d directed, and soon they were in the cozy little cabin. Surrounded by clothes and snow gear and cute little souvenirs.
There were even some hunting knives on display right at the front.
Kann and Saul both moved to study them more closely.
A woman about Naomi’s age stood behind the counter in stunned silence.
She patted Col’s arm and he put her down gently. Once her feet touched the floor, she yanked on the coat she was wearing to make sure it covered all the important bits.
“Hey.” Naomi approached the counter. She pushed Kann and Tor out of the way.
Both males vacated the space in front of the counter quickly to give her space.
“So, I need to make a quick phone call to my sister in New York. I don’t have my wallet with me; it’s up at the cabin I was staying at. As you can see, my friends and I are not dressed for the weather. Office prank gone horribly wrong.” She paused, giving the round-faced brunette a moment to process. “Can I borrow your cell phone for just a sec? My sister will pay for everything we need over the phone if that’s okay?”
The woman’s blue eyes turned to her and slowly started to focus. “Are you naked?”
Naomi chuckled. “Yes.”
“Ohmygod, how are you not dead? It was thirty below last night.”
“Luck and these big guys behind me.” She gave a knowing wink at the woman.
The store clerk’s cheeks flushed a bright pink and she smiled. “Is there some kind of movie being filmed nearby?”
Naomi considered the question and then nodded. “I can’t talk about it though, sorry. But I really did get separated from my ID and wallet. Do you have a cell?”
“Oh, yeah. No problem,” the woman answered, pulling a cellphone from her back pocket. “Do they need help?” She pointed, and Naomi turned to see Kann and Tor sniffing the racks of clothes.
She inwardly rolled her eyes and sighed. Col was still standing right behind her. As was Saul. She could hear and smell them both, even though they were out of her line of sight.
“They will need so much help,” she muttered, unable to hold back a slight chuckle.
“I’d be happy to show them anything,” the clerk said, “I’m Jess, by the way.”
“Naomi,” she answered, taking the offered cell phone. “They won’t know what size they wear or anything. Foreigners.” Naomi started to type in her sister’s phone number.
Please be around.
“Do they speak English?” Jess asked, walking around the counter and heading toward Kann and Tor.
Naomi nodded and put the phone to her ear. “Yes, they do.” She turned to Col and Saul. “Go with her.”
Col shook his head, but the lion shifter accepted the instruction and moved stealthily behind poor Jess.
When the clerk turned to ask Naomi another question she nearly collided with Saul’s massive body.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” the woman squeaked. “What exactly do you all need?” she called out from around Saul’s body.
“Cam?” Naomi said into the phone microphone.
“Yeah?” her sister answered. “What’s going on? Whose phone are you on?”
“Hang on a second.” She took a step and looked around Col’s chest. “They each need a full set of clothes and a set of snow pants or overalls to go on over that. They also need a winter coat, gloves, hat, and boots.”
“You got it!” Jess hollered back, giving Naomi a salute and a wide smile.
She grinned and watched as the young woman started ordering around the big warriors.
They did everything she asked and watched her every move.
Naomi was secretly glad Col had refused to leave her side. She would’ve been jealous if Jess was staring at him the way she was the other three.
“Cam, I got separated from my wallet. It’s back at the cabin, but I’ve got to get clothes for the guys, so they can get me back up there. I need you to pay for everything with your credit card. I’ll PayPal you the money the second I get back to the cabin and my laptop.”
“Guys?” Suspicion colored her sister’s voice. “Where’s Col? I thought he was from there. Why wouldn’t he have clothes?”
“Long story, will have to tell you later. Can we please call you back in like thirty minutes and get you to pay for the supplies?”
“Yeah, that’s fine, but I expect an explanation at some point. You do realize that, right?”
“I do.”
“I’ll tell Mama and Papa and the boys not to worry…or, should they be worried?” Cam asked.
“I’m fine. I promise. I’m just going to make some pretty significant life changes over the next week or so,” Naomi said nonchalantly, hoping her sister wouldn’t completely lose her shit.
It was a pipe dream though.
“Nai! You did marry the guy, didn’t you?”
“I-uh—”
“Nai!”
“Sorta, yeah. I’m moving to Alaska.”
“Holy shit! Mama’s gonna have a heart attack. Are you sure?”
“I’m really sure, Cam. I’m so happy with Col. This is really good.”
Col nuzzled her neck and his chest purred—hummed—and Naomi smiled.
“Tell Mama and Papa it’s good. I’ll call you back in a few minutes. We have to get some winter gear. And when I get back to the cabin, I’ll Skype you again, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, no problem. I’ll keep the phone right here next to me,” Cam said.
“Thanks, Cam, love you,” Naomi said.
“Love you too, little sis,” Cam answered before Naomi hung up the line and put the phone down on the counter.
She turned to Col. “Time to get us some clothes, too.”
20
Col stared at himself in the reflecting glass Naomi had called a mirror. It was like someone had captured the clearness of the water’s surface and locked it into a rock.
He’d never seen something that looked so perfect. He touched his finger to the mirror in the dressing room again and shook his head.
Uncanny.
The clothing was strange. Heavy. Warm.
Naomi had assured him he was more than welcome to change back into his tosa—or kilt as she called it—once they were back at the cabin and out of the public eye.
If these clothes pleased his mate, he’d learn to wear them. He was on earth now, not Reylea.
The boots were thick and warm, much better for treading through the deep snow and ice than his thinner softer leather ones. The shirt was red and white and orange in a pattern Naomi called plaid.
It’d taken him ages to get the small buttons on the front aligned and connected correctly.
He pushed open the dressing room door and peered out.
Naomi was standing next to Tor, Kann, and Saul. They were all dressed like him, with different colored shirts. Big heavy black boots and puffy black snow pants on over what Naomi called jeans. Personally, he thought they were rather constricting.
His mate smiled and clapped her hands excitedly. She was in a new pair of jeans and a dark purple shirt he’d insisted on after seeing it on the wall.
She looked delectable. The jeans clung to every curve. He wanted to strip her out of everything the second he got her alone again.
A pair of dark blue snow pants hung over her arm, along with a pair of boots she hadn’t put on yet. The woman from the shop stood a little to his right.
“Good fit,” she said.
“Excellent,” Naomi said. “Gloves, hats, and everything else are on the counter already, along with duffle bags for you guys to carry your stuff in.” She handed a small black square to the other woman—a cellphone—and motioned for him and the others to follow her back to the front counter. She sat down and wiggled into her snow pants. Then shoved on her boots.
He waited at her side until she was done lacing everything up.
“It’s weird not really needing these clothes.” Naomi kept her voice soft.
Tor and the lions were at the counter laughing with the clerk about something. All three men had been enamored with the woman, and she with them.
“It is as you said…better to not draw attention to ourselves by wearing what is expected. Your inner body heat will adjust. You won’t be uncomfortable.” Col offered his hand and she smiled up at him as she took it. He pulled her up from the chair and tugged her close to his side. “I will enjoy peeling every layer off of you later tonight.” His voice dropped to a growl, pleased with the pink flush that crept up into her cheeks.
She smiled coyly.
The woman at the counter motioned for her to come, and Naomi gave him a quick wink before wriggling away to tend to whatever needed to be done to pay for their clothing and gear as she called it.
“Thank you so much, sis.” Naomi directed her voice at the cellphone. “I’ll talk to you tonight, once I get back to the cabin.”
“Sounds good, Nai. I gotta run. You going to be good after this?”
“Yep,” she answered.
The clerk put the phone down and handed his mate a long strip of white material. “Here’s your receipt. If something doesn’t work correctly, you have thirty days to come exchange it for a different size or brand.”
“Great, thank you so much for your help. I know we tore apart your shop trying to find everything the guys needed.”
“Not a problem.” The woman smiled up at Tor the whole time. “If you need anything else, just let me know.”
Col shook his head.
The woman was obviously interested in the tiger shifter, but Tor was barely paying attention and playing with something on the bag Naomi had picked out for him.
Col grabbed the blue bag from the counter that had his tosa and other belongings in it and slung it over his shoulder.
The three men followed suit, each thanking the shop keeper for her help.
Tor moved a few steps ahead of their group and held open the door.
They stepped out onto the boardwalk. The sky was clear, and the sun was shining.
The crisp refreshing smell of the surrounding forests filled Col’s lungs. He couldn’t wait to see the countryside when it wasn’t blanketed by snow and ice.
“Mr. Curtis,” Naomi called out and waved at a man down near the road.
He was wearing a bright blue hat and a big brown coat. He stood near what Col now knew was called a car.
The vehicle was black and had four wheels and four doors.
“Ah, Ms. Parker,” he called back, waving her over.
They approached the man who Naomi was renting her cabin from.
The stranger gave Col a once over and then took his time looking over the other three men as well. “You collected yourself some friends?”
“I did,” his mate said, laughing lightly. “Thank you so much for finding a place for them. I know it was very last minute.”
“Of course, it’s a bit rough, but if they don’t mind doing the repairs, it would help me out for next season to have another functioning cabin. I just don’t have the time myself to put into it.”
“We would be happy to put any work into the cabin you wish, Mr. Curtis.” Saul stepped forward. “Thank you for your generosity.”
The older man nodded. “You’re very welcome, boys. You sure you’re going to be okay, all of you staying there together? It’s a big cabin, but old.”
“We will make it work,” Naomi said quickly.
“Fair ‘nough,” Mr. Curtis answered. He opened the door on the back of his vehicle and gestured to them. “Put your bags in the back. I’ll get you out to the cabin you’ve got for another week, Ms. Parker. And then I’ll show you boys the trail that’ll take you right over to the other one.”
“Your help is most appreciated, Mr. Curtis.”
Col’s mate was incredible. She was upending her entire life to stay here with him. Hell, she wasn’t even mad that she’d been turned into a dragon. Despite not knowing that would happen, he couldn’t say he wasn’t pleased, but she was terrified of flying and clumsy in her full-grown dragon form. So, it would be slow going for a while to get her adjusted to sharing a body with the spirit of an animal.
On top of being his mate, she was helping the entire group find a place to live and work.
The drive to the cabin took about three hours. The conversation was mostly Mr. Curtis, telling them all the things that needed to be fixed in the cabin he was going to let them stay in and how he dreamed of having even more cabins to have enough steady income to retire soon.
Col watched the landscape out the window of the vehicle, trying to memorize positions and placements so he wouldn’t get lost if they needed to come south to this place again—McKinley Park.
“You know it’s not much, but Mystery is a great town to live in. It
’s not big, but there’s a mechanic and gas station, a diner, a post office…” The man’s voice trailed off. “Several water pump stations, and a small grocer slash hardware store. If you need something specific, it’s likely that the Jenkins’ can get it ordered in for you. There’s a landing strip just outside of town too and they have a good relationship with lots of wholesalers down at the coast.”
“It’s going to be an adventure.” His mate leaned against him.
They were in the back seat of the van.
Kann and Saul were in the middle.
Tor had taken the front seat next to Mr. Curtis.
Col nodded and kissed the top of Naomi’s head. He slipped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her even closer. “You are my adventure.”
“I like the sound of that. You know I’m still not going to fly with you.” She kept her voice low so no one else would hear.
“Give it time, shuarra. Eventually you will be comfortable.”
The van stopped, and he looked up.
They were back at the cabin.
“Do you want to see the other cabin? The bigger one where you’ll all be staying?” Mr. Curtis asked from the driver’s seat.
“I need to call my sister before it’s too late tonight in New York, so show them everything, and if you wouldn’t mind writing down a list for me so I can keep track. That would really help.” She leaned in the window where Tor was sitting.
Col felt his dragon flex and growl. She was too close to the tiger. Even though his brain knew she wasn’t the least bit interested in Tor, instinct didn’t want her anywhere near an unmated male. If Tor had a mate, it’d be a different story, but he didn’t. Therefore, Tor was a threat.
“Of course, Ms. Parker,” Mr. Curtis said. “Will do.”
“Wait.” He growled and climbed from his seat. Col got out of the van and joined Naomi. “I need to check the cabin. Make sure she’s safe before we go.”
Mr. Curtis gave him an approving nod and waved them on.
“I’ll be okay, Col.”
“And I will be satisfied after I’ve checked the cabin and made sure you are safe.” he answered, following her up the steps to the door.
She opened the lock box first with the code, retrieved the key and then opened the door. They stepped into a dark room. Naomi flipped a switch near the door and the light in the center of the ceiling burst to life, illuminating the living area. “Go check,” she urged. “I’m getting on my laptop.” She walked a few steps to the right and sat at the desk. Opened her device and began typing.
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