Her granddad also had an appointment at the local hospital four times a week, the first of which (or at least, the first one where Sasha was present) was the day after Sasha arrived. She drove him to the appointment in his blue truck, he wouldn’t get into her small car, and he barely let her drive, even though the doctor had told him that he was not to drive under any circumstances since the chemo was sapping his energy so badly.
The hospital in town was a squat building with only one floor, a flat white made to look even duller by the sparkling pristine snow all around it. The parking lot was as small as the hospital, only space for twenty spots, and only five of them occupied.
“Jesus, does anyone get sick in this town?” Sasha asked as she pulled into a handicap space, the blue placard swinging from the truck’s rear-view mirror.
“Not if we can help it,” Connor said with a dry laugh. He swung the door open and climbed out of his truck, leaving his granddaughter to hurry after him.
“You need to let me help you walk,” she said.
“Oh, I don’t think so kiddo,” the old man said, pulling his arm from hers. “I’m not dead yet.”
“I know, and I’m trying to keep that from happening at all,” the girl said stubbornly. “So, I’d like you not to slip on this ice and bust your old head open, alright?”
She gripped his arm again, and though he grumbled about it, he let her do so, and they went inside.
Connor sat in a small room in a long chair with his legs up, needles with tubes attached plugged into his arms. He read a paperback book he had brought with him. Sasha sat across the room in an uncomfortable chair that looked like wood but was made of plastic, a magazine from two years previous open in her lap. They sat like that for three hours, and then the old man was done, and they went back to his home.
On her third day in Tall Tree, Sasha was sent into town proper to get some groceries. She headed back the way she had come, cruising down the small main drag she had already seen once, parking in an icy lot next to the small grocery store and heading inside.
The place was the busiest she had seen to that point, with two cashiers inside the main entrance, each of them leaning against either side of one of the two belts and talking to one another. They were younger than Sasha, teenagers who had just got out of class at the local high school an hour ago, and it was evident they were flirting. Sasha didn’t want to disturb them, and neither greeted her, so she pulled a rickety shopping cart from a nearby line and moved on. Four other people milled about the store, a stark contrast to the one nurse and one doctor she had seen the day before in the chemotherapy wing of the small Tall Tree Hospital.
Three of the other patrons were just ordinary people, two women and a man, each of them fifty or older, but the fourth almost made Sasha gasp when she looked upon him.
He was quite simply, the best looking man Sasha had ever seen. He was tall, his skin dark, almost bronze. His hair was chestnut brown, his eyes a smoky gray. He smiled at her as their carts passed, his teeth white and perfect. The man wore jeans and a long sleeve plaid shirt, like a lumberjack, but more like a model trying to pass as a lumberjack. He was scruffy, black hair growing on his square jaw and over his plump upper lip.
He stopped suddenly, reaching out and placing a hand on her arm to stop her too, so swiftly it made her call out, an embarrassed yelp.
“Sorry,” the man said with a grin, his voice husky, almost a growl, but friendly somehow at the same time. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t,” Sasha said, and then she realized that he had been there, he had heard her yelp, and he knew damn well he had scared her, so she changed tactics. “It’s fine, I mean.”
“I just, you’re new,” the man said. He laughed then as if there was some sort of joke in what he said, one that Sasha wasn’t privy to.
“Yeah?” she asked, her voice going up at the end, so the single word was a question.
“Sorry, you probably think I’m a lunatic or something,” the man said. Sasha just looked at him.
“We don’t get many strangers here,” he went on. “So it surprised me, and I decided I had to find out who you were, and why in the hell you would come to Tall Tree, Alaska.
“It’s beautiful here,” Sasha said.
“You came because it’s beautiful?” the man asked her.
It was Sasha’s turn to laugh while he stared at her.
“No,” she said. “I just mean, you made it sound like no one should come here, but it’s so pretty. But no, I came because my grandfather is sick and he wanted help.
“Mr. Fray,” the young man said. “You’re his granddaughter?”
“Yeah,” Sarah said, surprised. “You know him?”
“We are all aware Mr. Fray,” the man said with a shrug. “He… well, he’s a… man of great upstanding in Tall Tree.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“He didn’t tell anyone you were coming, we sort of didn’t know he had any family. No one has ever come up before.”
“Yeah, my mother died when I was really young, I sort of lost contact with her side of the family. Well, I guess there’s only been just grandpa for so long, but yeah, we didn’t see each other much. Or at all, really.”
“That’s a shame, but I bet he’s thrilled that you’re here now.”
“We both are,” Sasha said.
The man held his hand out, and Sasha took it. “I’m Hunter by the way. I have to get going, but I hope I see you around,” he said.
“Sasha,” she said with a smile. “Yeah, maybe I’ll see you around.”
“Well, actually, I mean, we can make sure we see each other around, if you wanted. I could take you out to dinner. How long are you staying?”
Sasha was surprised by his directness, asking her out within minutes of meeting her, but she wasn’t disappointed. Dinner with a guy who looked as amazing as Hunter did was just the thing she needed to destress a little bit from everything that had been going on.
“I’m here for a while,” she said. “I kind of moved here.”
“Oh, that’s cool,” Hunter said. “Well, how about tonight?”
Sasha laughed. “Tonight?”
“You have anything going on?”
The girl shook her head. The man watched her, grinning, his eyes on her swaying blonde hair. He bit his lip softly. As instantly attracted as Sasha had been to him, he felt the same way. He had seen the girl, and his breath had caught in his chest. She was petite but curvy, her face soft and delicate, her blue eyes as pretty as any he had ever seen before.
“No,” Sasha shook her head, and then she hastened to add: “I don’t have anything going on, tonight will be great.”
“Are you staying with your grandfather?” Hunter asked. She nodded, and he went on, “Great, I’ll pick you up at eight, is that alright?”
She nodded again, and then she realized they were still holding hands, not shaking anymore, but their hands simply in one another, held between their bodies. She pulled her hand away. “I’ll see you then,” she said.
“Okay Sasha,” the young man smiled, the smile as dazzling as the others, and then he turned back to his cart and pushed it away, whistling a merry tune as he did so.
PREVIEW END
Continue reading Wild Winter on Amazon.
Preview: Rival Love
Rival Love
The Blue Falls Series
By:
Amelia Wilson
Table of Contents:
Prologue
Chapter One – A Slain Husband
Chapter Two – Over the Bridge
Copyright © 2017 by Amelia Wilson
All rights reserved.
In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited, and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.
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Prologue
The war was coming, and all Stefan could do was prepare his people. After so many decades of peace, it was inevitable. His brother had certainly sped things along marrying a human. Harold had been a good man, and he had his heart in the right place when he’d married Lily, but now the traitorous girl had run away with the enemy. The only hope he had of stopping the impending battle was to get Lily back and figure out who was responsible.
He walked along the long Oriental rug in his brother’s office. No, it was his office now, wasn’t it? It was difficult to imagine why Harold had left him in charge. He would need to grieve once he’d settled everything and put a plan into action. For now, he had to suck it up and deal with things. He’d heard rumors of a possible unrest amongst the people and that there might be an uprising if certain rules weren’t altered. Still, he couldn’t imagine that would lead them to kill their leader. It had to be the work of an external party, though one with intimate knowledge of what went on behind these closed doors.
Then there was Lily. She was a once in a lifetime type of girl. For the first year, he’d been insanely jealous of his brother. She was beautiful, sweet, and though her situation wasn’t ideal, she had made the best of it. Once he got to know her, he started to accept they would only be great friends and enjoyed her company.
What kind of woman ran away with the man who’d killed her husband? It didn’t seem like she cared at all and he’d really liked Lily. It just didn’t seem like something the girl he knew would do. Could she have been pretending the whole time? Unable to fathom it, he decided it was important to give her the benefit of the doubt. At twenty-four he was going to be a young ruler, and jumping to conclusions wouldn’t help his people keep faith in him. If he made sure to cover every angle and get them the truth, they’d respect him. He addressed the advisor and a small group of the guards that protected the alpha and their people.
“Men, we have to go after her. It won’t do to let the people know we simply let her run off whether she is responsible for Harold’s death, or not.” He straightened to his full height and put on what he hoped was an authoritative voice.
“If I might say, sir, I think she’s guilty and should be thrown in the jail along with her co-conspirator.” The head guard was twice as tall as Stefan and clearly had a negative outlook on the recent events. Clinton was ready to wage war at all times. Stefan thought perhaps he slept in his uniform.
“Throw away the key for good measure,” Clinton added disdainfully.
“I think we should allow Lily the chance to explain herself. After all, she is to be my wife now that my brother is dead.” The thought excited and terrified him. He wasn’t sure Lily would be willing to taking her place by his side. Even if it was written, as the alpha now he should be able to marry, or not marry, whoever he pleased. He would be content with her. It would be a dream come true, but unlike Harold, Stefan wanted the woman he married to love him in return.
“You’d marry the woman who killed our leader?” Clinton was clutching his chest like the very thought stole his breath. “Your brother?”
“If she killed my brother, my last thought would be to marry her. We will bring her back here, and we’ll give her the chance to defend her actions.” Stefan loved Lily in a brotherly way, but he wouldn’t deny she was beautiful. The fact she was to be his wife in the event of his brother’s death didn’t vex him in the least. That was of course if she wanted to be his wife. The last thing he wanted to do was force it.
Clinton left the room clearly not happy with the options Stefan had given him. He couldn’t go to war over this, not with a much stronger Alornian army. The Slamarion and Alornian clans were named from the places they came from. Years before they’d gone underground to hide from the humans. In the old country, they’d been bitter enemies although history never accounted for why. Once they’d moved, and as the years progressed, they’d struck a deal of peace. Slamarions weren’t known for their fighting style, and Stefan worried his army would be led to slaughter.
His army could very well be overrun by the Alornians who spent their whole life training for battle, whereas his did not. It was their custom, even though a supernatural war hadn’t been waged for decades. Then there was the matter of his enchanting sister-n-law. Stefan didn’t really believe her capable of such a heinous act. As far as he could tell, while she hadn’t truly loved Harold, they had gotten along quite well. Of course, women had fooled his brother in the past.
“Gather four or five men, we’ll set out in search of her. Take two with you and start looking. I shall follow shortly.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Oh, sweet Lily, what have you done?” Stefan muttered to himself as he looked out the window over the small town which he now ruled and the dense forest beyond.
Chapter One – A Slain Husband
Lily breathlessly chased the man through the forest. He had shifted into a bear, of course, and ran out in front of her, his long strides putting great distance between them. Was he trying to lose her? She sat down on a fallen tree completely winded and cursed as her bottom sank down into the rotted wood. She cringed, hoping the bugs beneath would stay where they were and not creep out onto her lap.
The man would eventually have to come back. There was no way a human could match the speed of a bear, even one who was in decent shape, which she was.
Her thoughts took her back to the day’s events. Closing her eyes tightly, she wished she had stayed in bed. When she had gone to her husband’s study to ask if he wanted to help her replant their garden, the last thing she expected to find was her dead husband lying on the ground and a confused stranger standing over him.
***
“Darling, do you want to help me plant the lilacs first?” She called cheerfully as she rounded the doorway. Lily came to a full stop, all joy leaving her as her eyes fell upon a chilling sight. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Lily Adams Spencer walked into the study to find a man standing over her husband. Harold lay on the ground, lifeless. A sword stuck in his stomach, and glassy blue eyes staring emptily at the sky. His black hair had fallen out of place, and a strand was carelessly draped across his forehead. Harold’s vanity would have never allowed such a thing.
“Did you kill him?” Lily shouted and ran over. She knelt beside her husband putting two fingers to his throat.She couldn’t feel a pulse and she knew with his unseeing eyes that there wouldn’t be. A pit opened up in her stomach. Quietly, she smoothed his unruly hair away from his pale face. The blood still poured from the wound and spread in a glassy, red pool across the floor. He couldn’t have been dead very long. When she had touched him, his skin still felt warm.
“Did you kill him?” Lily repeated with quiet intensity.
“I don’t know,” the stranger stumbled back and sat in a chair.
“You don’t know? How in the hell can you kill someone and not be aware of how it happened?” she screeched. None of it seemed real like she was in a movie or a dream.
Shaking his head, the man drew his fingers back through his hair and let out a shaky breath. “I think I might have blacked out.”
Lily looked at him incredulously. “You think you might have, or you did?”
The stranger was showing signs of agitation. “The last thing I remember is I was walking through the forest. I think I was hunting, but I’m can’t be certain. I stopped by the creek to shift, and that’s the last thing I remember. The next thing I knew - .” He opened his arms wide and gestured to his surroundings.
Lily gave a contemptuous snort and looked down at her dead husband. “You’ve obviously killed him,” she snapped with tears filling her eyes.
Gently she brushed her hands over his open eyes, pulling them closed. She couldn’t stand seeing the emptiness that was there. There was a time she could see the length of his entire life in those deep, blue pools, but now, there was absolutely nothing. It was like staring in
to a yawning abyss. She couldn’t help but wonder if Harold had something to do with his demise. Had he brought it upon himself? Was there an enemy in their midst? No that couldn’t have been it, everyone loved him.
“Oh Harold, what did you do?” she whispered.
“Miss, I’ve brought your afternoon – “ Mary, the woman who looked after the housekeeping staff and the kitchen, gasped in horror. “Oh, my God!”
The tray she’d been carrying fell to the floor, sending shards of delicate porcelain skidding across the carpet of the study. Mary covered her mouth with her hands as her eyes darted from Harold’s lifeless body to the stranger and then to Lily. A sinking feeling landed in the pit of Lily’s stomach as the woman slowly began to back across the room.
“Wait, Mary, it’s not what it looks like,” Lily said, holding up her hand, but she was lying even to herself. Lily knew exactly what it looked like.
There was a wild panic in Mary’s eyes. “Guards,” she yelled.
Lily watched as the woman hustled from the room. Her calls for the guards still echoing through the house. Lily hung her head in despair. “Well, this won’t go over well,” she muttered.
With a sigh, she looked at her husband’s lifeless form. Tears spilled through her lashes and landed on his pale cheeks. For a moment, she forgot that the stranger was in the room with her. She wasn’t threatened by him because if he wanted her dead, he could have easily done it already. No, he’d simply been there for poor Harold who had insisted on doing an hour’s worth of work before helping her with the garden and look where that had gotten him.
She wiped the tears from her eyes and mentally prepared herself for what was about to happen. It was barely three in the afternoon, broad daylight, and someone had killed her husband. Lily had never won the popularity prize for being the only human in her own household which was full of werebears and other paranormal creatures. She’d started to win a couple of them over, but now all those relationships would go to the gutter as they would ultimately blame her.
The Soul of a Bear (UnBearable Romance Series Book 3) Page 16