“Animals?” Mac asked.
He nodded. “Looks like.”
“Pictures?”
“Got ‘em.”
“Let me see.” Mac held his hand out for the camera.
“Why don’t we get out of the weather first?” Gage indicated Nadia, who shivered with enough force to rattle her teeth.
“Where’s Robert?”
“Your cabin.”
“I’m sure he’s lonely. Why don’t we join him?” There certainly was no love lost between Mac and Robert.
“Let me get Nadia something dry and warmer to wear,” Tern said.
Mac ushered Nadia in out of the cold, and Gage followed Tern into her cabin. She didn’t hear him and jumped when he laid a hand on her shoulder.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to know if you were okay.”
Her eyes flickered up and met his, the dark depths reflecting grief so deep he felt it inside himself. “Lucky is dead because of me.”
“You can’t blame yourself.”
“Who else is there?”
“The man who killed him.”
“But who is that and why? Who hates me so much that they killed a man who wouldn’t have hurt anyone?”
“I don’t know, but we’ll find out.”
“And what about the rest of you? You’re all at risk, and I don’t understand any of it.”
He reached out and pulled her into his arms. Her head nuzzled into his shoulder. She fit so perfectly in his arms. He’d wanted to pull her into his arms since they’d discovered Lucky this morning. Keep her there where no one could get close enough to hurt her. “We’ll figure this out and punish whoever did this.”
She nodded, took a stuttering breath, and shifted away from him. He let her go, part relieved that she was no longer so close to him and part mourning her loss. Tern gathered Nadia’s sleeping bag into a huge ball in front of her, like she was clutching a pillow. He opened the door to the cabin, and both of them braved the freak storm. It felt more like October than June.
They ran to Robert and Mac’s cabin, the wind blowing them into the small space when they opened the door. Gage had to struggle to latch the door behind them. Nadia sat on the end of Robert’s bunk, her body quaking. Tern quickly unzipped the sleeping bag and added it to the covers already around her shoulders.
“T-thanks,” she mumbled through chattering teeth.
Tern crawled under the sleeping bag too, hoping her body heat would warm Nadia faster. Robert was like stone, sitting unresponsive while Mac held his hand out for Gage’s camera. Gage took a seat and waited while Mac viewed the gruesome images.
After a period of time, Mac looked up. “Not a lot to go on. I’d like to see the actual spot when the weather improves. Though with it screaming out there like this I don’t think there will be a lot of evidence left.”
“We need to leave this place,” Robert said.
“We can’t leave,” Gage said. “Not today. It would be suicide to try and hike down to the river in this weather.” He gestured to Nadia. “She’s already too cold, and with her head injury, she wouldn’t make it.”
“W-we need to play the g-game,” Nadia said, stuttering as her body shook in an effort to warm itself. “If we d-don’t, he’ll kill us t-too.”
Tern wrapped Nadia in her arms. Nadia laid her head on Tern’s shoulder.
“We gotta eat,” Robert said. “None of us ate breakfast.”
“I’m not hungry,” Tern said.
“We’ve got to keep up our strength,” Mac said. “Is there any food easy to get to?”
“The candy bars that Robert found,” Tern said. “Other than that, we need to hunt. I’d saved some rice and biscuits for Lucky since he—”
“But they would need to be cooked?” Gage interrupted.
“We need to do something,” Robert said, standing. “We can’t sit here waiting for a killer to come and get us.”
“Chances are whoever killed Lucky is somewhere dry and warm and will stay that way,” Gage said.
“Then shouldn’t we take advantage of the bad weather and hike out of here?” Tern asked.
“Not if the risk of doing so is too great, and I think it is,” Mac said.
“The cold doesn’t bother me,” Tern said, disengaging herself from Nadia. “I don’t mind going out there and cooking some rice and see what I can do with the flour that’s left.”
“I’ll go with you,” Gage said.
“So will I,” Mac said.
“I guess, I’ll stay here with Nadia and make sure she gets warmed up,” Robert said.
“You okay with that?” Tern asked Nadia.
Nadia nodded her head. “I’m really t-tired.”
“I’ll boil some water and make some coffee. It’ll warm you up.”
“S-sounds great.”
“Sure does,” Robert agreed.
Gage stood and went to the door. He opened it and swore. “Guys. We’ve got more problems.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Tern peeked over Gage’s shoulder. The campsite was blanketed in snow. The rain had turned into a blizzard.
“Well, this complicates things,” Mac said from behind her.
“S-snow?” Nadia whined. “Are you f-freaking kidding me?” She huddled deeper into the sleeping bag. “Let me k-know when summer r-returns.”
“The day isn’t getting any younger,” Mac said venturing into the cold.
“Wished I had packed my snow gear,” Gage said. “Tern, you stay. I don’t want you getting cold.”
“I was bred for weather like this.” She nudged him with her shoulder and pushed past him out into the blizzard. The wind cut like knives, making a liar out of her as she wrapped the edges of her jacket tightly around her. While winter didn’t normally bother her much—she always loved that first snowfall of the season—having a blizzard in the middle of June threw even her off balance. People died in conditions like this. Alaska’s wild whims had killed many in the past and would claim many more in the future.
Would they be among this year’s statistics?
She hurried to the cache they had strung up a tree to keep animals from helping themselves, while Gage and Mac worked on getting a fire started. Luckily, one of them had the foresight to stack wood under cover, so that some of what Gage gathered the day before was dry enough to burn.
A blaze cracked and danced erratically in the gusting, snow-swirling wind. Gage kept pilling on more wood. Tern did her best to shield herself by turning her back to the wind and mixing biscuits that she doubted would taste very good, but then she had the idea to break up pieces of the Almond Joys into the dough. Necessity was the mother of invention. It didn’t really matter what they ate or how it tasted, as long as they had something to fill their bellies.
Gage had rice simmering over the flames he continued to feed. Mac had been fairly quiet as he made coffee, pouring her a mug as she dropped globs of biscuits onto the cast-iron pan. She took a fortifying sip, for once grateful for the strength of his coffee. They were all quiet, seeming to just get through the effort of making food while being bullied by the elements. No one spoke of Lucky or the missing log his head had been displayed on. She was glad for whomever had removed it, probably Gage. Robert wouldn’t have given a thought to how she’d feel seeing the horrific reminder of Lucky’s tragic end.
She handed Gage a hot biscuit, added a helping of rice, and then piled a plate high for Mac. Before serving herself, she made plates for Nadia and Robert. It was the least she could do for Robert since the man had taken over for her with Nadia. While she loved Nadia, it irritated her sometimes when Nadia turned drama queen. Yes, she understood that Nadia was upset over Lucky, they all were, but just because she’d currently been sleeping with him, didn’t make her grief more important than the rest of theirs.
Or hers.
Tern had been the closest to Lucky. She’d had a relationship with the man that had lasted years. While their romantic relationship had only spanne
d six or seven months, they’d frequently gotten together when he was in town and she wasn’t involved with someone else. Except for that time when he had found her in the Howling Dog Saloon, and she’d been so upset with Robert and his poutiness that she had looked at Lucky as ‘manna from heaven’ and escaped with him. She hadn’t seen Lucky in almost a year, and there he was, blond hair flowing around his collar, sunburned cheeks from whatever mountain range he’d just conquered, with a smile that promised to make all her wishes come true. And that night he’d done a damn good job of trying to fulfill her every wish.
The morning after had come with all sorts of regrets. She’d never cheated on anyone before, and didn’t like that she had felt so trapped with Robert that she’d done something so drastic. It was obviously the universe waking her up and telling her she didn’t belong with Robert. By that afternoon she was a free spirit, but hated that she’d broken Robert’s heart. The hardest part was telling Chloe why she would no longer be dating her dad. She’d given the little girl her cell phone number and told her to call any time she needed anything.
Lucky had flown off again to parts unconquered by man, and she hadn’t seen him until she’d walked into the hangar a few days ago.
Wiping away a tear she hadn’t realized she’d shed, she picked up the two plates she’d prepared for Robert and Nadia and headed toward the cabin. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gage stand and follow her. She hadn’t asked him to, but he was there to help open the door for her anyway. He was also there to steady her when she caught sight of Nadia, naked and straddling Robert, riding him to climax.
“Holy shit!” Tern almost dropped the plates she carried. If it wasn’t for Gage who caught them, she would have. “What the hell are you doing?”
Nadia screeched, and scrambled off Robert, grabbing her sleeping bag that had fallen on the floor, using it to cover herself.
“Fuck,” Robert muttered grabbing for the closest cover, which turned out to be Nadia’s shirt, to cover his large erection. “You could have knocked.” He arrowed a frustrated glare in Tern’s direction.
“Why would we?” Gage said. “You were supposed to make sure Nadia warmed up. That didn’t mean take advantage of her.”
Tern set the dishes down on the dresser and rushed to sit next to Nadia. She was going to kill Robert. She cautiously put an arm around her friend’s shoulders. “Are you okay?”
Nadia jerked her head but couldn’t meet Tern’s eyes.
“You’re a bastard,” Gage said to Robert.
“Me? I didn’t take advantage of her. She took advantage of me.”
“Oh, come on,” Tern said. “Why would she do that?”
“Hey, just because you threw me away doesn’t mean that I don’t have a lot to offer a woman,” Robert grumbled, adjusting himself.
Nadia buried her head in the folds of the sleeping bag. “I’m so ashamed. I don’t know what happened.”
Tern swallowed the accusing words that Lucky hadn’t been dead that long.
Nadia continued with her whining, “I don’t know why I let this happen. It didn’t mean anything, Tern. I hope you aren’t mad at me.” She blinked her eyes up at Tern, her expression full of guilt and shame.
“No, Nadia, I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at Robert.” She narrowed her eyes at him.
“Hey,” Robert objected.
“Whether she took ‘advantage’ of you or not, you knew what you were doing. What about all that crap about still being in love with me? Huh? Guess that was a bunch of bullshit.”
“Like you were ever going to come back to me with him around.” Robert jerked his thumb at Gage.
“Got that right, asshole,” Gage added.
“Gage, this is hardly the time for that.”
He let his smile shine through.
The door swung opened and Mac entered. “What’s taking you guys…oh. Hell, you never know from one minute to the next what’s going to happen on this competition of ours.” Mac threw Robert the rest of his clothes that had been tossed on the floor. “Get dressed. We have visitors.”
“The plane?” Nadia gasped, her eyes wide with surprise.
“No. Wolves.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Seriously?” Tern swiveled for the door.
“You aren’t going out there.” Gage grabbed her arm and kept her from running out.
“I’m not going to miss the opportunity to see wolves in the wild. Where’s my camera? My nephew Fox would love to see this.”
“Tern, love,” Mac said. “These wolves are probably the ones that helped dispose of Lucky’s body. Most likely they followed the scent of his blood and decided to steal into camp. They aren’t to be messed with.”
Tern swallowed over the picture Mac had just drawn for her. “I’m not ignorant of the kind of predators they are. I wanted to see them, not pet them.”
“Could have fooled me,” Gage muttered.
“Enough gabbing,” Robert said, who was finally dressed. “We need to declare this camp our territory or the wolves will take it over.” Robert grabbed his gun.
“He’s right,” Mac said. “We’ve got to show them who the alphas are around here.” He nodded at Gage and Robert. “Girls, stay here.”
He opened the door and the three men walked out.
“Girls?” Tern repeated. She was getting sick of that. “Are you serious?”
Apparently. The door shut behind them, not letting her catch a glimpse of their visitors. Tern had her hand on the knob, twisting it when Nadia clutched her arm.
“Tern, please don’t go out there.”
“But, Nadia—”
“Please, I just had sex with Robert. Doesn’t that bother you?”
Tern had trouble switching gears. Did it bother her? Kinda. Yes. No, not really. “Nadia, I understand why you did it. You’re upset over Lucky and you needed to feel alive.” Not something she’d ever think to do, she hoped, but it fell under Psych 101 stuff.
Nadia nodded. “Yeah, that must have been it. I’m sorry. It just sort of…happened.”
Just stay away from Gage, Tern wanted to threaten, but because the need to say it was so strong, she stayed quiet.
There was a repeat of a rifle being fired.
“That’s it. I’m not waiting inside here like a kid.” Tern swung open the door and almost took a step back.
The men were facing off a pack of wolves. Wolves that didn’t seem intimidated by their ‘alpha stance’ or sound of the rifle going off.
There were seven timber wolves in all. The one in front—black with tips of gray, his eyes obsidian pools—was gorgeous, and obviously in charge. Tern would have made a dive into Robert’s stuff, looking for a camera, if not for the fact that the wolves weren’t budging from their position. They continued their face off with the men. Gage and Mac raised their hands and hollered, but didn’t seem to impress the wolves one bit. In fact, the wolves advanced farther into camp, snarling, their black gum contrasting against white sharp teeth.
Mac fired a warning shot right in front of the leader, who had the smarts to back up and reevaluate. There was growling and lots of teeth gashing. The hair on the back of Tern’s neck rose until finally the alpha wolf howled what sounded like an expletive in wolf speak, and then loped off into the trees, followed by his pack.
One minute they were there, the next it was like they’d vanished into the waves of blowing snow. The only sign was the trail of large paw prints left behind, but as the seconds ticked by, they were quickly covered up too.
“Damn, but that was nerve-wracking,” Robert said, dashing into the cabin. Gage and Mac followed at a slower more watchful pace.
Gage shook the snow from his hair as he entered the small space. He stared at Tern as if the wild from the wolves had seeped into him. The fire reflected in his eyes suddenly heated her from the inside out. Tern could see he wanted to grab her and take her. She banked the answering spark simmering inside her and glanced down at the rough plank floor.
&nb
sp; “We really need to get out of here.” Mac sat on the bunk, resting the butt of his rifle between his legs.
“We can’t leave,” Nadia whined once again, curling under the sleeping bag.
Tern couldn’t remember with all that had been happening if Nadia had dressed yet.
“Nadia, I’m not getting into this with you again,” Mac said. “We leave in the morning. Snow or not, we can’t stay here.”
“If we leave we’ll end up like Lucky.” She clutched the sleeping bag tighter around her.
“How do you know that?”
“Lucky complained the loudest yesterday,” she added. “The killer must have been listening, I guess. I don’t know. I don’t want to hike out of here in the snow, and Lord knows what else we’ll encounter. Wolves are out there. The plane will be here in four days. We’re armed. You could have shot those wolves. Why can’t we wait it out?”
“For the very fact that we already have one dead body,” Mac said. “Either the killer is in this room, or he’s waiting for us out there and planning his next move.”
“But—”
“Drop it, Nadia. We leave in the morning.” Mac eyed everyone else in the room. “Anyone else have anything to add?”
“Yeah, any ideas on what are we going to do today?” Robert asked.
“The weather’s already decided that,” Mac said. “I suggest we stand watch in shifts, rest and pack up. Gage and I have already mapped the route out of here. It goes without saying that no one is to be alone. Even on watch, I want teams. I don’t trust anyone. And neither should you.”
“Damn, old man, a bit paranoid?” Robert asked.
“You saw Lucky this morning. You want to be next?”
Robert gulped. “No.”
“Then better heed my advice. I know a thing or two about protection. Now, since you and Nadia are getting along so famously, you two can take the first watch.”
“I don’t want to go first. I just got warmed up,” Nadia complained.
It showed the maturity of the group, or the shock of one of them dead, that no one commented on how Nadia had gotten all ‘warmed up’, Tern thought.
“Dress accordingly,” Mac said with no room for further argument in his voice. He lay down on his bunk and draped his forearm over his eyes. “Holler if you need back up.”
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