“Justin, go find your brothers and tell them we need them; they can run into town and make sure he’s not there. You and I can cover the road; I’ll go east, and you go west. Maybe he got turned around in the snow,” his dad said, grabbing his warm weather gear.
“I’ll keep trying his cell phone,” Beth’s mother said, heading back to the bedroom for her phone.
When she came back, she shook her head. “Still not answering.”
“Cell service can be spotty when we have storms like this; I think we’d better go look for him just in case.” Justin’s father said, then began handing everyone warm coats, hats, and gloves out of the hall closet.
The coat he handed Beth was several sizes too big, but she shrugged into it and zipped it up. “I’m sorry we don’t have anything small enough to fit you, but you should be nice and warm in that.”
“That’s okay. I’d rather be warm than stylish,” she said, smiling at him.
“That’s a good thing since we’re not really big on style around here,” he said, smiling back at her.
Justin was encouraged to see that Beth and his dad were getting along, although he knew that Beth herself wasn’t really the problem; it was her being human that upset his father. He was sure that eventually they’d become close; his father was a man with a big heart, and he wouldn’t be able to resist Beth for long.
“I’m sorry you all have to go out in this storm. I shouldn’t have let him go,” Beth’s mother said, ringing her hands, clearly becoming more worried as the minutes ticked by. “I owe you all an apology; I behaved badly.”
Everyone, including Beth, was surprised to hear her apology, but Justin’s parents took it in stride. His mother came over and put her arm around her and said, “Let’s go into the kitchen and get some coffee. I’m sure that George is fine; he probably just took a wrong turn somewhere.”
When they stepped out of the house, the storm was worse than they’d expected. The snow and wind had turned the front yard into a foreign landscape, and all they could recognize were the shapes of the vehicles parked there. Justin took Beth’s hand and together they ran to his truck and jumped in; once he’d started it, he got back out and tried to clear some of the snow off, but it just kept piling up.
Finally, he got back in the truck and said, “I can’t get it all cleared off; we’ll just have to go really slow, and you may have to roll down the window and look out for me.” Then he put the truck in gear and slowly rolled down the driveway and out onto the road.
They crept slowly down the road; the lights from the truck cut through the storm in front of them but left the side of the road enveloped in darkness. “I don’t think we’ll be able to see him if he slid off the road,” Beth said, peering out the window.
“We’re going to have to roll our windows down; it’s going to be cold, but I think it’s the only way we’ll be able to see the car,” Justin said, reaching down to make sure the heat was turned up on high.
Beth pulled up the hood on her jacket and rolled down the window, shivering when snow and wind hit her face. She stuck her head out the window and realized that she could see better. “I can see the side of the road.”
“Good, now just keep watching,” Justin said, rolling his window down and sticking his head out as well.
The miles crept slowly by without a single sign of her father or any other living creature. “It seems so deserted, like we’re the only ones on the planet,” she said, with a shiver.
“It can feel that way, especially in the winter,” Justin said, then asked. “Does it scare you?”
Beth thought about that for a second, “No, not really; it’s just a weird feeling. I’ll get used to it.”
It wasn’t long before they were both frozen, so Justin stopped and rolled up the window to let them get warm before he put the truck in gear and started out again. Both were beginning to feel that their search was hopeless, that something terrible had happened to her father. But neither said anything, fearing that vocalizing what they were thinking might make it true.
But then Justin spotted a car-sized lump of snow on his side of the road. It was impossible to tell how long it had been sitting there, but his heart still soared with relief. He was sure that they’d found Beth’s father, so he stomped on the breaks without thinking, sending them into a spin on the icy road. When they finally came to a stop in the ditch across the road, he wanted to curse his stupidity.
“Are you okay?” he asked Beth who was slouched down in her seat.
She sat up, took a deep breath and said, “I’m okay, but I have to go see if that’s my father’s car.” Then she opened the door and got out of the truck before Justin could stop her.
When he finally got himself out of the truck and around to Beth’s side, she was leaning up against the side of the truck, her feet buried in a three-foot snow drift. He held out his hand and helped her out of the ditch, then around to the other side, where the wind wasn’t blowing so badly.
“We’re going to have to dig the car out,” he said, reaching into the back seat of the cab for the shovel and broom that he’d brought.
“What if he’s not in there? What if he was stupid enough to go for help? He could be anywhere,” Beth said, looking around her but only seeing a sea of swirling white snowflakes.
Justin cleaned off the driver’s side door first, hoping to see her father in the car, but instead found only an empty seat. He stopped and looked around him, spotted a distant light, and knew what had happened. “I think he went to get help,” he yelled over the storm, pointing to the light.
Beth’s face fell. “But he never called; it’s been too long, and he should have gotten there by now. What if he got lost in the storm? He could be out there anywhere,” she said, panic beginning to set in.
Justin knew what he had to do. “I can track him, Beth, but not like this,” he said.
She understood instantly what he meant. “I don’t want to let you go out there alone,” she said, looking up into his green eyes, afraid that she’d already lost one person she loved.
“I’ll be fine; this weather isn’t that big of a deal to me when I’m…” his words trailed off.
“A mountain lion,” she finished for him.
Chapter Fifteen
***Beth***
Justin nodded his head, then looked over to the light shining through the storm, “I bet that’s a house over there; we’re going to need some help when I find him; the truck isn’t going anywhere on its own,” he said, looking over to where the truck was quickly becoming a snow-covered hump. “Do you think you could make it over there?”
Beth looked at the snow-covered road, the lump that represented both vehicles, and then back at the light. “I don’t think I have much choice but to try.”
Justin thrust a flashlight into her hands, a bottle of water, and then pulled her into his arms. “Keep looking at the light, don’t let it out of your sight. If the snow gets too heavy to see it, stop and wait until you can see it again. You might get lucky and find him there; if not, get help and come back here.”
Beth nodded her head, “Be careful, Justin; I don’t want to lose you too.”
He pulled her into his arms. “You won’t lose me, and you’re not going to lose your dad; one of us will find him,” he promised, hoping he could stick to that promise. “Now go.”
Beth shook her head. “Not until you do,” she said, waiting.
Justin hesitated. “I don’t want to change in front of you; I’m afraid I’ll scare you.”
Beth reached up and stroked his face. “I love you, Justin, all of you. I need to know that you’re going to be okay out there on your own.”
“Don’t worry about me, Beth; I’ll be just fine,” he said, then shrugged out of his coat. “Keep that light in sight and don’t stop unless you can’t see it.”
Then he took a deep breath and stepped a few paces back from her. His figure seemed to shimmer in the white of the storm, and then he was gone, replaced by the big mou
ntain lion she’d seen twice before. The first thing she felt was fear, but then she looked into the cat’s eyes and found herself looking into Justin’s eyes, full of both love and fear. He stood before her, his head reaching the middle of her chest, his eyes pleading with her to understand.
The fear melted away instantly, replaced by the love and awe that the man she loved was also this beautiful creature standing before her. She reached out a hand to touch his golden head but stopped herself, suddenly unsure, but Justin stepped forward and rubbed his head against her. His chest rumbled with what could only be described as a purr as he continued to rub his head against her leg.
Laughing, she reached out and put her hand on his head. His fur was soft and warm, and she could imagine snuggling up to that warmth, but then a huge gust of snow-filled wind made her remember where they were. “Go find my dad, Justin. I’ll be waiting for you when you get back,” she said, looking him directly in the eyes before placing a kiss on his head.
He turned from her, looked out into the forest beside the road, lifted his nose into the air, then with one huge leap disappeared into the trees. She stood and stared at the spot where he’d disappeared for a few seconds, then turned and began walking toward the light. After only a few steps, she realized how difficult the journey was going to be, but it was up to her to find help, and she wasn’t going to let Justin or her father down. When he found her father, she’d be there with the help they’d need.
***Justin***
The storm was much worse than he’d imagined, he realized after he’d gone only a mile or so, but the scent he was following was getting stronger, so he pushed on. His thoughts kept straying to Beth, who was fighting the storm herself, headed for help, and not for the first time he wished he’d made her wait in the truck.
He’d been on an erratic path through the forest, the scent leading him first one way then another, when he finally came upon a lump in the snow. Using his head, he nudged the snow, enough falling off that he could see that he’d found George. He walked around him, nudging the snow off his still body, watching for the rise and fall of his chest.
When the man finally took a breath, he breathed a sigh of relief, then went back to nudging him, hoping to wake him. But after a few minutes, it was clear that he was unconscious, and that Justin was going to have to carry him out of the woods and back to the road. Again, he walked around him, trying to decide how best to accomplish what he needed to.
Finally, he shoved his head under his body and managed to get him onto his back, it was awkward to have the man draped across him that way, but it would work. Instead of taking the winding path he’d taken to get there, he headed straight back for the road, his sense of smell guiding him when the snow and wind made it impossible to see. As he got closer to the road, he saw the red and blue lights of emergency vehicles and knew that not only was Beth safe, but that she’d come back with help.
He paused, not sure how much farther to go, then shrugged George off his body and switched back to his human form. It would have been much easier to carry him the rest of the way as a mountain lion, but he couldn’t risk being seen. When he came out of the trees, stumbling under the weight of Beth’s father, her face was the first one he saw, and he was so filled with relief that he collapsed to his knees.
***Beth***
She’d been standing in the howling wind and snow for over an hour, staring at the spot where Justin had disappeared into the trees. Each passing moment felt like an eternity, and she was losing hope when movement in the trees further up the road caught her attention. Then Justin materialized out of the swirling snow, her father cradled in his arms, but to her horror, he collapsed the second he saw her.
Screaming and waving her arms, she signaled to the rescue crew then ran toward Justin and her father, not sure which of them to be more concerned about. The paramedics who were right behind her lifted both men from the ground and carried them back to the ambulance. By the time they got there, Justin had revived and was walking on his own, with only a little support from the men.
“I’ll be okay. I just need to sit down for a second,” he said when they tried to put him on a stretcher. “Take care of George; he’s been out here for a long time.”
Justin agreed to sit in the back of one of the ambulances to get warm, but only after his mother forced him to. “Get in there and get warm. I’ve got some hot coffee in the truck; I’ll bring you a cup.”
Beth climbed into the ambulance with Justin, relieved that his mother could talk some sense into him and promised herself that she’d get a lesson from her as soon as she could. But she couldn’t stop worrying about her father, wondering if he was going to be okay, thinking that this was all her fault. If she hadn’t fallen in love with Justin, none of this would have ever happened.
When Justin had stopped shivering, she said, “I need to go check on my father.”
Justin took her hand in his. “Do you want me to go with you?”
“No, I’ll be fine. You stay in here where it’s warm,” she said, wanting to face her father on her own.
When she came up to the back of the ambulance, she was relieved to see her father sitting up on the stretcher. He was wrapped in blankets, had an IV hooked up to his arm, and a cup of something hot in his trembling hands. She stood and stared at him, so relieved to see him alive that tears sprang to her eyes and rolled down her cheeks, and it was all she could do not to start bawling right there.
Her father saw her, gave her a weak smile, then said, “Beth, come here,” his voice still weak and shaky.
She climbed into the back of the ambulance, pushed past her mother and hugged her father. “I’m sorry, daddy; I never meant for this to happen.”
Her father stroked her hair. “It’s my fault. I acted like a fool. I guess I just wasn’t ready to lose you. I lived so many years waking up each morning not knowing if it might be my last day with you, then you got better, and everything was fine. But now you’re going to marry Justin and move here; I just couldn’t bear to lose you to him.”
“Oh, daddy, you’re not losing me to him. You can visit whenever you want, and we’ll come to see you a lot. I really do love him, and I’ll be happy here,” Beth said, relieved to finally understand what her dad had really been thinking. “You know, you and mom could buy a summer house in the valley and come here instead of going to the beach.”
Her father shivered. “I don’t know about that,” he said, then looked out the back of the ambulance at the snow. “Where is Justin? I think I owe him a thank you for saving my life and an apology for the way I treated him. I had the strangest dream that he was a mountain lion or a cat of some kind; isn’t that weird?”
Beth couldn’t help the little smile that turned up the corners of her mouth. “Yes, that is strange, but it was probably just the cold,” she said, wondering what her father would think if he knew the truth.
Epilogue
Beth and Justin were standing at the top of a slight rise looking down into the valley, the little town of Fairplay centered squarely in the picture. “What do you think of your new home?” Justin asked, taking her hand.
“I think this is the most beautiful place in the world,” she said, grinning up at him.
“Are you glad we waited until summer to get married?” he asked, kissing the ring he’d just put on her finger.
“Yes, it was beautiful, and I’m so glad everyone could be here,” she said, looking over her shoulder at the crowd enjoying all the food their mothers had prepared.
It was strange to see their families mixed together but everyone was getting used to the idea, and Justin’s dad had even agreed to try vegan sausage, although he swore that he wasn’t going to like it. Beth’s mother had agreed to look at summer homes in the valley but wouldn’t commit herself to anything.
“I think we should build our house right here, that way we can see the valley every morning when we wake up,” Justin said, drawing her attention away from the people below.
�
�Oh, could we really?”
“Anything is possible if you just want it enough,” Justin said, “Just look at us; no one wanted us to be together, but we didn’t give up, and now we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together. So, if we want a house on a hill, then we’ll have a house on a hill.”
Beth’s heart felt like it was going to explode. “And babies; I want babies to fill that house up,” she said, throwing herself into his arms. “I never thought that I could be this happy or love someone as much as I love you; every day is a gift, and I intend to make the most of that gift.”
Justin held her tightly against him, “I love you too, Beth,” he said, looking into her eyes. “Now let’s go greet our guests as husband and wife and then we’ll see about making one of those babies you want so much.”
The End
I hope you enjoyed this first book of the “FairPlay Shifters Series”. If you want to consume more sexy shifters then check out the whole six book series!
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About the Author
Serena Meadows has always been obsessed with writing short stories since she was in junior high school. She writes paranormal romance stories of all types but writing about sexy steamy alpha shifters is her passion. She lives in Denver with her two dogs. On her downtime (which is rare), she enjoys hiking and camping in the mountains or riding her bike with her own alpha male to keep her safe and warm. Typically she enjoys an evening curled up buried in a good book or watching Netflix. She also enjoys time with good friends.
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