Winter Tails: A Limited Edition Winter Shifters Collection

by Fox, Piper

  “Then what’s your name?” He didn’t apologize.

  “Alexandra. But everyone calls me Alex,” I said.

  “Alex. Good,” He nodded. “My name is Batu.”

  “Batu,” I repeated his name to make sure I had the pronunciation down. “Well, thank you for saving me,” I said. “Did anyone else…” I trailed off, choking on my words.

  Batu shook his head. “All the group is dead. It’s a miracle you survived.”

  I shuddered, clutching the blankets closer to me. “They’re all dead?” I couldn’t believe it.

  “You would be too if I hadn’t come across the encampment,” Batu said. “Those wolves rarely leave anyone alive.”

  “Wolves?” I asked. “No, they were men on horses.”

  Batu shook his head. “That’s what they want you to think. Things are different this far from civilization, Alex.”

  I furrowed my brow, feeling the tension from the bandage around my head.

  “Those traveling bands prey on tourists in the winter when supplies get low and traveling is hard,” Batu explained. “I’m sorry that your friends are gone.”

  I didn’t mourn for their loss; after all, I didn’t even know of their names, but hearing of their demise made me feel empty inside all the same. I went inwards for a moment, losing myself to the silence that was only broken by the crackling fire.

  Batu didn’t press me for any more conversation. Instead, he went over to the woodstove and stripped off his thick jacket and boots. Underneath, he wore layered t-shirts that only accentuated his wide-muscular body.

  I pretended not to notice his defined muscles rolling under the fabric as he made some tea. I watched him out of the corner of my eye, noting that my clothes were also draped over the woodstove to dry. So, this guy really had stripped me down. Even though it was to save my life, I still felt weird about it.

  “Here, have something warm to drink,” He said, handing me a metal cup of steaming tea.

  I took it with both hands, letting the warmth flow through my hands. “Thank you.” I paused and spoke again. “Thanks for saving me, too.”

  “You already thanked me,” Batu said.

  I looked down at the tea. “I can’t believe that happened. Everyone else is gone. What now?”

  “A search party will come looking in a day or two. Probably with an orange helicopter. I hate those things, too noisy,” Batu said, neatly folding his jacket.

  “Where am I?” I asked next.

  “In my ger,” Batu said, as if the answer was obvious.

  “No. Well, I mean, yes, I know that,” I fumbled over my words. “But I meant, am I in a village? How can I get in touch with the authorities?”

  “You don’t,” Batu said.

  Fear prickled at the back of my throat. “What do you mean?”

  “There’s no way to call from here, and there’s no village. I live alone.”

  So, I was alone and naked with this Mongolian mountain man? Great. Had he saved my life out of the goodness of his heart, or did he have a more sinister purpose?

  “Then what happens?” I asked.

  “You have to wait for search and rescue,” He replied, pouring his own tea. “Which will take several days, based on experience.”

  I swallowed hard. The taste of tea suddenly too bitter. “Does this happen often?”

  “Enough,” Batu said. “The wilderness is not like anything you’re used to, I’m sure. Those wolves are ruthless.”

  “Why do you call them wolves?” I asked, thinking maybe something was being lost to my less-than-stellar Russian skills. “They were men on stocky horses.”

  “They are wolf shifters. Wolves disguised as men, or men disguised as wolves, take your pick,” Batu said.

  A chill ran down my spine. There was something in his tone that told me he wasn’t joking.

  I took another sip of tea. It wasn’t great, but at least it was warm.

  “Uh, so, anyway,” I said after a stretch of awkward silence. “Could I have my clothes back?”

  Batu

  I glanced over at the woman. She looked so tiny draped in thick blankets and furs. She was still shivering ever so slightly, but my quick action had saved both her life and her fingers. Much longer, and she would have succumbed to hypothermia and frostbite.

  “Your clothes aren’t dry,” I said. “You need to stay warm.”

  The woman, Alex, shrank back into the pile. “Alright,” She said.

  “You should rest,” I said, more of a command than a suggestion. I wasn’t used to this much chattering and noise in my ger. I rarely saw anyone.

  I think she got the hint, immediately quieting down.

  After a short wait, the human fell asleep, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Her wounds would heal quickly, then she would be out of my hair as fast as possible. As soon as I heard the telltale sound of the search and rescue helicopter, she would be with her own kind again.

  I watched her for a moment before leaving the ger.

  The icy wind hit me immediately and for a moment, I regretted leaving my coat inside.

  But the cold was no problem for the beast inside of me.

  I stripped off my clothes and shifted, my body slowly contorting back into a snow leopard. My skin was replaced with thick fur, my hands and feet became wide paws for walking on snow, my senses burned, thousands of times more alert than my human ones.

  I let out a low growl. It felt good to be a cat again.

  It was time for my rounds. I had to keep a watch for those wolves. If they were encroaching on my territory, they were stupid or had a death wish.

  * * *

  The sun was setting by the time I returned to my ger. My home stood alone, built on a small clearing between two rocky outcrops that shielded it from the harsh weather that came with high altitude.

  Smoke trickled up from the small hole in the ger’s top, and the white cloth that covered it flapped in the wind. I checked the snow surrounding the ger, finding no footprints but my own; that was a good sign. At least the woman hadn’t been stupid enough to run away.

  A golden eagle screeched above me, flying in a low circle before pushing off towards one of the peaks.

  I watched it fly and disappear into the clouds before transforming back into my human body. I redressed and threw open the flap to my ger.

  The human woman was in there, standing next to the woodstove. She was half-dressed, just pulling her pants over her hips, her breasts bare and on full display. I sucked in a breath, considering retreating to save her dignity, but it was too late.

  Alex shrieked, covering herself with her arms. “Excuse me? Do you mind?” She spoke in her accented Russian.

  “This is my home, I didn’t expect you to be half-naked when I walked in,” I snapped back.

  Alex grabbed her shirt and pulled it over her head quickly. Her face was red. She opened and closed her mouth as if she wanted to say something and then stopped. Under her breath, she mumbled something in English that I didn’t understand.

  “Are your clothes dry enough?” I asked.

  “They’re fine,” She said. “I wasn’t going to hang out in here naked for much longer.”

  “I didn’t strip your clothes off because I was some pervert. I did it to save your life,” I explained.

  I never understood women, shifter or otherwise. One of the many reasons I liked to live alone in the mountains was that I didn’t need to deal with other people’s problems.

  “I need to get in contact with someone. Insurance. The police. Anything,” Alex said to her self. She picked up her jacket, which was still visibly wet.

  I strode over and pulled the damp coat from her hands. “You’re not going anywhere tonight.”

  Her eyes challenged me.

  “It’s night-time, well below zero degrees, and you don’t have any clue where you are. You’re not going anywhere,” I repeated. I hung her jacket over the chair by the woodstove and smoothed it out.

  “What about search and
rescue?” She asked.

  “Might be days before they come looking. We’ll be able to hear the helicopter when it comes,” I said.

  Alex wandered over to the pile of blankets and plopped down. Her face was blank and empty for a moment, and then her bottom lip started trembling.

  I knew what was coming and there was no way to stop it.

  The woman burst into tears, big, loud, annoying tears. She took a shuddering breath and sniffled.

  Great.

  “Uh, please don’t cry,” I said. “The search and rescue team will come.”

  They’d better come fast, too. I didn’t think I’d last more than a day being with this human.

  “I just can’t believe it,” She sniffled. “Everyone is dead. They’ll probably think I’m dead too.” She coughed and sniffed again.

  “But you’re not. You survived the wolves,” I said. “It’s a waste of energy to mourn people you didn’t even know. You need to rest and recover.”

  Alex nodded slowly.

  I wasn’t sure if she agreed with me, but she had to at least see that I was trying to talk some sense into her. She was in no position to be outside right now, and the search and rescue team could take days to find the bodies.

  “It will be ok,” I said, doing my best to reassure her. “Let me make you some food.”

  Alexandra

  It was no Mongolian barbeque, but I was so hungry that I didn’t care.

  Batu fried up some wild goat meat in butter and slapped it on the plate. There were no vegetables or grains up here, and I didn’t expect there to me. The tour guides had warned us about the sort of food we’d get once we were in the wilderness.

  I chewed the meat like an animal, eating more than I ever thought I could before. Then I noticed Batu watching me. I startled, sitting up straight.

  “Sorry,” I said. “Just starving.”

  Batu shrugged and took a bite of meat. He didn’t use a fork, just stripped the flesh off the bone.

  I looked at him for another second and then to the fire cracking in the cast-iron stove. I wondered why he lived out here alone. What was his story? Why was he not in a village with other nomads? It seemed so lonely. Maybe he was some sort of cast-out weirdo, but in all honesty, he seemed nice enough. He’d save my life and not asked for a single thing in return. The thought of him seeing me naked still freaked me out, but like he said, he did it to save me from hypothermia.

  I chewed and swallowed the last of the food, my stomach full and heavy now. I was warmer and very sleepy. I settled down into the blankets and furs, allowing the stress to melt away for just a second before falling asleep.

  * * *

  I dreamt of the attack.

  What I saw was even more vivid in my memories than it was in real life. I could hear the screams and smell the blood. Horses ran through the camp while their riders clubbed the tourists to death. Everything we had was stolen. The riders came and went as quickly as ghosts without leaving a trace.

  It was chaos.

  I woke drenched in sweat. I took deeps breaths, trying to calm my mind and stop my uncontrollable shaking. Slowly I came back to reality and my head stopped spinning.

  I remembered where I was now. Batu’s ger. The circular hut was warm and dark, and the scent of fried meat still hung in the air. The woodstove’s fire had been reduced to bright red coals.

  Batu was on the other side of the room, sleeping on a cot. Unlike me, he only used one blanket, accustom to the near-freezing temperature, even inside.

  I shuddered and wiped the sweat from my face.

  Batu snorted in his sleep.

  I watched him for a while. He was much more handsome when his face wasn’t scowling. He looked younger when he slept. My heart fluttered, and I looked away.

  Now was not the time for this lust-induced cabin fever. I had forsaken dating my entire academic life, and I was not about to break that streak for a wild man in a Mongolian ger.

  I shook myself so I’d focus. I needed to get out of here and find someone who had a phone. A village couldn’t be that far, right?

  I forced myself out of the blankets and slid my boots on. My heavy coat was finally dry. I layered on my clothes and zipped my coat to my chin.

  Maybe if I went out now, I’d see the lights from a village and be able to contact someone from the tour company.

  I looked over my shoulder at Batu, who was still asleep. He’d told me I wouldn’t last a second out there, but now that I was well again, it couldn’t hurt to at least look.

  I opened the flap and a gust of cold air hit me immediately.

  “Shit,” I hissed, pulling my mittens out of my pockets and flipping up my hood.

  Maybe I was an idiot for deciding to do a mountain tour in the middle of the winter. Hindsight is 20/20, as they say. Too late to worry about it now. I needed to focus on finding civilization and getting home.

  Darkness surrounded me with only the stars and moon above for light.

  I waited for my eyes to adjust to the dark before stepping away from the ger.

  Batu’s home was nestled between rocky outcrops, presumably to protect it from the wind. A fresh layer of snow made the ground look pristine and calm. The tiny ice crystals glittered in the moonlight. The air was fresh and, as long as the wind wasn’t gusting, it was actually nice.

  I took a deep breath, happy to be out of the stifling ger.

  Cautiously, I took a few steps out from the shadow of the rocks, wandering across the clearing to get a better look at the sky. I glanced over my shoulder to ensure that Batu would not burst out of the ger and drag me back like some caveman before walking out further.

  Past the rocks was a cliff overlooking the lower mountains and roughly carved out hills. It seemed to go on forever before being lost to darkness at the horizon line.

  The view took my breath away. The sheer size made me feel insignificant; somehow, the mountains seemed bigger up here than they did when I was camped out at the base.

  I wished I could stand there forever because that was how long it would take to map out every detail. I wanted to engrave it in my mind permanently, the sight of the mountains glittering under the light of the moon. It was supernatural. I felt as if I had left the earth I knew and woken up in snowy heaven instead.

  My head spun, so I took a step back. The air was so thin up here that even a short walk was leaving me breathless, and not in a good way.

  I took a deep breath of the thin air. It wasn’t enough. The altitude hit me hard. I wobbled on my feet and sank down into the snow, trying to catch my breath.

  “Guess I won’t be running anywhere,” I said to myself with a dry laugh.

  A wolf howled in the distance.

  The haunting sound put me on high alert. I sat up straight, looking around wildly. The wolf could be anywhere; all the rocks and piles of snow looked the same in the dark.

  I was probably safer in the ger. But I couldn’t stand how stifled I felt in there. Maybe I’d sit just outside. Nothing bad would happen. No wild animals would be brave enough to approach a human building.

  Remembering Batu’s words sent a shiver through me. The ones who raided the camp and killed the tourists. They weren’t men, and they weren’t wolves. So what were they? Something supernatural?

  I forced myself back up and trudge through the snow back to the ger. At least, what I thought was the right direction. I walked for a few minutes but found nothing. No. I couldn’t have got myself lost that easy. I panicked. My heart jumped up into my rapidly closing throat. I gasped for air, each breath making my chest ache.

  Wolves howled again. It was louder. Closer. I turned and ran the other way. The ger had to be around here somewhere. Suddenly, a chunk of snow gave way under my feet and I hit the ground hard. I slid on my back down the slope. I screamed, rolling down the side of the hill, hitting rocks and ice as I went. I hit a rocky wall hard, finally coming to a stop.

  I groaned, black spots flashing in my vision. Pain shot through my body, but
I didn’t think I broke anything. How far did I fall? It would be such a pain in the ass to get back up to the ger now. Literally!

  I sat in the snow, trying to get my bearings, I felt as if someone was watching me. The hair on the back of my neck stood up and my heartbeat quickened. Wolves?

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I whispered to myself. I scrambled to my feet and trekked back up the hill, following the wide marks I’d left as I rolled down the hill.

  A howl rang out again. This time it was too close for comfort.

  I could make out some shining eyes through the darkness. There had to be at least five pairs of them staring me down. If I squinted, I could see five giant grey wolves with their fangs bared.

  “Oh shit,” I gasped.

  This was it. I was dead. For sure. There was no way I could survive this. I had nothing to fight or defend myself with.

  The wolves surrounded me, padding lightly in the thick snow. I let out a small whimper, desperately trying to remember how to make them leave. Be loud? No, that was bears. Playing dead wouldn’t work either.

  The lead wolf snarled at me. He had a jagged scar across his face and was missing patches of fur. His fangs were dripping with drool.

  “Oh, god. Oh fuck,” I whimpered.

  Something came out of the darkness. A giant grey animal that moved so fast I couldn’t quite tell what it was. There was a flash of fangs and claws as the animal tackled the wolf and dragged him down into the snow.

  I screamed, scrambling backward into a snowdrift.

  It was a snow leopard–a giant fluffy grey and white wildcat with paws as big as my head. It moved with lightning speed, chasing off the wolves with only a few swipes of his claws.

  The lead wolf retreated, barking at his companions. They disappeared into the night, barking and howling as they went.

  The giant snow leopard huffed and panted, his hot breath coming out in clouds. His white fur was streaked with blood, and I couldn’t be sure if it was his or not. The cat turned his head to me, staring me down with yellow eyes.