Winter Tails: A Limited Edition Winter Shifters Collection

by Fox, Piper

  Batu

  A man’s strength wasn’t enough to save us from this snowy cave. Soon night would come, and the snow might turn to ice. We’d surely freeze to death once our fire supplies ran out.

  I glanced at Alex, who was wrapped up securely under layers of clothing. She slept peacefully, like an angel. Her cheeks and lips were still swollen and red from our lovemaking.

  I turned back to the snow wall, not knowing how thick it was or how long I’d have to dig to get us out. I shifted into my leopard form and lept up, digging at the snow with my front paws. The snow fell away in large chunks and hit the cave floor with soft thuds.

  My snow leopard form didn’t mind the cold, and the snow didn’t burn my skin. I moved quickly, digging forwards and up from the mouth of the cave. The snow was thick and packed hard, thanks to the force of the avalanche. It was a miracle we made it to the cave when we did. Another moment, and we would have met our doom under this heavy snow.

  The thought of it made me shudder. I had seen several avalanches in my lifetime, but this was too close for comfort.

  I kept digging until I could smell the fresh air. I was close now. My muscles burned and ached, begging me to stop. I could not give up now. The last chunk of snow gave way, and the sun appeared. It was nearly blinding.

  I flinched away for a moment before pushing aside more snow and emerging back into the world. I gasped, gulping down the fresh air and letting out a laugh.

  We were going to be fine now.

  * * *

  “Are you sure?” Alex asked me with wide eyes.

  I looked up from the bag I was packing. “Of course,” I said.

  We had found our way back to my ger without much trouble, but the search and rescue team was long gone. The camp was likely buried by snow or already cleaned up by the rescue teams. No one was going to be looking for her now unless they were looking for a body.

  “I’ll take you to the nearest town,” I said.

  The thought of leaving her made my heart ache terribly. I hesitated, holding up the backpack and then setting it back down.

  “I don’t want to leave you,” She said.

  “Everyone is going to think you’re dead. You can’t do that to those who are important to you.”

  “You’re important to me,” She pressed.

  I held back a sigh. “Alex,” I tried.

  Alex moved to my side and hugged me tightly. “Fine, we’ll go to town, but I’m not leaving you.”

  “I don’t like human settlements,” I said. The very thought made my stomach turn. I didn’t enjoy being around anyone - human or shifter. I clenched my fist, feeling my knuckles pop. “But I know that you need to be with people.”

  The beast inside of me paced back and forth as if it were locked in a tiny cage. I wanted to be with Alex. I needed to be with her. I also needed my space. I loved my home in the mountains. If I had to choose, I’d be killing my inner leopard either way.

  Alex put her hand on my cheek. “How about I get in touch with my folks, and then we’ll go from there?”

  I sucked in a breath and nodded. “Fine.”

  She gave me a soft smile.

  I shouldered my bag. “Well, let’s go. It’s a long hike to the nearest village.”

  “Will they have a phone?” She asked. “At least one person will,” I said. “Lots of researchers and video production crews camp out around these spots, so there has to be at least one line to the civilized world.” I chuckled. “Joking, sort of.”

  Alex bit her bottom lip worriedly. Not in a sexy way, but fighting my attraction to her was almost impossible. My inner beast flexed with need.

  I forced myself to look away. “Come on,” I said. “We should get going so we can maximize our daylight.”

  Alex nodded, following me out of the ger and into the cold.

  The wind was gentle, swirling around us and picking up snow as it went. The sun was bright and high in the sky, sending down warm rays to offset the frigid mountain breeze. The sky was a brilliant blue, as it always was, this far from major cities and humanity’s pollution.

  With my hand in hers, we walked down the mountain’s face, finding paths where we could and jumping through massive snowdrifts when the road most-traveled disappeared. We climbed down the rocky cliffs and through narrow canyons, keeping our eyes to the horizon and tracking the sun’s position to make sure we didn’t get lost.

  Within a few hours, Alex was really coming into her own. Sure, she was still slow and clumsy, but she wasn’t terrible. I could see her adapting to mountain life well if given a chance to.

  Just as the sun was setting, some lights came into view near the base of the mountain. Slowly, one by one, traditional gers and metal storehouses lit up. The smell of roasted meat and cheese wafted through the air and, though barely audible, I thought I heard voices.

  “There!” Alex gasped. “I see the buildings!”

  The village was also housing a foreign research group. I strained my ears, using my leopard abilities to survey the area before deciding that the coast was clear.

  Alex bobbed up and down in the snowdrift excitedly. “Can we go?” She asked.

  “Yes, it seems safe,” I said. “This village has a peace treaty with the shifters of the mountain. You and I will both be safe here for now.”

  Alex jumped to her feet and found the path that led to the town.

  The snow was packed down, as if people had recently moved through the area. We walked along the ATV tracks until we reached the edge of the town. It couldn’t have been more than a dozen gers and other buildings.

  I stopped mid-step as if there was a barrier preventing me from moving another inch forward.

  “Batu?” Alex whispered. “Are you ok?”

  I set my shoulders and took a breath. “Fine,” I replied. I hated being near this many people. “You should see if they have a phone,” I said, gesturing towards the rows of metal shelters.

  Alex paused and kissed my cheek. “I’ll be right back,” She said and wandered into the village.

  I waited in the shadows, watching as one villager met with Alex and then scurried off to find someone who spoke English or Russian.

  I’d always felt like an outsider, watching through the windows instead of taking part in life with others. I blamed the beast inside of me, not caring about the longing that grew in my heart. With Alex, things were different. I wanted to be with her. I didn’t want to be alone anymore.

  Someone came from a ger, a foreigner I guessed, based on the fact that they were dressed from head to toe in North Face gear. He and Alex exchanged a few words and then the man ran off again, shouting for a phone.

  Alex looked over her shoulder and smiled at me.

  I didn’t think she could see me in the shadows. Maybe I wasn’t as good at hiding as I thought, or maybe it was just our mate connection. Seeing her smile gave me the confidence I needed to take the next step.

  Slowly, I walked into the camp, taking one step at a time until I reached her side.

  “Batu,” She breathed.

  “I can’t let you do this alone,” I said. “I will always be by your side, my mate.”

  The man returned, panting hard and holding a bulky satellite cell phone. “Here’s the phone,” He said, and his eyes went wide when he saw me.

  “This is Batu, the man who saved my life,” Alex said.

  The man smiled at me.

  My heart froze mid-beat before instantly unfreezing. “Hello,” I said.

  The man, a Russian scientist, handed Alex the phone. “It’s a miracle,” He said. “We saw the rescue copters yesterday.” He paused, turning to Alex. “So, did you say you were a Ph.D.?”

  Epilogue: Alexandra

  The sky was blue and bright. I could see why everyone around me said living in these mountains was like living in heaven.

  The research team was involved in a joint Russian and American project, studying climate change effects on the mountain tops. When the head researcher found o
ut about my degree in environmental science, he offered me a job on the spot. It was an assistant role that didn’t pay great, but it was better than anything I could have hoped for.

  Now I could have a job I loved and stay with Batu in the wilderness. It was almost too good to be true, but I was that sort of person who believed that everything happened for a reason.

  Four weeks had passed since the accident, and thanks to Batu’s care, I could finally sleep through the night without waking up afraid.

  We’d positioned his ger further down the mountain, still secluded from the rest of the research team, but close enough that we didn’t seem rude. It was the best Batu could do, being a solitary creature. I appreciated the effort he took to make sure I had everything I needed, including human contact.

  Batu was more than the man who rescued me. He was my mate; this was a fact that became more real to me with every moment I spent with him. It was almost surreal to think that a person I’d met so recently had hold of my heart and soul.

  When I said I was going to Mongolia to find myself, little did I know that not only would I find a dream research job, but my soulmate, too.

  The End

  About the Author

  SAMANTHA BELL is a writer, student, and self-diagnosed book hoarder. She has been living in her imagination as long as she can remember.

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  Books By Samantha Bell

  REVERSE HAREM

  ***Magical Delinquent Series***

  WAYWARD WITCH

  January 2020

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  WANTED WITCH

  July 2020

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  WRATHFUL WITCH

  March 2021

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  CROOKED CHANGELING

  April 2020

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  ***The Fae Queen’s Knights Series***

  FAE EXILED

  August 2020

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  FAE ORACLE

  January 2021

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  ***Coven Reform Series***

  SPELL BOUND

  (Coven Reform 1)

  June 2020

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  NOT REVERSE HAREM

  ***Psychic Academy Series***

  PSYCHIC SECRET

  (Psychic Academy 1)

  October 2019

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  PSYCHIC PRODIGY

  (Psychic Academy 1.5)

  October 2019

  Newsletter Exclusive (FREE)

  PSYCHIC LIES

  (Psychic Academy 2)

  December 2019

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  PSYCHIC TRUTH

  (Psychic Academy 3)

  February 2020

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  Chapter 10

  Not Reverse Harem

  Polar Opposites

  Samantha Coville

  About Polar Opposites

  The only world Georgina has ever known is a frozen tundra. The day is unforgiving and barely tolerable, the night is entirely uninhabitable. The surviving humans left in this world live in underground cave systems called burrows, working tirelessly to survive.

  The even bigger problem? The polar bears. They are bloodthirsty beasts that kill humans on site.

  Or so the members of the burrows have been told.

  Georgina, sent on a trip to a neighboring burrow, is about to learn the truth.

  Chapter 1

  You would think that if you spent your entire life trapped in the cold, you’d have grown used to it. Unfortunately, that was as far from the truth as it could get for us humans in Kaltreald. In fact, it seemed every year was getting a little bit colder and a little more grey. The tundra wasteland was not a forgiving landscape.

  I greedily pretended to be asleep so that I could feel the fire even a moment longer. I had to travel outside that day, and I groaned internally at the thought of trudging through the icy snow for hours. Father must have thought visiting Mira Duccan in the next burrow over to be important enough to risk the trip.

  I felt a hand touch my shoulder. “Georgina, it’s time to wake up, dear. Your father expects to eat with you before you go, and the sun will be up soon.”

  The fox fur that engulfed me in my bed was so tempting, but I knew my ruse was up. My eyes fluttered opened, and I took my sweet time sitting up and nodding a thank you to Rina. She was one of our burrow’s tending women. Her special role was to keep children and youngsters fed, educated, and looked after. I was technically old enough for her to not monitor me anymore, but I knew she had a soft spot in her heart for me.

  Her long, fiery hair fell in front of her pale face as she nodded her head back to me and got up from sitting next to me on my bed. She had on a thick leather dress lined with fur, as was the usual wardrobe for the girls. Her feet were protected by matching leather and fur boots. A shawl wrapped around her already covered arms and shoulders and hung loose as she gathered up her basket of laundry and left the room I shared with my friend Lottie.

  Lottie was already up and out of bed, as always. She had dressed for her day of duties and studies and was combing her hair in the reflection of the water basin she had pulled off the fire while I snoozed away. Her brown, tangled locks matched my own, but her green eyes were vibrant while my grey eyes were as uneventful as the scenery outside.

  “Are you excited about today, Georgina? You get to go see another burrow. It sounds awfully interesting.”

  I stretched and slipped my feet into my own boots. I wouldn’t want my bare toes to touch the freezing stone floor in a million years. “I expect it’ll look just like our own burrow, silly.”

  Lottie seemed to consider the idea for a second before shrugging and continuing with her hairbrush. The burrows were not much to look at, but also an admirable achievement of human survival at the same time. They were clusters of underground cave tunnels and rooms that could house upward of a hundred people comfortably. The floors were kept bare to be easier to clean, but the walls, beds, chairs, and anywhere people lounged were swathed in furs to try and keep the cold above us at bay.

  The burrows had fireplaces in every room with specially crafted chimneys that would let smoke escape but keep cold drafts and snow out. The men of the burrows would gather wood during the day to burn at night. Daytime was survivable for humankind, though not enjoyable. However, nighttime was a godforsaken nightmare. The cold became so intense once the sun went down that it was an assured death sentence if you didn’t make it back to your burrow before they sealed the entrance tight for the evening.

  Lovely ladies like Lottie and myself were tasked with cooking any meat the men could manage to find during their noon time hunt, making and repairing clothes, and tending to anyone sick or wounded. It was for this reason my father was having me make the six-hour journey to the next burrow over. As leader of his burrow, my father thought I should learn from an expert on medicine, so I could be better prepared to help lead the burrow one day. Or, at least, better prepared to help my eventual husband lead the burrow.

  Lottie had finished fixing her hair, so she offered to do mine for me. It was always easier to have someone else do your hair for you. She was rough with the hairbrush, but I didn’t mind. You had to be tough to survive in a permafrost land like Kaltreald. That was why there were so few burrows left anymore. Lottie braided my hair so it wouldn’t get in the way during the long walk ahead. I thanked her and gave her a long embrace as we said goodbye. I would be gone for a month before returning to our home burrow. What a long month it was sure to be.

  I finished changing from my night dress to my day clothes. No dress for me that day, though. If I were going outside, I would be in hiking garb. I was donned in heavy pants and two layers of thick shirts on top of my undershirt. Once I finished breakfast, I’d be outfitted with a coat and scarf to help protect my face from the nip of the cold.
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  I walked through the tunnels of the burrow to one of the three dining rooms. The design of the burrow was at the mercy of the natural underground caves that were there before the time of man. Because of this, dining and lounge areas were spaced out in multiple rooms, as none were big enough to accommodate everyone. I found the cavern my father was eating in and took a seat next to him at the table.

  “Good morning, papa. What are we eating this morning?”

  He swallowed his spoonful and smiled. “Thea made a salmon and mushroom stew from yesterday’s fishing and it is divine.”

  Thea, standing just a couple feet away dishing the said soup, blushed. “I appreciate the compliment, sir, but you know it’s not going to get you seconds.”

  My father laughed heartily. “And that’s why she’s in charge of portions. No one can claim Thea Young is a pushover.”

  I laughed with my dad as Thea handed me my own bowl. I sipped at it cautiously and enjoyed the feeling of warmth rushing down to my stomach. It was so important to ration and portion food out carefully to ensure the burrow didn’t go hungry. The way my father managed resources was admirable. I always wondered how he could guarantee our people would be taken care of.

  My father was a stern man most of the time. It was nice catching moments like these when he was taking a breather and could be a gentler man. He had a lot riding on him; I understood. He was the one that had to make the hard decisions. And he made them mostly alone. My mother had passed when I was a tiny child and he kept doing what he had to do.