“Kind of defeats me fixing the sled.”
One shoulder lifted in a shrug. “You could always fix it again. What do I owe you?”
He didn’t buy her nonchalance for a second, nor would he charge her for the repairs. Bay shook his head. “I was the reason it was broken in the first place. If you insist on paying, consider a trail ride reward enough.”
“Deal.” She looped an arm through his and dragged him towards the back of his truck. “Let’s get this thing down.”
Between the two of them, they managed to get the sled out of the truck bed and into the snow. The moment the runners hit the frozen ground, several of her dogs started barking. Erratic, happy sounds as they lunged at the ends of their chains, Bay forgotten. He watched as a few more crawled out from their houses, their bodies held nervously low. They scanned the surroundings, but every time one of them caught sight of the sled confidence poured through them.
His wolf grumbled inside his head, but this time, the beast didn’t make himself heard. Bay relaxed. If the wolf was willing to behave for a chance to see what it was like on the back of the sled, he had a feeling the dogs would forget the monster and do their job. “They love their job,” Bay said with a chuckle.
“No job is worth doing if you don’t.”
The rough feel of wood under his hands, the scent of sawdust, the hard labor of shaping his projects into what he imagined...he couldn’t imagine ever working at anything else in his life. “Fair enough.”
Bay watched as Eden suited up the dogs, putting them all in line. She had him sit in the basket, while she stood behind him, and then with a word, the dogs were off. They bolted straight for the trail winding through the forest beyond her house—the same trail Morrigan’s wolves haunted each night. Each night the wolves skirted the edges but never came out into the open, not with Bay standing guard over her house.
Wind whipped in his face, like icicles reaching out and scratching at his cheeks, but it made him feel more alive. Exhilarated. He sucked in a breath and let the blustery air burn down his throat. It raked a laugh out of him, a surprised boom that had Eden laughing behind him too. He listened as she cued the dogs right or left—gee or haw—and steered them up the winding trails of Mercy Pass. He stiffened as she called them left and up towards the river inlet.
“Don’t,” he called out.
“Whoa!” Instantly the dogs slowed to a stop, panting in the cool air so that their breaths curled out of their open jaws like smoke, their tongues lolled to the sides of their mouths.
“What’s wrong?”
He didn’t know if Morrigan and her trolls were awake in the day. She only ever called to him at night, relinquishing her grip in the early morning. But he wasn’t willing to take that chance. “Up there is where she calls me. The troll, the wolves, they all gather up there.”
Not that he’d returned to her since the night he’d fled. He couldn’t. One step in her direction and she’d win. And Bay was no one’s toy, no one’s pawn. But he also hadn’t made a move to stop her. Something he would have to do. Soon. Right now, he needed more time to solidify his control of himself. Then he could start scouting for a plan.
Bay glanced up at Eden and saw her considering the trail.
“Eden.”
“Oh, I know. I have no real desire to have a run-in again with that troll, let alone the bitch who made it.” She blew out a breath. “This path is usually a favorite in the summer and it’s one of my favorites to show in the winter. It’s gorgeous. You slip along the water’s edge and can see the beaches all frosted over, even if the lakes here are never completely freeze over.”
She hopped off the sled and started moving up the line. Bay started to get out to follow her when she waved him off. “Stay. It’s too tight of a turn to let the dogs maneuver it on their own, but I’m okay.”
Something in his stomach disagreed, an answering uneasiness flooded through him, and Bay found himself torn between the desire to trust her, and the desire to follow some unknown feeling nagging at him. His wolf whined and suddenly his body went on alert, every muscle going stiff, tense.
He moved before the first growl sounded. A quiet, threatening sound that curled around the trees and moved through the shadows. Eden’s dogs jumped, shying away from the trail, and Bay watched as she clung to one of the lead dogs, trying to keep her grip.
Shit. No
. In one lunge he cleared the length of dogs and landed between her and the path to Morrigan’s. He couldn’t see the wolves, but he could feel them now.
A snarl echoed in the woods around him, bouncing from tree to tree, and Bay found himself spinning, scanning the thick forest growth for danger. Eden’s dogs cried out, thrashing to get away. “Bay!”
“Go.” He couldn’t leave, but he was also struggling to hold the wolf back. He knew if he shifted now her dogs would panic. She wouldn’t be able to hold them with the sight of his wolf standing in front of them. But if he hopped on that sled and let her carry him away...the wolves would follow. They’d hunt her down, spurring hysteria in her group, until the dogs ran them off some cliff.
In the end, this was how it had to happen. Bay standing on a trail defending her.
“Bay,” Eden called again, her voice hard. Angry. “Come on.”
He shook his head, and as much as he wanted to turn to her and explain, he didn’t dare. Instinct told him that it would be a fatal mistake. If he looked away now it would be a sign of a weakness. Of fear. And despite the pounding of his heart, Bay wasn’t scared.
“Eden, take them home. Trust me.” The last two words came out a plea, begging her when he thought he’d never beg anyone in his life for anything. They
should
have sounded weak, pathetic even, but to his ears they didn’t sound weak at all. Strong, in fact. “Trust me.”
“At least take the gun,” she said and he could hear her warring with herself, the anger in her voice, the uncertainty. She didn’t want to leave him, but she did trust him, and those were her dogs to protect. Her family.
Her pack
, his wolf relented.
Their pack now.
Bay shook his head.
“I won’t need a gun.” And this time, his voice came out a growl, as dark and menacing as the ones still rumbling through the forest, if not darker. Unlike them, he had something to protect. Something sacred that he needed in his life. His wolf pressed up close under his skin, ready to break loose. “Go,” he repeated.
Behind him, he heard her sharp command for her dogs to run, the whoosh of the sled over snow. Then the forest began to move in front of him, white appearing out of shadows, as if unveiled by magic. Bay looked at the wolves closing in around him and let his wolf rip free on a roar. Tattered frays of clothing fell to the ground at his feet. Angling himself so that he stood blocking the trail, he bared his teeth and waited.
To follow Eden, they’d have to get through him first.
The first wolf stepped from the trees, head low, but lips pulled back to reveal the deadly curve of fangs. Bay snarled, his shoulders bunching as he took a step forward. Unlike the wolves now crowding close, he didn’t lower his head. He didn’t press back his ears. Instead, he held his head high, dominant, his ears pricked forward, almost eager.
They were weak, according to his wolf. They didn’t defend a pack, they were simply wrong. Evil. And he wouldn’t bow to them. Bay snapped at the air as one came too close, a warning, and the only one he’d issue. Another step and he’d pounce, sinking his fangs into skin until he could fine bone and blood. The wolves paused, more than one glancing back up the path. Towards Morrigan.
Did they look to her? One dodged towards him, teeth skimming low to the ground and Bay darted out of reach, whipping around and nailing the other wolf on the hind quarters. A ribbon of red trailed down the wolf’s hip. He spun, keeping the rest in sight, but not another moved to take him. They were all white, blending into the snow, the only one distinguishable was the one with a gash down his haunches now.
Bay waited several long seconds, but when no one else made a move for him, he stepped backwards along the path, unwilling to give them his back. He backed away, and once he’d moved several feet down the trail the wolves faded back into the trees, silent this time. Like ghosts drifting back to their graves.
His wolf didn’t relax, not as he padded back to Eden’s, following the scent trail left by her dogs. She was there, the sled put up, the dogs already hitched to their houses when he came trotting out of the woods and across her yard. Bay yipped happily, even as the rest slunk into their houses. His wolf found it comical. They were like whipped puppies, scared of him.
Bay shook his head at his wolf’s amusement and instead approached Eden, only to press his nose into her hand. He looked up at her and wagged his tail. “You okay?” she asked, though the muscle in her jaw flexed. Unhappy. Angry.
Bay dipped his head in a yes.
“You’re not going to change back are you? That’s awfully cheap, Bay. Cowardly.”
With a sigh, he pulled the wolf back in until he stood shivering, naked, but human, in the snow in front of her. “I was trying to avoid the cold.” He shot her a wry smile. “And driving home naked.”
“What happened?”
“They just wanted to make it clear we weren’t welcome on that trail.” He shivered under a blast of frozen wind. “A little bluffing, some snarling, and they pulled back into the woods and I hurried back here.”
He reached out and cupped the back of her neck, pulling her in for a quick kiss. He’d never get enough of kissing her. Everything inside him calmed—the maelstrom of instincts, the confusion—it all faded under the press of her lips on his. Right here, right now, she made him feel human again. Bay pulled back first, finally feeling some semblance of control. But then again, it was early yet. Twilight hadn’t even begun to touch the sky.
His fingers caressed softly over the back of her neck, stroking, and Bay smiled at her. “I should go.”
Eden lifted her eyebrows before jerking her gaze down his body and back up again. “I’ll get you a blanket. It’ll go with your collection. Though at this rate, you should leave some spare clothes here.”
His heart slammed in his chest as he watched her walk towards the house. She made it half way before she realized he wasn’t following and turned back for him, her long hair falling over her shoulders in a golden wave. “Are you coming? Your feet have to be raw.”
To be honest, he’d forgotten the pain. Forgotten the cold. But now that she mentioned it, he could feel his wolf just under his skin, the added heat of the animal inside him keeping him warm. “Nah, I’m just going to go start the truck. Shit.”
He closed his eyes. His keys. They’d been in his pocket. No doubt sitting on the trail where he’d gone all wolfy on the others and had shredded his clothes. A laugh sounded from him and he shook his head. His voice was quiet with affection when he looked up at her this time. “Never mind Eden. I’ll get the truck tonight, I’m going to run home. Four legs.” He added that last bit to as an afterthought.
He guarded her each night anyway. He’d just run out, grab the keys, and head home. When he ran back tonight to stand watch, he’d bring the keys and a pair of sweats. Enough to let him change come morning and take the truck home.
“Tonight?”
He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “They hunt at night. I don’t want them scaring your dogs.”
Or rather, hurting you
. He stopped himself from saying the rest. Some women didn’t appreciate being protected, not when most of them up here carried guns and could shoot with the best men. It was an equal world and Bay could understand that, even if his wolf struggled with it. But this...all of this magic and werewolves and trolls, that wasn’t anything natural. And Bay wasn’t of the natural world anymore. He stood the best chance at keeping her safe.
Eden seemed to ponder that, her lips pursing slightly in thought, and he wanted to cross the snow again and wrap her in his arms, hold her, kiss her again. Instead, he ducked his head in a silent goodbye to her and took a step towards the forest. The wolf came easy, a ruffle of fur under his skin and then it was free, and Bay as the man was gone.
A surprised gasp slipped out of her and Bay glanced back to Eden. She didn’t look at him with revulsion. Amazement glittered out of her eyes and she gave her head a slight shake. “That’ll never get old.” She held out a hand. “May I?”
His wolf gave an appreciative rumble, and it vibrated through his body, even as his tail gave a long, swaying wag. Then he was pressed up against her hip, rubbing against her like a great cat. He could have bowled her over without trying and knocked her into the snow. An image of his claws slicing through her jacket and sending her flying passed through his mind. But it was a distant memory now.
The raging hunger that had controlled him then, was quiet now. The only emotion swirling through Bay now was something he couldn’t quite explain. Affection was part of it. Love, maybe? Though damn, it was too early to think he could have fallen that far for a woman. Even Eden.
Fingers curled through his fur and he leaned into her scratch, reveling in the moment shared between them. Then with a lick across her knuckles, he bounded away, running back for the forest, his keys, and finally home. But there was never any doubt in his mind that he’d be back, under the cover of nightfall and a slowly fattening moon.