“Let’s do it!”
Chapter 10
Axel
Ellatuggedherhatdown over her ears, cheeks already pink from the cold. The set of double pompoms on her hat was utterly adorable and looked almost like furry ears.
I handed her the thermos of hot cocoa we’d packed for the trip, and she took it with daintily gloved hands. She took a sip and sighed like it was the best thing she’d ever tasted, even though it was just the packaged stuff with some real chocolate shavings stirred in.
We’d had a quick lunch of sandwiches on that crusty bread I’d picked up yesterday from the bakery. And I’d pulled two steaks from the freezer and placed them in the fridge to defrost before we left. I wanted to cook for her later and show her that I could provide for her in many ways.
Normally, I’d just trek out here on my own, but since I had Ella along and we expected to bring back a small tree, I’d brought a sled. I’d pulled her all the way to the copse, the sun shining overhead.
It was a beautiful day now that the remnant flurries from the storm had passed. Nothing but blue sky, fluffy white clouds, and sunshine. It was almost too bright from the reflection of the sun off the snow when we weren’t under cloud cover.
Almost a full foot of snow had fallen yesterday, blanketing the entire glade in white.
“What about this one?” I asked.
“Too tall and skinny,” she said, “especially if we dig it out of the snow before we cut it. We need something that matches the feel of your cabin.”
I pulled her along as we judged each tree. Too wide. Too sparse. Too asymmetrical. And even too perfect.
“Stop!” she said, nestling the thermos next to the pack of tools.
She was climbing out of the sled before I could stop her. Her boots, ones she’d dug out of her bags, sank in the soft uppermostlayer of powdery white, then crunched on the harder, deeper layers as she trudged toward a group of three small trees.
“This one!” She pointed to the one in the middle. “It’s probably going to get crowded out by the other two as they grow. But right now it’s perfect.”
And it was. Not too big and not too small. Full enough not to look sparse, but sparse enough to make room for decorations. And it was symmetrical too, though that would not be the case in future years because it would indeed be crowded out by the other two since they’d have better access to sunlight on the outside. Cutting it now would help the other two grow more symmetrically and reduce the competition.
“This one it is.” I grabbed my shovel from the sled and started digging around it so I could cut the trunk a few inches from the ground. All it took was two swings of my axe, and I was dragging it to the sled.
Ella scrambled off the sled to make room as I loaded our tree up.
I’d just finished securing the tree to the sled, tugging the last knot tight with a grunt, when the wind changed. The scent hit me, slicing through the crisp air like a sharp blade.
Shit!
Whoever it was must’ve been staying downwind. I turned slowly, scanning the tree line, my body ready to jump in to protect my female. Ella was behind me, brushing snow off her coat. Her cheeks were flushed from the cold and the thrill of picking theperfect tree, and she was humming “Frosty the Snowman” under her breath.
At the moment our eyes met, the humming stopped, like she could read my posture. She crowded in toward me, her eyes scanning the trees. Then, to her credit, she picked up a hatchet from the sled and brandished it in front of her.
She probably wouldn’t get a hit in against an angry and equally fast wolf shifter, but I admired and respected her bravery.
The crunch of snow was the only alert we got before a blur of gray fur shot in from the trees, low to the ground and teeth bared. He was big, but his fur was scraggly like he hadn’t groomed himself for months. There was an unhinged look to him, and he was aimed right at Ella. I stepped in front of her and swiped at the furball with one big ham-sized fist, sending him skidding sideways.
He recovered quickly, snarling, circling around to get a better angle on Ella. I didn’t need to see his human face to know who he was. I let my camouflage drop as he lunged again. I caught him mid-air and slammed him into the snow.
He sprang back to his four paws and snarled at me, finally seeing me as a threat. Had he not realized what I was before? Surely a wolf like him would be able to scent that I was no mere human.
I stood a little taller and borrowed a little trick from a gorilla shifter I knew and pounded my chest. Then I roared. The sound had Ella covering her ears, but to her credit, she didn’t run.
The wolf looked to her, then to me, then it huffed before slinking off like the coward he was, leaving Ella and me alone again in the glade.
“That was him, wasn’t it?”
“I think so,” I said, watching the trees. “I don’t think he knew what I was at first. Strange that he didn’t scent me through the human disguise.”
