Dodger pulled her out from under the covers and gathered her in his lap, then just held her for a full minute. Best alarm clock ever.
When he released her and stood, he patted her leg and murmured, “I’m going to warm the truck up.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there.”
“Gloves and beanie too,” he told her with a wink, and then disappeared out of the bedroom and into the hallway.
She stretched again and then slid out of bed and padded across the hallway to the bathroom, got ready for the day and got dressed as quickly as she could, and then met Dodger outside. He had a handheld metal lunchbox in the back seat, and two cups of coffee with lids sitting in the cupholders of his pickuptruck. It was nice and warm inside when she crawled up inside and shut the door.
“Where to?” she asked as he eased the truck down the winding road that led out of Rogue Pack territory.
He slid his hand around hers and kissed her knuckles. “To my favorite place.”
The drive was about twenty-five minutes, and then he pulled onto a one-lane dirt road and guided the truck through the snow like he could see the road she couldn’t. There was a foot of snow over everything up here, and she couldn’t make out anything, but he seemed to know this place like the back of his hand.
“When I first came here, I kept exploring outside of the territory while I was Changed. My wolf wanted to see everything. I found this spot three months in, and it’s where I came every time I needed to clear my head.”
“Do you need to clear your head now?” she asked.
“No. My head is clear. Something happens though when you pick a favorite place. You get to know yourself in the quiet there. You understand the parts of you that are stomped out when it’s too loud in the outside world. So, the place that I used to go to for solace became somewhere I felt happy. Last night I was thinking about how I would show you the wolf, and the plan was just to take you out after I fucked you, Change, and have it done with. You’re stuck with me though, and you have one first introduction to the wolf, and I want it to be memorable. Not to me, but for you.”
It was the sweetest thing—him thinking about her and making plans in this way, just to give her a special moment.
She squeezed his hand as he pulled to a stop near a snowbank.
“We have to walk from here,” he said. “Zip up your jacket and grab your coffee.”
Outside of his truck, with the door open, she dressed in the rest of her layers, gloves and beanie included, and with her hand on her warm coffee, she shut the door and caught up to where Dodger stood at the back of the truck with a folded blanket in his arm, and the lunchbox dangling from his hand.
He looked so handsome here in the gray dawn light that preceded the oncoming sunrise. He wore simple jeans and a charcoal gray long sleeved thermal. No gloves, no beanie for him this morning. He offered his arm so she could hold onto it as they hiked up the slippery, uneven slope. By the time they reached a scenic view, dawn was near. She could see across the snowy ravine to the mountains beyond. The view stole her breath away.
There was a rockface on the edge of a drop-off, and he quietly guided her to it, and scooped snow off the slick boulder with the palm of his hand.
He unfolded the blanket and set it down, then waited for her to sit on it, while he pulled breakfast out of the metal lunchbox. He’d packed breakfast sandwiches, bagels with cream cheese, and strawberries.
He pulled her in and aimed his phone at them, took a selfie, then set it to his lock screen and showed it to her. Destiny was touched. He seemed so proud to be here with her, and she understood. She felt the same about him.
As the sky turned from gray to soft pink, they ate breakfast, and talked softly, so as not to disturb the peace from the quiet woods.
Every time she looked up at Dodger, he was watching her with this soft look in his eyes.
“You like me, don’t you?” she asked, wanting to hear it.
“Very much.”
A smile confiscated her lips as he leaned down and sipped at her. Destiny slipped her arms around his shoulders and leaned into him, reveling in the feel of his warmth enveloping her.
He angled his head the other way, and deepened the kiss, and she let off a happy sigh.
The snap of the twig behind them was so out of place here. It echoed through her mind.
How strange that a sound could bring her slamming back down to earth.
In her arms, Dodger froze. His body was tight as a drum, and he eased back, stood slowly, scanning the woods. He scented the breeze, and his eyes lightened by the moment.
“Destiny,” he said carefully.
Something was wrong. She stood and looked around the woods, but she didn’t see anything.
