“I can’t,” the woman said, shaking her head. “My car is out of gas, and I was freezing.”
“I’ll get you some gas and bring it to you, just go right now,” he said, unable to stop himself from looking up into the sky. “I’ll bring it to you, I promise, just get out of here before it’s too late.”
“Too late,” the woman echoed, her body tensed to run, her eyes wide with fear. “What’s going to happen?”
“Something you don’t want to see,” he said, striding over to her and grabbing her arm. “You have to go…”
As soon as he touched her, the same weird feeling spread through him, and this time, there was an electrical charge to go with it, surprising him enough that he immediately let go. The woman must have felt it too; she let out a little gasp, then looked down at where his hand hovered over her arm. A blush spread across her pale cheeks, and she started backing away from him.
“Maybe you’re right,” she whispered, then turned and headed for the road.
***Paula***
The moonlight reflecting off the snow was bright enough to illuminate the path back to the road, and it was a good thing because Paula’s brain was overwhelmed as she stumbled through the trees. Her impulsive decision to go for help was clearly just another one in a long string of bad choices she’d made, but this time, she’d actually put herself in danger. She had no idea what was going on in front of that cabin, but the smell of burned flesh and the cries of the injured man gave her imagination plenty of fuel to work with and those thoughts filled her with terror.
Her brain had already been screaming at her to run when the man came up behind her and for a few seconds, she’d been sure that she’d made the last stupid mistake of her life, then instead of grabbing her, he’d told her to run. It had been so contrary towhat she’d been expecting, she’d been frozen with shock, then she’d looked into his green eyes, and her body had begun to do strange things that had nothing to do with running for her life.
It started out as a tingle all over her body, but as she stood there staring at him, watching as he grew more and more concerned about her being there, the feeling changed, morphing into a wave of desire that took her breath away for a second. His touch on her arm and the wave of warmth that followed finally shocked her out of her stupor and she managed to get her feet moving. Now she was stumbling through the trees, confused, scared, and desperate to put some distance between the man and herself before all her worst fears came true.
She’d just made it to the road when the moon was suddenly blocked by something, followed by the whoosh of wings, and she looked up into the sky, gasping when she saw what looked like a huge bird. Only a second later, she realized it wasn’t a bird because no bird could be that big, and instinct took over as she dove under the lowest branches of a pine tree. Fighting her way through the branches, she leaned up against the trunk and closed her eyes trying to catch her breath, the sound of those wings right over the top of her head.
When the sound abruptly stopped, she held her breath, expecting to hear something, but there was only silence. She finally parted the branches and looked over at the cabin. The bird or whatever it was had landed in the middle of the men gathered in the circle of light, and she gasped, thinking they would all be dead within seconds, then ducked her head again, not wanting to see the blood bath. When the sound of voices came to her on the wind, she was confused for a second, then poked her head out again, even more bewildered when there was no sign of the creature.
She sat there for a minute more, her mind spinning, then realized that she was getting soaked by the snow she was sittingin and crawled out from under the tree, glancing over at the men in front of the cabin every few seconds. When she finally stood up, she wasn’t sure that her legs were going to hold her, but she managed one step, then another, and finally broke into a run. The trip back to the main road happened in a blur of scary shadows and terrifying noises, and she could barely breathe when she finally made it to her car. Jumping inside, she hit the lock button, then sat there trembling and shaking for a long time, both from the cold and the fear that was still coursing through her body.
It took a long time before she could tear her eyes away from the side road that led to the little cabin, but she finally managed to calm down enough to realize that she was dangerously cold. Turning awkwardly in the front seat, not about to get out of the car, she managed to wrangle her emergency kit from the floorboard, sighing with relief when she zipped the bag open and saw the fluffy blanket right on top. When her father had insisted, she put it in her car on her last visit home, she’d done it just to please him, but now she was nothing but grateful for his overprotectiveness.
Wrapping herself up in the blanket while still sitting in the driver’s seat was no easy feat, but once she was finally cocooned in the warmth and softness she instantly felt better. She sat shivering for a few minutes, feeling sorry for herself and warily keeping an eye on the dirt road, trying not to think about the thing she’d seen in the sky and wondering if she should report it if she ever got back to civilization. Thinking about her tiny apartment and her nice warm bed made tears spring to her eyes, and she forced herself to push away the thought that she might never get back there.
Noticing her cell phone sitting on the seat next to her, she stuck one arm out, then pulled it back under the blanket and turned it on, hoping to see a few bars. Huddled under theblanket, she watched as the phone powered up, holding her breath, her eyes glued to the top corner of the screen. When the icon popped up telling her she didn’t have any service, she moaned, threw her head back against the seat, and closed her eyes, fighting the sobs that were building up deep in her chest.
She was going to freeze to death out here waiting for someone to come along and help her, even worse, there was a strange creature flying around, a fierce-looking thing that could devour her in one bite. Feeling like a sitting duck, not sure what she’d do if the thing came looking for her, she huddled under the blanket, eyes scanning not only the forest but the sky. It wasn’t long before the stress of the night began to wear on her, and her eyelids grew heavy. She fought for as long as she could, but eventually, sleep won, and she drifted off, leaving the fear behind in the peace of slumber.
CHAPTER 2
***RYAN***
By the time Ryan made it back to the cabin, Marcus had Thomas well in hand and finally convinced him to make the shift so that he could heal. He should have been relieved like the rest of his friends, but the woman in the woods was firmly planted in his mind. There was no doubt at all that she’d seen Marcus flying above their heads; the way she’d thrown herself under the tree made that obvious. He knew that the clan would expect him to tell someone that she’d been there, but he had a bad feeling about what might happen to her if he exposed her.
He'd heard stories about what happened to humans who found out about shifters; they were never pretty and didn’t end well. Even though he didn’t know the woman, he wouldn’t want anything to happen to her. It wasn’t her fault that she’d seen Marcus; it was a reckless choice to be flying around in his dragon form. She shouldn’t be punished for his mistakes. Deciding right then that he wasn’t going to let anything happen to her, he walked over to Aaron, already working on the lie he would tell in his head.
“What took you so long?” Aaron demanded. “You’ve been gone forever, and it’s freezing out here.”
“I spotted a woman coming up the road on my way back,” he said. “Her car ran out of gas and she saw the cabin light and came looking for help.”
“Shit, did she see anything?” Aaron asked, looking down the road. “I knew it was a mistake when I saw Marcus flying in here.”
“He was already here when I ran into her,” he lied. “We’re in the clear, but I promised her that I’d bring her some gas when I sent her back to her car. I thought that was the quickest way to get rid of her.”
Aaron sighed with relief. “That was smart, I hate to think what might happen if she saw Marcus and he found out,” he said with a shiver. “I’ve heard stories…”
“Yeah, me too, so I’d better get going,” he said, cutting his friend off. “She might decide to come looking for me if I take too long.”
“Right, we just have to find you some gas,” Aaron said, then pointed to a small building behind the cabin. “Maybe there’s some in that shed.”
“Good idea,” he said, already heading that way. “I’ll go take a look.”
There was a gas can sitting on a shelf right where he could see it, and even better, it was completely full when he picked it up. If he was lucky, he’d get the woman out of there before anyone else found out about her. Sticking to the shadows, he quickly made his way back to Aaron, hoping no one spotted him, then set the can down behind a rock to hide it.
