“Okay,” Zane said, putting leftovers back in the pack. “We should head back, babe.”
“Oh, okay,” David said, disconsolately.
“Babe, not that I want to, believe me. But see those clouds over there?” Zane said, pointing over David’s shoulder.
Twisting around to see what his mate was pointing at, he said, “Yes, what about them?”
“If I’m not mistaken, there’s a storm heading our way and I want to make sure we’re back in our cottage before it hits,” Zane said, rising and pulling David up with him.
“Got it. Let’s go,” David said, trying to keep his growing fear at bay.
Zane heard the worry in his mate’s voice but it wasn’t the time to ask about it. The clouds were building by the minute. Taking David’s hand, Zane started back the way they’d come, only now, he set a faster pace. Keeping one eye on the fast approaching storm, he calculated they weren’t going to make it back in time. Stopping, he dug out the blanket and wrapped it around David. “Keep it tight around you, babe.”
“We aren’t going to make it, are we?” David said, his voice trembling.
“We’ll be fine. C’mon.” After hearing the unease in his mate’s voice, Zane walked faster, checking to make sure David was able to keep up. He was sure this was another first for his mate but he was intent on making it a good memory. After twenty minutes had passed, Zane admitted defeat. There wasn’t any rain yet, but a thick fog had enveloped them; he could barely see his feet much less the path. If he strayed from it, they’d be lost, with a very cold night approaching. He came to a halt.
“Why did you stop?”
“Babe, I’m going to shift and I want you to climb onto me and hang on. It’s the only way I can find our way back to Brian’s cabin.”
“I’m too big for you to carry me. Why don’t I pop us back to the cabin?”
“Can you do that?”
David looked around nervously, “I think so. I never did it in the fog before.”
“Why does it matter?”
“Uhm, it shouldn’t but I usually see where I’m landing. And I haven’t ever used it very much…until I met you.”
“Gotcha, so now’s not the time to experiment. From what I read, storms can come fast in the Highlands so let’s do it the tried and true way. And in answer to your other question, believe me, you’re not too big,” Zane said. “Babe, it’s the only way. I can’t see the path anymore but my wolf will be able to follow our scent and get us back to the cabin,” Zane said, pulling David close and hugging him. “Trust me?”
Shivering, David nodded, then watched as Zane stripped naked. The emotions stirring inside of him were unfamiliar but he knew he wanted to touch those muscles and feel the hardness under his fingers. Swallowing hard, he shifted his gaze away, unsure what it all meant. Listening as the sounds of shifting reached his ears, David swiveled his eyes back and gasped…in front of him was a huge, beautiful white wolf.
When Zane’s wolf lowered his head, David tentatively reached out to touch the soft fur between the ears, then buried his fingers in it. Lost in the sensation, it wasn’t until Zane’s wolf bumped him before lowering his front legs that David regained control of himself. After storing the blanket and Zane’s clothes in the backpack, David looped his arms through the straps and climbed onto his mate’s back.
Once David leaned forward, hugging his neck, Zane rose and, keeping his nose close to the ground, followed their scents until they reached the cabin. Once inside, Zane realized it was not a moment too soon; the weather had become so foul, he’d be hard pressed to see his hand infront of his face. Finding dry clothes for both of them, he started a fire to warm the cottage, then made a bed of blankets in front of the fireplace. After making sure David was comfortable, Zane hung their wet clothes around the room to dry.
“Zane, come sit down with me,” David said, patting the spot next to him.
“In a minute, babe, I’m just making us some hot tea,” Zane replied. When the teapot whistled, Zane poured the tea into two mugs and, handing his mate one of them, joined him on the blankets. Listening to the crackling and snapping of the fire, Zane smiled, thinking about the many camping trips he and his brothers had gone on. “Babe, did you ever go camping?”
“Do you mean in a tent?”
“Yeah.”
“No, never. Have you?”
“Lots of times with my brothers when I was younger. Maybe when we get back to California, we can go on a camping trip. It’ll be another first for you.”
David’s body stiffened at the mention of leaving Scotland. It wasn’t possible, not now, but how was he going to explain that to Zane.
Noticing his mate’s reaction, Zane figured it had to do with his secrets but the only way he could put his mate at ease was to get everything out in the open. Ignoring that for now, Zane began, “Babe, I have so much to tell you I just hope you’ll still want to claim me when I’m finished. No, don’t promise anything until you hear everything. Let’s see. I was the middle child in a big family…six siblings older and six younger…so it was always a struggle to get noticed.Thatsounds bad. What I meant was my father was always focused on Jackson because he was the oldest, so he spent a lot of time teaching him how to lead a pack. My mother spent a lot of time with my younger siblings, so I was free to do what I wanted…and that was computers. I spent hours in my room learning to code, and how to build my own computers so I could explore the web. I had web friends all over the world which struck me as so cool. Here I was, a skinny, gangly kid sitting in a house in California and I could talk to anyone I wanted to, any place in the world. It was mind boggling for a nine-year old kid. Every so often, my mother would kick me out of my room and make me go camping with my older brothers.”
“So that’s why you asked me about camping.”
“Yup. We had so much fun and I really got to know my other siblings in a way I couldn’t at home, except for Kota. I was always close to him.”
