The red haze colored the edges of my vision as I walked up the dock toward the cabin. I didn’t remember getting rid of my mug or grabbing the shotgun, but when the haze in my vision began to clear, I was well away from the cabin, gun in hand, all my senses alert, searching for an intruder.
When I’d patrolled the perimeter where she’d crossed onto my land last night, there’d been nothing except her tracks and scent. But I hadn’t been looking for anyone else.
I stopped where my motion sensors ran the edge of my property. Attached to some of the larger trees, they were solar powered and connected wirelessly to my computer back at the cabin. They also weren’t foolproof. Gaps existed, but animals wouldn’t notice them or try to get around the obvious pathways. Shifters might.
Crouching, I examined one small footprint set in perfect relief in the sand between two rocks. Brooke’s footprint. Because of the terrain, there wouldn’t be many, but there’d be some, like this one. Her scent had been stronger earlier and would eventually disappear except for where she touched trees and rocks. There wasn’t much I could do about it, but I could remove other traces of her.
Methodically, I erased her tracks, following along out of my land for a while. I made sure to leave my own. If there was a cougar shifter out there, I wanted him to damn well know he was crossing into some else’s territory.
If it had been her sister who had jumped out of the plane, would she have traveled in the same direction as Brooke? I was the only person for kilometers, the only cabin. If she’d gone another way, she’d be walking for a long time before she found anyone else. If she’d gone straight north…there was nothing. If south, then she’d get to civilization eventually, after days and days of walking. How long would the sister be able to survive on her own?
I could try to find her. Walk in the direction Brooke had come from and try to catch her scent. It would take a while. But with Brooke’s injured feet, she wouldn’t be able to come with me. I’d need to leave her at the cabin.
The thought of Brooke being on her own made my heart pump hard in my chest. I’d left her alone right now. A cougar shifter could have circled the lake in the other direction, and I wouldn’t have scented it.
I stopped and spun around, intent on returning to the cabin. The sudden urge to get back to her and make sure she was okay outweighed everything else. I stomped through the underbrush the way I’d come, leaving my scent and prints wherever I could, masking Brooke’s trail.
When I broke through the tree line near the cabin, my eyes went to the dock. She wasn’t there. My heart lurched into my throat, and I ran the rest of the way to the cabin. In my haste, the door swung open with a bang.
Brooke jumped and spun where she stood by the sink, one hand against her chest, the other holding a mug. Startled, wide eyes stared at me. Her chest rose and fell in gulping breaths.
I’d scared her for no reason. She was here. She was safe. And I was an ass. Turning away, I put the shotgun in the rack by the door, then ran a hand over my head. Until that moment, I hadn’t realized how long I’d let my hair grow. My hand stroked my beard. I hadn’t trimmed it in months.
When I turned around, Brooke still watched me, trapped in her wide-eyed stare. I didn’t know how to make the tension I’d created disappear. I didn’t want her to be scared of me. The thought made my stomach turn and brought about the memory of another set of eyes, those ones brown, staring at me in fear.
Maybe I should leave.The second I had the thought, I pushed it aside. I’d returned out of fear for her safety. Leaving would start the cycle all over again.
Carefully, so as not to startle her, I closed the door, needing to keep the ambient heat inside the cabin. The nights still became cold this time of year. As it was, I’d need to light the wood-burning stove for a while to replace what had already been lost. Brooke was a slight thing and probably couldn’t do the cold like me, especially in her meager outfit.
We stood that way, watching each other until she lifted the mug and gestured to the sink. “How do I get hot water?”
6
BROOKE
He shookhis head at me.
My stomach did a little flip in my belly, and I pressed my lips together. I was starting to get tired of the head shaking. Whenever I asked a question, Kane would say no.
What did that “no” mean? There was no hot water? I wasn’t allowed hot water? All I’d wanted to do was wash the dirty mugs, but no matter which tap I turned, only freezing water came out.
But I was glad he was back. He’d been gone so long I’d begun to worry. I couldn’t stop my mind from racing with scenarios. What if he’d encountered one of the men from the plane? What if it was the cougar shifter, and the cougar attacked and won? What would I have done if a cougar had burst through the door instead of Kane?
I swallowed my fear. None of those things had happened. “Did you find anything?”
Another shake of his head as he strode toward me. I couldn’t stop myself from tensing further. He was so big compared to me, bigger than either of those guys on the plane. To keep the weight off my injured foot, I leaned against the counter, but slid away when he drew near. My ankle twinged, and I bit my lip to keep from wincing. He didn’t look at me as he filled the kettle, then set in its base. A flick of the switch on its side turned it on.
“That’s it?” I asked, looking up at him, a bit of panic rising in me. “That’s the only way you get hot water here?” This close to him, it was hard not to stare at the ridged scars hidden beneath his beard. How did he get them? Why hadn’t they healed when he shifted?
In answer to my question, his lips twitched, and he shook his head slightly. After a hesitation, he walked away from me, opened the door, and strode outside with purpose.
Staring at the closed door, I gripped the countertop. I was starting to worry about the amenities of this place. If there wasn’t any hot water, that meant no hot showers. I wouldn’t consider myself high maintenance, but I had standards.
At least the cabin was wired for electricity. I’d noticed three outlets already, one here, one near the desk, and one by the dresser where the lamp was plugged in. There were also two overhead lights, one above the bed area and one between the kitchen counters and the dining table. When I’d taken my trip around the cabin, I’d noticed there weren’t any power lines. But when I’d hobbled up the dock, I’d taken note of the solar panels on the roof. Was that the only source of power here? Did he store the power in batteries somewhere? I didn’t know much about solar power.
I stared after Kane, the dirty coffee mug clutched in my hands, and remained that way until I heard him on the other side of the cabin. Shuffling to the side, I watched him out of the window beside the fireplace.
I’d noticed two other small buildings on my tour outside. One looked like a shed, and I assumed it held tools and the like. The other was set in the ground, its door at a forty-five-degree angle like a storm shelter. Both were padlocked. I’d had visions of dead bodies in that underground room. Now I thought it probably held food. There was no fridge in the cabin.
