CACEY
I jabbed Anja’s number into my cell phone and paced in the kitchen, one arm clutched around my stomach. I had to tell Anja I was headed there for my daughter and, most importantly, to keep her safe until I got there. “Come on, pick up.”
A beeping sound screeched through the earpiece. The connection broke.
“No. No. No.” Tension grew in my limbs and neck, my mind replaying the scenario of Daan’s goon kidnapping Tianna. I strained for each breath as a primal urge to run out of the house and straight for Anja’s jolted within me.
Fuckin’ storm. “What am I supposed to do now?” An invisible hand squeezed my chest. What if the stranger had already taken Tianna? Bile rose in the back of my throat. I stared at the bag filled with the bare necessities—clothes, ration of food, photos, and two of Tianna’s plush wolf toys. I’d need to hire a truck to haul the rest of our things. We’d start fresh elsewhere. Then why did it feel as if my heart struggled to keep a steady beat? Susi had become home, the pack my family. My insides were raw as if the outside storm blew right through me.
A lashing of winds swept into the cabin, throttling the place. My nerves pinched at the thought of going outside. I’d get blown away. The niggling sensation deep in my gut reminded me how perfect the last eight months had been. How welcoming the pack was. How my medical training had helped the young and elderly. Was I ready to give that up?
I hiccupped the next inhale. Tianna was counting down the days to having a real Christmas for the first time in her life. Wulfkin didn’t celebrate human holidays. But from the moment Tianna discovered that this pack celebrated Christmas, she made me promise we’d stay. I had even promised to make her a stocking this year, which was half done and hidden in the nightstand. Every day, she marked off the days in December, announcing gleefully the remaining count. How could I snuff away her dreams? The worst part wasn’t leaving a pack I considered my family, or abandoning our home, but that I’d shatter an eight-year-old’s heart in the process. My eyes prickled, but I pushed those emotions behind the potential tears away. No time to fall apart. The priority was making sure Tianna remained safe.
Next to the kitchen, the French doors rattled on their hinges. In the backyard, the snow was a white sheet with mounting piles of powdery flakes collecting on the veranda. The outside walls groaned.
I scrunched my nose from the pungent stink of mildew and wet dog fur wafting through the house. A gap in the basement foundation had caused dampness there for months, releasing all sorts of reeks. But I supposed that was no longer my problem.
Trudging through the storm for several hours to reach Tianna concerned me. And once I had her safely in my care, how far would we get before we turned into icicles? As a wulfkin, I could transform and withstand the weather, but Tianna was still a moonwulf. Without a full moon, she couldn’t shift. In her human form, she’d freeze to death.
I paced from the fireplace to the kitchen, fingers digging into my hips.
If I trekked to Anja’s house in wolf form, I’d end up frozen in the woods, and then Tianna would be alone.
A forceful knock resonated from the front door, startling me from my thoughts.
I flinched. The whole house creaked, trees swished, branches grating against the roof. “Calm down, it’s just the weather,” I said out loud to no one while releasing a long breath.
When another knock came, this time, louder, I shuddered. Someone was at the front door. Not my imagination. My breaths turned to pants as a cold sweat beaded down my back.
The stranger. He must have followed me home, hoping to find Tianna. I backtracked into the kitchen and grabbed a knife. My wolf nipped beneath my skin, desperate for release to protect us with every fiber of her being. Still, my adrenaline flew through my veins, but I couldn’t move a single muscle.
Another knock echoed through me, and I fumbled with the knife to stop it from falling out of my grasp. I inched closer, and goose bumps littered my skin. The guy I’d seen near the general store was huge. No way I could take him down, even in my wolf form, and that terrified the crap out of me. Who would protect Tianna if I were knocked out? Or worse. I swallowed.
Pull it together. Don’t show fear.
I should have left Daan years ago, but when he lashed out at Tianna in his drunken state and I blocked his attack, that was the wake-up call I needed to leave. That was when he threatened to take Tianna away from me. For so long, I stayed to give my daughter a two-parent family. Worst mistake I’d ever made.
Reaching for the bolt lock, I asked, “Who is it?” My voice failed me, sounding weak-assed and shaky. I cursed myself.
A male voice responded, but with the storm’s tremendous roaring, the words were muffled. I clasped the knife with a death grip, figuring it was better to face the guy without Tianna here. Then I would try to steer him away, giving us time to escape.
Finding my backbone, I ripped open the door and thrust out the knife in an attack posture. The air jerked out of my lungs at the sight of the stranger from town, and my heart raced. Shit, shit, shit. I’d been right. Daan had sent this guy, and my daughter would be ripped from me. All I wanted to do was curl into a ball and pretend this wasn’t happening.
His deep midnight eyes locked onto mine. His cheeks and nose glowed red. His body curled forward. Layers of snow covered his shoulders and head. In his arms, he held a limp, white fox.
Stunned, I stood there, immobile. What was he doing?
The softness and desperation behind his gaze had my inner wolf reacting with a whimper, not a growl, the kind she only offered wulfkin she befriended. Or was she sensing the fox—a meal?
“What do you want?” I demanded.
Wind whistled around the stranger and into the house. His quivering intensified, and I tried to ignore the enticing musk reaching me, teasing my senses.
His lips had turned white, and his teeth chattered. “I-If you’re going to s-stab me, do it fast.”
“Why are you here?” I waved my knife at the fox. “What’s that for?” Was he thinking I’d lower my guard because of the animal? To distract me?
“I . . . I’ve lost feeling in my body, can I . . . I come in?”
“No!” Could I live with myself if he froze to death on my front porch? If it kept Tianna safe . . . hell yes. “What do you want?”
He stepped closer, his gaze bouncing over my shoulder. Was he searching to see if anyone else was home? Like a boyfriend he might have to fight? Or Tianna—which meant he didn’t know she wasn’t here. One small thing in my favor.
I held my ground, gripping the knife between us, yet it felt as if someone choked me. “You’re living dangerously.” I raised my blade.
He released a longer breath, and half stumbled on his feet. His shoulder leaned against the doorframe as if exhaustion had worn him out.
“Speak fast.” An avalanche wouldn’t drive me back or let him cross the threshold.
Except, when he straightened, his eyes rolled backward. His arms dipped with the fox tumbling from his hold.
I stepped closer and caught the largest Arctic fox I’d ever seen with one arm.
The stranger’s knees buckled, toppling him forward.
I jumped backward as he crashed face first into the rug and lay there. Was he dead?
The unconscious fox remained in my arms, while my head spun with confusion. “Why carry a fox?”