Snow fell softly all around, and the forest remained nearly silent save for the hush-hush of their boots through the deepening snow. Logan glanced back as Atticus muttered under his breath; the youngest Chase pulled the sledge so they could retrieve the perfect Christmas tree, but that didn't mean Atticus stayed quiet about it. Logan frowned and turned his attention back to searching the trees for the perfect specimen. It was their first Christmas together as a family with all of their mates, and he wanted a perfect holiday for Natalia.
"What about that one?" Benedict, shivering despite his parka and gloves, flapped his hand in the general direction of half the forest.
"Which one?"
"Any one," he said. "We've been out here for three hours already, we're at least five miles from the truck, and you haven't liked a single tree. It's a tree, man."
"It has to be perfect." Logan ignored whatever else the lawyer added and glanced at Carter. "Do you see one?"
"Looks like there are more Douglas firs up there." Carter, zen as usual, only nodded to a dense part of the forest to the west. "But they look an awful lot like the last stand of Douglas firs we passed. Two miles back."
"When the hell did all of you get so soft? Jesus." Logan scowled as he strode toward the fir trees. "Suck it up, buttercup. It's just a little snow."
"At least two feet have fallen since we started walking," Atticus said, close to a grumble. When Logan looked back to chew him out, the youngest Chase raised his hands. "I'm just sayin', man. Just pointing out a meteorological fact."
Before Logan could question Atticus's qualifications as weatherman, Sophia bounded up. In her snow leopard form, she was probably the only one on the trek to enjoy the weather and the trees. She leapt and hit Atticus dead in the chest with all four paws, and they both tumbled into a deep drift. Atticus howled about snow down his shirt but Logan could hear the fool purring from at least six feet away.
Benedict took the opportunity to sit down on the sledge while Atticus dug himself out of the snow and Sophia stalked an unwitting Carter. Edgar watched with raised eyebrows but spoke to Logan. "You know Nat will be happy with whatever tree you pick, brother."
"It has to be perfect."
"Why?" Edgar winced as Sophia made an adorable leopard chirp and knocked Carter's legs out from under him, then raced away through the snow.
Logan started walking away, shaking his head. "It just has to be."
Atticus sprawled in the snow and waved them on. "I'll just wait here for a second. Catch my breath."
Edgar snorted as Benedict lay back on the hard wooden boards of the sledge and pulled his hat low over his face. The lawyer shivered for dramatic effect. "Me too. We'll catch up."
Logan didn't bother looking back at them, eyes on the prize. A beautiful fir tree up ahead caught his attention. It was at least twelve feet tall, with strong branches and good green coverage all over. No bald spots. No visible bird nests or other woodland creatures. He started to shout at Atticus to get the axes over there when Sophia made a questioning noise, part meow and part chirp, from the next stand of trees. Logan ignored her. Probably just a rabbit or someone else to knock down.
Until she did it again, louder and with more urgency. Logan turned in time to see Atticus shoot up out of the snow and race to where she waited, crouched low on her belly and staring at the base of a wide tree. When his younger brother got here, Atticus cursed, then shouted at them to get the hell over there. Logan's heart sank. Not what he wanted to hear on a simple Christmas tree chopping trip.
Carter beat him over there, and when he turned, the calm brother's face had drained of all color. Logan held his breath, then blinked as Carter handed him a shivering, shaking wolf cub. He couldn't speak. Couldn't think. Just stared at the small thing in his hands, cold and barely breathing. Ribs showing. Weak and not even fighting as it was separated from the two other cubs that Atticus pulled from a small hollow in the tree trunk.
Logan immediately unzipped his heavy coat and put the cub against his skin, hoping his body warmth and the insulation of the coat would at least keep the little thing alive. "What the hell?"
"No normal wolf would put its cubs here," Carter said, grim. He gently chafed the small body he held, trying to warm it, and looked around the silent forest. "No paw prints in the snow, either. Just boots."
"Snow's been falling," Atticus muttered, still crouching so Sophia could lick and groom the littlest of the three cubs. "Could have hidden the tracks, but I think you're right. They're not just wolf cubs."
Logan knew it, too, the moment he took a good whiff of the little beast. Shifter kids, definitely, and abandoned alone in a forest. Exposed to the elements to die. Slow rage burned in his chest, growing brighter. By their size, they were probably around four or five years old, but could have been older if they were runts. None looked particularly well-fed or cared for. And there was no telling how or why they got stuck in wolf form. Most shifter kids didn't transform until puberty, when they were a little easier to guide and instruct. It happened, of course, that some little ones shifted, but parents or an alpha could force them back to human. Abandoning them in animal form might have been easier for whatever cold-hearted bastard wanted them dead, but that didn't mean the kids didn't know what happened.
He felt the little one's heartbeat against his chest, a little stronger, and thought of his own child. His little one, growing in Natalia's stomach, and the idea of any child being treated as callously as the three wolf cubs made his lion growl. Logan ground his teeth to keep from roaring and started giving instructions. "Carter, mark that twelve foot fir over there and send a team later this afternoon to cut it down and bring it back to the house. Benedict, call Kaiser and have him send Owen with his medical supplies to meet us at the trucks. Sophia, get on the sledge and keep the babies warm. We'll build you a nest."
The snow leopard hopped onto the tarps they had to wrap up the tree and waited for the brothers to shed their coats and clothes to build a massive soft pile. Logan and Atticus wrapped each cub in layers of garments to keep them warm. Once Benedict finished up his call, they all shifted to lion form. They could travel faster that way, and they were definitely more than five miles from the cars and heaters and everything they would need to save the little ones. Speed mattered more than anything else. He roared, furious, and Sophia gave him a dirty look from the sledge as one of the cubs whimpered.
Atticus grabbed the rope to drag the sledge with his mouth, and they raced through the silent trees and falling snow to save the three gray cubs. Logan's desire for vengeance increased more as each paw bit into the earth, and another roar shook the trees. He hoped the perpetrators, whoever they were, heard him. Heard him and knew that they'd just made enemies of the Chase family.
Read the rest of the Chase family Christmas adventures here!