Laurie's Wolves (3 page)

His eyes were a deep brown she could get lost in, and she already had several times. Every time she met his gaze and held it, she lost a few of his words as she melted into him.

As he disappeared from sight, she sighed again. It wasn’t as though this possibility hadn’t occurred to her. She’d considered the idea last night before she went to bed. After all, two of her siblings had mated with two of his. It wasn’t farfetched to think she might be destined to mate with either him or his younger brother, Logan.

Not farfetched, but shocking.

She glanced around for the millionth time. Who was their third? And did they need to wait for him to join them before they got too carried away?

There wasn’t exactly a manual on the topic of threesomes among the wolf population. It was rare. And rarer was meeting only one of them and knowing there was a third out there somewhere.

She couldn’t explain how she knew. It was more than just the knowledge that Zach was destined to mate with two others. She instinctively understood deep inside that they weren’t quite whole.

She tried to pretend to herself she wasn’t looking around for another man and instead concentrated on the décor. The upper lodge was similar to the lower one in style—same log cabin feel. It was much smaller, and the dining area was more of a focal point than the fireplace. It was still surrounded with couches for skiers to rest on and enjoy their stay, but not as many people would be hanging around this lodge farther up the mountain without a purpose. Eat. Ski.

“Whatcha thinkin’?” Zach asked as he slid back into the seat next to her. He set down a tray laden with far more food than they could possibly consume. Then again, Zach was a big guy who worked hard on the slopes every day. He could probably eat all of that food and then some.

She reached for a fry and chomped into it before she answered. “Probably the same thing you are.”

He nodded. “Yeah. It’s pretty hard to ignore. It should seem weird to me that you’re glancing around scoping out every man who passes. I should be jealous or something. But how can I be when I’m doing the same thing?” He chuckled and handed her a bottle of water. “I wasn’t sure what you liked to drink, but when you’ve been skiing all day, you need less caffeine and more water.”

“Thanks.” She took it from him and twisted off the cap. “Aren’t you a little freaked out by all this? I feel like I’m constantly looking around trying to find him.”

He opened a burger next and held it up with a questioning look. “My gut tells me he isn’t in this room. In fact, he isn’t on the slopes either.”

“Really? How do you know?”

He shrugged. “I don’t. Just my instinct.” He glanced past her and cringed.

“What?”

He gave a wry grin. “Just hoping it isn’t the guy heading our way. Don’t care for him.”

Laurie twisted in her seat and watched as a man in an orange vest with the resort logo on it made his way to their table. She hoped it wasn’t him either. He had a cocky look on his face.

And sure enough, fitting his expression, the first words out of his mouth weren’t particularly polite. “Slacking today, Masters?”

Zach stiffened next to her, though she doubted the other man knew it. “Yep. Like every day.” He didn’t bother to give the man the satisfaction of arguing.

Even though she’d known Zach for only a few hours, she already surmised he was a hard worker with abundant energy. She set her hand on his thigh under the table and squeezed.

The blond man set his palm on their table and leaned too close to her. “New girlfriend?” he asked without taking his steely gaze off her.

She shivered. Nope. She didn’t like this guy any more than Zach appeared to. Thank God he wasn’t their third. He also wasn’t lupine. Not that it mattered. Plenty of wolves mated with humans. Just not this one. He gave her the creeps.

“What did you need, Brock?” Zach didn’t bother answering the man’s question.

“Nothing. I just wanted to come over and say ‘hi.’” He kept his gaze on Laurie. “I’m Brock. You are…?”

Laurie stared at his eyes for a moment, the ones ogling her chest. Finally, she managed to pull together enough civility to respond. “Like you said, I’m the new girlfriend.” She didn’t flinch as she spoke. Hopefully, Zach wouldn’t care about her response.

Apparently not. He chuckled and covered her hand with his on his thigh.

Brock laughed. “Fine. I gotta run. I’ll see you later. Maybe you’ll help out on the slopes this afternoon, Masters?”

“Nope. But I bet you’ll find Logan out there if you need someone else to harass.” Zach released her hand and tugged the tray of food closer. He didn’t lift his gaze back to meet Brock’s as he opened more containers and revealed onion rings, chili, another burger, and nachos. Way too much food.

Brock turned and left them finally.

“I see what you mean. Nice guy,” she said sarcastically.

“Oh yeah. He’s a bundle of fun times.” Zach stuffed a fry in his mouth and grabbed the catsup from the table. “Unfortunately, he’s also an amazing instructor and incredibly calm under tense situations when someone is injured on the slopes. It’s tough to hire enough guys with those skills. Otherwise, I’d fire his cocky ass in a minute.”

“Bummer.”

“Yeah. This isn’t Colorado. We’re in Montana. Good ski instructors living in the area or willing to come out here each season are rare.”

Laurie picked up her cheeseburger and took a huge bite, moaning around the taste.

Zach laughed.

“What?” she asked around her full mouth, covering her lips with her hand.

“You must be starving, because I know the burger isn’t that good.”

He was right. She was indeed famished. And she had a feeling she would need fuel for whatever crazy ski slope he intended to take her on next.

“You sure about this?” Laurie asked as she pulled her gloves on and stared down the mountain at the hill Zach was intent on taking. They were significantly higher up the mountain this time, and on the west side.

“You’ll be fine. You’re practically a pro by now.”

Laurie wasn’t nearly as confident as he was. And she lifted her gaze toward the sky for the third time in as many minutes.

The day had been clear until then, not a single cloud. The forecast had shown blue skies all day. But Laurie sensed unsettled weather coming in. “I think it’s going to snow.”

Zach scrunched up his face. “Really? It’s not supposed to.” He gazed at the sky.

“Can’t explain it. But my instinct tells me it’s going to storm.”

“Do you usually predict weather?” He lowered his face to hers, concern etched on his forehead. At least he wasn’t making light of her quirkiness.

“I’ve always been a bit in touch with Nature, but I will admit it has increased since I arrived here.” Kind of made her uneasy too. It had only been four days. Could she really tap into skills from her Native American half that quickly?

“I’m not going to doubt you. I’ve heard what Melinda can do. That woman is amazing.”

“Well, don’t get carried away. I’m not Melinda. And I have no idea what dormant abilities I might have, but sensing a change in the weather isn’t really an anomaly for me.”

“Hang on a sec. Don’t move.” Zach turned around and maneuvered his way back to the stand at the top of the lift. He spoke to one of the employees who looked up at the sky and shook his head.

While she watched, Zach pulled out his cell phone and tapped a few things on the screen and then held it up for the man to see. The guy’s eyes went wide. He turned back around, stepped into the stand, and picked up a walkie talkie.

Zach made his way back toward Laurie.

“What was that all about?” She could easily guess, but she wanted to hear what he had to say.

“You’re right. A storm developed just east of here, and it’s moving fast. Looks like it might pack a punch.”

She cringed. It was one thing to sense when it would snow or rain, but it was an entirely different thing to have it be so accurate and unexpected.

“Let’s get going.” He lifted his head again as the snow started to fall. “Geez, woman.”

She shook her head. “You think I’m causing the weather?”

He chuckled. “Of course not. I’m just impressed with your precognition.”

“Anybody can do that,” she mumbled, though she knew it wasn’t true. At least not to the accuracy she could provide.

“You lead.” Zach pointed down the slope.

It was steeper than anything she’d been on that morning, and her confidence fled. “Zach…”

“Don’t think about it. You were doing a marvelous job. I know you can do it. Same rules apply. Make wide zigzags back and forth across the hill. We’re in no hurry. The steepness of the mountain doesn’t matter a bit. All it does is dictate how much of an angle you want to descend with.”

She nodded and took a deep breath. She needed to get a move on before the snow blinded them. Already it was coming down faster. She lowered her goggles over her eyes and glanced at the lift. It was empty. At some point they must have stopped letting people ascend.

Great. A storm puts a halt to the skiers while the new girl is on the top of the mountain
.

Taking Zach’s advice, she headed to the right, keeping her skis aligned and making a wide line across the slope until she reached the tree line. Using the maneuver he’d taught her all morning, she made the sharp turn, putting most of her weight on her outer foot while lifting her inside foot just enough to keep her skis aligned. She leaned her body uphill.
Easy peasy
.

She wove back across the mountain to the other side of the slope aware of two things—Zach was right behind her, and she’d made very little progress downward. If she wanted to get to the bottom before being buried in a blizzard, she needed to pick up the pace, allow for a slightly less conservative angle, and make faster turns.

On the next turn, she lined the skis slightly more toward the bottom of the slope, immediately picking up speed. It was invigorating and scary at the same time. She survived the turn and two more just like it, proud of herself for how quickly she’d picked up this sport. She even enjoyed it.

Perhaps she got too cocky. On the next straight line, she closed her eyes for a brief moment to enjoy the wind blowing across her face and the snow pelting her. When she blinked them open, the most ridiculous ominous cloud loomed in front of her.

She blinked several times, hoping her eyes were deceiving her. But the cloud continued to coalesce inside the tree line. It wouldn’t have caused so much angst if it hadn’t been black—and freaky.

It floated her direction. She twisted her head around to see if Zach was in sight. Hopefully he saw the same thing and she hadn’t lost her mind. For a second, she couldn’t see him. And then she realized he was several yards up the mountain, but his attention was on the sky.

She whipped her head back to front and completely lost her balance as the strange cloud bore down on her, coming toward her with the same speed she careened toward it.

She had no chance to consider turning when she hit the edge of the slope. Instead she plowed off the path and lost control of her actions between the trees.

She screamed, dropped her poles, and threw her arms up to protect her face as she totally lost her wits and plowed deeper into the forest, wondering how on earth she managed to keep upright.

Finally, she hit something with her left ski and tumbled forward. Both skis separated from her ski boots, just as Zach had said would happen in an emergency. She tumbled head over heels for several more yards until she finally came to a stop right in front of a huge trunk and flopped down on her back.

Her heart pounded. She breathed so heavily she couldn’t speak. She blinked up at the sky, trying to assess if she was injured.

“Jesus, Laurie. Are you okay?” Zach leaned over her, blocking the falling snow.

She wondered how he got to her so fast. It could have only been moments. Then again, he was an experienced skier. He could easily weave through the trees and keep up.

“Laurie…” He set his hands on both sides of her face. “Does anything hurt?”

She shook her head.

He held her face firmly. “Don’t move. You could have a broken neck.”

“I don’t h-have a b-broken neck,” she stuttered as the cold snow instantly lowered her body temperature. “Nothing hurts. I’m f-fine.”

He released her head and glanced down at her body. “Lift your arms for me.”

She did so.

“Now your feet.”

They felt like they weighed two hundred pounds each, but she did as he said.

That appeased him. He blew out a long breath. “I’m so sorry. I never should have brought you this high up the mountain so soon. It’s your first day.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her to sitting. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Zach, I’m fine.” She set a hand on his cheek. “Just freezing.” Her teeth chattered.

“Yeah. You’re soaked. Probably through your ski pants and jacket.” He looked around. “I’m going to find your skis and poles.”

She watched as he popped off his own skis and stabbed them into the snow upright beside her before climbing back through the path she’d cleared with her body. His poles lay abandoned next to her body.

“How far back do you think they snapped off?” he shouted from several yards away. It was growing difficult to converse with the snow now coming down in droves.

“I don’t know,” she yelled. She couldn’t process exactly when the skis had separated themselves from her boots. All she could remember was how relieved she’d been to know she wouldn’t clock herself in the head with them as she somersaulted.

Zach worked his way back and forth, digging in the snow and coming up empty.

Laurie sat huddled in her spot looking around. Her ass was freezing. Her entire body grew colder by the second. And she was drained of energy. She looked around and then pulled her foggy goggles off to see better. She couldn’t see any evidence of the ski slope they’d been on. How far off the path had she managed to go before coming to a stop?

Shit
.

The snow was switching to near-blizzard conditions. She angled her head and couldn’t hear anything around her. No other skiers.