Hour of the Lion (The Wild Hunt Legacy #1) (20 page)

An authentic, one-room cabin with a fireplace on the far wall, wood and kindling next to it. A

rough-hewn table and stump chairs on the left. Pots and pans hung from nails, and dishes were

stacked on a rustic shelf. Wooden bins were built into each wall.

Alec set the lantern on the table and started building a fire. He nodded at the bin. ―There‘s

blankets and some sleeping pads in the box. Why don‘t you haul them out? Put them here in

front of the fireplace.‖

Wool blankets, foam pads, quilts. By the time she‘d piled them in the center of the room, the

fire blazed with enough heat to make her numbed fingers tingle.

Alec set a snow-filled pot on the grill, then rummaged through a metal-lined bin filled with

canned foods and freeze-dried meals. A few minutes later, they had mugs of hot chocolate.

―Nice place,‖ Vicki murmured, risking her lips to sip the scalding chocolate. She swallowed

and closed her eyes to savor the sensation of heat bursting inside her.

Alec toasted her with his mug and a smile. ―We keep it stocked for emergencies like this,

and for shifters who get hurt and can‘t make it back to town.‖

He added another log to the fire and settled onto the pile of blankets. ―Whoever uses the

place reports to Calum, and he sends up whatever is needed to restock it.‖

―Carry supplies up that mountain?‖

―That‘s why Herne invented teenagers.‖

She snorted a laugh and settled herself in the other blanket pile. The shivers had lessened,

and she gazed sleepily around the room. ―No windows?‖

He shook his head. ―Prevents any telltale glow at night. There‘s enough trees overhead to

disperse most of the smoke, and as you saw, getting here isn‘t for the faint of heart.‖

―No shit.‖ Two narrow ledges, hopping from stone to stone across creeks. ―Were you

following a path?‖

―A variety of animal trails. We never use the same one twice, and if one starts looking too

obvious, it‘s abandoned for a season or two.‖

―How can you tell if someone‘s used a trail recently?‖

He tapped his nose. ―People leave a scent.‖

―Even in person form, you have cat eyes and noses, huh?‖ She frowned remembering Jamie

tripping over a bottle in the dark parking lot. ―Jamie doesn‘t see well at night.‖

―Not yet. After her first trawsfur, she will. And as she spends time in animal form, the more

she‘ll acquire animal senses.‖ He grinned. ―There are theories about why. Personally, I think we

get used to seeing at night and using our noses, and our human bodies adjust.‖

―Huh.‖ Her eyes drooped, and she jerked her head up as she realized she was nodding.

Alec took the cup from her hand. ―Go ahead and sleep. You‘re safe now, Vixen.‖

Safe? The man was out of touch with reality. The world held no safety. As her eyes closed,

she felt a blanket being tucked around her.

The next day, Thorson heard footsteps approaching Calum‘s guest room—well, his room for

the moment. He looked up gratefully, needing a diversion from his worries. For once, reading

wasn‘t working.

―You are quite the stubborn bastard, you know,‖ Calum remarked as he pulled a chair closer

to the bed. ―Why not stay in hospital? You have enough control to not trawsfur when you‘re

hurting.‖

Thorson marked his place in the book and set it down. ―Only way a hospital keeps me is if

I‘m unconscious.‖

―If I had known what it would take, I would have arranged it,‖ Calum said drily.

Thorson barked a laugh. ―Wouldn‘t put it past you.‖ A gust of wind hurled spatters of snow

against the window, and he frowned as worry stewed in his head. The storm that had settled over

the mountains yesterday showed no signs of easing. ―You think they‘re okay?‖

Calum followed his gaze, mirrored his frown. ―Alec is strong.‖ His words were clipped with

concern.

―You‘re worried about something though.‖

―About your attackers. Bugger the bastards.‖ Calum rose and paced across the room. ―I had

the deputy take fingerprints before disposing of the bodies. The prints didn‘t show up in the

databases that Alec has, so I sent them to Tynan. His contacts can run the information through

the various agencies.‖

―Sounds slow.‖

―Too slow.‖ Calum steepled his fingers. ―Victoria suggested we use her for bait—see if we

could draw them in and this time, keep one alive.‖ He frowned at Thorson. ―You and Victoria

are too efficient at killing.‖

Thorson ignored the compliment. ―You‘re not going to use a female as bait.‖

―No. I refused. So we‘ll keep her safe, and I‘ll wait for Tynan‘s ID and follow it up the

line.‖

Thorson rubbed a finger across his book‘s leather binding. ―This is senseless. If they wanted

to kill a witness, they‘d have sent an assassin, not a team to capture her.‖

―Aye. But they had Lachlan bite her. They probably expect her to turn into one of us.‖

―Maybe we should hand her over and deflate that notion,‖ Thorson said, knowing they‘d do

nothing of the sort.

Calum‘s lips curled into a thin smile. ―Indeed. And by handing her over, we might decrease

their numbers by a significant amount.‖

―There‘s an idea. She‘s a deadly little female, isn‘t she?‖

―What was she doing in your store anyway?‖ Calum asked, gazing out the window at the

falling snow. ―I thought she was leaving.‖

―Came to say goodbye.‖ A pang shot through Thorson‘s heart as he remembered the

glimmer of tears in her eyes. ―Seemed to think she was letting Lachlan down. Apparently he‘d

told her...‖ He closed his eyes, searching for her words, “„Tell Grandpa I gifted you...and you‟re my gift‟”

Calum spun around. ― „Tell Grandpa I gifted you‟ He said that just before he died?‖

―That‘s what she—‖ Thorson halted as the words took on a different meaning. He pulled in

a shocked breath. ―Could the boy have performed the Death Gift?‖

Silence. After a minute, Calum rubbed his face wearily. ―She said he got confused at the end

and was babbling. But the ritual to an outsider might seem—‖

Thorson finished. ―Like the lad was out of his head. Earth, Air, Fire, Water. You think she‘s one of us?‖

―If she is, she‘s hiding it well. The little female appears to have more secrets than a pixie has

winter stores. I believe it is time to unearth some of those acorns.‖

* * *

Vic blinked awake and assessed the situation. No gunfire. No murmur of voices. Soft

blankets under her, more piled on top, and only her nose exposed. All warm and snuggly. Her

muscles ached slightly from the hike, but a good ache, as after a hard P.T.

And hey, she was still on this earth. There was no feeling like that in the world. Knowing

she could have been snuffed out yesterday, but through skill and muscle and courage, she‘d won.

Yea though I walk through the Valley of Death, I shall fear no evil, for I am the baddest M-F in

the valley. She grinned, stretched, the joy of being alive singing in her like a ripple of music, and she wanted to share the song.

It just happened she knew a really good way to celebrate life...

Alec lay beside her, stretched out on his back under his own bunch of covers. He‘d

obviously tended the fire during the night—a big log burned cheerfully on a pile of glowing

coals, and the cabin felt warm enough to slide out from her blankets and under the ones next to

her. Alec‘s covers.

Deeply asleep, he didn‘t move as she snuggled up beside him and laid her head on his

shoulder. He‘d discarded his jacket and wore only a flannel shirt. The buttons slipped easily out

of the holes. Yeah, he really had a great chest. She ran her fingers over the hard planes, traced

out the six-pack ridges of muscle on his abdomen, and followed the thin line of hair down his

lower stomach. Halleluiah, he was fully erect and rock-hard.

―Good morning,‖ she breathed out and tipped her face up to nibble at his chin.

―Mmmmh.‖ He rolled over, flattening her under him. He smelled absolutely incredible, like

the deep forest with a masculine musk all his own. She could probably tell him and Calum apart

just by scent. Weird.

He nuzzled the hollow below her ear and purred his pleasure when she spread her legs to

cradle him. ―I can smell your arousal,‖ he murmured, his breath warm against her cheek. His

hand pressed her pussy, and a searing jolt of heat made her hips lift. ―I am going to…‖ He

stopped, his muscles tightening under her fingers. ―No. I‘m not.‖

―What?‖ She rubbed her breasts against his chest and heard his breathing stop.

―By Herne, I want you, Vixen,‖ he muttered. He kissed her, long and slow and deep. But

then, with a low curse, he pushed himself away and stood up.

She stared up at him. What had just happened?

―Listen, Vix.‖ He put a hand on her shoulder.

―Nah.‖ Obviously he didn‘t feel the same as she did. Fine. The ache of his rejection hurt

though, and she turned her face away so he couldn‘t see. ―No worries. I just woke up feeling

horny. No big deal.‖

―Uh-huh.‖ He knelt on one knee beside her. ―Considering how much I want to grab you,

strip you, and bury myself inside you, you‘re not the only one aroused.‖

His words took her breath away. She sat up, clasped her hands together to keep from

reaching for him. ―But—‖

He stroked a hand down her hair, and she looked at his intent green eyes, so clear it seemed

as if light shone through them. ―I‘m a shifter, and you‘re human. It‘s extremely bad judgment to

get involved. Hell, Daonain are almost never attracted to humans—the scent is wrong or

something. Only yours isn‘t, dammit.‖

―But we...did it before. Remember? The Wild Hunt party?‖

―Let‘s just say that your appearance at the Gathering was more than my self-control could

bear.‖

Yeah, that made sense considering all the screwing going on that night. The sex-laden

atmosphere had messed with her head too. ―Go on.‖

―So, although an occasional encounter is overlooked, shifters don‘t get involved with

humans. We—I am very close to caring for you more than I should,‖ he said with a wry smile.

He leaned his forehead against hers. ―And I want you so badly I‘m shaking. Let‘s not sit here and

chance temptation.‖

She was very willing to give in to temptation, but could see it would cost him. In a funny

shifter way, Alec was a highly moral man...cat...whatever.

He rose to his feet. ―I‘ll get some breakfast prepared.‖

God. He hadn‘t buttoned his shirt, and his chest was thickly muscled. The man was lethally

sexy. Her body quivered with need, and there was no cold shower in sight. ―We got an outhouse

somewhere, or do we use an available tree?‖

―A tree.‖ He grinned, a flash of white that curled her toes.

She closed her eyes. She fought a losing battle here; everything he did turned her on more.

Outside in the freezing snow was where she needed to be. ―I‘ll be back in a minute,‖ she

muttered.

Several minutes later, after she‘d struggled through the foot-deep snow, fumbled her coat

and shirt out of the way to undo her jeans, froze her ass off, and buttoned everything up with

numb fingers, sex was the very last thing on her mind. Just let her hang out close to the fire and

she‘d be a happy camper. She rushed back inside.

He handed her a mug of steaming coffee. ―This‘ll help.‖

Her hands were shaking with just that brief outing. ―It‘s really cold out there.‖

―Temperatures can drop to under zero up here at night. It‘ll warm up a little during the day.‖

―A little, huh.‖ She slugged back some coffee—crappy-tasting instant, but it burned all the

way to her stomach and started filling her veins with caffeine. Only a fool would complain. A

few more sips, and she felt almost normal. Settling on one of the stump chairs, she set her cup on

the table. ―Now tell me about shifter-human relationships.‖

He held up a freeze-dried packet of scrambled eggs and grimaced. ―Maybe I should trawsfur

and go hunt us up some real breakfast.‖

―No.‖ She snatched it out of his hand. ―Talk.‖

―Are you always this bossy?‖ he asked curiously.

She opened the packet with one wicked slash of her boot knife, and he winced.

―That‘s a nasty temper you have there, female.‖ He mixed the eggs with water. ―Basically,

shifter-human matings are sterile. No children. And for various reasons, our numbers are

declining. So shifters need to mate other shifters.‖

―Ah. Like a Muslim marrying a Catholic, huh?‖ A jagged ache made her chest throb.

―Something like that, only the Muslims won‘t die out. We might.‖ His gaze was level, yet

held regret. ―I‘d planned to talk with you, but then you said you were leaving, and I didn‘t think

it mattered.‖ He sounded like they‘d had something...real ...going.

―Geez, Alec,‖ she made her voice cold. Hard. ―I just wanted sex, not some damned

relationship.‖

―Yeah.‖ He put his hand over hers, his fingers hot against her icy skin. ―I knew that.‖

She felt her lips tremble and pressed them together. God, she had to get out of here, away

from him and his fucking pity, before she burst into tears and embarrassed them both. ―I need

some air.‖

Yanking her hand back, she stalked out the door and into the snow-filled wilderness,

heading anywhere, just as long it was far from the cabin. From him. This was stupid, stupid,

stupid. How had he come to mean so much to her? Hell, she‘d planned to leave, hadn‘t she?

She leaned against a giant pine and listened to the snow hissing down through the branches,