Page 36 of Snowed In With the Grizzly

Well, I’ve just got to go and tell him my plan. I hunt around for the clothes I haven’t worn for a couple of days, and yank them on. Then, I grab my coat and car keys and hurtle out of the cabin.

Whoa, he’s right. The snowplows have been out. In place of gigantic snowdrifts is a well-plowed road. I run to my car, jump in and speed over to Jaxton’s cabin.

I’m halfway there when I see that his truck is not parked in the driveway.

My heart plummets.

He’s gone. He’s really gone.

I pull up in front of his place and pick my way through the deep snow covering his pathway. I’m trying not to notice that there are no fresh footprints in the snow, and his cabin looks dark inside. I pound on his door desperately, but only silence greets me.

Fuck.

I collapse against the door, sliding down until my ass hits the step.

How could I have been so dumb? I had this amazing, amazing guy, and I was so caught up with my father’s ultimatum that I didn’t think there could be another way, until it was too late. What an idiot I am letting my father push me and Charlie around like this! He doesn’t own me, or her.

But now I’ve lost Jaxton, too. I replay last night in my mind. Was he waiting for me to say something? To say I wasn’t going to go after all? I think of all those moments when we stared silently into each other’s eyes. I was full of sadness and regret, and I assumed he was, too.

But was he thinking, surely she’s got to change her mind now? Surely if she cared about me enough, she’d find a way? I ached to hear I love you from him. But he wouldn’t say the words. Maybe because he thought I didn’t deserve to hear them. And he was right.

I stare out at the blanket of snow stretching in all directions. My instinct is to go look for him, but where? He could be anywhere in this wilderness.

I haul myself to my feet. I need to get back home, before Dad does something to Charlie. He warned me not to test him and I know what he’s like. Even refusing to come back early was a lot more than anything I’ve done before. I’ve got to keep her safe.

I trudge back to the car.

Back at Grandma Jo’s cabin, I pack my things fast. The fire has burned out now, and the room is cold again. I take one last long look around this dear little place, tears blurring my vision.

“Thank you, Grandma Jo,” I whisper. “For these four beautiful days with Jaxton. I will always treasure them.”

I leave the door unlocked, in case Jaxton wants to use this place. It will make me happy knowing that he’s here. Then I throw all my stuff in the car, and I start the long snowy drive back home.

The GPS says four hours, thirty minutes. Will it be enough time to decide whether to go on the run with Charlie and subject her to a difficult life, or go ahead with my marriage to DiMarco?

Well, it better be. Because it’s all the time I have.

* * *

The sun has climbedto its highest point in the wintry sky as I pull into my hometown again. My stomach is in a knot, and I’m sick with nerves.

All I know is that there’s no way I can give myself to DiMarco. You don’t find your mate, and then go do something like that. Before I met Jaxton, the thought of being with DiMarco was repulsive and awful. But now Jaxton has made me his, it’s impossible.

I’m gonna go in there, take Charlie, and run like hell. Whatever it takes. Then, one day in the future, if I ever feel like we’re out of danger, I’ll go find Jaxton as a free woman. And if he’s already found himself a lady bear, then fair enough. I’ll never find another mate, because Jaxton has my heart forever. But at least I will have protected the memory of us.

I turn onto the street where our family home is, but I park up a couple of hundred yards away. I’m hoping against hope that my father will be out at a meeting and I can just snatch Charlie.

But when I approach the driveway, the sight of three unfamiliar black cars parked there stops me in my tracks. My throat tightens. DiMarco and his associates? Every nerve in my body tells me to run away. To get back into my car and drive the hell away from here. But Charlie must be in there.

Heart hammering, I dash to the front door. It’s a little open. I push it wider and slip through. At the end of the hallway is the dining room. The door is also open. I catch sight of three men in expensive-looking black suits. They are standing around my father, who’s seated at the table, holding his head in his hands. I creep closer, staying out of sight.

“Guess I don’t have a choice, do I?” I hear him saying. There are some papers in front of him. Looks like a contract or something. My mind whirrs. What’s going on? If this was DiMarco’s contract of sale, surely my father would be in high spirits. But I’ve never seen him sound so… beaten.

“Well, you could still sell your daughter, instead,” a voice says.

A very familiar voice.

What?It’s not coming from the three men in black. It’s coming from the other side of the room. Dizzy with confusion, I burst through the door.

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