Page 29 of An Avalanche Hero Christmas

“Thank you,” she said.

“If you’re still hungry, you can have some—”

“No.” She shook her head. “Thank you for saving my life. Again. You fought Boris off, didn’t you?”

Her eyes scanned his body as if looking for any new cuts. Lance had sustained a few superficial injuries during his battle with Boris, and they’d mostly healed. Nothing to worry about.

He nodded. “I did.”

“That bear…”

“That was me. I had to shift. He was going to kill you. I couldn’t let that happen.”

As the words left his mouth, he felt his chest tighten. They were lucky all Mallory had done was pass out. A few seconds later, she might have ended up with Boris’s blade in her chest. If Lance hadn’t shifted and attacked when he had…

He suppressed a light shiver. “How’s your head?”

She went to touch it and winced, which was answer enough. She reached into her pouch. “I’ll dress it and hope I don’t have any complications. I doubt I can get surgery on Frost Mountain.”

She chuckled at that as though she’d made a joke, but Lance didn’t laugh. He stared down at the trousers he’d pulled on aftershifting back to human form the other night, remembering how his fingers had trembled as he approached Mallory’s inert form, a single thought repeating in his agitated mind:Let her be alive. Let her be alive.

Why did it bother him so much, though? He still could hardly believe how much things had changed since the day he’d pulled her out of the snow. At first, he’d been reluctant to help her. And what had happened since then? He’d devoted his time and energy to taking care of this woman, risking his life multiple times to make sure she was unscathed.

After what happened with Julia, he didn’t think he ever wanted to see another fae person again. Yet he’d done that and more, much more.

Hadn’t he learned from his mistake? He glanced at the scar on his forearm. The jagged mark had been a reminder of his error for the past two years. Now, his body was covered in several other battle scars. He’d willingly fought Boris both times.

Why? Because, as much as his mind told him he was making another foolish mistake that would most likely get him killed, he couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that perhaps this time was different. This wasn’t a fae woman trying to deceive and lead him into trouble. Mallory was lost, most definitely distraught about her fate in this dimension she’d been forced into. Worse still, she was being hunted for merely existing.

Those facts did not sit quite right with Lance.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Mallory asked just then.

He frowned at her. “What’s a penny?”

“It’s money. It’s an expression, see.” She gesticulated wordlessly for a moment. “Never mind that. What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” he told her.

“Is it Julia?”

The silence that followed in the cave seemed to multiply more than twofold. Lance gazed wide-eyed at her. “How…?”

“I heard you say her name the other day,” she replied with a shrug. “You were dreaming. Is she someone you know? A sister, maybe?”

He shook his head. What was he supposed to tell her? That Julia was the reason he’d resolved never to trust a fae person for as long as he lived? That his misplaced trust had resulted in his initial dislike for her?

“She wasn’t my sister.”

“Oh.” A look of realization flickered across Mallory’s face.

“It’s a bit complicated,” he admitted.

She sat up straighter. “Well, I’m all ears. It doesn’t look like we’re leaving this cave anytime soon, anyway. You might as well spill.”

The look she gave him was expectant. Lance breathed a sigh. “Okay.”

He began to narrate his encounter with Julia right from the moment she appeared on his doorstep, begging him to help her, to the day they were rudely interrupted by her father and his henchmen. As he spoke, he could feel a tightening sensation in his gut.

---