Page 77 of Forever Theirs

“Wolf Run, that was the trail she mentioned this morning,” I shouted as I rounded the truck hood. I glared up at the gray sky. In the few minutes we were in the cabin, the wind had picked up, and the snow fell in heavier sheets. “We’ll need to talk to Hudson about borrowing the four-wheelers and let him know where we’re headed.”

“She could already be on her way down, and we’re overreacting,” Aiden suggested after slamming the truck door shut behind him.

The engine roared as I reversed out of the parking spot. “And what if she isn’t? I’m not risking her life and safety on an assumption.” I gestured out the windshield to the falling snow. “This storm is way damn worse than they predicted. I can’t imagine what it’s like on that trail, considering the higher elevation at the peak.” Both hands tightened on the wheel as my fear and worry grew. “I doubt she knew about the incoming storm since we didn’t even know. It was supposed to stay north, but obviously that didn’t happen. Fuck!” I exclaimed, slamming the heel of my hand to the dash. “I knew we should’ve locked her in the cabin.”

Aiden huffed an incredulous laugh while he rubbed at his temples. “That would make her resent us and leave. We’ve been over this. We’re lovers, not kidnappers.”

“Speak for yourself,” I grumbled, jerking the wheel to take a tight turn. The back tires spun on the slippery road.

“About the lovers or kidnappers part?”

I shot him a knowing look before focusing back on the road. Aiden’s defense mechanismto not drown in an ocean of guilt during high stress was making jokes, diverting his thoughts from the situation to protect himself. If my friend needed to distract himself, then I could play along. I was trained for this type of high-stress moment; it was what I excelled in in my past life.

“The kidnapping part, obviously. You’ve witnessed firsthand the lovers part.”

“Touché,” he said with a forced smirk.

“After we talk to Hudson about this potential rescue mission, we’ll grab the gear we might need and head out. The trailhead for Wolf Run isn’t too far from us, so we can take the four-wheelers. We should bring extra supplies for her on the off chance we need to hole up in one of the emergency shelters until the storm passes.”

We could do this.

Find Aspen.

Kiss the hell out of her.

Then spank her ass for putting herself in danger.

We just needed to find her first.

28

ASPEN

The life-threatening situation I found myself in wasn’t my fault.

Well, maybe partially mine, since I ignored Miles’s warning about the dangers on the trail. I thought it would be an easy in-and-out, something I’d done hundreds of times before on my own, so why would this hike be any different from the others? That was my first mistake of the day, with many more to follow.

It started out great. The hike up was absolutely gorgeous and easy, though steep and not well marked. When I reached a crystal-clear mountaintop lake, I knew I had to stop. Within the first hour, I’d taken hundreds of pictures of various animals that came to the water for a drink. With the sun covered by the growing gray clouds, it added a soft, suspenseful feel to the pictures that I knew would turn out amazing after editing them on my laptop.

I was on a nature high, if that was a thing. For hours, I sat on top of a rock along the shoreline, staying perfectly still despite the quickly dropping temperature and whipping wind to snap shots I knew had the potential to bring in the money I’d need to stay in Anchor Bay without requiring the guys’ financial help.

I really didn’t want to depend on them for everything. Which pushed me to sit, ignoring my chattering teeth and numb fingers, staying way longer than I should have with the inclement weather.

But when the first few flecks of snow started to fall, the cold settling into my bones was forgotten as I gazed in wonder at the silent beauty. After a few minutes, I quickly realized that though the snow was beautiful, it was also thick, falling in heavy sheets and accumulating on the already-cold ground faster than I expected.

Knowing it could get dangerous with the narrow trail and steep inclines on the way down, I hurried to pack up my gear, cursing at myself for sitting for so long when my muscles and joints protested with the movement.

As I bent over my pack, shoving the last bit of trash into a side pocket, the somewhat dangerous scenario turned into a life-threatening, pee-your-pants-in-fear situation. A medium-sized light brown bear lumbered around a large boulder, freezing me on the spot. Heart racing a thousand beats a second, I sealed a hand over my lips to muffle my ragged breaths, hoping to stay quiet enough to not draw its attention.

No such luck. It swung its massive head in my direction, billowing clouds pouring from its snout stuck high in the air as if sniffing something, and started moseying my way.

Which meant its gigantic body was now positioned between me and the only feasible way out of the lake area, unless I wanted to scale the jagged cliff that wrapped around the back half of the water.

Not excited about becoming bear food, I slowly slid down the rock, boots barely making a sound when they hit the sand and mud along the shore. Keeping my eyes locked on the animal, I crouched low to crawl behind another scattering of rocks for cover, purposefully leaving my pack with food behind as a sacrificial lamb of sorts. Careful not to drag my camera across the rocky and damp ground, I eased around the massive rock until the bear disappeared from view. Brilliant plan, except I wasn’t aware that where I sought shelter, small waves of water had soaked the ground from the wind whipping over the top of the lake.

I swallowed a pitiful and frustrated whimper, not wanting to draw the bear’s attention. Things couldn’t get worse unless I actually dove into the lake, fully submerging myself in the freezing water.

As if sensing my growing frustration with the unexpected events, the clouds seemed to open up, dumping more and more snow, covering everything around me in a thick layer of white.

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