Page 8 of Curvy Girl and the Mountain Man Wolf
"Inside, now," I say firmly, finally managing to get her back through the door. I follow quickly, closing and locking it behind us.
Through the window, I can see the wolf still sitting in the same spot, those eerie silver eyes fixed on the cabin. Watching. Waiting.
"Where's Mr. Kane?" Lily asks, looking around the empty room.
"I don't know, sweetheart," I answer honestly. "He probably just stepped out for a minute. Let's get you back to bed."
I usher Lily back to the bedroom, tucking her in again with promises that everything is fine. She falls back asleep almost immediately, the resilience of childhood allowing her to dismiss the strange night happenings.
I'm not so lucky. I sit on the edge of the bed, mind racing. Where is Kane? Why would he go out in the middle of the night? Does he know about the wolf? Is it... his? But that's ridiculous. No one keeps a wolf that size as a pet. And it wasn't behaving like a pet, exactly. More like... more like it belonged here. Like this was its territory.
I don't realize I've been sitting there for nearly an hour until I hear the front door open and close. Kane is back. He's safe. But my relief is quickly followed by questions. I want—need—to know what's going on.
Careful not to wake Lily again, I slip out of the bedroom. Kane is standing by the fire, adding a log, his back to me. He's wearing only jeans, his broad chest and muscular arms bare despite the cold he just came in from. His long dark hair is loose around his shoulders, droplets of melted snow still clinging to it.
"There was a wolf outside," I say without preamble.
Kane goes still, then slowly turns to face me. In the firelight, his gray eyes seem to glow silver, just like—
No. That's ridiculous. That's impossible.
"I know," he says simply.
"You know?" I repeat. "There's a wolf the size of a small horse prowling around your cabin, and you just... know? Where were you? I was worried."
"I was checking the perimeter," he says after a moment. "Making sure everything was secure."
"With that thing out there? Are you crazy?" The words come out sharper than intended, fueled by lingering fear and confusion.
"The wolf won't hurt you," Kane says, his voice certain. "Or Lily. You're safe here."
"How can you know that?"
He turns back to the fire, and for a moment I think he's not going to answer. When he does, his voice is low, almost reluctant. "That wolf has been around here as long as I have. It's... territorial, but not aggressive toward people unless threatened."
"It was looking right at me," I say. "Right at the cabin. Like it knew we were here."
"It did know," Kane says simply. "It knows everything that happens on this mountain."
There's something he's not telling me, something in the way he avoids my eyes when he talks about the wolf. But I'm too tired, too overwhelmed to press further tonight.
"You should get some sleep," Kane says, still not looking at me. "Morning will be here soon."
He's right. Through the windows, I can see the first hint of gray lightening the eastern sky.
"What about you?" I ask, noticing the shadows under his eyes.
"I don't need much sleep," he says with a small shrug. "Never have."
Another piece of the puzzle that is Kane Wolfe. A man who lives alone on a mountain, who knows the habits of abnormally large wolves, who can go outside in freezing temperatures half-dressed and come back unfazed.
"Goodnight, then," I say, turning back toward the bedroom. "Or good morning, I guess."
"Lois," he calls softly as I reach the door. I look back to find him watching me, those strange gray eyes unreadable. "Don't go outside alone. Not until I've had a chance to... make sure it's safe."
There's a weight to his words that seems to imply more than just checking for wolves. I nod slowly. "Okay."
Back in the bedroom, I slide under the quilt beside Lily, my mind still churning. Outside, as dawn breaks over the snow-covered mountain, I hear it again—that sound, not quite a howl, not quite a growl. The wolf is still out there.
