Page 39 of Winter's Edge
And I was right in the middle of it.
Chapter 12
An icy chill dragged down my back. I scrambled to get my legs underneath me and get away fast.
But behind me, another growl sounded, low and lethal as paws stalked forward. I was now surrounded by wolves and still unable to get myself freed from the snowdrift with my arms, which had all but given up.
Raw panic scraped at my nerves. I snapped my eyes open to see through Archer to find an easy escape. My vision swayed between two wolves, the one behind me and the one with bristled fur along its spine as it faced off with the other pack. That one was Archer. And behind me?
Grady. I hauled myself out of the snowdrift and crawled toward him, a relieved whimper managing to escape me.
Archer moved closer to the wolf pack, and the ferocious sounds he was making triggered a full-body shiver. He was the distraction while I crawled my way to safety.
Once I got there, to safety in the form of Grady, he and Archer both stood between me and the wolf pack. I pressed my face into Grady's side and breathed in his almond smell behind his coat of fur.
The sounds of the other wolves gradually retreated, though not without frustrated rumblings. I guessed we were back at the cabin, right on the edge of the Crimson Forest but still in the neutral Slipjoint Forest. I'd never been so glad for an imaginary line drawn in a forest in my life.
I allowed myself a relieved exhale into Grady's fur.It was twice now these two had saved my life from wolves or wolf-related injuries. A fact I would never forget.
"Aika." Strong hands settled on my back, Archer’s familiar touch melting through me. "Are you all right?"
I opened my eyes again, finding myself staring out of Grady's. When I didn't answer, he looked back toward me and curled his gray bushy tail around my shoulders.
"I don't know," I admitted. "I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life."
Archer crouched down next to me and brushed my windblown hair off my face, his breath steaming my numb skin. "Did I hurt you driving the sleigh that fast? I honestly didn't know if we were going to make it into Slipjoint before they got us. Hence the wild ride and crashing."
"Well…everything hurts at the moment,” I said. “I got shot. I got bit."
The pillow of fur I'd been resting against suddenly shifted, but before I could fall over, Archer scooped me off my feet and carried me in the direction of the cabin.
"Shot by who?" Archer demanded. Tension roiled across his chest so much I could feel it through my coat pressed up against him. His heat, too, and his rock-hard planes, all of him pressed up against me.
I hadn’t realized just how frozen to the bone I was before he touched me.
"Next time, lead with 'I got shot. I got bit,'" Grady said, his voice hard as he limped behind us.
I heaved a stuttered sigh. "Can we just settle for no next-times?"
We entered the cabin then, and all of its familiar sounds and smells took off the slightest edge of my pain. I didn't think I'd be in this place again for a long time.
"Grady, get the medkit."Archer settled me on the couch and gently peeled off my coat and the rest of my layers until my top half was completely bared.
Maybe I should've felt self-conscious, but I was too tired, too hurt, too relieved, and too sticky with blood to care. Besides, both of them had seen me naked before, and none of them said a word about it as Grady came back down the hallway, carrying Sasha. My pain combined with seeing through her eyes as he bounced her along slammed my eyes shut. The rocking, involuntary movement made my stomach roil, and I thought I was going to be sick.
Archer examined the bullet damage in my shoulder with gently probing fingers. “It just grazed you.”
Grady let out a low whistle. "Lucky."
"Who did this to you, Aika?"A hint of the growl I’d heard while he faced off with the wolves tinged Archer’s voice.
I shivered despite the crackling fire. "The same man who shot my baba and came in here to steal the package. He told Faust he worked for my baba and was making the delivery for him."
"Let me guess,” Grady said as he opened the medkit. “This guy got your money."
"Yes.”
Little paws and a wet nose nudged my hand dangling off the couch from where I lay, and I opened my palm to invite Sasha’s welcome-back licks.
