Page 5

Tucked inside a thin sleeping bag with only a beanie on his head, Blake has curled himself into a ball. With his eyes tightly shut and his lips turning a pale blue, he doesn’t respond as I shake him.

“Blake!” I call out over the scream of the storm. “Look at me!”

He doesn’t move. He doesn’t even whimper or tremble. I know what hypothermia looks like, and I can see it all over him. His jacket lies beside him, as well as his boots and socks. He no longer shivers; his body is shutting down before my very eyes.

It’s the kind of panic that hurts. I can’t breathe, I can’t blink!

Scooping up Blake’s unconscious form, I pull him from the tent and cradle him tightly against my chest. Damn his belongings; if I don’t get him back to the cabin, he’ll die.

Sprinting back towards my cabin, I don’t feel the ice biting into the soles of my feet, or the burn in my legs. Letting the wind push me along, my eyes don’t stray far from Blake’s little face that’s pressed against my chest.

“Hold on, sweet thing. Not far now, and then you’ll be warm,” I whisper down to him.

If he hears me, he doesn’t respond.

Swerving between the trees, I finally break through the line of forest and race across the clearing. My cabin sits waiting at the top of the hill, and I almost cry at the sight of home. The windows are dark, and the chimney is void of smoke, but I’ll get a fire going the moment I can get a response from Blake.

Climbing up the steps of the front porch, I throw my shoulder against the front door, breaking the handle clean off as I trudge inside and kick it closed behind me. I’ll fix it later. Right now there’s no time to waste.

Despite my beast’s reluctance, I slowly lay Blake down across my couch, hating the way he’s no longer in my arms. But I move quickly, peeling back his sleeping bag to reveal just how bad the situation is. With only a t-shirt and shorts on, Blake’s toes are painfully white, and he still doesn’t shiver. The fabric around his armpits is damp, and I know it’s only making him colder. I don’t hesitate when I rip his shirt right down the middle, along with his shorts, leaving him in only his underwear.

That’ll have to do.

Blankets litter my living room, and I find three to layer on top of him before starting the fire. I’ve had years to learn how to make a fire in seconds, and before I know it, golden flames lick up the back of the fireplace, sizzling the air with warmth.

But it’s not enough.

Turning back to Blake, I brush a lock of hair from his forehead. His cheeks are rosy, and his lips no longer have that ghastly blue hue. I let out a sigh of relief. At least he’s warming up. His heart thumps steadily, but I don’t like the way he still hasn’t woken.

Gazing over the couch, my eyes land on the empty space beside him, and my beast gives a low rumble. It’s a bad idea to cozy ‌up next to a man I’ve just met. Especially an unconscious man that my beast is so fond of. But I know he needs all the warmth he can get, and with my Sasquatch form practically burning away the snow from my fur, he has a better chance of recovering if I share my body heat.

With a quiet grumble, I slide over Blake’s unconscious form and slip under the blankets, pulling his half-naked body against mine. I might have enjoyed the way his soft skin brushes against my fur or the way his plump ass rubs pleasantly against my groin, if it weren’t for the fact he had nearly died from hypothermia.

I don’t simmer on that knowledge for long before a subtle purr fills my chest as I hold Blake against my side, doing everything in my willpower to not think of the way his body perfectly molds to mine. Or how, now that I have him, I might never let him go.

CHAPTER 4

BLAKE

“How many goddamn times, boy!?” My father slaps the paper against his desk, and I flinch.

His eye twitches as his chest rapidly rises and falls. “Five times,” he mutters. “You’ve managed to fail the practice test five fucking times!”

My stomach drops as I pinch the hem of my shirt. I want to cry. But I know if I do, my father will just grill me more.

He’s been adamant about me becoming a lawyer. Since he’s the country’s elite neurosurgeon, it’s only in my best interest to follow his lead and top another industry.

But I couldn’t care less about law to save myself. I can’t retain a single case, nor remember how to collect research properly, and I sure as hell can’t keep up with my peers in class. I’d rather be playing sports or painting or hanging out with friends… if I had any.

“You will sit it again. And this time you will pass. Do not disappoint me again.”

I tense up with a strained gasp as I blink with dry eyes. My world slowly comes into view, and I freeze. This isn’t my tent. Exposed wooden beams line the ceiling, with dark oak walls and a crackling fire adorned with a stone hearth. My eyes lift upwards, meeting the gleaming barrel of a hunting shotgun perched above the mantle. Yup, this is definitely not my tent.

Thick, fluffy blankets cling to me as I carefully sit up, finding myself on the world’s comfiest couch.

The cabin is quiet as I turn my gaze from the fireplace to the kitchen behind me. “Hello?” I call out with a tremor running through me.

What if some crazy hillbilly lives here? Some psycho murderer waiting for me to wake up so they can torture me?