Vivian Arend - Wolf Sings

“You’re a good skier, Robyn. Kept the pace nicely.” Keil’s compliment warmed her even more as she sat facing him, able to look over the mountains that ranged downward to the Pacific Ocean and still see his face. She breathed a relaxed sigh as she let her gaze wander over the sunlit peaks. A squeeze on her knee brought her attention back to Keil.

“Are you hungry?”

She nodded and pulled her pack closer to dig out the food she’d brought. She passed him a couple of her homemade granola bars and watched with pleasure the expression on his face as he bit into them.

“These are delicious. Did you buy them in Whitehorse?”

She shook her head no and nodded yes while pointing to herself.

“You didn’t buy them, but you got them. Did you make them?”

She nodded.

The admiration in Keil’s eye’s increased. “Hmmmm. She cooks too.” He leaned forward slowly and planted a gentle kiss on her lips. They stared at each other for a minute, desire rising between them like a tangible cloud before the boiling water brought Keil back to earth.

“You guys are too fast.” TJ’s red face as he dropped beside Keil made Robyn laugh. “Oh sure, laugh it up at the slowpoke. I’ll have you know that once you can shift to wolf, I’ll be able to beat your butt in a race anytime. Right, Keil?”

Keil handed Robyn a cup of hot sweet tea. “Other than suggesting you not even think about Robyn’s butt ever again, I will agree that you are very fast as a wolf. Robyn, I know this has been an information overload with everything we’ve thrown at you—”

Robyn waved her hand to cut him off. She deliberately turned her back on him and pointed over the mountains, over the whole panorama until she faced them.

“She’s right, Keil. Shut up for a minute and enjoy the view.”

“I know but—”

“But nothing. It’s too hard to talk right now. Relax. Or don’t you know how? You need to lighten up a little, bro. It’s not all pack politics, life-and-death situations, Captain Kirk, I mean Keil, to the rescue.”

Keil looked up to see Robyn watching as TJ spoke, and she nodded. She held her hand to him and he rose to join her. She pulled off her glove to trace her fingers down his cheek before twisting around and settling her back against him as she admired the view.

He was very serious, Robyn realized. He couldn’t be much older than she was, and he was planning on taking on the leadership of a large group of, well, if she guessed right, rather headstrong individuals.

She could help him learn to relax. She stifled a giggle.

Keil’s strong arms supported her, coming around her torso and pulling her tight into his rock-solid frame. Too bad winter clothing made everything extra bulky, but she could still appreciate the feel of his firm body.

She turned and slipped her hands behind his neck. As their lips brushed together, she tightened her hold and lifted her feet off the ground to let her full body weight drag at him.

The surprise move worked and they fell to the snow. Robyn tried to slip away as they hit the ground but he held her as he rolled over to end up lying on top of her, pinning her in place.

“That was sneaky, Robyn.” Keil stared at her, shifting his hips to let her know she was trapped. “I think you should pay a forfeit for that little trick.” He lowered his head and nuzzled against her neck, and Robyn felt him taking deep breaths. His tongue shot along her bare skin, and she shivered as a wave of desire scurried through her body, over her breasts and settled in her womb like a ticking time bomb.

Man, oh man, this guy was potent.

With a groan Keil rose from her body and pulled her to her feet.

“It’s getting late and if we want to be back to the cabin in daylight, we’d better ski. Stay away from the right side on the descent, the snow seems unstable.” Robyn nodded, swallowing hard from the extra moisture in her mouth. Keil traced a finger over her lips and winked at her. “I’ll claim my forfeit back at the cabin.”

The three of them packed up their things, and this time Robyn led the way, skiing down the side of the mountain using telemark turns. She stopped a quarter of the way down and waited for the others to catch up. Keil stopped beside her, TJ farther to the side.

“Nice turns, Robyn.” Keil said. “Let me go first, I want to watch you from below this time.” He set off, making the lunging motions that cause cross-country skis to turn in the deep snow of the mountainside.

Robyn admired his skill as well. The people that she and Tad skied with in the mountains were all experts and Keil would fit in just fine. She caught up with him and they both turned to watch TJ do his descent.

His bright red jacket looked good on him and that was the most positive thing she could say about his technique. TJ didn’t ski, he threw his legs about in a mad scramble like he was wearing rollerblades. Ski poles rotated in the air, snow flew everywhere. Robyn bit her lip to keep from laughing.

Then her breath caught in her throat. She saw the snow slab drop and a large crack appear on the hillside above where TJ headed, too far into the dangerous side and completely out of control.

Robyn stared in horror as the side of the mountain behind TJ slid away in an avalanche, pulling his windmilling figure down the slope to the right of them. The ground underfoot shook for a moment but the snow pack where they stood was solid enough. Frantically she looked back and forth over the settling powder and clouds of fine snow to try to see any sign of TJ.

Nothing but the disturbed surface of the mountainside greeted their eyes.

His stomach dropped as the avalanche raced past them. By the time the rumble faded, Keil had his transmitter out and switched to “seek” mode. They didn’t have much time to uncover TJ, but they did have longer than finding a human.

As long as TJ was conscious.

Keil turned to Robyn. She already had her transmitter in her hand. She was pale and her eyes seemed large enough to overwhelm her face, but she was going through each step methodically. Carefully.

He grabbed Robyn’s face in his hands, making sure she watched him.

“You know how to use your monitor?”

Robyn nodded.

“Since you can’t hear me if I shout, I want you to look at me every five paces, to be sure you’re aware of any warning I give. Understand?”

Robyn nodded again even as she shuffled away from him. She pointed up the mountain.

“Yes, you go up. If I signal ‘clear’ like this”—Keil slapped his fists together and pointed away with one hand—“I expect you to ski away as fast as you can. Understand?”

Her face grew grim and tight.

“I mean it. If you get caught in another avalanche, I won’t be able to save you both. Remember, TJ’s a werewolf. He’s stronger than a human. He’s going to be all right. Let’s go.”

The two of them skied quickly to the edge of the avalanche field and began the back-and-forth search motion to triangulate TJ’s position. Keil moved cautiously, his attention split between rescuing TJ and the need to keep Robyn safe. Letting his mate move away from him into the potential danger of another slide physically hurt.

His senses were on high alert. The sun reflecting off the snow seemed blindingly bright. The squeak of their skis on the rough snow surface became reassuring in its consistency. A few steps, a pause to check the monitor, a glance around the mountain. A flick of the eyes to see Robyn, then repeat the series.

The blinking light on his receiver grew stronger and he turned to follow its direction. The next time Robyn looked his way, he raised an arm and pointed.

Robyn double-checked her monitor and raised her arm, pointing downhill in a path that bisected across his angle.