“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.
Chapter 6
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.
They were narrowing the gap.
It was painfully slow work when every nerve in his body screamed for them to hurry before TJ’s air ran out. Keil took a moment to call out. “TJ!” He yelled in the direction he hoped they’d find TJ, but there was no response.
A trickle of sound reached his ears.
A low rumble in the distance.
He lifted his gaze to examine the mountains around them, fearful of what he’d see.
The peak to their left released a cornice of snow, the slide shifting a cloud of powder into the air. Quickly Keil estimated the angle of the slide, whether it would reach them, set off another slide on top of them.
The slope of the mountain curved away and Keil breathed a sigh of relief as the loose snow slipped behind a distant ridge out of sight and out of range of danger. He looked up to see Robyn watching intently for his signal. Escape or continue?
He pointed forward and Robyn nodded, trusting his judgment to continue her sweeping movements.
Her harsh shout a few moments later made his heart pound. He looked up to see her turning her ski pole into a depth probe. She pushed it through the snow to search for an air pocket or a buried body. Keil struggled up to her level, whipped off his shovel and prepared to dig.
“TJ, can you hear us?” Keil roared.
A welcomed howl rose to his ears. Keil threw up a prayer of thanks as he shoveled, Robyn working at his side. They dug into the hillside from the bottom to take advantage of the slope, trusting there would be less digging at that level. Soon Keil held out a hand to caution Robyn and get her attention.
“I don’t want to strike him. Let me dig, you watch for additional slides.”
Keil increased his speed, hearing TJ’s howl grow clearer.
“Stay back from the shovel if you’ve got the room,” Keil shouted as he swung at a furious pace. It was only a few more shovelfuls before he broke into the human-sized air pocket that contained the smaller wolf-sized body that was TJ. Keil watched as his brother scrambled out of the hole and, in his wolf body, circled around their legs in thanks.