“So what were you doing out here, then?” Tom asked.
“Been living in the area. We knew Elizabeth had left on a plane in a real hurry, and I wondered why, seeing how close you two had become in such a short time. When I heard the sound of a plane in trouble, I knew I shouldn’t mess with it because I was in my wolf coat, but… you know how we are. Too curious for our own good.
“When I searched for survivors, I smelled Elizabeth. I knew you were also looking for her. Between the two of us, I figured we’d find her. Then you did. I wanted in the worst way to learn if she would be all right. I came to see you when you were trying to gather wood. You know the rest.”
“Did you mess with the latch on the cabin’s outdoor shutters?”
“I thought I could peek in and see that she was all right. Even though you’d managed to get her to the cabin, I still didn’t know if she had made it. The damn latch was frozen shut and I had to jimmy it loose from the ice. I thought if I left the shutters open, you would come out to secure them, and I’d catch a glimpse of her. I… didn’t mean to bend the latch.”
“Damn, CJ. You could have just knocked on the door. Where are your brothers now?”
“I don’t know where they are. If we head for Silver Town, we may never run into them.”
“If we did try to make it into town and they found us before we reached it, what would they do?”
“Help us, I’m certain.”
Unless CJ was lying. Or didn’t know what his brothers were really up to.
“Thanks, Tom, for helping me out.” CJ glanced at Elizabeth. “I’m sorry. I never thought you’d be hurt. We should have killed that guy at the watering hole when we had the chance.”
Chapter 22
Much later that night, Elizabeth helped Tom make up the foldout sofa bed for CJ to sleep on after they’d fed him and were ready to retire. “Maybe he should sleep in the bedroom,” Elizabeth said. “If this bed is too lumpy, maybe he’d be more comfortable on the other.”
“He’ll live,” Tom said, trying to sound gruff and mean, like his cousin was still on his bad side, but she knew it wasn’t so.
Tom had tried to find a reason to acquit his cousin of any wrongdoing, and she guessed CJ had been a good friend growing up. Finding friends like that was difficult, and she didn’t want Tom to lose him.
She plumped a pillow and set it on the sofa bed. “His leg will most likely keep him awake most of the night. If he could sleep—”
“In here.” Tom put another log on the fire.
CJ grinned. “You can’t put on the tough-guy show for her, Tom, and not tell her your reasons.”
Elizabeth raised her brows at Tom. “What is he talking about?”
Tom took her shoulders and rubbed them, then leaned down and kissed her forehead. “He’ll stay in here on the lumpy mattress and the squeaky frame because the fire will keep him warm. We can’t bury him in blankets in the other room when he doesn’t have a more protective cast on his leg. Any pressure on that makeshift splint would really hurt. He wouldn’t be able to sleep in the bedroom because it would be too cold without covering up.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that in the first place?” She threw another pillow on the couch and straightened the blankets again.
“Because I was trying to act like a tough guy for you, Elizabeth. I knew it wouldn’t work on CJ. He knows me too well.”
She shook her head. “Maybe the two of you should sleep in here together.”
CJ chuckled. “You’ve got a winner, Tom. I envy you.”
Tom helped CJ onto the sofa bed, and Elizabeth covered him up, except for his leg. “Let me get some socks for your feet,” she said.
She hurried out of the room and was grabbing a couple of socks when she heard CJ say, “You’re damn lucky to have her.”
“Thanks for saving her when she was a girl.”
“Yeah, well, I wish I’d killed the man who was trying to hurt her.”
Elizabeth wished he had, too. She went back into the living room with the socks. One was black and the other navy blue. “Hope you don’t mind that they don’t match. I guess the washing machine ate the matching ones. These were all I could find.”
Tom snatched them out of her hand, startling her. “I’ll dress him. You can get ready for bed, and I’ll join you in a minute.”
Elizabeth frowned at Tom, annoyed that he’d worry about her being with his cousin. She said to CJ, “Sleep well.”
She turned and headed for the bedroom and just barely caught herself before she slammed the door. When she leaned against the door to listen to what was being said, she overheard CJ and Tom reminiscing about funny mishaps, fishing trips, hunting as wolves, and mischief when they were young. Their conversation brought tears to her eyes. She would have given anything to have had family like Tom had. She got the feeling CJ was still hiding something, though, and only hoped his brothers would see the light before they permanently ruined any chance to be part of the pack again.
Unless they already had.
***
Tom sat on the edge of the sofa bed and pulled the remaining sock over CJ’s right foot. He was trying really hard not to hurt his cousin’s leg, but CJ let out a strangled sound that revealed he was in pain no matter how careful Tom was. He re-situated the blankets again to ensure everything was covered except his cousin’s splinted leg.
“Remember the time we fished and you caught Eric?” CJ asked.
Tom smiled. “Yeah. He was madder than a stirred-up yellow jacket. My dad pulled the fishing hook out of his back, telling him he was one mighty fine catch and making your brother even angrier.”
“Until the she-wolf felt sorry for him, and then he made out like it wasn’t any big deal. Whatever happened to her?”
“Parents moved away two months later.”
CJ nodded. “Remember when you and I took on your brothers and mine? I don’t even remember what it was about, do you?”
Tom snorted. “Hell, yeah. They were picking on us because we were the ‘babies’ of the family. We gave ’em hell. Proved we weren’t at the bottom of the heap.”
“What were we? Five?”
Tom chuckled. “Yeah. We were scrappers even back then.” He sighed. “I want you back in the pack, CJ. But you know it’s not up to me.”
“It’s up to Darien. I know. Thanks for saving me out there. You didn’t have to.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Tom,” CJ said, his eyes drooping a little, “watch out for her. I’m not sure that North is the one you have to worry about.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think… he might be the fall guy.”
***
Elizabeth wished Tom would leave his cousin and hurry to bed. She needed his hot body to warm her up. The sheets were flannel, thank heavens, but she still needed to snuggle with him.
The door opened, and she watched as he closed it behind him and stalked toward the bed.
“Is he okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, Elizabeth, he’ll be okay. Soon as we get his leg seen to in town.” Tom slipped out of his clothes, pulled the covers aside, and joined her.
She sighed. “Silva’s still planning her grand opening?”
“In a few days. She’ll be thrilled if you can go to it,” Tom said.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, now that I’m here again. How’s Sam taking it?”
“Not well. He pretends it doesn’t bother him. Three she-wolves applied for Silva’s job, but he—”
“Turned them down because they’re not Silva,” Elizabeth finished for him.
“Yeah. Truthfully, I think he’d do it all himself rather than have anyone take her place.”
She yawned. “Why don’t they just mate?”
“They both have issues.”
“Don’t we al
l,” Elizabeth mused as she stroked Tom’s arm.
“Not me.”
She looked at him askance.
“Not since you came back to me.”
“Under duress, I might add. You have no deep, dark secrets? No crazy past?”
“I ran away from the pack once.”
“You? Who is loyal to the core to your family?”
“I was four. I was going to start my own pack. I was mad at Darien and Jake for ganging up on me since I was the youngest—by only a few minutes. But it was enough.”
She laughed. “So you and who else intended to form a pack?”
“CJ and me. He had the same trouble with his brothers. If you’d been there, I would have been set for life.”
She smiled. “At four years old.”
“Yeah. I finally realized running away wasn’t the solution. Standing up to them was all they wanted of me.” He caressed her cheek. “Some in our family, Darien and Jake included, were dream mated. I always thought I would be, while neither Darien nor Jake believed in such a phenomenon.”
“Dream mated? That’s what Silva mentioned in the tavern. I’d forgotten about it, but I’ve never heard of it before.”
“They dreamed of having mated with their women before they even met them. And Lelandi and Alicia dreamed of Darien and Jake in the same way.”
“That didn’t happen with you, did it?”
Tom kissed her cheek. “I found you—a dream in the flesh. I didn’t need to fantasize about you.”
“Hmm, maybe if I’d been gone longer…”
“You wouldn’t have been. I already told you. I was coming for you as soon as I took care of business here.” He pulled her into his hard embrace and held her tight. “CJ thinks North might be the fall guy.”
“Great. Which means…?”
“Maybe your uncle or half brother planned to get rid of you and pin the blame on him. Maybe he was set up to get in touch with you in the first place.”
“Like they made the evidence available to him to lure me here.” Great. She loved being her uncle’s pawn. Not.
***
Early the next morning before Tom or Elizabeth had awakened enough to realize the sun would soon rise, someone banged on the front door, giving Tom a near heart attack. He yanked on a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans, grabbed the rifle, and hurried for the bedroom door, hoping to hell it was someone from their pack and not the rest of his cousins, if they meant to cause trouble.
Elizabeth whispered, “Not CJ’s brothers.”
“I don’t know. Stay here.”
He entered the living room and crossed the floor to the front door.
CJ had raised his head off the sofa bed, looking anxious.
“Just stay there and don’t move,” Tom warned him. Not that CJ would, being handcuffed to the sofa leg and at a distinct disadvantage with his broken leg.
Tom looked out the peephole first and grinned to see Kemp and Radcliff standing on the porch, stomping on the snow and rubbing their gloved hands.
“Just a minute!” To Elizabeth, Tom hollered over his shoulder, “Ski patrol’s here!”
Chapter 23
Tom jerked open the door and let Kemp and Radcliff in. Both men grinned at him, snow clinging to the fur around their hoods. He smelled the fresh, crisp air and pine on them.
“I didn’t hear you coming. No snowmobiles,” Tom said.
“We used snowshoes. Quieter. We could hear any trouble in the area.”
“Am I damned glad to see you,” Tom said.
Kemp slapped Tom on the shoulder with warm regard. “Darien asked for volunteers to see if you were here. Glad you were instead of stuck someplace else in this weather.”
Radcliff entered the cabin and shut the door and locked it. “No coffee on yet? Blizzard hit town hard. Everything is snowed under. Electric lines and trees are down. So we’ve had a time of it there, too, and—”
They all caught a glimpse of Elizabeth pulling on a sweatshirt as she rushed to shut the bedroom door, her cheeks crimson.
Kemp and Radcliff stared at the bedroom door, their jaws hanging open.
Tom said, “How about one of you getting the fire going again? The other can get some coffee water ready. I’ll be right back.”
“Need any help?” Kemp asked. “You make better coffee than I do.”
“That’s not what you said when you complained last time about my coffee-making ability,” Tom said, grinning. He knew the brothers would rather check on the she-wolf.
“I’ve changed my mind,” Kemp said.
“Yeah, I bet.” Heading for the bedroom, Tom motioned to his cousin and said, “Just don’t bump the sofa bed and jar CJ.”
Both brothers glanced at the living room. “What the…” Kemp said. He yanked off his jacket and gloves, tossing them on a chair, then pulled off his ski hat. “Here we worried all the way up here that Tom would be safe. All this time he had a real setup going. Though I’m not sure about CJ.”
Radcliff shook his head as he ditched his parka, hat, and gloves on the dining-room table and started the coffee. “This will be one for the history books on Silver Town.”
Tom knocked on the bedroom door. “Elizabeth, can I come in?”
Elizabeth opened the bedroom door a crack.
“Can you hand me the lockpicks for the cuffs?” Tom asked. Now that he had backup and CJ was still incapacitated, he figured he didn’t need to keep his cousin confined. Last night he’d hated to do it, but Elizabeth’s safety came first in case whoever wanted her came here to get her. Though he mostly trusted CJ, Tom hadn’t wanted him to open the door to visitors in the middle of the night while he and Elizabeth slept.
“Sure.” She hurried to get the picks and handed them to him. “We can go now, can’t we?”
“Yeah, we sure can. Just holler if you need anything.”
“Thanks.” She shut the door.
Kemp stood over CJ. “Looks like you had some trouble.” He got a fire started. “So what’s the dice with Elizabeth? And… him?” he asked as Tom removed the handcuffs.
“CJ caught his leg in a trap. We need to get him down to the hospital.”
“Has he been involved in the livestock situation?”
“No, I haven’t been,” CJ said, sitting up in bed, rubbing his wrist, and sounding tired and irritable.
Tom and Kemp joined Radcliff in the kitchen.
“I didn’t think she would be returning that soon. How in the hell did she end up here? Or… was that really the plan all along? To rendezvous with her?” Kemp asked.
Radcliff frowned. “Yeah, what is she doing here?”
“In a blizzard?” Kemp asked.
“With you?” Radcliff leaned against the kitchen counter, crossed his arms over his chest, and raised his brows.
“Long story, but essentially she fell out of the sky.”
Radcliff poured cups of coffee for all three of them. “You want any, CJ?”
“Yeah.” CJ still looked pale except for the dark circles around his eyes.
Tom figured he hadn’t slept well last night from the pain and probably from the confinement.
Both brothers stared at Tom, waiting for him to say something further about Elizabeth.
“Plane crash. Elizabeth was kidnapped.”
“Kidnapped,” Radcliff said, not asking a question but mulling it over.
“She’s okay, though?” Kemp said, glancing back at the bedroom door.
“Yeah, she’s like an angel without wings and as close as I’ll get to heaven.”
Kemp turned to his brother. “I told you, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, yeah, that her leaving like she did wouldn’t mean she was gone forever. And there wouldn’t be any chance for us when she came back.”
“Hey,” Kemp said, “next time a woma
n like that is at Bertha’s B and B and needs a ride to the slopes, have her call me.”
“But give Bertha my number,” Radcliff said, grinning.
Getting serious, Kemp cleared his throat. “Are there any more survivors?”
“No.”
“If somebody’s looking for Elizabeth, we need to get her to town just as much as we do CJ,” Radcliff said.
“My thoughts also. The weather seems much better today. Now that you’re here, we’ll have safety in numbers. After we have some breakfast, we’ll head out. Is anyone else up here looking for me?” Tom asked.
“Are you kidding?” Kemp said, grinning. “Half the town is searching for you. Even farmer Bill Todd, though Darien asked him to stay at home. The man insisted he had to look for you, saying it was all his damned fault you were such a blamed fool.”
Tom chuckled. He liked the farmer, but he knew why Darien didn’t want the human out searching. “Someone from the pack is with him, right?”
“Sam is. And to ensure nothing goes wrong, Deputy Trevor is sticking close to him in case Bill sees a wolf and gets trigger happy.”
“We just got a jump start on the rest of the searchers.” Radcliff sounded proud of himself and his brother. “As soon as we learned you were missing and the storm had cleared, we put on our ski-patrol hats and were on our way.”
“Thanks, guys. You don’t know how welcome your arrival is.” Tom glanced at CJ, pinning him as the man who could still cause the most trouble if his brothers intercepted them on the way home.
***
Elizabeth couldn’t find enough warm clothes—no boots, no parka or gloves, not even another ski hat—so she opted to be a wolf for the run into town. Tom wasn’t happy about it, even though he had suggested she might have to do that, but it was the only thing she could do. The men had a devil of a time dressing CJ. His leg throbbed really badly, though he tried not to show it. When they pulled sweats over his injured leg, he passed out. They quickly wrapped him in blankets and strapped him onto the toboggan before he came to.