How odd. They hadn’t let the fire burn down since the moment they’d arrived at the cabin. Wait. She could see. There was a lot of light in the cabin. Bright, white light.
She jerked up to a seated position and yelped when she saw the group of men sitting and standing around the small table in the kitchen, lit by several halogen lanterns. Jerking the blanket to her neck, she wanted to bury herself under the rug. The entire family was there!
“Hey, sweetheart,” Gunnar said with a smile as he moved across the room toward her and away from the bundle of guys, some of whom she’d never seen before. “We’re rescued.”
Her stomach knotted. “I can see that,” she muttered through clenched teeth.
“And our dads brought some hot, freshly brewed coffee.” He knelt next to her, blocking her view of the rest of the group, and offered her a steaming cup.
She glanced down at herself, then pointedly frowned at him.
His gaze met hers. He gave her a silent, “Ah,” and turned toward the table of men. “Okay, guys. Clear out. We’ll be ready in about twenty minutes.”
As the men headed for the door, one of the two older men she hadn’t met before—albeit the family resemblance was remarkable—grumbled about
“ungrateful whelps.”
“Next time you could try digging through the six feet of snow,” one of Gunnar’s brothers said. She heard humor behind the words, but still….
“Six feet? You could have dug us out?”
Gunnar rolled his eyes.
“Hey, honey,” Axel said, stepping out of the bathroom. “I got your stuff together, and a tub of warm water in there for you to wash up.” He flung his arm out toward the bathroom.
“Six feet? We weren’t really trapped?”
Gunnar looked a bit sheepish when he gave her a little shrug and a half grin. “Well, maybe more than six, but apparently the house was pretty much the end of the avalanche zone.”
She knew her irritation wasn’t from the fact they hadn’t dug themselves out. It was because all those…cat men…had seen her half-naked, and she was sure it was obvious to every one of them what she’d been doing with their brothers or sons.
Gunnar’s and Axel’s Cheshire cat grins didn’t help matters either.
Gripping the blanket tight around her, she scrambled to her feet, gave both men a good glare then stomped into the bathroom and slammed the door.
She heard Axel mutter, “And I thought she’d be in a better mood if we let her sleep a little longer.”
Dakota’s thoughts were troubled as she buried her nose in Axel’s back, hugged him closer and kept her gloved hands tucked inside his jacket pockets.
“Not much farther,” he hollered over his shoulder and the sounds of revved motors. Unwilling to lift her face into the wind, she answered with a nod that rubbed her cold nose against his jacket.
For a moment, she smiled at the memory of two grown men playing rock, paper, scissors to see who would get to drive with her as a passenger. Gunnar lost, so he now sat in catamount form—because there wasn’t a spare set of winter clothes for him—on the back of another snowmobile, his big paws on the shoulders of one of his other brothers.
The ride back made the return trip a lot faster than their hike to the cabin. The trouble was Dakota was unsure she wanted her adventure to end.
A part of her wanted to say to hell with the rest of the world. Stay in the moment as Axel had suggested.
But that moment was over. It was time for her to face reality.
She had a life, a career, back in Vegas. Nothing had brought that home to her more than seeing the curious glances of the other Falke men. Her awkward embarrassment over having their tryst uncovered by the whole family didn’t help either. And, though Axel had introduced her to his fathers and they’d been nice to her, she could sense a nervous uncertainty in the air.
As incredible as the Falke brothers were, they were shifters. They needed a woman willing to mate with them, carry their children and live in some strange fantasy world where men could turn into big, predatory cats.
The sex had been amazing, but it wasn’t enough to build a relationship on, and her future wasn’t in Washington. She was an outsider.
The wind died down though the night’s chill remained. The motor slowed, and the snowmobile came to a stop at the rendezvous area, which was illuminated by lights from several four-wheel drive vehicles.
Axel’s hand covered her arm. A gentle squeeze.
“We’re here, honey.”
She hugged him close, savoring her final moment with him. Then, taking a deep breath, she let go, climbed off the snowmobile and turned to face the real world.
“Oh, my God!” Carrie screamed, skidding to a stop and wrapping Dakota in a breath-stealing bear hug.
“You’re alive. Thank God. When I heard about the avalanche, I was so scared.”
“Yeah,” Dakota mumbled, pulling away but letting Carrie dominate the conversation.
“I bet you were terrified.” Her friend tugged her toward an SUV where Heidi stood talking with the family patriarchs. “Are you hurt? You look fine.”
“What? Uh, yeah. I’m okay.”
“Hey, Dakota.”
She stopped at the greeting to see Ted, Carrie’s fiancé, holding the door of the SUV open for her. “Hi.”
“I’m glad you’re all right.”
“Thanks.” Was she all right? She felt…numb.
“Wow,” Carried continued. “I can’t believe this happened. When Heidi showed up to tell me, I freaked out. We’ve been glued to the two-way radio ever since we heard the cabin was buried. They were gonna have to dig you out, and no one knew if anyone was alive in there.”
“Here. I’ll take care of that.” Ted took the backpack off her shoulders and went to toss it in the SUV’s cargo area. He’d just returned when-“Whoa! What the fuck?” Ted yanked Carrie away from Dakota.
A soft purr sounded by Dakota’s hip. A tender nudge. She looked down at Gunnar…Falke.
“It’s okay,” she said, reaching out to scratch behind the cat’s ears.
Are you all right? Gunnar asked, his voice in her head.
“That’s a-a cougar,” Ted said, keeping Carrie behind him.
“I’m all right,” Dakota said, staring into the cat’s upturned eyes. She smiled and looked at Ted. “He’s just a pretty little pussy cat.”
Carrie stared at her as if she’d lost her mind.
“That’s no pussy cat.”
Meow. Gunnar nuzzled her hand. At least you think I’m pretty.
Dakota chuckled, but her amusement was short-lived. She did think he was pretty, inside and out, a very handsome man, and that’s why she had to go.
Someone behind her called, “Falke,” and the cat grudgingly trotted away.
“Well, uh,” Ted began. “We best get in the vehicle now. It’s late, and you must be exhausted.”
Dakota hesitated, glancing back to where Axel stood next to the snowmobiles. He was watching her, but answering questions from a man in a yellow search and rescue jacket. There was also an ambulance standing by, its engine running but no lights flashing.
Apparently the cavalry had been called in just in case there’d been injuries or worse. She trembled at the thought. Despite the teasing from the other brothers earlier about digging out, the danger had been real.
“Oh, damn. You probably just want to forget this whole nightmare, don’t you?” Carrie said.
“No. I…” She could never forget the Falkes, but neither could she stay in their world. “Um…Yeah, we should go.”
Dakota turned away from Axel and Gunnar and let her friend guide her into the backseat of the SUV. Ted climbed into the front passenger seat to wait for the driver.