Page 10 of Knot Her Mountain Men

Half an hour in, I was regretting everything. I had done entirely too much hiking the last few days but not nearly enough rest for fuel to keep me going.

Bear stopped our journey and helped me out of the snowshoes, offering me a drink of water from the pack on his back. It was an odd intimacy to be so close to him while drinking, and being this close reminded me how good he smelled and how much I wanted to crawl up inside his coat for a nap. He set the snowshoes on the sled and scooped me right off my feet.

“You don’t have to carry me,” I protested, but not too hard because it was heaven being off my feet.

“Faster” was Bear’s only response, his warm breath sending goosebumps dancing over my skin beneath my woolen clothes. We set off again, at nearly twice the pace I had been walking.

I clung to him, trying not to think about his linked hands supporting my ass or the way I was spread out and pressed against him. My brain should be focusing on the fact that Brandon had apparently tried to kill me because I wouldn’t sleep with him. I shouldn’t be thinking about sleeping withanyoneafter that. My body had not gotten the memo. Bear was warm and sturdy, and he smelled like all my favorite childhood memories—few though they were.

Snow cascaded down around us in thick clumps. It took hardly any time at all for our trail to disappear behind us. As the hours passed, the wind picked up until it was brutal, icy needles stinging every bit of exposed skin. I tucked myself tightly against Bear, burying my face against his coat.

He shifted my weight onto one arm and tapped against my ear with the other before holding up a bright orange whistle. I leaned into him, pressing one ear against him and covering the other before three sharp sounds cracked through the air followed by three longer ones and three more short. I risked a glance and saw the vague outline of a large cabin through the snow.

“Was that SOS on a whistle?”

Bear nodded and Pumpkin barked.

A series of whistles sounded in return but I didn’t recognize the pattern. I covered my ears again as Bear took a breath and shot off another round of SOS.

A lone figure rushed through the snow toward us in neon orange hunting gear. “Bear!” he shouted.

Bear set off a single whistle to reply.

We sat down on a drop-off of snow, the ground ahead cleared. Bear kicked off his snowshoes and tossed them into the sled that he carefully set down on the other side of the ledge.

The figure finally got to us, an unfairly beautiful face peeking out from the hood. “Holy shit. You found someone on the trail? Damn good timing. The storm is set to bury us.”

Without waiting, this new alpha scooped me right up and marched back toward the cabin, Bear following in our wake. This new alpha smelled like spruce resin and beeswax, sweet and earthy, matching the forest just like Bear. It wove through my body like something primal, my omega nature reacting in a way I didn’t quite understand.

What was so great about these two? I had never wanted to plaster myself over an alpha before. This close I could catch snippets of his black hair and amber brown eyes set against reddish brown skin a few shades warmer than Bear’s.

He kicked in the door to a spacious garage and deposited me onto my feet, still keeping an arm snugly wrapped around me while we waited for Bear and Pumpkin to join us.

“Where are we?” I asked.

The alpha looked down at me almost like he had forgotten I was there. “You’re at the Elk Ridge Hunting Lodge. Looks like you’re gonna be here for at least a few days. Half the roads around here are already closed.”

“And who are you?”

“Mukitou Maskwa, but you can call me Kit.”

I pulled down my hood, scarf, and beanie, shaking myself to get my circulation going, and Kit’s eyes widened. His scent erupted, crashing over me and loosing an omega whine from my throat.

Bear stepped up next to me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

“You’re—” Kit began.

“Yes,” Bear whispered.

“I’m what?” I blinked up at the two of them, uncomprehending.

“Ours,” they chorused.

“What?!”

I’d never been more grateful for Bear’s compulsive need to disappear into the woods alone after we hosted people at the lodge. Fate was playing a dangerous fucking game, leaving our omega out there for him to find when one change in direction could’ve left her dead. The mountains weren’t forgiving at the best of times, let alone in the middle of winter. Even if you knew what you were doing—and Bear was as close to an expert as you could get—you were risking your life.

The blizzard had rolled in unexpectedly, as most weather in the mountains tended to do. The news was talking about three feet of snow or more, which would force us to hunker down until the main roads were cleared. That didn’t even account for the drifts, which could be over our heads in the right conditions. We managed on the property well enough since this was a regular occurrence, but it still wasn’t ideal.

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