Page 16 of Billionaire Wolf Needs a Pilot
The fire had died down to embers.I added more kindling, coaxing the flames back to life.As the glow illuminated the cave, I drew my eyes across Felicity’s sleeping face.The firelight softened her features, bathing her cheekbones and the gentle cupid’s bow of her lips.The pilot’s confidence and sharp wit that had first caught my attention were temporarily subdued in sleep, revealing a vulnerability that made my chest ache.
The beast stirred restlessly beneath my skin.Out here, away from civilization and its constraints, the barrier between my human and animal sides grew dangerously thin.I rolled my shoulders, feeling the familiar burn of muscles wanting to shift, to transform.Not now.Not here.Not in front of her.
A low growl escaped me as I fought for control.Felicity stirred at the sound, murmuring something incomprehensible before settling again.I needed air.Space.Distance from her intoxicating, dizzying scent and the way it pulled at instincts I’d spent a lifetime suppressing.
I moved silently to the cave entrance and peered outside.The blizzard had stopped during the night, leaving behind a transformed landscape.Pristine snow blanketed everything, glittering in the pre-dawn light.The world looked peaceful, deceptively so.I knew the beauty concealed deadly danger and the challenges that awaited us.
My stomach growled, reminding me of our limited supplies.We needed food.Real sustenance, not just emergency rations.The thought of hunting sent a thrill of anticipation through my wolf.It had been too long since I’d indulged that aspect of my nature.
Ducking back inside, I checked on Felicity once more.She remained deeply asleep, her chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm.I scribbled a quick note on a scrap of paper from the survival kit.
Gone to scout.Stay in the cave.Back soon.
I placed it where she would see it immediately upon waking, then slipped outside, inhaling deeply as the crisp mountain air filled my lungs, and relishing the brisk bite of the cold air against my skin.Freedom called to me, the freedom to run on four legs instead of two, to hunt as nature intended.But I couldn’t yield to it completely.Not yet.Instead, I compromised, allowing my senses to sharpen beyond human limits as I moved through the snow.
The forest awakened around me, coming alive with sounds and scents invisible to ordinary humans.I caught the rapid heartbeat of a snowshoe hare hiding beneath a fallen log, the musty odor of a fox that had passed through hours ago, and the trickle of running water beneath ice in the distance.My body moved with ease, each step precise and silent through the deep snow.
I found tracks.Small, rounded imprints that lead away from a stand of pine trees.Following them, I felt the familiar thrill of the hunt rise within me.My breath quickened, muscles tensing in anticipation.The rabbit never sensed my approach until it was too late.
The kill was clean, merciful.I whispered a silent thanks to the creature that would sustain us, honoring its sacrifice.My mother had taught me this respect for the balance of life and death, a teaching I carried even into my human existence.I gathered more firewood on my return journey, my mind already calculating how many days we might survive here while we waited for rescue.
As I approached our shelter, a new scent caught my attention.Sharp, bitter, predatory.Wolf.But not shifter.Ordinary wolves moving through their territory.I paused, lifting my face to the wind, reading the messages carried on the air.A pack of four.They passed through recently.Not hunting, but marking boundaries.My own wolf bristled at the territorial challenge, though they couldn’t possibly know another alpha was present.
I would need to keep watch.Wild wolves rarely attacked humans, but desperation in winter changed the rules.The thought of anything threatening Felicity sent a rush of protectiveness through me that was almost painful in its intensity.
When I ducked back into the cave, Felicity was awake, sitting up with my note in her hand and a worried crease between her brows.That little furrow smoothed when she saw me, relief washing over her features in a way that made my chest constrict.
“You’re back,” she said, eyes dropping to the rabbit and firewood in my hands.“You hunted?How did you even—” She gestured at the rabbit.“Without a weapon?”
I shrugged, setting down my supplies.“Snares.Old survival trick.”
The lie came easily, but something in her gaze told me she wasn’t entirely convinced.Felicity Foster was dangerously observant.Another reason to maintain my distance, despite how my wolf howled against the very idea.
“How’s your head?”I asked, busying myself with rebuilding the fire to avoid her scrutiny.
“Better,” she answered.Her hand reached up to prod the wound gingerly.“Still hurts, but the dizziness is almost gone.Your regular wake-up calls probably saved me from worse.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak as I remembered how many times I’d gently roused her during the night.How relief flooded my chest each time her drowsy eyes had found mine with increasing clarity, and how her sleep-warmed scent had wrapped around me like a physical touch.
“The storm’s stopped,” I said instead, focusing on practical matters.“But we’re still miles from anywhere, and the snow’s deep.Rescue will be looking in the wrong place first.”
“We need to signal somehow,” Felicity said, her mind working along the same lines as mine.“A smoke signal big enough to be seen from the air, maybe?”
I began skinning the rabbit with practiced efficiency.“First priority is keeping you fed and warm while you recover.”
“I’m not an invalid,” she protested.“I can help.”
I glanced up, catching her watching my hands as they worked.Something flickered in her expression, fascination, perhaps, or wariness at how comfortable I was with the bloody task.I slowed deliberately, making my movements more human, less predatory.
“We need to be smart about our energy,” I said.“Your concussion—”
“Is improving,” she interrupted firmly.“And sitting here useless will drive me crazy.So give me something to do, Roberts, or I’ll find something myself.”
A reluctant smile tugged at my lips.Even injured and stranded, her spirit remained unbroken.My wolf approved, rumbling with pleasure at her strength.A worthy—
I cut the thought off abruptly before my mind uttered the forbidden word.
“You can prepare the cooking area,” I conceded, gesturing to the stones I’d gathered earlier.“We need to boil snow for drinking water.And we should take inventory again, ration what we have more precisely now that we’re thinking clearly.”
