Laurie’s Wolves(9)

He released her head and glanced down at her body. “Lift your arms for me.”

She did so.

“Now your feet.”

They felt like they weighed two hundred pounds each, but she did as he said.

That appeased him. He blew out a long breath. “I’m so sorry. I never should have brought you this high up the mountain so soon. It’s your first day.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her to sitting. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Zach, I’m fine.” She set a hand on his cheek. “Just freezing.” Her teeth chattered.

“Yeah. You’re soaked. Probably through your ski pants and jacket.” He looked around. “I’m going to find your skis and poles.”

She watched as he popped off his own skis and stabbed them into the snow upright beside her before climbing back through the path she’d cleared with her body. His poles lay abandoned next to her body.

“How far back do you think they snapped off?” he shouted from several yards away. It was growing difficult to converse with the snow now coming down in droves.

“I don’t know,” she yelled. She couldn’t process exactly when the skis had separated themselves from her boots. All she could remember was how relieved she’d been to know she wouldn’t clock herself in the head with them as she somersaulted.

Zach worked his way back and forth, digging in the snow and coming up empty.

Laurie sat huddled in her spot looking around. Her ass was freezing. Her entire body grew colder by the second. And she was drained of energy. She looked around and then pulled her foggy goggles off to see better. She couldn’t see any evidence of the ski slope they’d been on. How far off the path had she managed to go before coming to a stop?

Shit.

The snow was switching to near-blizzard conditions. She angled her head and couldn’t hear anything around her. No other skiers.

She shuddered.

Zach was a blur in front of her, and after several minutes, he made his way back to her side. His face was grim. “No way I’m going to find your skis in this mess.” He grabbed her chin and met her gaze. “You’re freezing.”

She nodded, still chattering.

He glanced around, perhaps thinking. And then his face lit up and he stood. “We’re super close to a cabin.”

“A cabin?”

“Yep.” He pointed deeper into the woods. “If we haven’t gone too far down the mountain, it should be right through there.”

“How the hell do you know where we are?”

He grinned. “I’ve spent my entire life on this mountain.” He leaned down and grabbed her hands. “Can you stand?”

She wobbled, but managed to right herself. The next question was how she was going to walk in the ridiculous boots not made for hiking.

“Lean your weight forward on your shins when you need to rest for a minute. But let’s move as fast as we can before conditions worsen.”

“Okay.” It was difficult to turn around and face the correct direction, let alone walk.

Zach yanked his skis out of the snow, nestled them together, and stuck them under one arm. He tucked his poles in next to them. “I’d leave them, but I’m worried we might regret that decision later.”

She agreed. Worst case scenario, he could always leave her and ski to the bottom for help. In fact he should do so now. “You go. I’ll stay right here.”

He shook his head. “Not a chance in hell, baby.”

“It will be faster than getting even more lost in this snow. Soon we won’t be able to see our tracks.”

“Laurie, we’ll never be lost. This is my mountain. I know every inch of it. We’ll find the cabin and get inside out of the cold.” He took her hand and tugged.

She lifted one foot and immediately worried. It was so hard to move. The snow was deep and fluffy. Every step left her buried up to her ankles. And she was so tired…

“Keep moving.” Zach held her hand firmly, his grip on her glove keeping her grounded. “The faster we get these wet ski clothes off you, the faster you can warm up.”

She lifted her face and squinted into the blinding snow.

Zach kept moving forward, shocking her with his confidence.

“How far do you think it is?” she shouted over the storm.

“Not far. If we’ve passed it, we’ll work our way down the mountain to the next one. There are six of them situated along the next slope.” He kept glancing over his shoulder as he spoke. “No way we can miss them, baby. So don’t worry so hard. We’re heading straight through the trees to the parallel slope and then down.”

She nodded. That sounded promising.

For long minutes neither of them spoke. And then they finally stepped out of the trees.