~

 

Angelique felt the warmth brush her cheek. It stung her skin with a shock to her nerves that jolted her from babbling her words, over and over, and back to the moment.

She was cold. Bone cold, but as she forced her eyelids open, she came face to face with the large black wolf.

It was a shock to her system, but her foggy mind snatched an image of Luke’s smiling face from somewhere in the darkness and put it front and center.

“Luke,” she muttered. It was the best that she could do.

The big, bad alpha wolf whimpered a hello, and she tried to raise her hand to stroke against its fur, but she couldn’t seem to manage to do it. Within one blink of her eyes, the wolf had disappeared and Luke, a very naked Luke, was staring back at her.

That sight warmed her like no other.

“Let’s get you home,” Luke growled with the beast still up front and center within his voice. That sounded good to her ears.

“Cold…” she managed to push out against chattering teeth and was grateful when Luke’s arms wrapped around her and the heat from his body seeped into hers.

Luke scooped her up into his arms and cradled her against him. He had no time to waste – he needed to get her back to the cabin and start to thaw her out gently – and he set off on fast legs through the blizzard.

 

~

~

~

 

George watched through the window as the alpha took care of his mate. All thoughts of being home, his stupid drinking game, and his other life were pushed aside as she waited and watched to make sure that Angelique would be alright.

Jett still stood guard outside the alpha’s cabin. The beta was probably as worried as he was, but neither of them uttered a word about it.

Jessica had found a nook within the framework of the porch roof in which to hold up away from the winds and the weather. George could have returned to his fairy form and done the same, but he wanted to stand guard and wait to see what happened.

There, through the window, George could see the mates as they lay under heavy blankets in front of the open fire. Luke’s body was curled protectively around Angelique as she slept in his arms.

George could only hope that it was a good sign. He waited and hoped, hoped and waited, and he wasn’t moving from that spot until he knew for sure.

 

~

~

~

 

The crackle and pop of the dry wood in the fireplace as it burned soothed Luke’s nerves, but not as much as the even sound of his mate’s breathing and her steady heartbeat. Normally, he liked to watch the flames dance, but not tonight. Tonight he couldn’t take his gaze from his mate’s face.

Luke had consigned every inch that he could see to memory. He reveled in the feel of her in his arms, her warmed body pressed against the heat of his, and when she snorted a little snore – he liked that too.

The color had returned to her cheeks, and for that, he was eternally grateful.

Angelique muttered something unintelligible. Luke leaned in towards her as his ears strained to pick up her next word.

“Hot!” Angelique snapped out, as she started to fight against the blankets that were tucked around her body. She squirmed against his hold. “Hot! Hot! Hot!”

Angelique forced her eyelids open and came face to face with Luke. Her mind spun, her brain kicked back to life, and her gaze darted around the room before returning back to her mate.

Luke growled with annoyance that was mixed with relief, and he didn’t know whether to kiss her or wring her neck.

“You didn’t go, rogue,” Angelique tossed out the words without even thinking about them. “Did you?” She added.

The man didn’t seem to be baying for her blood and frothing at the mouth, but he didn’t look too happy either.

“No thanks to you,” Luke growled.

“I know!” Angelique hated herself for it. “Wait! What?” She might have hated herself for it, but she never expected it to be thrown back in her face like that.

“Sure, I’m grateful that the faeries led me to you in time, and I’m grateful that you’re alive…”

“You wouldn’t know it to listen to you,” Angelique grumbled.

“But, what I’m not grateful for is the fact that you ran away in the first place. What were you thinking? Did you not see the blizzard?” Luke demanded an answer from her.

Angelique stayed silent. She was pretty much aghast at her mate’s attitude.

“You could have died — what do you have to say for yourself?” Luke demanded.

“Say for myself?” Angelique’s brain was running on empty.

“What if I’d turned rogue?”

“I’m guessing we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I’m also guessing that you probably would have had a better attitude,” Angelique offered back.

“Better attitude?” Luke offered her a look of pure disbelief.

“Well, right now I’m thinking that being in a room with a rogue wolf would probably be more enjoyable than being here with you.”

“Enjoyable?” Luke gave a slow shake of his head in disbelief.

“I don’t think your wolf would be judging me — a drunken me at that,” Angelique offered back. Mea culpa — she’d done wrong, and she knew it, but still…

“No more wine — you can’t be trusted,” Luke growled.

“A fate worse than death,” Angelique tossed back. She tried to keep the smile from bowing her lips upwards, but it didn’t work.

“And speaking of death…”

“That old chestnut again?”

“How are you not taking this seriously?” Luke demanded with a low, deep growl that rumbled through his chest, and through her body.

“Well, I think you’re taking this seriously enough for the both of us. There seems little point in us both going off the deep end about it…”

“The deep end…?”

“The end that’s not shallow.” She offered him in whispered tones as if she was sharing a secret with him.

Luke thought she might have just gone totally insane. It was the only explanation.

“Can brain freeze make you stupid?” Luke growled.

“Quite possibly. How much ice cream do you eat? It certainly gives you a new perspective on life, and death, but mainly life, because you’re not dead — meaning I’m not dead — and that’s something that I suppose I should be grateful for — and you — but mainly me. Although, if I were dead then I probably wouldn’t know it anyway.”