Cale awoke suddenly, uncertain of what exactly had roused him. He groaned and fumbled for his cell phone. A quick check showed his battery had died during the night.

A series of frantic bangs shook his door and he realized someone knocking must have woken him up. He shook his head a few times, forcing himself all the way awake. Nobody would be pounding on his door unless there was some sort of emergency.

Based on the dim, gray light coming in from his window it wasn’t even dawn yet. Cale got out of bed and pushed the curtain aside for a better look. It wasn’t dark; his window was plastered with snow so thick he couldn’t see out.

“Oh no,” he groaned.

The alpha galloped down the stairs and flung open the door. Icy air blew in. Cale staggered back, wishing he’d paused for a shirt as he was pelted with snow. The world outside was white and a blizzard looked like it was raging.

“Cale! Finally!” gasped a breathless alpha.

“Easton,” Cale said, recognizing the messenger. He ignored the alpha’s slightly insubordinate comment. The situation warranted it and he and Easton had fooled around enough that the other alpha had earned some leeway. “How bad is it?”

“It’s bad, Cale. It’s hitting us dead on. They’re saying it’s nearly two inches an hour and only getting harder.”

“Shit. Okay, what else do I need to know?” He ushered the alpha in out of the storm and slammed the door. The threshold of his foyer was already slick with slowly melting snow.

“We’re evacuating into the lodge,” Easton said, stamping off the snow caked onto him. “Everyone’s being ordered to get only what they need and go straight there. We’ve got people escorting and patrolling for stragglers. Most of the pack is safely in already. Everyone sort of assumed you were out doing something, but when we realized nobody had seen you, and then you didn’t answer your phone…”

“Battery,” Cale groaned.

Easton nodded. “Your mother sent me to see if I could find you.”

“Guess I better grab some stuff and head to the lodge.”

“I’ll wait.”

“Go on ahead, I’ll catch up.”

“Not without a snowmobile you won’t,” Easton said.

“It’s already that bad?”

“Worse. You don’t hurry your ass up and the snowmobile won’t be an option either,” Easton said. “It’s heavy, wet snow. A couple more inches and the snowmobiles won’t run.”

Cursing, Cale sprinted back upstairs. He threw on several layers of clothes, then crammed more into a suitcase, followed by a couple of blankets.

“How’s the lodge on food?” he called down as he packed.

“Fine! We were prepared for everything except how damn fast this thing hit us.”

Tucking a pillow under one arm and slinging his suitcase over his shoulder, Cale hurried back down to the other alpha and followed him to the snowmobile.

* * *

The lodge was hustling and bustling with mostly controlled chaos. Even though the last big storm had been several years ago, most of the pack remembered the evacuation procedures. The tables and chairs in the grand dining hall of the lodge were stacked in corners and everyone was staking claim to their spot on the floor and setting up cots. The massive windows were covered by protective curtains and every fireplace was roaring; preparing well in advance for a loss of power.

Cale walked along the outside of the room, keeping an eye out for anyone who needed assistance. It looked like the other alphas of the pack had everything well in hand. Every time Cale spotted something that he thought needed attention, another alpha practically materialized on the spot and took care of it. He hoped his own pack would run as smoothly someday.

An uneasy tingle ran up his spine and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. His nose picked up the scent of an alpha who wasn’t in the pack – a rival, for all intents and purposes – and his body reacted before his brain had even processed the smell. He willed himself to relax, before turning. There was only one unsworn alpha who would have been allowed this deep into their territory.

“Bade,” he said in greeting, even as he turned.

The lone alpha was sitting on a table in the corner, with a small bag of belongings next to him.

“Cale,” he said, nodding.

Their interactions were always complicated by the instinctive desire to challenge an alpha outside of the pack. Cale’s position within the pack gave him an edge over the lone wolf, but it didn’t make talking to him any less uncomfortable. He had always liked Bade though. The other alpha lived peacefully alongside Maple Ridge, kept his head down, and obeyed the rules that let a non-pack member remain in the territory.

Cale hoped that when the time came to start his own pack, if Bade hadn’t already sworn to Maple Ridge, that he’d join Cale in his new one. He had a feeling the lone wolf would be an asset. Bade had his own reasons for not joining a pack – he had come from one that sounded as bad as Jaden’s – but Cale knew the alpha wouldn’t have stuck around for so long if he wasn’t considering Maple Ridge someday.

“Glad to see you evacuated,” Cale said. “What’s it like in town?”

“Buried under snow, by the time I left,” Bade said. “The roads were already impassible; I was able to catch a snowmobile ride up.” He wrinkled his nose as he spoke. Cale had a feeling he had probably been forced to ride with a rival alpha.

“Well, I’m glad you made it. Are you okay in here, with all this?” He gestured around at all of the wolves. The proximity surely made the alpha uncomfortable. “I could find you a smaller, more private room someplace if you like.”

“Nah, I’m fine. I’d rather…” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “You know. Weather-the-storm-with-a-pack,” he muttered quickly.

Cale nodded. Alphas didn’t like to show weakness, especially to another alpha. Never to one in another pack. It took a lot for Bade to admit he wasn’t quite as content being a lone wolf as he acted. Preferring to be stuck in a room with a pack that wasn’t his over being alone in the storm spoke volumes.

Maybe he should have asked Bade to speak with Jaden. They had something in common with their pack history and lives spent as lone wolves.

It was then it occurred to him that Jaden was there somewhere. Cale bit back a groan of dismay. He was about to spend god-only-knew how many days in close proximity with the omega. So much for avoiding his true mate. He cast a look around the room, warily keeping an eye out for the last wolf he wanted to see.

Bade mistook the scan for anxiety. “I don’t mean to keep you. Go tend to your pack.”

Instead of his usual, “It’s not my pack,” argument, Cale nodded again to the other alpha and resumed his patrol. This time, watching out for Jaden as much as he was looking for packmates who needed assistance.

“Breakfast, alpha?”

Cale turned to the familiar voice. Drake was standing there with a platter of food. Cale’s stomach rumbled at the sight.

“Fresh out of the oven,” Drake said. “These are blueberry here, cinnamon-raisin, chocolate… the blueberry are pretty tart, but there’s a dash of sugar on top to cut that. Now, the cinnamon-raisin are—”

“Thank you,” Cale said quickly, cutting him off. He grabbed a muffin from the pile and resumed his pacing. Flavor exploded in his mouth as he bit into the still oven-warm muffin and he stopped in his tracks. “Drake?” he called, as the omega’s descriptions of the muffins sank in. There had been obvious pride in his voice.

The omega had already started walking away, but turned back. “Yes?”

“These are great. Delicious.”

Drake beamed. “Thank you!”

“Has my mother had any?”

“Uh… no. Not yet.”

“Make sure she gets some.”

Drake bowed and hurried away. Cale made a mental note to follow up with his mother. She’d been lamenting about Drake’s lack of administrative skills, but maybe his talents lay elsewhere...

He hadn’t gone far when a familiar voice called his name.

“Cale? Do you have a minute?”

He turned to the omega. “Sure, Tanner. What’s up?” Cale’s eyes dropped to the infant tucked snugly into a carrier over Tanner’s chest. “Is Maddie okay? Do you need me to find a quieter place for you?”

“No, no, she’s fine.” Tanner reflexively reached up to rest a hand on his daughter’s back. He bounced lightly in place. “And we’re all settled in.”

“We had a question,” Niles cut in.

Cale turned to the other alpha. He hadn’t noticed Niles at first, but wasn’t surprised to see the alpha glued to his true mate’s side. Cale bit back a smile. The first time they met he had more or less told Niles to go claim his true mate and join their pack. The irony of never wanting a true mate of his own wasn’t lost on him.

As he thought of Jaden, he couldn’t resist giving Niles a closer look. Had he ever thought Niles was good looking? He paled in comparison to Jaden. Cale shook himself, trying to stop thinking about the omega.

“What is it, Niles?” As he asked, he spotted Alain standing behind Niles, looking nervous.

“We were just wondering if you’ve seen Jaden,” Niles said.

Seen him? He couldn’t stop thinking about him! “Where?” Cale asked instead, thrown off by the question.

“Here,” said Tanner.

“What, this morning? No,” Cale said. His heart started pounding and his stomach twisted nervously. He took a deep breath to calm himself. Stop freaking out. Your true mate isn’t – shit, stop thinking of him like that – Jaden isn’t missing or anything. He turned his attention to Alain. “Was he with you when you arrived?”

“No, Alpha. I haven’t seen him since your brother spoke with him. He said Jaden needed some space and he took him somewhere to be alone.”

This time Cale didn’t try to calm his roiling stomach, but he forced an encouraging smile.

“Then, I’m sure Conner knows where he is. I’ll go find them and let Jaden know you’re looking for him.” The logical part of his brain told him that if Conner had been talking to Jaden, then the omega was certainly accounted for. Nonetheless, he quickly excused himself and walked significantly faster than he would have otherwise.

As he looked for his brother, Cale kept telling himself he wasn’t overreacting because it was Jaden. He’d be equally worried about any packmate. But a little nagging image of Jaden’s small smile, as he surveyed his shoveling, kept popping up in his head.

At last, he caught Conner’s scent and quickly followed it to his elder brother.

“Conner!” he called.

The alpha had clearly just come in from outside. His clothes were caked with snow and his cheeks were still red from the cold.

“Hey, sleeping beauty.”

Normally, Cale would have wrinkled his nose and made a note to give Easton a piece of his mind, instead he got right to business

“I just spoke with Tanner and his family; they’re looking for Jaden, where did you stick him?”

While he’d never admit it to his face, Cale admired his brother. Conner was always calm and collected. There was no question he’d make a phenomenal lead alpha and Cale hoped he had even half of his brother’s charisma. So, when Conner’s grin faded into an expression of pure shock, Cale’s heart skipped a beat.

Conner’s jaw actually dropped as his eyes grew impossibly wide. “Holy shit…”

“W-where is he, Conner?”

Conner stared beyond him, as if he couldn’t believe what he was saying. “He’s up in Shed Four.”

“What?!” Cale yelped. Several people nearby glanced their way. He would never have done it under normal circumstances, but he grabbed Conner by the arm and dragged him away from the rest of the pack. Even though he couldn’t stop himself, he was painfully aware that his damn true mate was already affecting his judgment. “What the hell is he doing in Shed Four?” he demanded as soon as they had some privacy. “Is he alone? Is he up in that shack all by himself with no idea there’s a blizzard?!”

“Probably.” Conner still looked stunned. “How the hell could I have done that? This morning happened so fast I just…” He shook his head and Cale relaxed, just a little, as his brother regained his composure. “I’ll take a snowmobile and get him. I’ll be back in no time.”

“I’ll go,” Cale said without hesitating.

“This was my mistake, Cale.”

“I’ll go.” This time it was a growl. Cale cleared his throat in embarrassment and quickly added, “This is practically your pack; they need to see you here.”

Conner nodded. Nonetheless, he followed his younger brother to the snowmobiles and gave him a quick overview of the conversation that led to Jaden’s predicament.

The snowmobile roared to life under Cale. “I’ll be back in no time,” he said, pulling his scarf up over his face. Conner remembered the ski goggles propped up on his forehead and offered them. Cale pulled them on, then roared away, not caring that he had probably sprayed Conner with snow.

His head was spinning as he steered up the mountain toward Shed Four. The tiny, old ski patrol shack was the perfect place for solitude. Then again, Cale doubted he would have sent Jaden there. He was kicking himself for sending Conner to talk with him now. If he had just manned up and spoken to his mate, none of this would have happened.

He growled under his breath, cursing his brother, and fated mates, and himself, and the damn blizzard until he realized that the snowmobile was struggling. Shed Four was on the backside of the mountain, with most of the houses. And, of course, that was the side of the resort getting hit hardest by the storm. Cale knew from memory that the shack was also in a large clearing, right at the top, where a bunch of ski slopes met. It was sure to be covered in heavy snow.

In the interest of saving time, he tried to follow the ski lifts up. The lines would lead straight to the shack. It quickly became apparent that the snow on the exposed slope was too deep. The snowmobile got stuck several times before Cale was forced to turn around. He raced to a different trail. It was a couple of miles long and wound slowly up to the top, but it was more sheltered by trees. Even then, as he finally neared the top he could hear and feel the machine struggling.

He drove right up to the shack and flew off to bang on the door.

“Jaden!” he yelled. “Jaden!” His heart was pounding and he couldn’t tell how much was because of the storm and how much was the prospect of seeing – meeting – his true mate at last.