Naomi filled the pot with a few cups of water from the small blue water tank sitting on the counter next to the sink. There was running water in the bathroom, thanks to the storage tank and heater, but the cabin was still technically dry. The hole in the kitchen sink drained to a gray water bucket in the cabinet beneath.

She put the large pot on the stove to boil and turned to peer out the window to her left. Snow was falling hard now, blowing almost sideways. The skies were filled with dark clouds, blocking out the daylight. It was only noon. The land and the sky nearly blended together now. She couldn’t see more than maybe a hundred feet from the cabin.

The wind rattled the shutters and a loud ring from the wall behind her nearly made her jump out of her skin.

All three men leapt up, knocking their chairs to the floor in the process.

Col rushed to her side a growl tearing from his throat. “What magick is this?”

“Hey, it’s just the phone. Remember you talked to my mom and sister on the phone.”

“That was on your laptop.” He glanced at her computer on the desk.

“Yep, and this is the phone.” Naomi pointed to the old school tan plastic phone hanging on the wall. She pushed his hands off her waist and picked up the receiver. The cord dangled nearly to the floor. She smiled and shook her head, hadn’t used one of these since the last trip to Grandma’s house. “Hello?”

“Oh, Ms. Parker. I called yesterday hoping to catch you.”

“Sorry, I got stuck up on a mountain. But I’m back. And actually, I was going to call you and see if it would be possible to keep the cabin longer. Maybe another week?”

“Oh, sure. Nobody rents this far out from the resort during the winter season. You’re welcome to stay. I don’t have any reservations on the books for several months. But, I wanted to warn you. There’s a storm coming in right now. You shouldn’t leave the cabin until the snow lets up, and if you need help digging out the snow machine, just call me. I’ll come or send my son to help you.”

Col growled next to her. He had his ear next to the phone listening.

“Thank you, Mr. Curtis. Do you know how long the storm is supposed to last?”

“Supposed to blow out late tonight, is what they’re saying.”

“Thank you. I’ll call if I need anything.”

“Yes, ma’am. There should be plenty of wood stacked outside the kitchen door for the wood stove, and the tank should have enough water for another week or so if you’re careful.”

“Thank you again, Mr. Curtis.” Naomi hung the receiver back onto the wall base.

“You need nothing from this Misss-ster Kerr-tass.” Col straightened to his full height and puffed out his chest. So big and protective. Totally different than her brothers getting up in her business.

“No, I don’t. But I also don’t want him to know the four of you are up here either. At least not yet.”

Her dragon man grunted and walked back toward the table, leaving her in the kitchen.

She held in a chuckle and returned to opening the two jars of sauce she’d brought up with her. There wasn’t much left in the fridge. A side of bacon. A dozen eggs. Naomi had a couple loaves of bread on the counter next to the toaster. A box of wine. She was definitely breaking that out after the meal.

“Col, would you start a fire in the wood stove.” She pointed to the black cast iron giant in the corner of the living room.

He rose reluctantly from the table, giving the other men a warning look.

She wasn’t sure what he thought they’d do, but then again, she didn’t know his world like he did. She had to keep reminding herself that these men—shifters—weren’t from this world.

They had different customs and beliefs and traditions, and they were primitive. No plumbing. No electricity. From what she’d gleaned so far from Col, they lived mainly in tents and had always been nomadic. At least his tribe had.

She leaned against the counter and caught one of the other shifter’s attention. “Are you all nomadic?”

Saul, the one with the loose blonde hair and feathers in his braids, cast a quick glance at Col before answering. “Not all the tribes. The dragons were the most nomadic. They would move from valley to valley. The Lion Tribe lived similarly though. We moved with the herds of game on the plains. We did not live in places like this,” he gestured to the room. “Like the dragon tribe we would live in large tents. Usually each family would have a communal room for gathering and cooking and eating. Then separate spaces for sleeping.”

“Tiger Tribe and Panther Tribe, from the jungles lived in more permanent homes. Usually high in the trees to avoid the annual floods.” Col stood and moved back to the kitchen.

“I guess Tor is really missing his warm jungle, huh?” Naomi asked, giving Col a smile. “Thank you for getting the fire started in the stove. The air was getting a little cold, even for me.”

He returned to her side and pulled her against his body. He was so warm. Seriously, his skin felt like an electric heating pad. Not a bad thing in this kind of climate.

She wrapped her hands around his waist and hugged him tight, snuggling her face against the bare skin of his chest. Unlike the other shifters who had scruff or short beards, Col had no facial hair or body hair.

Just long wavy brown locks that draped down his shoulders, longer than she’d ever grown out her crazy curls. Naomi didn’t have anything against beards, but she was glad Col didn’t have one.

Saul chuckled. “Except for your dragon, who has fire inside him, we are all missing the warmth of Reylea. This world is harsh and bitterly cold. Nothing like our home.”

“You don’t all run hot like Col? He barely seems to notice the snow,” Naomi asked, pulling her face away from her man’s chest. “I figured it was a Reylean thing.”

Col shook his head. “Only a dragon thing.”

“We’re warmer in animal form, but as men, we are quite uncomfortable in this weather. We found these coats in a cabin, but once we have clothes of our own, I intend on returning them.” Kann gestured to the big parkas he and Saul were wearing. Their legs were still bare, and their boots were not made for the snow.

“The closest town up the river is Mystery, but they didn’t have any shopping I noticed. We’ll probably have to go across the river and south to McKinley Park. There are several resorts there for tourists and an airport. They’ll have supplies.”

“We are very grateful for your help,” Kann spoke again. “Navigating this land has been troublesome.”

“We’re almost inside Denali Park right now. It’s not always covered in snow. This far inland summer starts promptly in June, but it ends in September. Right now, we are smack dab in the middle of winter. And from what the locals told me before I came out here, it’s been a rough one. At least, that’s what my research turned up before I came here.”

“You do not live here?” Saul asked, giving her an inquisitive raised eyebrow.

She shook her head. “I’m here for work. I live a really long way from Alaska.”

“Alaska,” Kann spoke again. “That is the name of this place?”

“Yes. And we’re north of Mt. Denali,” she answered. Hissing from behind her made her turn. The water on the stove was boiling over. She left Col’s side briefly to put the noodles into the water and turn down the heat.

The front door flew open, allowing in an icy blast of air.

“She’s coming!” Tor shoved the door closed behind him. It slammed with a bang that made her heart jump.

The other two shifters at the table all stood at once.

“What’s is going on? Who’s coming?” She switched the heat off under the noodles. If they were leaving the cabin, she didn’t want to be responsible for starting a fire. Col pulled her to his side, away from the stove. The tension in his sinewy arms was like taut steel cables.

“The female dragon. What did you call her, Sefa?” Tor pushed his big fur hood off. His long fiery red-orange hair fell well below his shoulders. His beard was trimmed short, but the color was the same as his hair. “She’s right behind me.”

A roar exploded from Col’s chest, sending vibration rippling through Naomi’s body. “Get out!” The command sent everyone into motion. Col whirled, picked her up, and carried her out the front door into the twilight. Once outside, he paused and breathed in deeply. All three of the other shifters froze just inside the cabin door. Naomi could hear their weight shifting on the floorboards. They hadn’t outright called Col their leader yet, but every move they made since arriving had been dictated by him. They watched him for every cue.

The wind was tossing snow everywhere. Around them. Against them. The porch was covered with several inches. The sky wasn’t a complete white out yet, but it was getting close. Naomi couldn’t tell if it was fresh powder falling or if the wind was just mixing up the snow already on the ground.

Icy winds whipped through her curls, but she didn’t feel particularly uncomfortable. The air was cold—bitterly so—but she didn’t feel the burn. Not like she had when she’d first gotten to McKinley Park and headed north to this cabin across the river.

The changes Col had pointed out seemed to have truly taken hold in her body. She had a pair of sweatpants on with a hoodie. No thermals. No gloves. Just a pair of socks.

She was standing in the snow on the porch in her socks. “What are we waiting for?”

“Sefa,” Col said. “I cannot kill her until I can see her.”

Naomi grabbed Col’s arm. “You can’t leave me.”

The other three shifters moved through the door to flank her on the porch. Her heart kicked against her ribs and her pulse roared in her ears like a hurricane had taken up residence inside her head. She couldn’t think past the fact that Col was going to leave her alone. He was going to fight the other dragon.

He could die.

“Col, please.”

“I will not allow her to hurt you.” Col glanced over her shoulder and snarled at the other men. Fangs bared. Eyes the color of molten gold. “Keep her back. Sefa dies this night.”

A low rumble cut through the howl of the wind, but it wasn’t coming from Col.

Naomi looked up. The sky straight ahead and above them was on fire. Her heart crawled into her throat. Her lungs refused to breathe. She couldn’t move, couldn’t think. Flames were racing toward the cabin, rushing toward her like a billowing storm of death. No one would survive that.

She tried to scream. Tried to run. Tried to do something. But her brain couldn’t get her body to comply. Multiple sets of hands grabbed her and pulled her inside the cabin. Col’s body changed in front of her in a split second, blacking out the gray-white sky with his ebony dragon form. His wings spread out in a wide arc.

The fire never reached her.

The other men had pulled her inside. She hit the floor with an unceremonious thud. But she wouldn’t be stopped. Col was hers.

She scrambled to her feet.

Col leapt into the air, chasing and attacking the red female.

Naomi ran through the still-open door, back into the whirling snow and bitter cold. “Col!” Her cry blew back into her face. “Col!”

“Naomi, he would want you inside. Out of sight,” Tor’s voice was a deep bass. She glanced back at him. His eyes flickering gold reminding her of the way Col’s would change when his animal rose to the surface. The other two men stood silently. Their eyes also flickering, watching, waiting for her to make a move. Tor reached for her arm again, but she ran down the steps into the snow away from him. Away from all of them.

Col was all that mattered.

Her heart beat as though it would leap from her chest. She sucked in breath after breath of the cold frozen air, but it didn’t affect her. It was like fire flowed through her veins.

Then everything stopped. Time stood still as she watched Col’s black dragon form fall from the sky. He hit the ground over the rise of a hill. She couldn’t see him. The sky remained empty. He wasn’t getting back up. He wasn’t leaping into the air. He was just…gone.

Col.

Air wouldn’t inhale.

Her heart wouldn’t beat.

Naomi fell to her knees in the snow. She’d lost him. He was gone. Her worst fears realized. She’d let herself love him. She’d let herself move forward. Look what it’d gotten her. More pain. More heartache. She screamed into the fury of the wind, but the sound was thrown back into her face, a futile cry of desperation that no one could hear. Fiery streams of tears ran down her cheeks, creating a sharp contrast to the bitter cold wind.

“Naomi!” Tor’s deep voice slipped through the howl of the wind like a gentle whisper. Like he was miles away and she was only hearing the echo of his cry.

Nothing mattered anymore. She’d lost the man who’d made her feel alive. For two years she’d been a living shadow. And then Col had quite literally crashed into her life. Her pulse pounded in her head, drowning out the whisper of Tor’s worry. She bent down, touching her forehead to her legs, weeping under the deafening and painful and torturing roar of her adrenaline and emotions. And something else…something else was burning from deep inside. Like a fire had ignited in her veins.

A dragon bugled overhead.

Naomi looked up.

The red dragon circled and then banked in the grey sky. Turned toward her. The red leathery wings were a sharp and stunning contrast to the pure white and grey sky. Sefa was getting closer. Naomi could see the glow of the dragon’s eyes. Feel the force of her wings as she dove toward the ground with the speed and agility of a hunting eagle.

A feline growl shook Naomi’s body from behind. An enormous orange and black striped animal leapt in front of her, blocking the red dragon’s first attempt to snatch her from the ground. The dragon’s claws ripped through his hide and the tiger shifter screamed in pain. Then Sefa cast him away like an unwanted stuffed animal.

The red dragon turned on Naomi again.

There was nowhere to go. Nothing to do.

Sefa had won.

The red dragon dove again. Tor was down. The lions were too far away. Sefa’s claw closed around Naomi’s torso. Around her ribs. The claw around her got tighter, squeezing until it was difficult to breathe. Pain crept like spreading frost across the surface of her skin. Burning. Burning. Burning.

Her pulse stuttered, like a car engine that wouldn’t turn over. Her stomach knotted. Her vision blurred, and the silence was deafening.

Then everything slipped away to black. A black she couldn’t see any way to escape.