“Don’t forget that you kept watch and noticed when something suspicious happened. You saved my life, too. But don’t make a habit of it. That’s supposed to be my job. I’m too young to retire.”
As he’d hoped, his joking eased the strain of yet another near-death experience. She laughed, a little giddily.
As the adrenaline rush faded, he became very conscious of how cold he was, stark naked in the snow and icy air. He shivered.
Ellie must have felt it, because she said, “We’ve got to find shelter. You’ll freeze.”
“Grizzlies like this sort of weather. You’re the one I’m worried about.” His lips were starting to get numb. He spoke hastily, while he still could. “I’ll shift and lead you to the cabin. It’s not that far.”
“Okay.” She sounded calm again.
His heart swelled with love of his brave, steady, caring girl. How had he ever imagined that his mate would tie him down? She didn’t burden him or hinder him, she lifted him and carried him farther than he could go alone. Being mated wasn’t being trapped, it was being set free.
“I love you,” Hal said.
She fumbled for his face, then caught it in both hands and kissed him. “I love you too. You always take me on such exciting dates.”
He chuckled, then handed her the gun. “Carry this for me.”
Hal focused on being a bear. A bear’s simple thoughts and compelling instincts and sharp senses...
He transformed. The world jumped into clearer view. Scents rose up strong and vivid, of damp earth, moss, and dead leaves. Ellie’s tempting natural scent was stronger, too. He could see the tall trees and thick snow, and Ellie, huddled and shivering beside him. The air was still frigid, but he was warm beneath his thick fur. He wished he could loan it to her.
He nudged her with his head and set off for his cabin. She walked beside him, her hands buried in his fur.
At first she talked to him, but soon her teeth chattered too much for that, and she fell silent. She was dressed for a cool day, not for a long trek in freezing weather, trudging along in ankle-deep snow. If she was out too long, she’d get hypothermic, exactly as she’d worried he would.
Hal walked faster, trying to hurry her up, but soon had to abandon the attempt. She couldn’t see as well as he could, and had to walk slowly, feeling her way with her feet, or she’d trip. The last thing she needed was a broken ankle.
He tried to keep close to her, to s
hare the warmth of his fur, but it was a losing battle against the freezing night. Ellie became slower and slower, frequently stumbling. Her feet must be numb with cold, her face aching with it, but she didn’t complain. Her shivering slowed, then stopped.
Fear chilled Hal’s heart. He wasn’t a paramedic, but Navy SEALs were taught how to survive in extreme conditions... and how to know if the environment was about to kill you. She hadn’t stopped shivering because she was getting warmer, she’d stopped because her body had given up on trying to warm her and was trying to conserve energy instead.
She stumbled again, then collapsed in the snow.
Hal became a man and knelt beside her. “Ellie!”
She didn’t stir. He laid his hand on her chest, and felt it rise with her breathing. She was alive, but hypothermic. He had to get her to the cabin, where he could warm her up.
As a bear, he couldn’t carry her. As a man, he was naked and barefoot and in danger of freezing himself, not to mention that he could barely see. But he had no choice. Hal hoisted her over his shoulder, and set off through the woods.
A minute later, he realized that he’d left without his gun, but he didn’t dare waste time going back to search for it. His bare feet burned with cold, then went numb, followed by the rest of his body. Tree branches he didn’t see smacked him across the face, and though he was too numb to feel pain, he did feel the blood run down hot, then freeze. But he could feel his mate breathing, and that was all he needed to keep him going.
The light slowly brightened as he set a quick pace through the forest, going from black to gray to pearly white. When he finally emerged from the woods, the sun was rising. He could see his cabin, nestled into a hillside.
Hal set out at a run. He located the key, hidden within a hollow tree, and fumbled to open the door. His hands were clumsy, and he dropped the key twice. But he finally got the door open.
He kicked it shut behind him and jammed in the deadbolt, then laid Ellie down on the sofa and went to light the fire and the wood-burning stove that heated the little cabin.
When he returned to her, she was stirring. “Where are we?”
“The cabin.”
She tried to sit up, but he picked her up instead. “I’ll get you warmed up.”
He carried her to the shower, thankful that his family believed in hot water, even if they didn’t believe in central heating. Hal stripped off her clothes. They were wet and stiff, frozen near-solid in some places.