When the Winter Winds Blow

by E J Darling

  “Let me go. You can’t keep me here, Declan.” Lexie lifted her arm to hit him, but he caught her wrist and locked eyes with her. In an instant, he was thrown out of his body and memories flooded his mind.

  Autumn was shaking her head and screaming. The wolves wouldn’t let up and their howling had become a broken record, stuck on a song they couldn’t turn off. Its sound penetrating every part of the cabin. Her hands were over her ears as he blocked the door, refusing to let her leave. She was sick in the head and he could smell it in the air. She needed to stay so he could protect her. He loved her and she loved him in her own way. But the pack was calling her back. They were always calling her.

  She rushed the door and screamed in his face. She hit and scratched him, trying to get him to let her go but he refused. He grabbed her wrists and forced her to look at him, really look at him. Declan had hoped that she would see the pain she was causing him, but she didn’t… couldn’t.

  “Stay with me, Autumn.” He’d pleaded. “Stay with me.”

  “Move Declan! I need to go. They’ll take me back just let me go!”

  “They won’t take you back, baby! They’ll kill you the moment you return.” He wanted to be honest with her, but she wasn’t able to reason with him. She couldn’t see the truth.

  “No, they won’t!” She tried to pull her hand out of his hold, but he wouldn’t let her go. She hit him as hard as she could, but it didn’t faze him. He was already half dead from the weeks she’d been there, and this was nothing compared to the weeks of torment he had endured. When the wolves came back, his beautiful loving woman had turned feral, and there was nothing he could have done.

  He grabbed her up and pulled her close to his chest so she couldn’t hit him anymore. She was breathing hard and trying to claw her way out the door. He gripped her waist and pulled Autumn up his body. She instinctually wrapped her legs around his waist and locked her fingers together around his neck. They had never been good at communicating but their sex had always made up for it. If he could get her worked up enough, he could hopefully distract her from the howling outside. He sat her down on the counter and rubbed his now rock-hard shaft between her thighs. Autumn moaned and tilted her head back while Declan took advantage of her exposed neck and planted deep wet kisses over her delicate skin.

  She moaned his name once… the sound was like music to his ears. There was no more howling. There was only breathless panting and the smell of arousal in the air. Her hand slipped down between their bodies and she rubbed her hand against his now painfully tight groin and the sensation of her touch had his mind and body worked up in a frenzy.

  “Autumn,” He moaned, breathless even in his mind.

  “What did you just say?” The voice was unfamiliar and the hands that touched him so passionately were now removed from his body.

  Declan opened his eyes to find himself still in the same cabin, standing at the same counter. His fingers threaded through thick black hair. This wasn’t Autumn. This was… someone else.

  “Declan? Are you okay?”

  He threw himself back, hitting the fridge on the other side of the kitchen, and away from the strange woman. Her eyes were unfamiliar to him and her face even more so. Who the hell was in his cabin? He looked around the kitchen, where was Autumn?

  The woman reached an arm out toward him, “It’s okay. I’m sorry I let that happen. God, why am I so stupid? You’re a stranger for fuck’s sake. Where the hell is my brain, my sense of survival? I haven’t even known you a whole day and I’m jumping your bones. I’m sorry.”

  Memories surfaced as his mind processed the information. The woman sitting on the counter looked at him with such worry, but that was wrong. She should look at him with fear. She should be scared.

  “I need to go. I really do. I can’t stay here.” The woman hopped off the counter and stepped toward the door. She grabbed her coat off the hook next to it and shrugged it on. Then put her boots on after. All the while Declan stood frozen in fear, trying to remember who this woman was. “If you can’t take me then I can make it on my own. I got here fine and I’ll get back there fine.” The woman opened the door and the wind washed inside the cabin. Declan’s mind opened up with the cold stiff breeze.

  Alexis. Lexie. That’s her name. He saved her from the wolves. Saved her? No. He’d put her in more danger by bringing her here. He’d tried to be nice. He’d tried to look sane. But one flash back and he was assaulting the woman who depended on him for survival. Now she was trying to leave. Leave here. Leave him. He should let her go and be done with this mess.

  Howling.

  There was always howling. Lexie’s head twisted back toward him then, her eyes wide with shock. Did she hear it too? Declan lunged for the door and slammed it shut, locking it tight, and he backed her up from the door.

  “Do you hear that?” He asked her, trying to make sure this wasn’t the crazy part of him making things out of nothing. She placed herself between him and the fridge, making herself seem smaller and more fragile, and her heart was beating fast in her chest. He could hear every beat.

  “Yes, I can hear the damn wolves. Why are they back here?”

  “They want you back now.” He said coldly. There was no point in codling the woman. She needed to understand the truth. Secrets didn’t last long out here, and neither would she if she kept trying to leave.

  “What!” Her voice hitched up a couple octaves and hit his ears wrong. “Why?”

  “Retribution.”

  His mind moved back to just throwing her to the wolves again and ending this whole mess. She wanted to leave so bad, who was he to stop her? She could go and die out there if that’s what she wanted. He thought about it, he really did, but the sweet taste of her lips still lingered on his, and the scent of her arousal was still thick in the air. He wanted to push past it. But it drove him wild. The good kind that makes a male do anything to protect her. The kind that makes you want to spend all day in bed and do nothing but fuck until you freeze or starve. He couldn’t do it. No matter how much simpler his life would be in an instant. He couldn’t.

  “Why do they want me? How could they have a thought like that? They’re just wolves, Declan. They’ll move on soon.” She sounded so confident in her words, “Right?” There it was. There was the question she should be asking.

  “They’re wolves,” He answered, “and yet so much more than that.”

  “You’re not making any sense.” Lexie gripped in his shirt tighter and closed the space between them when the wolves sounded again.

  “I told you the truth. All you have to do is accept it.”

  “I can’t accept you being a monster. I can’t accept that I’m stuck in a cabin with someone who thinks there are more to wolves than the simple fact that they are hungry and want food.”

  “They want you. They want me to suffer again.”

  “Again?”

  “Autumn.” He whispered. “They killed the last woman I loved. And now they’re back.”

  “Declan this is insane. It sounds insane.”

  He laughed then. It was all he could do. He was insane; she just didn’t know it yet. He was a solid week away from being just like those wolves out there. Or he had been, until Lexie came running into his arms. Fate was a cold hard bitch sometimes, but right now, it was trying to save his life.

  “I want you to go upstairs, Lex. Go to the loft and stay there. You’ll be safe.” He stepped forward towards the door, but she held on to him like velcro, moving with him as he went. “You have to let me go first.”

  She looked down at her clenched fists and reluctantly let go of his shirt. The wolves howled again. They were getting impatient now.

  “Sorry.”

  “Go up the ladder. And stay up there until I come back inside.”

  She nodded her head and ran to the ladder. Once her hands gripped the sides, she looked back to Declan, “Don’t do anything stupid. I much rather have the monster in you than those monsters out there. Be safe.” She
demanded.

  Be safe. No one had ever told him that before. No one had cared enough to wish him well. No one had stuck around long enough to love him. He’d been on his own his entire life, that was, until Autumn. But she didn’t want to stay. She couldn’t care enough.

  The look on Lexie’s face had been sincere. This was such an odd feeling for him. He didn’t know what do except, as she’d demanded.

  Be safe.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Declan watched Lexie climb the ladder as she disappeared into the loft. She never stuck her head back out and he was proud of her for listening to what he asked of her. That could save her life again one day. He stepped forward and took a deep breath before pulling the door open and stepped outside into the blistering wind and snow.

  He’d been too distracted to be pissed at the deliberate violation of his order and the sight of the whole northern mountain pack in his territory had his blood boiling and his skin itching to burst fur. It would be a fight, a painful one, but he was more than willing to do it if it ensured Lex’s safety.

  He walked deliberately out into the deep snow, meeting them in the woods a good one hundred yards out. Every step made him more pissed off and his control was weakening. Within minutes he was face to face with the pack he should had destroyed a year ago.

  “Get out of my fucking territory.” Declan said, his voice deep and gravely.

  Grim stepped out from behind a dense tree and took position behind his pack like the coward he was. He looked like hell and his clothes were dirty and tattered. It had surprised him to see Grim in skin since Declan believed them all to be in a permanent state of shift. There didn’t seem to be any humanity left in the others, though. Only the ability to think like a human and comprehend words. Beasts.

  “Have you fallen for the woman yet?” Grim hissed and a broken smile twisted his lips. He was enjoying every minute of torturing Declan and Lexie. His voice was nowhere near human from lack of using it and he twitched every couple of moments, like the skin he donned didn’t fit him. “Hmm?” he tilted his head to the side and twitched.

  “You can’t have her. Whether I have fallen for the woman or not she is human being and I will never allow you to take her.” Declan was pissed now and the bear inside him was about to snap. His skin vibrated and tingled, the only thing keeping back the raging bruin was Declan’s own self-control, and that was thin. “You’ve already taken everything from me. You won’t have this one too. She isn’t like your other bitches. She’s not broken. You can’t have her.”

  “Oh, we will have her. We will allow you to fall for her, love her. And then, at that final moment of contentment, we will take her. You can’t stop fate.” Grim smiled and his wolf took his body in an instant. He was lanky and thin, most likely due to the lack of food around here. The entire pack looked just as thin.

  Declan didn’t hesitate. If they wanted a fight, then he’d give them one. He allowed the grizzly to have him, not bothering to take his time with his clothing, and he went into hell. The wolves were small, but they fought together like a horde. They came for him from all sides. The growls and snarls were loud, and it only drove up Declan’s rage.

  He ripped one off his side with his wide mouth and sharp teeth that he used to pierce flesh. He heard the bones snap under his grip as he clamped down. The body went limp and he threw it on another, blocking it from its attack.

  Two wolves had him on the back end and he swung his body, making them lose their grip. He was bigger, stronger, and meaner than any of them. His mind was broken, and he didn’t have anything holding him back. A gray wolf, his coat thick and matted, came for his neck. Declan swatting it away and brought his massive claws down on him. The wolf struggled under the weight and pain as Declan tore open his side and his blood reddened the pure white snow. Declan reached down, and in one skull crushing bite, the wolf’s head was gone and iron field his mouth. He threw the crushed bleeding skull at the alpha and roared. The sound was like thunder echoing in the deep wood.

  Declan spun around and roared again at anything that tried to move. They’d come for him, for Lexie, and they’d lost this battle. He faced Grim again and bared his teeth in warning. Any more wolves that came for him now were dead and they knew it. The alpha called back his pack and they moved slowly around Declan. They weren’t stupid enough to give them their back just yet though.

  Grim shifted then, his change slow and painful. “You won’t be able to win them all, Declan. You’re just one male.”

  Declan shifted then, the bear letting him have his skin once more, and the change was graceful and quick. “I am more than you’ll ever be.” It hurt to push sound across his vocal cords, but he didn’t care about the pain right now. It was nothing compared to the rips on his shoulders and legs. They’d heal but it would take a minute. He spit blood into the snow and bared his teeth again. “Now get out of my fucking territory!”

  Grim smiled then. Declan wanted to smash in the fucker’s face right now and be done with it. But they had all turned tail. They ran, and Declan watched until they’d crossed the ridge from his territory.

  He didn’t know if he should go back to the cabin now. Didn’t know if Lexie should see him like this. But he needed to make sure she was okay.

  And for some reason, he needed her to know that he was okay.

  …

  The door swung open and Lexie timidly moved to the edge of the loft to see who entered. She’d heard the howls outside, and she’d instantly been thrown back to yesterday. But the sounds weren’t the same. The wolves were the ones in pain this time. They cried out and their screams were like music to her ears. She didn’t care how that made her look. She didn’t care if she sounded messed up in the head. She liked it. They could all die. Every sick bastard that had fed on human flesh and had tried to use her as bait to lure out Declan.

  Lexie peered over the edge and saw Declan now inside. Her heart jumped a little at the sight of his now fully naked body. What had happened to his clothes? Blood trailed down his strong meaty thigh and his shoulder had a long deep gash in it. He’d been hurt, seriously hurt.

  He sniffed the air once and looked up to the loft. He didn’t smile when he saw her, though. Instead, he lowered his head and locked the door behind him. “It isn’t that bad.”

  “What do you mean it isn’t that bad?” She questioned, “You’re bleeding out!”

  “Calm down.” Declan said with a deep earthy tone, “I’ve had worse.” Declan walked to the ladder with grace and began to climb the rungs. Unaffected by the wounds that marred his perfect body.

  Calm down? She couldn’t calm down! “You need to go to the hospital, Declan.” She called out.

  When he got to the loft, the size of his body filled the small space. Lexie backed up and put herself between the bed and the wall, trying to give him space. He looked crazy and his body was… impressive.

  He sported a stiff boner and Lexie couldn’t take her eyes off the thick raging elephant in the room. Her stomach dropped at the sight and a warmth flooded her insides and puddled in her lower belly. She finally broke her gaze and trailed up his body. His abs were moving in and out with his deep breaths and the veins in his arms were bulging like he’d just worked out hard at the gym lifting impossible weights. Lexie’s eyes finally met Declan’s and there was something indescribable in them.

  “Don’t look at me like that, Lex. I’m not someone you want to go several rounds with.” He stepped forward and pulled out a dresser drawer. He pulled on a pair of sweats and that was it. “But if you keep looking at me like that and we will.”

  Lexie swallowed hard and tried to form words. It was bad enough to be stuck in a cabin with a stranger, but to be stuck inside with a man that looked the way he did was even worse. She’d been on a dry spell for over a month and with all the emotions and trauma thrown at her recently, it was becoming impossible not to stare at him. He was stunning and definitely giving off “fuck me” vibes just by existing. Throw him into a tight seclud
ed cabin where neither of them could leave and you had the perfect mix.

  “Several?” She asked. Mortified that that was the only thing that came out of her mouth.

  He snapped his head back to her and his features changed. His eyes zeroed in on her body like a predator stalking prey. She tried to move further away; hoping space would fix his mood and climbed over the bed. Bad choice.

  Declan lunged for her and grabbed her ankle. He pulled her so quickly she didn’t have time to think before her ass was hitting the bed and she was sliding down the deep gray sheets. He let go once his knees hit the bed and the vee of her thighs was perfectly placed over his. His dick still stiff, she felt it bump the soft skin of her thigh and she gasped. He dropped himself down on top of her and slid his hand behind her neck, holding her in place as he threaded his fingers through her hair and gripped her tight.

  His face hovered over hers, his sweet breath fanning over her lips. She couldn’t think, couldn’t put two simple thoughts together while she was in this position, which was exactly his motive she would guess. Declan’s gaze was still locked with her and she was sure he would kiss her. Just do it. She thought to herself. Lexie didn’t know why she wanted it, but she did. She wouldn’t deny that the man was seriously hot and being stuck in a cabin with a stranger could be worse. It could be so much worse.

  “You wouldn’t like it. It would be painful for you.” He bit her bottom lip and Lexie lost her mind. Heat pooled between her legs and she fought the urge to roll her hips and urge him on. “It would be too intense. I don’t make love, Alexis. I’d fuck you until you couldn’t move. Couldn’t walk, or even think.” He bit her lip again and used his free hand to trail down her thigh where it met her hip. He squeezed it in just the right place to send her mind into overdrive. She wanted him, wanted everything. “Until you forget the reasons that brought you here and you never want to leave me or this cabin.” He lowered his head and she felt the heat of his breath before she felt his teeth. He bit into her neck, not enough to break the skin, but the sensation was more pain than pleasure. “And in that moment, that final moment of hope that you would stay.” He was on her lips again and his free hand slipped into her pants and he slid two fingers inside her wet pussy, forcing her to take them. But she’d been ready. He had done that to her. Lexie arched her back, desperate for him to go further, to take her with everything he promised. “You would leave me. And then you would truly know the kind of man I am.”