The last determined wolf who wasn’t writhing in the snow from the pain of the mace kept his maw firmly latched onto Adam’s forearm. Belle scrambled to her feet, picked up the nearest weapon and whapped him hard on the back of the head with the snow scraper, but he still didn’t let go. It wasn’t until Adam’s growls of fury mutated to pain that Belle let loose her stored-up scream that was laced with fear and frustration.
The scraper wasn’t enough to break Adam free of the last wolf’s determined attack, so Belle cast her snow scraper aside, knowing there was a chance the wolf might be powerful enough to send them both into an early grave. Trumping all logic and self-preservation, Belle pummeled the wolf, finally breaking the hold he had on Adam’s arm.
The wolf was too turned around to shift his attack onto her, which gave Belle just enough of an advantage to scramble in the snow to retrieve her second weapon. She gritted her teeth and turned her chin as she blasted him directly in the eyeballs with a spray from her icy can of mace.
The wolf yelped and scrambled away, licking his wounds with the others as they scampered and limped off into the woods, leaving their dead behind for the snow to bury.
Belle indulged in little more than a breath of victory before she turned to Adam, who was bleeding too much to tough it out.
“Belle,” he rasped, and her name sounded like a prayer on his lips. His chest was moving up and down in heavy pants, but he was upright…
Until he wasn’t.
Adam collapsed with a gust into the snow, taking Belle’s screams as the last sound he heard before unconsciousness claimed him.
15
Woman in Red
Belle knew this wasn’t the time for tears, but they sprang to her eyes anyway. She cursed each one of them for marring her vision that kept her from being the best nurse for the job. She felt for Adam’s heartbeat, but her fingers drew in no sensation from anything, icy as they were. Belle glanced around and saw what she guessed would have to be his car parked up on the shoulder. It was sleek, expensive and probably had a working heater, she reasoned.
She summoned all her gusto to heft him up, but it wasn’t enough. The car was so far away, and Belle’s limbs were starting to freeze over. She didn’t mean to drop him in the snow, but when she fell backward, so did he. Her fear of the wolves was replaced with the very immediate worry of hypothermia, which didn’t take all that long to set in. She knew she had to get him to safety, but her body was starting to give out on her.
“Belle? Get to the car,” Adam instructed her when he roused.
“Can you stand?” she asked, scrambling clumsily and crawling through the snow so he could see her face.
Adam made an attempt, but his left leg was useless. He let out a growl of frustration through clenched teeth. “Go, Belle! Get warm. The wolves might turn around and come back for us. Run!”
A gust of harsh wind whistled through the trees toward them, giving her two entire seconds to throw her body over his, shielding him as best she could from the icy blast. She shuddered as the wind sliced through her thin coat. A bleat of pain escaped her lips at the ache that felt etched deep down in her bones. “I’m not leaving you!” she promised, her brown hair whipping around them to give Adam something to focus on other than the blur of white. “We’ll try again. Use me as a crutch.”
She was too clumsy from the cold as she tried to sit him up. Her body wasn’t stable enough for herself, let alone to support a second person. Still, Belle remained stalwart in her decision to get Adam up the incline to the car.
“I can help,” came a feminine voice behind her.
Belle turned, and in the motion, realized that she was losing mobility in her joints, since her neck was barely able to rotate to take in the stranger. A blur of red caught Belle’s eye, and before she could respond, the woman had hold of Adam’s other arm.
The young woman who couldn’t have been much more than twenty years old wore a long red cape over thick winter gear. Her face was barely visible, surrounded by the brown and gray fur of her black coat’s lining. When she helped Belle heft Adam from the snow, she paid no mind to his howl of agony. The stranger took most of his weight on herself, so Belle could have a better shot at staying upright.
After a few steps, Belle knew she’d been out in the snow five minutes too long. Her legs refused to move, and she toppled forward, her body locked in one elongated shiver.
“Rafe, grab the girl!” the young woman called over her shoulder, continuing the trek to get Adam back to his car.
Belle couldn’t move much, but she found that her heart was still beating when it started to race at the sight of an enormous white wolf approaching her.
Without being told, Belle knew she was coming face-to-face with the alpha. She screamed, eliciting a shout from Adam beckoning her to run to him, but when the wolf made contact, it was a gentle tug on her coat’s collar, rather than a sharp bite through her skin.
Too muddled to ponder the meaning of it all, Belle’s body went limp, trusting the wolf to take her someplace warm. There were a few bumps as the wolf dragged her up the incline, but eventually she found herself next to the open door of Adam’s silver vehicle. The red cape swept out again in her vision as the young woman lifted her up and set her in the driver’s seat.
The car was turned on, and the heat was on full blast, with Adam gritting his teeth through the pain in the passenger’s seat. Despite his cold, he turned the vents onto Belle, bathing her in heat that felt like chocolate melting over her body.
Belle wanted to thank the woman for rescuing them, and give the wolf his due praise as well, but her jaw was locked tight from chattering.
The woman leaned over Belle’s body and grasped Adam’s hand. “Stay strong,” she said by way of a goodbye. “A curse is not the end.”
Adam protested her departure, but the woman merely smiled at him, as if the cold didn’t bother her one bit. In a move Belle didn’t expect, the woman bent down and pressed a kiss to Belle’s temple. “Once you’ve thawed, get home. The roads are terrible, and it’s not likely to let up for weeks, if not longer. Get indoors, and stay there.”
“Thank you,” Belle worked out just before the driver’s side door closed, and the woman disappeared with her wolf into the snowstorm.
For several seconds that stretched into whole minutes, Belle and Adam stared at each other, breathless. Their eyes talked about things that their mouths wouldn’t admit to – that they were scared, and grateful the other one didn’t leave them to die in the snow.
The heat worked its magic while their breathing steadied to a companionable rhythm. Adam finally reached forward and turned up the radio, letting classical music fill the interior with a sad violin that made the snowy death outside seem like a mere playground.
“Adam,” Belle whispered, unsure what she wanted to say. Somehow just uttering his name made her feel slightly better.
“Shh,” he replied quietly. “We’re safe.” Then he reached across the console and coiled his fingers around hers.
The gesture of comfort and camaraderie warmed Belle, but alerted her to the greater danger. “I can’t feel you,” she admitted, her fear growing at the prospect that perhaps the snow had steeped them in damage unfixable.
Adam’s green eyes zeroed in on hers with a determination that everything would somehow be alright. “Then I’ll just have to keep holding you.”
Belle’s lashes swept shut at the sweetness, and she willed her worries not to overwhelm her. She managed a tight nod, and went back to the quietness of the violin, hoping it would soothe all that was wrong in the world.
In those minutes of silence, Adam said things to her with his eyes that he couldn’t admit to aloud. He wanted to hold her, which wasn’t a longing he had entertained all too often during his life. He blamed it on the near-death experience, but still, the desire called to him.
“You should have left me,” he chided her stiff fingers.
“But you didn’t leave me,” she countered. When
she spoke again, she allowed her vulnerability to shine through as her eyes opened to focus in on him. “You hurt me when you yelled like that back at home.”
Any softness in Adam’s features clouded over with defiance that hardened the regret that clawed at his insides. “You shouldn’t have been in the West wing.”
Belle winced as if his words had cut her. “When the storm clears up, I’ll leave. But the woman with the red cape was right; we shouldn’t try to go anywhere tonight. The nearest hospital is at least twenty miles away.”
Adam pursed his lips. He didn’t want her to go, but asking her to stay would involve apologizing, which he had never done before. “Just give me a second to tie off my wound, and I can drive us home,” he promised after a few minutes of silence. The car was a sauna, but the two were only just starting to get a little feeling back in their extremities.
“No, no. I’ve got it. I can feel my fingers well enough now.” She slid her hand out of his grip. Though Adam wasn’t ready for her to let go, she turned toward the steering wheel and did her best to acquaint herself with the expensive vehicle. “This thing is like a spaceship. Why do you need so many buttons?”
“They do things like provide heat, so I wouldn’t complain. It’s a reliable little spaceship. Have you ever driven a stick before?”
Belle shook her head, chagrinned. “Talk me through it.”
Adam was surprisingly patient as he explained the basics of shifting in the sleek car. When she put it into gear, there were a few false starts, but eventually she got them turned back around in the direction of the castle. She stalled twice when she shifted incorrectly, so Adam placed his hand atop hers, gently guiding her hand so they could shift together.
Neither of them spoke, but allowed the music to say the things they couldn’t. The violin with all of its might did its best to smooth over the rift between them.
16
Bedside Manner
Belle was a little steadier on her feet, and acted as Adam’s crutch as they made their way inside. The staff were overjoyed to see her, and horrified at the injuries Adam had sustained.
“Master, I’ll fetch the first aid kit. Do sit down.”
“Take off your shoes! Oh, and your shirts and pants. You’re both soaked!”
“I’ll heat up some soup for you both, and some tea.”
“What happened to you, Master? Come, Thomas. Give him something to lean on. The lady of the house looks as if she might fall over.”
Sultan’s yip was a mixture between excitement and worry as he circled Belle and sniffed Adam.
Belle didn’t protest the coat hanger coming over and offering one of his wooden arms for Adam to lean on, but she didn’t let go of him. She flicked through her brain to the nearest room with a fireplace. “My bedroom, Thomas. Lucien, can you light the f-f-fire in my room for him? Adam’s soaked through. Audra, can you grab Adam some clean pajamas? He can’t make it up the stairs.”
“I can make it up the steps,” Adam grumbled.
Belle’s lips drew together in a tight line before she spoke. “You’ll shut up and let us help you, or else I really will just leave you down here to fend for yourself.”
Adam sighed. “Fine.”
Belle and Thomas slowly got Adam down the hall and into Belle’s bedroom. Her fingers were stiff, but they were starting to work alright. It was her balance that was giving her trouble at the moment. Living with a fifty percent hearing loss in her right ear didn’t slow her down most days, but the chill was messing with her inner ear. She stumbled a few times, trying to remind her body where up was, and that it needed to stay clear in its focus not to fall.
After she greeted Simone, she sat him in the chair by the desk and knelt down to untie his boots. The room gave a disturbing tilt, but she gripped the floor to steady herself, and then continued on her task.
“I can do that,” he groused.
“You’re welcome,” she countered with a tart frown angled up at him. She lightly pinched his fur-covered big toe after pulling off his sock. “Can you feel that?”
“Mostly. Only because your hands are so icy.”
Belle didn’t want to lean on him for many reasons, but it suddenly became necessary when her inner ear proved problematic again. Her hand gripped his kneecap through three labored breaths before she felt stable enough to kneel on her own.
Adam’s brows were knit together with worry. “Lucien, can you build the fire bigger?”
“Of course, sir. It’s coming, it’s coming.” Lucien had already kindled the beginnings of a fire in the hearth, but he added more wood and blew on the cinders. Then he took Adam’s shoes and socks when Adam slid them off with Belle’s help. They were wet with blood and snow, but Lucien still carried the garments as if they were fit to be worn by a king.
Adam shifted away slightly when Belle tried to undo his shirt. “I don’t need my shirt off.”
Instead of fighting with him, Belle stood and leaned over to get right in his face, bracing herself on the armrest. “Look, I know I was your housekeeper here, but I’m actually a very competent nurse. The hospital is too far to make it to safely, so I’m your only option if you don’t want some of these cuts to get infected. I know you don’t like people to see your body, but I need to sew some of these gashes up.”
A shadow of insecurity flickered over Adam’s face. “I’m sure I’ll heal.”
“I’m sure you will too, because I’m going to take care of you.” It was more of a warning than a statement, ordering him to fall in line and let her make the decisions.
Belle moved slowly, her fingers slipping on the buttons of his shirt as she trailed down the row, maintaining eye contact until the last button popped open. She took in his grimace as she slid the fabric off his shoulders, and watched his body shift as he tried to find a comfortable spot through his pain.
Had she not received years of training, she might have gasped at Adam’s chest. It was far hairier than anyone she’d ever seen, and there were scars that looked like they had no rhyme or reason to them. The hair was thick, brown and straight, and looked more like a wolf’s fur than a man’s.
“I don’t need your pity,” Adam snarled.
“Good. Then I can actually do my job instead of having to hold your hand through all your whiny, superficial hang-ups.”
Adam’s mouth fell open in shock at her sass, and then a low chuckle vibrated his chest. “Your bedside manner leaves something to be desired.”
“Yeah? Well so do your actual manners, so I think we’ll make it through this alright.” She prepped her supplies from the first aid kit Lucien had brought down for her. She took a breath and shot Adam a look of warning before she touched his side. “This is going to hurt, so, you know, I don’t want to hear about it.”
Adam tried to remain stoic, but Belle smirked when she caught his grimace a few times as she knelt at his side, cleaning and stitching his arm. Her fingers were feeble and trembling, but she was well-practiced in the art of suturing up a patient.
“Mademoiselle, you should change into something warmer. Perhaps something dry, no? You’re soaked through!”
Belle shook her head, praying she didn’t lose her balance and topple over in the middle of a stitch. “Not until he’s alright. Then I’ll thaw out.”
Adam glanced down at the tear on his forearm, and then on his side that had been quickly cleaned and neatly sutured. She hadn’t once complained about his fur getting in the way, or acted like touching him was a chore. He met her eyes with a calmness that started to settle in his soul whenever he was around her for more than a few minutes. “I’ll be alright. Take a few minutes and get changed. You’re shivering.”
Belle paused, considering his words as she measured how detrimental the trembling in her fingers was becoming. “Alright. I’ll just be a few minutes.” She banged into both sides of the doorjamb as she made her way into the bathroom, her balance taking a serious hit and making her nauseous the longer she tried to fight with her inner ear.
>
Thomas sidled over to the bed and picked up the pile of clothes Simone had selected for her. He walked her over to the adjoining bathroom, disappearing inside with her.
“Thomas, you’ll stay out here. Belle can get undressed without your assistance,” Adam ordered with a growl.
Thomas came back out with his wooden arms raised to proclaim his innocence. “Master, of course I would never try anything.”
Belle froze in the bathroom at the strangeness of the conversation. “It’s fine, guys. Thanks anyway, Thomas. Adam, he’s a coatrack. I hardly think that’s the tawdry peepshow you’re imagining.” She leaned over the sink, willing herself not to vomit.
“Thomas is a man, Belle. Never forget that.”
Belle gulped as she shut the bathroom door and peeled off her thin, icy scrubs. She shivered violently as she stepped in the shower to thaw her frozen extremities. It took more time than she was anticipating, but eventually her limbs found movement. She leaned her throbbing head against the shower wall, breathing out the ice as she inhaled the steam. She found scratches on her body, and a bite on her arm and her calf that she hadn’t noticed before.
The nightgown Simone had made her was far fancier than anything she’d ever owned, and a fair bit sexier, too. The green silk did nothing to warm her but looked elegant as the hem brushed over her knees. The low-cut lace kept her cleavage on display, held up by thin straps that made her feel like a woman, despite the ache that felt deeply set in her bones. Belle blushed furiously when she emerged, unable too look at Adam, or anyone else in the room. “Simone? Do you have a sweater or something? I’m so cold, and this nightgown is… a little flashier than I’m used to.”
Simone’s drawers arched downward, looking like a frown. “I think you look lovely. I don’t make many sweaters.” She said the word as if it had offended her.
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