Chapter Eighteen – Tad
“Tad.” Jay put his hand on his brother’s shoulder and pulled him back. “We have to take this slow.”
Tad paused, Jay was right, but how was he supposed to take it slow when Viv was buried under so much snow?
He needed to remember all of his training, if he was going to find her alive. The amount of snow that had come down was enough to suffocate a person in a short space of time. Which meant they had to use their heads in a bid to find her, it would do no good to go floundering around digging here and everywhere. There was no time for that.
“Can you sense her?” Jay asked.
“Of course,” Tad said. He let his senses roam over the snowfall. Nothing. Frustrated, he tried again.
“Relax,” Jay advised. “Or let your bear take over.”
“Maybe you’re right.” His senses were always so much more heightened when he had four legs and a snout.
“I’m always right,” Jay mumbled automatically while he assessed the snow. “There, is that a depression in the snow?”
In the almost complete darkness, it was hard to tell. Jay had his head cocked to one side to try to see any imperfections in the snowfall that might tell them where a body was. But they had nothing to push into the snow to test it; they would have to start digging.
“Let’s try my bear first.” Tad stepped back, and then shifted into his bear, sinking a little in the snow. With no time to think, he simply stood still and tried to pick up anything that he could that might tell him where she was.
Shuffling forward, he was sure he felt something. A faint sense of knowing. That was the only way he could describe it. Plowing through the snow, he kept his senses heightened, now sure he could hear her heartbeat, even through the snow that covered her.
He begun to huff, turning to look at Jay, trying to tell him this was where she was.
Jay followed him, and then began to carefully scoop the snow away, digging deeper and deeper. As he dug, his bear became more aware of her. This was definitely where she was buried.
Tad turned back into his human form and began to help, his heart racing as he tried to get rid of the image of her lifeless body that kept threading its way into his head.
“She’ll be OK,” Jay said. “There’s still time.”
Tad knew he was right, but it was only when his hand brushed against her soft bear hide that he let himself believe it might be OK. “Is she breathing?”
“Yes,” Jay said, shifting around to dig out her head, trying to get air to her as quickly as possible.
Working together as a team, they slowly moved the bulk of the snow off her body. His eyes constantly flicked to her chest, finding comfort in the steady rise and fall. They swapped places, and Tad leaned over to check her airways, and stroke her face, his fingers buried in her thick fur.
“We need to get her to change back into her human form. Then we will be able to move her.” Tad leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Come on, Viv, you need to wake up.”
She didn’t stir. He tried again, shaking her, and kissing her face while Jay scooped away the rest the snow. Viv was now completely uncovered; she looked as if she was asleep, frozen in time. Tad didn’t want her to be frozen, he wanted her to be alive and well. Their lives together were just beginning; he couldn’t allow anything to rob him of that.
“Come on, Viv, wake up, we have so many years in front of us.” He ran his hands along the length of her bear body, rubbing her skin, trying to get some warmth and some life back into her. This wasn’t fair, this wasn’t how things were supposed to be. He had been so excited at the thought of spending the afternoon with her, and it had turned to terror when he heard the man’s voice on her phone.
But this—it just seemed as if fate was playing a trick on them. He had saved so many people, had spent many hours in the mountains, cold and tired, trying to find people. He had never given up. Losing his mate like this would be the bitterest of ironies.
“Viv. I’m here, you need to wake up.” He shook her more firmly, and Jay did the same thing, both of them trying to stir her from this sleep.
“I think she moved,” Jay said suddenly.
“Are you sure?” Tad asked, not sure if he could allow himself to believe that she was waking up.
“Yes, I’m sure. Her paw moved. “Come on, Viv, wake up.”
Tad watched as her eye flickered open, and slowly her body became reanimated. First one paw and then another, twitching, as the blood flowed through her veins.
“We need to get her up, and then she needs to change.” Jay was moving back now out of the way, as Tad pushed and pulled Viv until she had her two front legs stretched out in front of her body, trying to push herself into a sitting position. She hesitated, swaying slightly from side to side. Then with a tremendous effort, she stood, shaking off the last of the snow.
Tad wasn’t confident that she wouldn’t fall down again, so he and Jay stood either side and supported her as she walked back to firmer ground. They didn’t have far to go, but the soft snow made it difficult. Viv kept looking behind her, as if she was missing something, but he had no idea what it was.
“You need to change. Once you’re back in your human form, I can carry you to the village. We’ll have to go around; the pass is blocked completely. We need to get you inside where it’s warm, and we can’t do this while you’re a bear.” Tad felt as if he was pleading with her, and if she didn’t change, he knew he would beg her.
She stood still, and then moved back away from him, although Tad had to rush forward once to stop her going down on her knees. She found the energy she needed to stand still, and her eyes looked a little dazed as she sought to change. The air shimmered. For a minute it reflected off the snow on the ground; then the bear disappeared out of this world, and to his intense relief, Viv reappeared in its place. She fell down to her knees, and he went to her, kneeling by her side, his arms wrapped around her, pulling her close, trying to warm her body, which, even with her bear blood, was so cold that her teeth were chattering.
“He’s in there,” she said, pressing her cold body against his.
“Who?” Jay asked, looking back at the pass, which was filled with snow.
“Rhys.”
“The man who hurt you?” Tad asked.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“If he’s under the snow, it’s probably too late,” Jay said. “It will suffocate him.”
“You have to try.”
“Do you know whereabouts he was?” Jay asked. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a satellite phone. “I’ll call in what help I can, but Tad has to get you home. We’re not having two deaths out here tonight.”
Tad lifted her up, and began the long trek down the mountain. Behind them, Jay began to speak into the phone while systematically searching the snow.
It went against everything Tad believed in, everything he worked for, but he hoped the man who had hurt his mate was dead.
Chapter Nineteen – Viv
She remembered being carried, she remembered being taken to the local doctor in Grizzly Hollows and she remembered the pain shooting through her body as he examined her injured ankle. Tad had decided to take her there instead of the hospital, because the doctor was a shifter, and in her dazed state, Tad was worried she might shift without meaning to. Plus, the hospital was over in Tidleton, over twenty miles away, and considering the treacherous conditions, it would probably take them over an hour to get there.
Then she remembered the news that Rhys was dead…
Viv sat upright, looking around them room. The doctor had given her the all clear, and Tad had taken her back to his house. Now she was lying in his bed.
“Hi honey, welcome back.” The voice did not belong to Tad; it was her mom talking. Trying to make sense of the situation, she was glad when her mom came to her, sat on the bed next to her, and wrapped her arms around Viv so tightly it was if she would never let go.
“I killed him.” Did she? It w
as her fault he was in the mountain pass when the avalanche struck. If she hadn’t run from him, the snow wouldn’t have fallen down and smothered him. If she had reported him to the police for attacking her, he would have been in prison, not lying on a cold slab in a morgue somewhere.
“You did not kill him, Vivian. Don’t you ever think that. He made his choices, he came here to hurt you. And we all know he would have. We all know he was a mad man. Do not give him power over you. Not now, not when you have Tad, and your future ahead of you.” Her mom was fierce, fiercer than Viv had ever seen her.
Sobs racked her body. “I feel guilty,” she sobbed, having to take deep gulping breaths before she managed to push out the next words. “Because I’m glad he’s dead. Glad he won’t ever be able to hurt me, or the people I love.”
“Oh, honey, that does not make you a bad person. That makes you normal. To feel grief and pain, but also to feel relieved. You are finally free of him.”
However, Viv didn’t know if she would ever feel free. Would ever be able to let go of the weight pressing down on her chest. Closing her eyes, she let her mom’s arms comfort her, just as they always did. At some point she dozed again, and this time the darkness didn’t seem quite so scary.
When she woke again, the sunlight was streaming into the room, and a smell of fresh coffee tickled her nose. She opened her eyes, to see Tad, carrying a tray full of food and two cups of coffee into the room.
“That smells good,” she said, stretching her aching bones, and wincing at the sharp pain in her ankle.
“I think it’s time you sat up and ate. Doc says you’re going to have to take it easy on that ankle. It’s not broken, but badly sprained.” He set the tray down. “That means you are confined to my house.”
She smiled shyly. “Is that really the doctor’s orders?” she asked, shuffling awkwardly to one side so he could sit down next to her.”
“I may have stretched the truth a little.” He smiled and kissed her lips. “But just for my immediate peace of mind, I would rather not let you out of my sight.”
“I like the sound of that,” she said, taking the cup of coffee and nursing it in two hands.
“Good.” A silence settled over them.
Eventually she had to ask the question burning in her mind. “How is Jay? I’m sorry he had to be the one to find Rhys.”
“He’s OK.” Tad set his coffee cup down, and, with his voice sincere, he told her, “You know Jay tried his best? But by the time help arrived, there was nothing to be done, it took them an hour to find Rhys’ body.”
“Did he suffer?” Did she want him to have suffered?
“No.” Tad shook his head. “The weight of the snow would have rendered him unconscious almost immediately, and he never regained consciousness. There will be a full inquiry.”
“Will I have to testify?”
“They’ll question you. They have to. But I’ll be there every step of the way.”
She lay back and closed her eyes. “I just want it to be over, so we can start a new life together.”
He moved to lie next to her, holding her close. “It’ll be over soon, and then we can live in peace, and love.” He kissed her, his lips gentle on hers. As they lay together, she knew she had been given the greatest gift, a new start with the man she loved.
Never again would she have to look over her shoulder, and wonder if Rhys was there in the shadows. Never again would she have to worry he might go after her family, or Tad. In her thoughts, she had replayed the whole accident over and over, and sometimes, she had dreamed of crawling over the snow, in an attempt to rescue Rhys, but when she uncovered the body, it had been Tad.
Laying her head on his chest, she listened to the strong beat of his heart. Those were just dreams, he was her reality, and he was here, with her and always would be.
Epilogue – Viv
“How are you feeling?” Tad asked.
Viv looked up at him and smiled. “Good.”
“You can come in now.” The nurse ushered them in to the room, and Viv got up on the bed. “This is your first ultrasound?”
“Yes.” She clutched Tad’s hand and looked up at him anxiously, although she was also incredibly excited.
“Then let’s get started.” The nurse put some cold gel on her stomach, and then set to work, searching for the little child that was inside her womb. “There.”
They both stared at the new life that appeared on the screen. Viv felt tears of joy fill her eyes; she had never thought this day would come, that she would be lucky enough to find her mate and have a child with him. In the darkest of days, both before she met Tad, and after the avalanche that had killed Rhys, she had wondered if she would ever feel happy again.
But today, she did. This truly was a new beginning, a new life. The life of their child.
***
“I can’t wait to show my mom and dad this.” She held up the picture from the ultrasound that showed the hazy outline of their baby. She still couldn’t believe it.
“We can go and show them later. Right now, we have the house to ourselves.” He took the picture from her hand and set it down safely on the counter top.
“Do we?” she asked.
“Yes, Jay is out on the mountain, and he is not due back for another couple of hours.”
“Just think of all the things we could do in that time.”
“Oh, I am thinking.” He pulled her in tightly to his chest. “And now I’d like to do some doing.” She giggled in response, but the look on his face told her he was very serious.
He lifted her up to sit on the countertop in the kitchen, and lifted her skirt, so he could kiss her inner thighs. Hooking his fingers around the elastic of her panties, he slid them down over her thighs, helping her take her feet out, one at a time, before dropping her panties to the floor. Lifting her legs, he placed them over his shoulders, and then kissed his way towards his prize.
She gasped as his mouth covered her clit, his tongue lapping at the sensitive bud until it throbbed and pulsed. Viv pushed her hands into his hair, as he moved his mouth to lick her sex, and then plunge his tongue inside her. He was an expert at making her body submit to him. He licked and sucked, lapped and kissed at her sex, until she could hold on no longer, and her orgasm crashed into her.
“I think we should go to bed,” he said, and picked her up, carrying her to his bedroom.
Once there, they undressed, both of them swept away by the need to make love. Scattered clothes littered the floor, and they lay together, side by side, kissing and caressing each other. She no longer minded when he placed his lips on her scar, it had begun to fade, as too had the memories surrounding it. The death of Rhys had been difficult; she blamed herself, no matter how irrational that sounded.
Slowly, Tad and her family had drawn her back out of the place in her mind she had wanted to retreat to. Then when she learned she was pregnant, she knew it was time to get herself back together, piece by piece, for the new life that was growing inside her. There was no way Rhys was going to ruin another life, especially from beyond the grave.
Tad moved between her thighs, his cock hard as he moved, thrusting forward into her. She gasped with shock, and he smiled as he watched her face. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she said in return, although it somehow felt inadequate. He was her world, the man who had carried her home after the avalanche, who had looked after her in the days after, and who had brought the warmth back into her life. He made her feel safe.
He moved slowly, inching into her, before pulling back out, taking his time, allowing her to feel every long stroke of his cock. She stroked his chest, kissing his shoulder, and nipping his neck, loving the scent of trees and the clean mountain air that was uniquely him.
Tad increased the rhythm of his movements, and at the same time, his hand cupped her breast, while his mouth sucked in her nipple. He ran his tongue around and around before grazing his teeth across the taut bud. The fire he had ignited inside her gre
w, her orgasm hovering close as he moved to impale her completely on his cock. Slipping his hand underneath her bottom, he held her in place, his thrusts becoming more urgent as he neared his own climax.
And then he came, thrusting hard and deep into her, his seed spurting inside her, setting off a chain reaction in her body. She came, her orgasm crashing into her, and she embraced it, her voice rising to a high pitch as she called out his name.
When at last the room stopped spinning, and her orgasm had passed, they lay in each other’s arms. Tad lazily stroked her arm, and she lay with her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. At times like this, she had to remind herself what happened with Rhys had been real. It was all too easy to think that this was how things had always been.
But as she placed her hand on her stomach, and thought of the child inside her, she decided that perhaps it was time to stop reminding herself, and simply allow herself to forget.
Her future was too important for her to give another thought to Rhys. Tad was the best thing to ever happen to her, and that was all she would think of from this moment onwards, Tad, and the child they had made together.
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Other Books By Harmony Raines
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