Falke’s Peak

Chapter Five

The next day was spent much the same way. Exploring the forest, watching wildlife and having fun just being together. But time sped by, and now it was time to gather their things and head back down the mountain.

Their days together were over.

Gunnar leaped onto the loft and sat watching Dakota stuff her clothes into her backpack. She was already dressed in a pair of jeans, long-sleeved T-shirt and socks. Her boots awaited her by the front door, but they still had some time before she’d have to put them on.

Axel hollered from below. “I’ll be right back. Gotta head out to the food cache. How about some pancakes and sausages for breakfast?”

“Okay. Sounds good,” she replied.

“I’ll bring back some wood to restock the bin before we go too,” he added. You need to go outside, Gun?

No, thanks. I’m good. Having to piss outside in the winter sucked, but no one would believe a mountain lion could be trained to use the toilet, so it was a price he had to pay as a shifter when non-family members were around.

’Kay. Back in a bit. The front door closed as Dakota slung her backpack over one shoulder and headed for the ladder. Gunnar leaped down, easily making the eight-foot plunge without mishap. He turned to watch her navigate the ladder and drop off her pack by her boots.

This sucks. He brushed his body along her thigh and drew her attention enough for her to run her hand along his spine. Her touch made him purr. He wanted more time with her, to meet her in human form, have the chance to talk to her.

“I like you too, big ’un.” She patted his head and headed for the bathroom.

Gunnar walked over to the fireplace, laid down on the woven rug and watched the dying flames lick at the last hot embers of what had been a log.

His ears perked up. Something wasn’t right.

He sat up, sniffed the air and listened.

Fuck!

He looked at the closed front door. Axel wasn’t back, and he couldn’t warn him telepathically at a distance, not when Axel was in human form. He had to be within eyesight.

Dakota. He couldn’t warn her either, not as-Fuck!

With no time to lose, he transformed into a man and headed for the bathroom door. “Dakota! Hurry.”

“Just a second,” she shouted back.

“No. Now!” He threw open the hatch in the floor and then yanked the bathroom door open. “Come on!”

Dakota startled, but he didn’t have time to explain.

“Axel! What the—” He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her toward the hatch.

“Go. Hurry.”

“What… Where are your clothes?”

“Avalanche!”

That was enough to make her move. She scrambled down the ladder into the in-ground storage room that had been built as an avalanche shelter. “Stay in there,” he shouted, running naked for the front door.

“But—” He had to warn Axel, and there wasn’t much time.

Just as he threw open the door, though, he saw Axel step up onto the porch, a frozen package of sausage in one hand and several logs of wood in his arms. His brother’s eyes widened.

“Avalanche.” But he didn’t need to explain. The rumble was getting loud enough now for human hearing to pick up and the ground began to shake.

Axel dropped the burden of sausage and logs and dashed after him back inside the cabin. They didn’t even bother to shut the front door.

Gunnar dropped into the hole, barely missing a frightened Dakota with whom he fell to the floor, covering her body with his own. A second later, Axel followed, pausing just long enough to yank the rope on the hatch to slam it closed.

“No, Falke!” Dakota screamed, her fear apparent.

The rumble was now a roar. The shelter was black as pitch.

“He’s okay.” Axel joined them on the river stone floor as he, too, used his body to protectively blanket Dakota.

Like a runaway freight train, the crashes sounded closer until it shook everything around and above them. Something fell off a shelf, causing Dakota to yelp and him to hug her closer.

Then…silence. Gunnar breathed a sigh of relief.

They might not be safe, but at least they were still alive.

* * *

Dakota opened her eyes and saw nothing

, but she felt a lot. Rough floor. Cold chill in the air. Warm breaths-hers, Axel’s, and…

“Uh. Oh, my God. Who—?” She began to squirm, which was not easy with two— two— men on top of her. One was clothed. One wasn’t.

A man grunted.

“Careful,” Axel said, as they moved off of her.

She shot to a seated position, tried to butt-scoot backwards, but her hand collided with something hard behind her. Feeling around, she recognized it as a shelving unit.

“Who the… What…” She couldn’t draw breath enough to form the questions that raged in her mind.

“Let me find some candles,” Axel said, his voice way calmer than she would’ve expected. She could hear him move, start to feel his way about the confines of their underground shelter.

“I would wait on that, brother.”

Dakota squeaked and wedged her body against the shelves, as far away from that voice as possible. When did one of Axel’s brothers show up here? And which one of them was naked?

“When did you get here? Where’s Falke? Axel! My God, he’s still out there,” she said, realizing the cougar might be trapped in the snow, hurt or dead.

“Meow,” the brother said.

She turned her face toward the voice even though she couldn’t see anything but blackness. “That’s not funny. He might be hurt.”

“I’m not.”

Anger simmered. “I’m not talking about you! I’m talking about a poor defenseless cat that might be—” The man chuckled and so did Axel.

She stopped, baffled at why they could be so heartless over their pet. Didn’t they care?

“Falke is far from defenseless,” Axel explained, “and he’s fine. He’s here.”

“Oh?” She hadn’t noticed the cat jump inside, but everything had happened so fast. Had the cat been down here before her and she’d somehow missed him?

That must be it. She breathed a sigh of relief that he was safe. “Here pretty kitty.” She raised her hand out, expecting the puma to find her, nuzzle her hand.

Instead, a man’s hand cupped hers and raised it to his face. Her fingers trembled as they slid over a slight growth of whiskers. Axel had shaved earlier that morning. This man wasn’t Axel. He couldn’t be.

He pressed a kiss into her palm. Her breath hitched.

“I like you too, lil’un.”

She gaped. Not that he could see her or she him, but this man, this brother knew, quoted almost verbatim, the last thing she’d said to the cat. “I-I don’t understand.”

“Don’t be afraid,” he murmured, his hand still holding hers against his face.