Falke’s Peak

Axel. He’d pulled one glove off with his teeth, where he still held it clamped between them, and reached into the side pocket of her pack. He came out with a yellow disposable camera.

He grinned around the finger of his glove then backed up and held the camera up to his face.

“Cheese,” he teased as she twisted around to see him.

Dakota grinned as he clicked the camera, the flash bright and quick. The sunrise would be behind her. She couldn’t wait to see that shot. Axel held the camera out toward her. “Beautiful,” he whispered. But he wasn’t looking at the sky.

Dakota melted a little and sure didn’t feel the cold air, even though little plumes of white escaped with every breath she exhaled. “Thanks,” she murmured, tugging off one glove and reaching for the camera.

He clung to it, placing his other hand over hers. Her gaze collided with his. Her lungs froze as they stared at each other. Pinned between his hands, her fingers brushed over his warm skin.

After a pause, he released her hand and the camera, and said, “Might want to tuck this next to your body instead of in the pack so the batteries don’t freeze.”

“’Kay.” She took the camera and found the inside pocket of her down jacket. “Thanks.” Searching for something to say next, she glanced around. “Where’s the cat?”

“Just checking out the area. Probably marking territory.” He shrugged and pulled his glove back on.

“You doing okay, though? Your breathing’s a bit heavy.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Could maybe use a sip of water, though. But I’ll make it.” She bared her teeth in a grin.

“I’m tougher than I look.”

Axel handed her an open canteen, and she sipped a couple of times. He made no comment about her claim of being tough, just took the canteen back when she was done, capped it and put it back on the hook at his hip. “Ready then?”

“Yep.” She looked around for Falke.

“He’ll find us. Don’t worry.”

Dakota did the concentration thing as she turned her snowshoes and her body back up the path.

“Another forty minutes or so, and we’ll stop for a real break. By then we’ll be in the trees where the snow’s not as deep, and we can take off the snowshoes for a while.”

Dakota nodded at Axel’s back and followed as he led her up the sloping hillside.

Chapter Three

This woman is impressing the hell out of me.

Gunnar’s thoughts entered his mind telepathically, and Axel nodded. They’d just reached the deeper, denser part of the forest where he promised Dakota they’d stop for another rest. After this break, they’d have about two hours to go before reaching the cabin.

They were making much better time than he’d expected.

Her breathing was only slightly labored from the trek. She’d stopped him several times for a drink of water, following directions well and taking care not to get dehydrated. Of course, if she hadn’t stopped him, he’d have forced her to drink, but that hadn’t been necessary. They’d had a longer break around noon to eat the sandwiches Heidi packed for them.

Axel unfastened his snowshoes and stepped out of them, going up on tiptoe a couple of times to stretch his calves. Then he went to Dakota, who stood still, watching Gunnar with a wary eye.

“He’s harmless,” Axel said for the tenth time that day as he reached for the buckles holding her pack around her chest. “Let’s get you out of this for a few minutes.”

“He’s a wild animal,” she said. “They go crazy all the time. I read the newspapers. Heck, dogs go feral too, and they’re house pets.”

Humph. Maybe just a little bite…

Axel narrowed his eyes at Gunnar. Don’t even think about it, buddy.

Because she might like it and you’re claiming her as yours?

She’s a client, Axel reminded his brother, though he had a hard time remembering that very fact.

He bent to loosen the straps on Dakota’s snowshoes. She was as impressive as hell. There were signs that she was wearing down. The last half hour had been slower than the rest of the day, and he’d seen her stumble a couple of times. He hadn’t been able to keep from pushing her limits, though, just to see where they were, how much she could take. She took it all, even grinning at him when he could tell she was starting to tire. Not a single word of complaint the whole day. Not one. Her biggest worry seemed to be Gunnar.

If she’s a client, why are you staring at her as if she’s a feast?

Shut up, pussy.

The puma hissed at him. Dakota flinched.

Knock it off, Axel warned . She’s nervous enough around you already.

“I have to…umm…” She pointed a thumb over her shoulder at the trees.

Axel shrugged out of his pack and then drew out a roll of earth-friendly toilet paper. She’d used the bushes twice already during their earlier breaks, so she knew the routine. Another good sign that she wasn’t dehydrated.

She grinned at him. “Thanks. Be right back.”

She walked a little stiffly, stopping a couple of times to stretch her lower back, before she disappeared behind a few trees.

“You need to behave yourself,” Axel whispered to Gunnar when he was sure she was out of earshot.

“She’s a client. A damn sexy one, but a client nonetheless. Look all you want, but there will be no touching.”

I’m just a big fucking pussy, remember? Gunnar’s tone was full of pissed off attitude. I’m not the one who needs to remember she’s paid for your company.

We’ve known each other our whole lives. I know when you’re hot for a piece of tail.

“Look, Gun, it’s—” Gunnar let out a savage hiss and dashed into the woods in the direction Dakota had gone.

Axel took off after him. “What is it?” he called to his brother, but Gunnar was already out of sight, too distant to maintain a connection with Axel in human form. “Fuck!” He ran faster.

Dakota screamed.

Axel crashed through the close-together evergreens, taking a swipe to his cheek from one spiky limb.

Gunnar made the cry of a panther on attack, and then snarls erupted. Axel cleared the trees to see Dakota on her back, frantically trying to pull up her pants, with Gunnar a few feet from her, on the other side of the small clearing, in an all-out brawl with the biggest damn gray wolf he’d ever seen.

The two predators tumbled in the snow amid a cacophony of fierce hisses and growls. Bared fangs and sharp claws. Then they broke apart as the wolf yelped like a beaten puppy and ran off into the woods.

Gunnar went after it, but Axel knew it was over. If the wolf was on the run, Gunnar would just make sure it kept running, not hurt it unnecessarily.

Dakota scrambled to her feet, her jeans up but unbuttoned, the ski pants around her ankles. She stared at the trees in the direction Gunnar and the wolf had disappeared, shaking as hard as a leaf in a hurricane.

“Hey,” he said softly as he approached her. “You okay?”

She nodded but didn’t turn toward him.

She raised her bare hand to her face.

He came around her and bent his knees to look her in the eye. Her hand was red where it covered her mouth. Her cheeks stark white except for the apples rosy from the cold. “Falke’s taken care of it. That wolf won’t