O’Malley set up the tent and spread out the sleeping bags. Another night with Hannah by his side. He only wished he could do something to cheer her up. Since she’d found Karl’s poker chip at the site of the waterfall, she’d been quiet.
Perhaps they should call in the rescue team to scour the water source for a body.
“O’Malley!” Hannah’s cry made him dump the food he had taken out of the pack on the ground next to the tent and rush to her side. His cougar was ready to switch places with him if their mate needed defending.
“What’s wrong?” He ran across the grass to where she was kneeling on the ground next to a small pile of rocks.
“There’s another one.” She held another chip that belonged to the set Karl used to carry around. “I guess we don’t need to worry about him drowning in the water.” Relief flooded O’Malley.
“I think I know what he was doing.” Hannah pocketed the chip. “I found it under this pile of stones. A pile someone had made. A pile I believe Karl made.”
“And you think there’s a meaning behind it.” O’Malley had some idea of what that meaning might be.
“Yes. This pilgrim’s path is all about leaving the old you behind and finding the new you. I think that Karl left these behind as a symbolic gesture. These belong to his old self. He took them everywhere with him. So now he’s shedding them.” Hannah picked up a couple of the rocks and carried them back to their campsite.
O’Malley grabbed a couple more and followed her. “I think you’re right.”
“And you were also right.” She dropped the stones on the ground and straightened up, her face glowing.
“I was?”
“You told me that I might spot something that no one else would. And I did. The people in the search party wouldn’t have known the chips belonged to Karl. O’Brian might but they probably didn’t camp here because being shifters, they would have covered more ground and not stopped.” She placed her hands on her hips, looking triumphant.
“And shifters always think they make the best trackers.” O’Malley laughed as he dumped the rest of the rocks on the ground. “But you did it, you found the clues.”
Her smile faded. “But we haven’t found Karl. All we really know is that he was here.”
“And that he didn’t drown in the pool. That is a big relief.” O’Malley stepped closer to her and slid his arm around her shoulder. “We know what we’re looking for now. We know the clues Karl was leaving as he made this journey.”
“He’s leaving us a breadcrumb trail, he just never realized it.” Hannah glanced up at O’Malley. “Where can he be?”
“Let’s just focus on one step at a time. We follow the trail and look for these piles of stones.” He let her go and hunkered down next to the stones. “Let’s get this fire built.”
Hannah was shivering, either from the cold or from her emotional state. He needed to get her warm and make sure she ate. Getting sick up here in the mountains was dangerous.
The mountain might have already claimed one Norton child. It’s not going to claim another. It’s certainly not going to claim our mate, his cougar said firmly.
Not on our watch, O’Malley agreed.
Hannah helped him arrange the rocks in a circle. When her hands brushed against his, her skin was chilled. A quick glance at her face worried him further. She looked pale and tired. This journey had been too much for her. He should have insisted she stayed back at the village with Elvie.
But then she would not have found the chips, his cougar reminded him.
He was right. But having a mate, seeing her suffering was hard to take. O’Malley wanted to scoop her up and carry her back to O’Brian’s house and wrap her up warm and cozy in the bed they’d shared.
“I’ll get the fire lit.” He quickly grabbed some dry kindling and struck his flint and steel, creating a shower of sparks. The kindling caught fire and he added some small sticks before feeding the fire some dry branches he’d collected from under a rocky overhang. There wasn’t a lot of wood and it wouldn’t last too long.
“What are we having for dinner?” Hannah asked as she sorted through their rations.
“I thought the beef bourguignon. It’s great considering it comes out of a packet. Why don’t you eat an energy bar while I boil some water and make coffee?”
“I can help,” Hannah insisted and then tilted her head to one side. “What?”
He reeled back. “What?”
“You’re looking at me kind of funny.” Her eyes widened and she looked around. “Do you know something I don’t? Is there someone out there?” Her mouth turned down at the corners. “Or have you seen another clue?”
He shook his head quickly. “Nothing like that. I’m concerned about you.”
She raked a hand through her hair. “I’m fine. Nothing some good food and a long sleep won’t fix.”
“Are you sure?”
“Very.” She slid closer to him across the ground and put her arms around his neck. “It’s been an emotionally draining day. I really thought Karl had drowned in the pool. Then to find out he at least got this far…it’s been a rollercoaster. One I know isn’t over yet.”
O’Malley slid his arms around her waist and cradled her to him. “I just don’t want to lose you, too.”
She pulled back from him. “That isn’t going to happen. I’m fine, honestly.” And as if to prove it she tilted her head back and kissed him.
Chapter Fourteen – Hannah
Maybe she was delirious but kissing O’Malley just felt right. As their lips moved against each other, it was as if they were celebrating life and love. Whatever happened with Karl, she would never let it taint her feelings for the cougar shifter who had walked away from his life to help her.
As their tongues entwined, heat crept across her skin and a fire ignited within her, one
