1. Ember

Chapter 1

The wind is going to drive me insane.

Don't get me wrong, I love living in Colorado. It beats the hell out of Alaska, that's for sure. It's nice to actually see the sun here year-round, and the variety in the seasons? Not being completely dark for six months? Flawless.

But right now? It's been windy for too long.

Honestly, it's starting to grate on my nerves. It's the constant howling and the fact that nothing around me is ever still. It bothers me. It feels like an itch in my brain that I can't scratch, or something equally painful and inconvenient.

Unfortunately, that means that I've spent the last few days trying to ignore the fact that slowly, the wind is going to make me lose my mind.

I've been doing my best to manage the aggression that's flaring up right now. I've spent every day for the past week in Rylan's gym, letting him beat the hell out of me, and in turn, beating the hell out of him. It feels good.

Ever since I helped my best friend Terra with her plot to clear her mate Rylan's name with the pack, I've been kind of obsessed with learning how to fight. I've always known that I'm a lot stronger than the average wolf, and that I have to work hard to make sure that I don't reveal that to the world.

But being constrained like that all the time? It sucks.

When I'm training with Rylan, I'm able to let out a lot more of it, and honestly, it feels like…

Well, it brings me a peace that I've never known.

Today, I'm leaving Rylan's gym after hanging out with him and Terra because something just feels off. It might be the wind, I reflect as I walk out of the newly constructed metal building.

I send one last, longing look back over my shoulder, wondering if I should head back in, but I shake my head. Rylan and Terra looked like they were about to jump each other's bones, and while I'm all for my bestie getting it on with her fated mate, I don't need to be there to watch. Gross.

Instead, I grab my bag and head out into the wind. A chill skates over my skin, and I sniff the air, hoping that the stupid wind might bring me just a hint of what's wrong out here.

But there's nothing. Weird.

I could head back to my little cabin. I love it, but honestly, sometimes the silence kind of gets to me. I could go to hang out with the group of unmated females that I've been trying to make friends with, since Terra needs to spend time with Rylan. That sounds appealing for about ten seconds, until I text Amara, and she reminds me that she and the girls are out of town.

That's right.

Thanks anyway, I say, despite her encouragement that I should just join. They've all gone to Steamboat for a concert that I don't really like, so there goes that idea.

I huff. I'm not interested in heading back to a silent house.

I wouldn't say I'm really that good of friends with many of them. Terra is definitely my closest friend, and I used to have Calista, but she left the pack right around four years ago to live with her family in Florida. The other females are just… fine. They're all very nice, it just feels like I don't have much in common with them.

That's what I like about Terra. She understands what it feels like to be on the outside of the pack, looking in. We have that in common, ironically.

I consider my options. Since socializing is out, I always have work. Being an ER nurse gives me an adrenaline rush whenever I can manage to find it out here, and usually, I love it. I could go to the clinic and pick up another shift, but… I don't want to do that, either.

That weird feeling skates down my spine again. Something is wrong.

I put my gym bag in my Jeep, then shut the door. My skin feels like it's prickling, and I have to figure this out.

With an intuition that feels oddly strong, I march into the forest.

In the woods, the strange sensation lessens ever so slightly. It's like I'm being pulled toward something, and I can't decide if it's a good thing or a bad thing.

I'm not exactly intuitive. More of a ‘think first and ask questions later' type of gal. But this time? It's like an ache in my chest. The only way to fix it is to just keep going.

So I do.

The woods look just as restless as I feel. The wind threads through the treetops, tugging and twisting them as it plucks at each individual tree. You can tell when there's a big gust coming through, because the rush of it builds like a wave, cascading over you as the trees absorb the brunt of the energy.

Around me, the sound of creaking is somewhat ominous. The trees, it seems, are complaining about the woods, too.

I'm wary to skirt away from any dead ones. With the pine beetle plague in the last decade or so, there's far too many more hollow trees than there should be. The little bugs kill the biggest pines from the inside, leaving the hollow tree as a hazard that could be fatal if they catch fire or the wind throws them down.

I pick my way through the pack's lands, following deer trails and the curve of the mountains, pulled by the strange, unsettling feeling that seems to guide me in one very clear direction.

About a half mile down this path, I freeze. There's a massive dead tree that's down across the trail that I'm on. This seriously looks like the king of all trees. It has to have been at least a hundred feet tall, which is pretty tall for pines in this area.

I think back in the day, they called big dead trees like this ‘widowmakers,' because if they fell on someone in the woods… someone's wife ended up a widow.

For a minute, I feel a profound sense of loss. A tree like this, taken down by this fucking wind… it's sad. Then, I hear a groaning sound that has nothing to do with a tree, or the wind.

It's something living.

Carefully, aware that the tree might not be fully felled and might have some places where it is still unstable, I creep forward…

Holy shit. There's a wolf under the tree.

I rush forward. I have no idea who this wolf is. I don't recognize him, but I'm also pretty sure that he's not a natural wolf, and he's a shifter. He's a big guy, and for a natural wolf to be this huge would be pretty earth-shattering. The wolf's coat is a rich, grayish color. He's gorgeous in his wolf form. I've definitely never seen him around.

"Hey," I say softly, aware that if he's shifted, he's probably going to respond as a wolf would. "My name's Ember, and I'm a nurse. I'm here to help."

The wolf doesn't respond. His tongue lolls between his teeth, and his mouth is partly open.

I lean in. He's breathing. Barely.

Leaning back and standing, I survey the tree. Yeah. That's a big-ass tree. Normally, I'd say that we need to call for Oakwood's enforcers or the search-and-rescue squad, but in this case…

The wolf stirs slightly.

I crouch down again. It looks like he's pinned perfectly. The tree isn't crushing his lower half, but it's balanced on a bunch of rocks that he's tucked against. The rocks, however, are just barely holding the tree off him. His hips are tucked down in a V-shape in them.

That must be how he's trapped. The rock structure is narrow, and he somehow perfectly landed so that his hips are behind the narrowest point and his waist lines up with it. It looks like the tree fell, might have hit him on the head or something, and then he fell completely accurately into the crevice in between the boulders. It's a hell of a lucky place to fall. But it means that he can't get past the rocks that he's jammed in.

I need him to wake up. If I can pull the tree up, and he can pull himself out, then he can pull past the rocks…

The wolf stirs again. He blinks up at me, and I'm struck by his eyes. They're gray.

Definitely not a natural wolf.

"Hey," I say again. "I'm going to get you out of here. But I need your help."

The wolf blinks at me.

Good enough.

"When I lift up this tree, you're going to have to pull yourself out. Got it?"

His eyes widen, and I can practically see the thought going through his mind. You can't lift up that tree.

"Worry about getting out, and I'll worry about the tree."

The wolf gives a small huff. That's encouraging. If he has the ability to be sarcastic, he can probably move.

"Blink once if you understand what I need you to do."

The wolf seems to hesitate, but then… he blinks.

"Good. Okay. On the count of three. Ready?"

I position myself against the log. I squat down, getting a good grip right next to the wolf's body. I try the weight...

Fuck. It's big.

"Okay. One. Two…"

I don't say three.

The tree is enormous. I strain, lifting the massive amount of wood and whatever else is inside this thing, and grunt… But it moves.

"Go!" I bark.

The wolf scrambles. He pulls himself out, and I drop the tree, which makes a resounding thud as it slams back into the ground.

I turn. "Well. That wasn't so bad."

The wolf is standing. I see the second, though, that the blood loss takes over. He sways. Then, he collapses.

I look over his body. He definitely took some kind of bump to the head. He has a lump that's soft to the touch, and while I'm hopeful it isn't some kind of brain damage, I'm not sure.

Shifters are pretty resilient. It takes a lot to take us down, but being whacked in the head by a tree that probably weighs more than a house isn't exactly a situation where anyone is going to walk away easily.

I have to take him back to my cabin. I could probably take him to the clinic, but if I do that, then the enforcers will probably circle him and take him somewhere, especially if he's not from Oakwood pack.

The strange feeling prickles down my spine again. Well. If I'm following my gut… Decision made.

I don't want them to do that. Not yet. Instead, I make the call to take him with me.

Gently, I situate the wolf until he's on my shoulders. His feet dangle from either side of my body, and I take one deep breath to make sure he's there. With the wolf across my back, I stand.

I know I'm strong. Lifting the tree was clearly in my wheelhouse. I'm stronger than any female wolf, and stronger than most males. After fighting the crocodile shifter in the cage fight in Denver, I've been trying to figure out exactly how strong I am.

The only wolf stronger than me, so far? Thorne, my alpha.

So, lifting an injured wolf is no problem. As I walk back toward my place, I notice something.

Finally, for the first time in days, the wind has stopped.

The strange, itching feeling in my mind diminishes. As I tromp through the woods, the wolf slung across my back, I realize that I feel settled. Grounded.

And like whatever just happened was absolutely meant to happen.

My cabin is eerily quiet, but that's probably best. I don't really want the crowd of girls around me while I'm fireman-carrying an unconscious wolf into the house. Honestly, it's a 50/50 chance that they would tell the enforcers… or try to flirt with him. He doesn't need that, at the moment.

Carefully, I tuck him into my bed. When he wakes up, he'll shift back into his human form… I think.

Poor guy. He's bleeding from that head wound still, but as I pass my fingers over it, I think that it looks a little better. That's good.

I get my first aid kit, cleaning up the cut on his head as best I can. It's definitely improving. Then, I settle back.

I'll be here when the wolf wakes up. Something tells me that would be the right move.

I don't know this wolf, and I don't know why he survived that tree, but… for whatever reason, the universe wants us together.

So, together is where we'll be.