18. Cole

Since Eva had crashed into our lives, everything had changed. We were all tip-toeing around her, careful not to reveal our true natures for fear of driving her away.

I wasn't sure if Tanner cared whether she left, but I knew Silas and I did. Not that we'd talked about it. Silas was keeping his cards close to his chest for the first time in forever. I knew he liked Eva - more than liked - but neither of us had discussed how things might work if we claimed her as we were both desperate to do.

Leaving aside the fact we were all a lot older than her, it was difficult to know whether Eva even liked us in that way. She was pretty closed off most of the time, and from the few things she'd told us about the guy she lived with after her father died, it was obvious she'd had very little freedom to be a normal teenage girl.

My thoughts turned murderous as we strolled through the forest while Silas chatted away to Eva, making her smile at his stupid stories.

Tanner had done some digging into her asshole guardian and discovered he had mafia connections, but we didn't know in what way yet. The last thing any of us wanted was for him to show up here.

Not that we couldn't handle it, but if he got wind of Eva staying with us, he might come with backup, and that would be messy. I knew damn well Tanner was hoping for the opportunity to tear the prick to pieces, but Eva had been through enough in her life; she didn't need more trauma.

I walked behind her and Silas, listening to them talking. Eva was already a different person to the scared, hurt girl Silas had rescued. She was still constantly on her guard around us, but there were more genuine smiles and sometimes even laughter. She'd begun to trust us, which was important to me.

"How about this one?" Silas suggested, pointing to a huge spruce pine.

Eva stopped dead and looked at the tree doubtfully. "Seriously? It's the size of a skyscraper. How on earth would it even fit in the cabin?"

"Hmm, OK, good point," he conceded.

We walked further across the clearing. The snow was deep in places, but the sun had appeared and everything sparkled. My wolf would have loved a run, but he was going to have to wait until this evening. Silas went out last night, which meant it was my turn tonight. We'd started taking it in turns to ensure one of us was always at the cabin watching Eva.

Tanner was our brother, and we trusted him implicitly, but he was also unpredictable and there was a definite tension between him and Eva. I'd barely seen him since he got back from whatever he'd been doing for Carlos. He'd spent most of his time either in his office or out hunting. On the plus side, we now had plenty of venison.

"There are so many trees." Eva looked around, chewing her lip.

"That might be because we're in a forest!" Silas yelped when Eva punched him in the arm.

"For someone so small and delicate, you have a hard fist." He pretended to rub his arm like it hurt.

She rolled her eyes. "Please, I'm sure you didn't notice me hitting you with all those stupid muscles."

"You like my muscles, eh?" From the wide grin on his face, the compliment boosted his already massive ego.

This time it was me rolling my eyes. My wolf didn't like the flirting. He was jealous and so was I. Not of Silas, exactly. We were brothers, and we shared everything. It was more that she'd friend-zoned me and I wasn't sure how to change things.

"Less of the flirting and more of the tree choosing. We need to get cracking or it will be dark before we're done."

Eva's face fell, and I kicked myself for making her feel bad for something that wasn't her fault. Silas threw me a shitty glare and snaked his arm around Eva's shoulder like the asshole he was.

"How about this one?" he said, pointing to a bushy seven foot spruce set apart from the others. "It's not too tall and I can easily fell it."

"Yeah, that one's fine." Her voice was subdued, which made me feel like a dick for ruining the happy vibe. I should have kept my goddamn mouth shut.

"Thirsty?" I asked. We'd brought some drinks and snacks in a backpack. Felling trees was sweaty work, and we'd be out here for a while.

"I'm good," she replied. Silas ignored me, more focused on yanking his jacket and shirt off. God, he was such an exhibitionist.

"Stand with Cole," Silas instructed. "I can control where the tree falls to an extent, but I don't want you anywhere near the drop zone."

She moved closer to me and I gently pulled her back so we were well out of the way. We both watched as Silas wielded the ax and cut sharp, precise chunks out of the trunk.

Using a chainsaw was the easiest way to cut down a tree, but this wasn't an enormous tree, and Silas liked to show off. So here we were, watching him sweat, flex his muscles, and do his best impression of a sexy lumberjack.

Fuck my life.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and focused on the noises in the surrounding forest. Birds twittered high above and squirrels made loud kuks and quaas to warn all their brethren we were around.

The sun disappeared, and Eva shivered. "You warm enough?"

"I'm OK, but it is rather cold," she admitted, hugging herself.

"Come here, sweetheart." I pulled her against my chest and wrapped my arms around her slim body.

While she had put on some weight since being with us, she could still stand to gain a few pounds. It made me sad to think nobody had taken good care of my girl. Well, that wasn't the case anymore. As long as she was with us, I'd make sure she ate well every single day.

At first she was stiff as a board in my arms, but slowly, her body relaxed as she absorbed my heat. I was always warm because as wolves, our body temperatures ran hotter than humans.

It was a bonus in winter, and the reason Silas was perfectly comfortable shirtless in sub-zero temperatures.

"Timber!" He whooped with excitement as the tree fell to one side, well away from us.

"And now we drag it back to the cabin." We could have brought the snowmobile and attached it with a chain, but we weren't too far away from the cabin and it was easy enough to carry a tree this size, if awkward.

Silas could do it and enjoy being covered in tree sap and pine needles. It would serve the bastard right for annoying me. Just as he dropped the ax and turned to Eva with a wide grin, my ears picked up a sharp, menacing growl from the trees.