Total pages in book: 205
Estimated words: 204377 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1022(@200wpm)___ 818(@250wpm)___ 681(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 204377 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1022(@200wpm)___ 818(@250wpm)___ 681(@300wpm)
Surprise spikes through me. And regret.
Long, dark curls hang around his face, the strands on one side clumped together with blood.
I hurt him. Maybe he deserved it. Or perhaps he’s nothing like his father. Maybe he’s a victim like me. Even if the latter is true, he’s complicit. He’s done nothing to help me.
Until now.
I meet his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“I won’t hold it against you.”
“Walk away.” I adjust my hips beneath the weight of the snowmobile, and a whimper falls from my lips. “Please, Wolfson. Let your brother do what he came here to do.”
“Hm.” Wolfson steps closer. “What do I get out of it?”
Anger sparks. “You can fuck my dead body.”
The words spit out before I can stop it, but I don’t fucking care. I just want this hole gone.
“Jesus.” Wolfson hisses through his teeth. “You really are twisted.”
“Lower your weapons, ladies,” someone calls from a distance.
It’s a voice I don’t recognize. Unless other men roam these hills, it can only belong to the third brother.
I close my eyes, knowing my wish to die is drifting further out of reach.
Footsteps advance, and when I look up, Leonid’s face hovers inches away.
Whoa. What incredibly unique eyes. One gold. The other blue. Both segmented with iridescent flecks. Complete heterochromia. I learned about it in one of my biology classes, but I’ve never seen such striking pigmentation.
His golden lashes lower, breaking the trance, as he scans my body beneath the snowmobile.
“Help me move this.” He waves at his brothers.
There’s no urgency or panic as the three of them lift the vehicle and set it aside. But the pain is furious, setting my teeth together, ricocheting through every nerve ending. I don’t cry, even though my eyes scald with the need to do so.
“Where is all the blood coming from?” Wolfson crouches beside me, his attention on my thighs.
Leonid joins him, his gaze falling to the same place. Then his jaw turns to stone.
He knows.
His eyes flick to Kodiak, and something passes between them. Bending closer, he scoops me up into a cradling hold against his chest.
The jostling movement ignites a bombshell of pain. The agony is so excruciating it steals my vision and caves in my lungs.
The world rips away in a dying breath, and I welcome the nothingness.
12
Leonid
—
My level of irritation knows no bounds as I carry a lukewarm bowl of oatmeal to Kody’s room.
I want to break Denver’s teeth for bringing this problem to Hoss. Not only do we have another mouth to feed, but the woman is dangerous to everyone here.
She’s careless, overly dramatic, and fucking naïve. At least she was prudent enough to steal some supplies before she threw herself off the hillside.
Denver knew she stuffed her coat before she climbed out of the plane. Hell, he knew she would run at the first opportunity. We all did. But no one predicted she would bash Wolf over the head and destroy our only working snow machine.
What will she do next? Shoot a flare gun at the greenhouse and set our food supply on fire? Or worse, what if she tries to steal the plane and wrecks our only way to get supplies? Then we’re all dead.
My teeth grind together as I open the door.
“I got this.” Wolf appears behind me, wearing camouflage pants and a fishnet crop top. “Thanks.”
He snatches the oatmeal from my hand and carries it toward the woman in the bed.
I let him because I have no interest in her survival.
If Wolf hadn’t arrived before me when she crashed, I would’ve ordered Kody to shoot an arrow through her chest. I should’ve done the job myself. I could’ve ended her right there instead of expecting her injuries to finish her off.
Would’ve. Should’ve. Could’ve.
She’s been in that bed for a week, begging for death, and her heart still beats. Denver won’t give up on her.
He’s barely left her side.
Bracing a forearm against the doorjamb, I stare at the back of his head. He sits in a chair beside her, elbows resting on his spread legs and his attention glued to the sleeping woman.
Wolf cautiously approaches, causing them both to stir.
“No. No, no, no.” She shoves a snarled nest of red hair away from her sunken eyes and stabs a finger at Wolf. “I can’t deal with you. Absolutely not.”
That’s my cue to exit.
I step back and close the door as their voices go from heated whispers to ear-splitting madness. The chair screeches across the floor. A scream lets loose, and something crashes against the wall.
Seconds later, Wolf bursts from the room, his chest covered in oatmeal.
Panting, he closes the door, swipes the mess from his shirt, and licks his fingers.
“You gonna let her get away with that?” I cross my arms, annoyed.
“Unlike you, I want to be her favorite.”
My lip curls. “You know as well as I do that you can’t be her anything.”