Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 95748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
She crawled back inside the cab, knees denting the roof, which now lay on the ground. The air smelled like burned rubber and gasoline. Her fingers scraped over broken glass and twisted metal as she searched for her phone. She finally found it and clutched it tightly before hitting the screen. No service. Of course.
Her pulse pounded in her ears. Focus. She needed to shift, get warm, and get out of there. She gritted her teeth, forcing her body to respond, but her muscles locked up, and her skin burned from the cold.
Her breaths came faster. She was getting worse. Her illness was catching up with her. Each second out there dropped her chances of survival. The snow piled against the vehicle, and the wind cut through the shattered windows. She pressed her hands to her chest, willing herself to shift, but the wolf inside her remained silent. If she couldn’t shift soon, she’d freeze to death.
A flicker in the darkness caught her attention. Headlights? Some other idiot was out in this storm?
Panicking, she coughed and scrambled out of the truck, her boots slipping on the ice. She steadied herself, her heart hammering against her rib cage.
She hesitated. If she moved into the road, she’d get hit. How could she get the driver to see her without risking her life? Her breath puffed out of her, forming clouds in the cold air. How would she explain to a human why she was stranded out here? And why would a human be out in this mess anyway?
Her entire body shook as she leaned back into the cab, fumbling with the dashboard until she managed to re-engage the headlights. They flickered weakly against the storm. She tried again, slamming her hand against the switch. The lights sputtered and then held, casting faint beams into the snow. The approaching vehicle slowed.
Wind whipped against her, carrying a familiar scent. Her breath caught. Jackson. Relief mixed with the adrenaline still pounding through her veins. His truck slid to a stop. His door flew open, and he was across the snowy road instantly, scanning the wreckage.
Blood trickled from a cut on his jaw.
His gaze locked on her. “Are you hurt?”
“No,” she whispered. “I think I’m okay.” Even though her legs had gone numb again.
He crossed the distance in two strides and lifted her away from the wreckage.
She wanted to hold on, but her body shook too hard for her to control her arms.
Snow whipped around them as he jogged back to his truck, his breath harsh and quick.
The heat inside the cab hit her. She slid into the seat, gasping as warmth seeped through her clothes. She pressed her shaking hands to the vents, trying to feel her fingers again. Her pulse still thudded in her ears as she tried to catch her breath. The smell of the forest and leather mixed with the trace of Jackson’s scent and grounded her as she fought to stop trembling.
Jackson was back inside the vehicle in seconds, flipping it around with sharp efficiency. Snow pelted the windshield, and the engine growled as the tires gripped the icy road.
“What are you doing out here?” she asked.
He whipped his head toward her. Fire burned in his eyes, intense and unyielding. “Me? What am I doing out here?” he ground out.
Her pulse hammered. She was face-to-face with one furious Alpha male.
“Do you want to tell me what you were doing out here, Emily?” His tone was calm—far too calm.
A tremor ran through her that had nothing to do with the cold. “I was trying to get home through the storm.”
“In your condition?”
She spun toward him, heat rising beneath her skin. “Condition? I don’t have a condition.”
“Except that you’re sick. Why didn’t you shift into your wolf form? It is freezing out there.”
She dropped her gaze to her hands, her breaths shallow.
“Emily,” he said sharply.
“I couldn’t,” she whispered, the words tasting like defeat.
His eyes flicked toward her again, and something shifted in his expression. The hard edges softened slightly but not enough to ease the weight pressing against her chest.
“So, you’re telling me,” he said slowly, his voice still too calm, “that you drove into a blizzard in one of my trucks, knowing you couldn’t shift?”
Her shoulders tightened as she squirmed on the seat. The heat from the vents brushed against her face but did nothing to slow her racing pulse. “I might not have been thinking clearly.” She fell back on a defense mechanism, and her voice turned haughty. Not consciously. It was just instinct, a shield against the frustration radiating from him.
His jaw tightened more as he steered the truck off the main road. Snow compressed beneath the tires, muffled by the storm’s relentless howl.
Emily frowned, her fingers tightening on her coat. They were about the same distance from his territory as they were from Copper territory, but he headed in that direction. “Where are we going?”