Alpha Rancher Bear: BWWM Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Bears of Pinerock County Book 3) (12 page)

Charmian woke disoriented. She was so comfortable that she could not immediately figure out what had awakened her. She had her head resting on Alec's broad chest, his arm tucked around her. She'd never felt so safe and warm and cozy.

Engine
, she thought blearily, and raised her head. Wan gray daylight filled the cabin. Outside, it sounded like someone was driving into the yard.

"Alec," she said, prodding him. "I think someone's here. Is that a car?"

Alec woke fast, going from deep asleep to wide awake in an instant. He propped himself up on his elbow. "There's no way anyone could drive up that driveway, not without plowing it. And our tracks would've been covered up by the storm." He cocked his head, listening. "That's not a car. It's a snowmobile."

Charmian scrambled down the ladder, naked, and grabbed an armful of her clothing off the hooks behind the stove. "Here," she called, tossing Alec's jeans toward the loft.

He appeared over the railing to grab them. "If it's the owners, we'll just explain. No big deal."

"I don't care if it's a big deal," Charmian retorted, stamping her legs into her slightly stiff jeans. "I still don't want to have to explain while
naked
."

Dressing at lightning speed, she managed to get all her clothes on by the time someone knocked on the door. Alec, wearing his jeans but bare-chested, was climbing down the ladder. Charmian went and opened the door.

The man on the other side was wearing a snowmobile suit with his helmet tucked under his arm. At the sight of Charmian, he broke into a grin. "Miss Russell. Glad to see you."

It took her a moment to recognize him, seeing him out of context like this. "Bill Lambert," she said. "How are Mary and the baby?"

"Mary's doing fine, and ..." His grin turned proud and embarrassed at once. "So is little Emma. Beautiful baby, no problems. But we were pretty busy last night. Didn't even notice you never showed up 'til this morning."

He came in, stamping the snow off his boots, and exchanged hellos with Alec. If he seemed surprised to find Charmian in the cabin with a half-naked guy, he didn't show it, although she'd learned from experience that the local ranchers were too phlegmatic to show visible surprise at anything short of a UFO landing in the cattle pasture.

"I'm glad you came out to look for us, but what made you look here?" Charmian asked. "Did you find our note?"

"Didn't see a note. Did see your car in the ditch, though. Since you weren't there, I started checking all the local cabins and houses." His clear-eyed gaze flicked back and forth between them. "Anybody hurt?"

"Her wrist," Alec said.

"It isn't bad," she retorted, glaring at him. The fact that he was currently wearing nothing above the waist made it abundantly clear that the injuries to his torso had healed completely, leaving no mark. Stupid shifters with their stupid fast healing. Her wrist felt a little better today, but it still ached.

"Real sorry for not comin' out to find you earlier," Mr. Lambert said, running a hand through his sweat-damp hair. "We knew you meant to come up and help Mary with the baby, but things were a little hectic last night. Wasn't 'til this morning that Mary thought you might'a had problems on the road and I came out on the snowmobile to make sure everything was okay. Gave me a turn when I saw your car in the ditch, that's for sure."

"It's all right," Charmian reassured him. "Don't feel bad. By the way, I think we have one of your steers in the shed."

She pulled on her coat and boots. Alec filled a bucket at the pump, and followed along as she went around the corner to show Mr. Lambert the animal.

"Yep, that's one of ours, all right." Bill Lambert expertly fended off the steer's attempts to nuzzle at him. It was hungry, and looking for food. Alec put the bucket under its nose and it was temporarily distracted by thirst.

Charmian tucked her hands under her arms—she'd forgotten her gloves—and looked around. The snow had stopped sometime during the night and the wind had died, leaving the world frozen in still, white crystalline glory.

It was austere and a little frightening. It could easily have killed them last night. But it was also breathtakingly beautiful, a reminder of why she lived here. She wondered when she'd last stopped long enough to just look around her and notice how beautiful the world was.

"I ought to take you up to our house," Bill Lambert was saying. "Can't just leave a lady out here. Don't like taking you on the machine if you're not properly dressed for it, though."

"I'm fine here," she said politely but firmly.

Alec put an arm around her. "You heard the lady. Er, if your arm is all right?" He looked down at Charmian.

"My arm's fine." Throbbing, but probably not broken, just bruised. She'd have to take some Tylenol when they went inside. "Really, Mr. Lambert, we'll be just fine in the cabin until the road can be plowed out and someone can come get us. We're warm, and we have food."

"You could do something for me, though," Alec said. "Call my cousin, when you get back to your house. Let him know where we are." He hesitated briefly, then took his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Bill Lambert. "His number's in here."

Bill nodded. "I'll get help out to you."

"Thanks." Charmian smiled. "And congratulations on your new daughter."

She and Alec walked back to the porch of the cabin with his arm around her, and watched as Bill Lambert drove out of the yard on his snowmobile, throwing up a rooster tail of powdery snow.

"How
are
we going to get out of here?" Charmian wondered aloud. "We're pretty snowed in, and my car's totaled."

"My clan can come get us," Alec said. "I doubt if the county snowplows come out this far, but we have a plow truck. I'm sure Axl and Cody would be happy to bring it down."

She leaned into his warmth. "You guys are pretty close, huh? You and your, uh, clan."

"We are. But I don't think it's that different from how human families are. That's what we are, really. A family." He nuzzled against the top of her head. "And you're part of that, now. If you ever need help, all you need to do is call anyone in the clan and they'll come."

Charmian loved her family, but she'd never really depended on them that much. She talked to her parents on the phone ever week, but otherwise, having them in Florida wasn't that different from having them in the same county. Ever since she'd been a kid, she'd never wanted to rely on anyone but herself. It was simply how she was, by nature.

But sometimes you needed other people. She thought about last night, in the storm, with Alec's great shaggy bulk breaking trail for her. If she'd gone off the road by herself, what would have happened? She wondered if she would ever have made it to the cabin in the storm and the dark.

It had been a team effort, though. She was the one who knew where the cabin was. Without her, Alec would have been lost in the snow.

We're stronger together than apart.

Like Alec and his clan.

"So really, all we have to do is hang out 'til your clan shows up to take us home."

Alec nodded. "And that could be awhile."

"I can think of a few ways to pass the time."

***

They made love lazily by the fire, exploring each other's bodies with hands and mouths. It still amazed her how Alec seemed to be able to anticipate her every desire before she even knew she wanted it herself. He was unlike any lover she'd ever had.

This must be what having a mate meant. Finding someone who was perfect for you, someone who fit you in ways you'd never imagined anyone could.

They were lounging around on blankets beside the stove, half dressed, arguing idly over whether lunch should consist of canned beans with crackers, or canned beans
and
canned tomatoes with crackers, when Alec sat up abruptly. "Someone's coming up the driveway. I hear engines. Could be the plow truck."

Shifters must have sharp ears. Charmian sat up and pulled on her sweater. Now she heard it too, the low rise and fall of a laboring engine.

They put on their coats and went out to sit on the edge of the porch. For the first time in weeks, it was actually pleasant to be outside. The clouds had broken up, the sun coming out from behind them and striking dazzling glimmers off the snow. It was warm enough that the cabin roof was dripping.

"Feels like the weather's finally turned," Alec said. He leaned down to scoop up a handful of snow, packing it into a snowball that he idly tossed out into the yard.

"If it stays this warm, all of this is going to melt off quickly."

"I wouldn't mind. Cows will be dropping their calves soon. It'd be good for them if we had an early spring."

"Look," Charmian said. She leaned forward, pointing. Movement was visible among the trees. A few moments later, a big Ford truck with a plow on the front made its laborious way into the yard. It wasn't able to simply go straight, with the snow piling up in front of it, but had to veer to the side every so often to dump its accumulated load.

Cody leaned out the open driver's side window and waved with a whoop that was audible even over the engine and the clanking of the plow.

"Ha." Alec stood up and waved back. Charmian, feeling suddenly shy for reasons she couldn't quite articulate, scrambled to her feet too. She had to resist the urge to lean against him, as if to draw strength from his bulk.

Why do I feel like this?
It wasn't as if she was usually shy around new people. But, she thought, this was going to be the first time she'd encountered Alec's family as his mate. She reached up involuntarily to finger the scar ridges of the bite mark on her neck. It had healed overnight, leaving a light-colored mark visible against her skin.

Cody plowed out a small turnaround area in front of the cabin. Another truck appeared in the driveway, following a distance behind the plow truck. It parked behind Cody's truck, and Saffron and Remy jumped out, looking cheerful.

"Heard you had a lost steer up here," Cody called. "We got some hay and grain in the back."

"And something even better," Saffron said. She held up a paper bag. "Takeout from Marge's Diner."

"Oh thank God," Charmian groaned. "Something that doesn't come from a can that's been sitting on a shelf for a year."

Cody loped up to the porch, grinning broadly. He held out his hand and Alec leaned down to grip it. "Gotta say, cousin, when you didn't come home last night, I figured you were holed up somewhere to wait out the storm, but this really isn't what I was imagining."

"No idea what you're talking about," Alec said, smiling one of his subtle smiles. "This is a nice little vacation spot. No complaints."

Charmian nudged him in the recently healed ribs. "Hey, buddy, I've got a complaint, namely that my car's a wreck in a ditch."

"Awww man." Cody's smile dropped away. "Where is it? If it's in good enough shape to drive, we could probably use the trucks to haul it out."

"I'm not sure if it's ever going to drive again." She sighed and leaned against Alec. "But let's not focus on that right now. I'll deal with the car headache later. Somebody said there's food, right?"

Shortly, they were gathered around the table in the cabin. Cody had fed the steer, which was bedded down comfortably in the shed. Charmian noticed how both the newly arrived shifters kept glancing at her neck, but none of them had said anything about it. She'd also managed to sneak a peek at Saffron's neck, underneath the other woman's swinging curtain of long dark hair, and sure enough, there was a little crescent scar. It was less noticeable against Saffron's pale skin than it was against Charmian's darker skin tone, but it was definitely there. She had no doubt that Tara, Axl's mate, would have one too.

"So, I guess we better hit the road before it gets dark," Cody said after they finished eating. "There's room in my truck for both of you, if you don't mind a little crowding. Do you need to get anything from your car?"

Charmian shook her head. "It's been there overnight. I don't think there's anything that's going to be any more ruined if it stays out there for a couple of days."

"I know a guy who runs a wrecking company," Remy said. "Once the road's clear, we can come out with his big flatbed tow truck and get your car. If it can't be repaired, he'll give you a good value on it."

"That sounds wonderful, thank you." She squeezed Alec's hand. "Right now I just want to get back to my house and my shower and my dog."

"So, I didn't really want to ask," Cody said, glancing between them. His gaze lingered briefly on her neck. "But what
is
the long-term plan here? I mean, not to be nosy or anything. I'm just wondering."

Alec looked down at Charmian; she looked back up at him, and smiled a little. "I don't think we've really figured that out yet," she said.

Alec leaned down and kissed her lightly, in front of the others, without embarrassment. "We've got time," he said. "All the time in the world."