Season of the Wolf (BBW Holiday Romance) (2 page)

Something pulled him forward. He turned
up the collar of his coat and made his way toward the plane. “Is this all you have?” He shouted to be heard above the whine of the wind. It had picked up considerably. A sudden gust pushed at the woman and Jason had to grab her before she went down.

“Thanks.”

He couldn’t tell if she smiled at his action or grimaced against the cold. He took her elbow firmly in his hand and guided her to the SUV he’d parked near the metal building. Opening the passenger door, he pushed her inside with little finesse. It was too damn cold to be polite. Opening the back door, he slung the duffle bag in the floor before rounding the back and climbing in behind the wheel.

Once
inside, away from the howling wind, the silence was startling. He wasted no time starting the engine and cranking up the heat. His wolf started to pace and Jason put it down to the decreased visibility and mounting snow. It would be tough going making it to Winter before complete darkness. The sky was already overcast and gloomy thanks to the heavy cloud cover.

She sat quietly in her seat as he pulled out onto the highway. Luckily, it was almost a straight shot to
Winter until the last couple of miles. Then they faced a curvy mountain road with some wicked twists and turns.

“Would it be okay if I took off my coat? It’s getting a
little warm in here.” He realized he’d been driving several minutes without saying a word. Or feeling awkward. There was something comforting about her presence. In fact, his wolf was almost languid, resting peaceful inside him. An odd contrast to how he’d been acting lately.

Jason really
hadn’t noticed the cold. That was one of the many nice things about being a shifter, his wolf kept his temperature evenly regulated. Oh, he still complained about the snow and the cold because they were definitely not two of his favorite things. The woman was bundled-up like a polar bear, no doubt starting to swelter now that she was out of the cold wind. He reached out to turn down the heat. “Sure.”

He watched from the corner of his eyes as she started to remove her many layers of outerwear.
The first thing to go was her knitted cap. He smiled when the dark strands of her hair stood on end with static electricity. Next came the matching scarf that she’d wound around her throat. No wonder she was hot. She had to remove her safety belt to unzip her parka and he frowned, a flash of fear for her safety buzzing through him. Strange.

As she leaned forward to shrug out of her
jacket the warm air from the heater blew across her throat.

“Hell
no,” he cursed. “Oh, hell no.” The SUV swerved as he lost control of the vehicle for a moment.

She gasped and clung to the dashboard, half in, half-out of the coat. “What, what happened?” Her eyes were wide with fear.

Jason’s hands tightened on the steering wheel until the skin over his knuckles turned paper thin. “Nothing. Just an icy patch,” he muttered. Sweat broke out on his forehead when the importance of what had just happened hit him square between the eyes.

This woman
was his mate.

The cold and the heavy coat had managed to conceal
her scent from him until now.

Both his cock and his wolf jerked to attention as she wiggled
the rest of the way out of her coat. Her curves were still concealed behind heavy clothing, but he didn’t need any imagination to know how sweet they were going to be. No wonder his wolf had gone ape wild at the airport. The beast must have recognized the woman on some primal level as his mate even without scenting her.

What the fuck did he do now?

“So, Mr. Dupree, have you ever mated?”

He threw her a sideways glance. Did she know? Did she know they were mates? His instincts told him no. Besides, the knowledge was not
instantaneous for humans as it was for shifters. No, the damn fates who decided to screw with shifters and give them a human mate didn’t put one extra iota of attraction in the human’s psyche. The wolf had to work for every smile or kiss they got from their chosen mate until the actual bonding took place.

“Are you asking me if I’
ve ever fucked?” One dark brow rose above his eye. “I’m a wolf shifter. What do you think?”

She
cleared her throat nosily. “I realize that you’ve had sexual relations before–”

“My name is Jason, Jason Dupree.
”

Polite little thing that she was, she immediately introduced herself. “Priscilla Johnson.”

“You can call me Jason.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary.”

“Oh, I do sweetheart. If you’re going to ask me about my
mating
habits, I think we need to be on first name basis, don’t you? Priscilla.”

Oh boy,
Priscilla thought, this man was definitely alpha. Extremely alpha.

And
damned if she wasn’t instantly turned on.

“I’ll be asking several members of your pack about mating, Mr.
Durpee. But I realize this isn’t the time to conduct an interview.”

She thought she heard him say something
suspiciously like ‘not if I can help it’ under his breath before he turned his attention back to the road.

H
er pussy had started tingling at the rich, dark sound of her name on his lips. What was it about this man that suddenly had her hormones ratcheting up into high gear? She hadn’t been attracted to a man in, well. Never. Even the two men she’d slept with over the years had been more in way of experimentation than actual attraction. She’d wondered what all the fuss and mystery was about and went about losing her virginity the same why she approached everything in life. Logically. Her first encounter had been with a boy in high school, a fellow member of her science club. They’d studied the anatomical charts and read how-to articles on-line. The experience hadn’t been mind-blowing or even pleasant. Plus, afterwards, the boy refused to talk to her. As if the somewhat less than satisfying experience had been her fault somehow. A week later he’d been seen with a more popular girl–a thinner girl–and she’d experienced her first feelings of self-consciousness concerning her size and sexual attraction to the opposite sex.

In college, she had decided that she
shouldn’t judge the entire sexual experience on one failed attempt by a teenage boy who had known little more than she had. With through investigation and another logical plan, she’d approached one of her professors and the man had eagerly agreed to help her. It was ridiculously easy to find a man to have sex with, even for a chubby girl such as herself. That experience, unfortunately, hadn’t been very pleasant either. Apparently, men were selfish lovers at any age.

That, and
her recent discovery about the shifter world, plus the extreme fascination she had with wolves despite her early childhood trauma, had led her to the subject to her doctoral dissertation. Shifters mated for life. It didn’t matter what physical features the other person had or didn’t have, the attraction was instantaneous. Or was it? That was what she wanted to find out.

Shifters were not a subject spoken
of highly in the academic world. Probably because they were shrouded in secrets they were unwilling to share with the general population. And the fact that their entire history, once thought of as ancient myths and fairytales, were indeed fact. She’d broached the subject to her department head cautiously. Her dissertation would push the boundaries of acceptable scientific research, but she was sure it would make a fascinating study. It was only through her friendship with Jason’s sister, Mary Jackson, that the alpha of the Montana pack had agreed to allow her on shifter land.

She shivered
suddenly and rubbed her hands up and down her arms. She studied the snow through the windshield. Had it gotten heavier? Jason immediately reached out and turned up the heat.

Priscilla had
met Mary during one of her master level courses. In getting to know each other, the woman had confessed she was a wolf shifter. When Priscilla had explained the basis premises of her research, sexual attraction and how she’d like to emphasis shifter mating, she’d been more than willing to help. She’d invited Priscilla to stay at her house while she conducted her interviews. She’d also invited her to spend the holidays with her family.

The radio crackled and Jason picked up the
receiver.  Priscilla tried to follow the conversation, but the static and the acronyms used by both Jason and the woman on the other end made it impossible.

“Shit.” Jason cursed as he put the radio receiver back in place. His face had tightened into a mask of anger.

“Is something wrong?” She was almost afraid to ask.

“Y
eah, something’s wrong alright. The highway patrol has shut down the road into Winter.”

“So?”

He threw her a look that questioned her intelligence.

“Can’t you just take another way?”

“No, I can’t just take another way. There is one road in and out of Winter. That’s what makes it so unique for us. But it also makes it damn inconvenient. Especially when something like this happens.” Jason shifted into low gear, even now having some difficulty cutting through the accumulating snow. Hell, if he was by himself, he’d simply abandon the car and make his way back home in wolf form. But with the woman by his side, that wasn’t an option. Keeping her warm and safe however was going to prove difficult.

His wolf growled. Protecting their mate was
now the only thing that mattered.

“Can’t you just power through?”

“I’m not some damned wizard that can make the car levitate, woman.” He knew his voice came out as a loud shout and a painful silence suddenly filled the car. Damn it.

He wrenched
the wheel as he hit a snowdrift. Thankfully, the highway was flat and the only danger was driving off the asphalt, not over a damn mountainside. That would happen in just a few more miles.

“Look, I’m sorry I got upset. This wasn’t how I was planning on spending my Friday night.” He wasn’t about to tell her the truth—that the thought of being snowed in with her was about to drive his wolf insane. He glanced at her afraid to take his eyes of the road for very long. She sat very still, gripping the edges of her seat.

“I, umm.”

She licked her lips and he just about forgot everything. The snow. The treacherous road. His own damn name. He mind filled with the image of her on her knees, the tip of his cock nudging its way inside of her mouth.

“Are there really such things as wizards?”

“What?”

“Do wizards exist?”

Jason snorted. He didn’t want to get into an explanation of the supernatural world with his mate. He had a feeling the things he would soon be revealing would be mind-boggling enough. “I’ve never met one, so I can’t really say for sure.”

“That’s a very politically correct statement.”

His mind was racing with the options he had for getting her to safety. He knew the highway patrol was probably erring on the side of caution by closing the road. The road back to the airport would be getting as impassable as the one before him.
Plus, he couldn’t see them spending a comfortable night in the rundown metal building. Or a couple of nights. Really, did he have any other choice but to ‘power through’ as she’d so innocently pointed out until he could go no further?

His eyes swept over the landscape, determining th
eir exact location. The closest shelter, besides some abandoned caves, was a small cabin on the edge of pack land. If he could make it a couple of more miles in the car, it could be reached.

“We’re in trouble aren’t we?” The fear in her voice tore at him. It was a wolf’s number one objective to keep his mate safe, free of fear.

“Don’t worry, darling.” He looked at her and felt the tug on his heart. She looked so small sitting beside him. The decision to abandon the car and seek shelter at the cabin was made for him as the wind shifted, catching the undercarriage of the SUV. That, combined with the snow-packed surface of the road was enough to send the vehicle skidding off the asphalt.

Jason cursed as he brought the vehicle to a halt. The passenger side had tilted downward. “Are you okay?” he grow
led, reaching for Priscilla. He sent up a silent thank-you that she had refastened her seatbelt after she’d removed her coat. As it was, her head had made contact with the side window.

“I’m okay, I guess.” Her voice was a little woozy an
d it worried him. The skin wasn’t broken skin and the small bump seemed to be the extent of her injuries. He touched the knot that had already begun to form on the side of her head. She sat there, a dazed look still in her beautiful green eyes. He wanted nothing more than to gather her in his arms and kiss her better. He moved his hand from the side of her head and cupped the curve of her jaw. “I’m going to see if I can get us out of this freaking snow bank. You stay put,” he ordered.

“I guess I probably should
,” she said, a rueful smile curving her pretty lips as she rubbed the side of her head.

As soon as Jason opened the door, the cold, bitter window blew in, cutting through his coat like a knife. Yeah, his wolf would keep him warm, but he hated the fucking snow. The SUV sat an angle, part on the road, part off the road
.  As he walked around the front of the vehicle, he let out a string of low, succulent curses. A thin trail of black oozed through the white of the snow. He crotched down in front of the car, knowing what he’d find even before he did. He’d busted the oil pan. Damn. Shit. Fuck. Double fuck.