“That’s Pepper,” Ace commented, putting his gear on.
“James, I gotta go. Be here when you can. Call this number anytime.” He didn’t let the other man get a word in as he hung up. He followed Ace out the door.
The chill in the air sucked the breath from his lungs as he didn’t have a coat on.
“Pepper!” Ace yelled from just ahead. They didn’t even know where they were running to until they heard Roxie yipping and growling in the distance. Her voice was off. Full of pain.
“Fucking hell.” Nick cursed up a streak blue enough to make a sailor blush as they finally spotted Pepper, frozen in place with a visibly injured Roxie in her arms.
Movement from the left caught his eyes, and he swore his entire life flashed before his eyes as he met the golden eyes of a Cougar. The same one he’d seen earlier that morning.
“Pepper,” Ace called gently, getting her attention.
“Hi,” she whispered with a wobbly smile.
“Don’t move, baby,” he told her.
“Couldn’t if I tried,” she joked.
God, he loved that woman. Always trying to soothe them and their fears.
“What happened?” Ace asked her, wanting to keep her distracted.
“Huh? Oh, there was a bear trap. Back that ways a bit. Why didn’t you tell me you had one? Is there more? That’s so dangerous.” Her nerves were showing if she was giving them shit.
“Baby?” Nick grabbed her attention again.
“Nicky,” she drawled out.
Smiling, he told her, “We don’t have bear traps.” Which begged the question of who put one out there?
“Oh. Well, you do. Have one that is. Can I move now? My arms are shaking, and if these cats keep advancing, I might collapse or cry or scream or doing something to startle them, and I have a feeling we really don’t want me to do that. Right?” He was so proud of her bravery.
“Right, baby.” As soon as the words left his mouth, one of the cats walked towards her, circling her prone body as her shaking visibly picked up speed. “Don’t move, Pepper,” he warned as the cougar began rubbing her body.
Pepper’s death grip on the coat she’d wrapped around Roxie’s injured body turned whiter than the snow under their feet.
“This isn’t normal, is it?” she whispered, almost too softly to be heard.
He’d never felt so helpless in his life. This was so out of the norm for a wild animal, he couldn’t even begin to guess what it was doing.
Suddenly it hit him. “She’s marking you.” He was st
unned. Cougars only did that to their cubs, which made his assumption about these particular ones right. They were there because something was going to happen.
Now Nick knew what it was.
He was coming for Pepper.
Beautiful creatures. They really were.
She felt like they were prettier from a distance, though.
“Why is she marking me? Is she going to eat me? Oh God.” Her mouth wouldn’t stop. The animal in her arms was oddly relaxed, so that meant maybe she should be, too?
The wet nose on her hand followed by a chuff had weakened her knees to the point that she collapsed to the ground. Eyes squeezed as tight as she could, Pepper cradled Roxie’s injured form to her chest in anticipation of the cougar finally attacking. When nothing happened, one eye slid open to peek at it.
“Crap.” She breathed out as she was met face to face with the incredible being. When it had stood in front of her, she was positive that it was the end; she was going to die. Surprise overtook her when the animal rubbed against her some more, circling her entire body. Its face bumped her own and had bile climbing up her throat with the fear she was sure everything within a ten-kilometre radius could smell.