The Snow Leopard's Baby (Glacier Leopards 2)

Even though his house still felt too big and empty for him a lot of the time.

Jeff came from a big family, and was used to a lot of brothers and sisters, and more recently a lot of nieces and nephews, all running around in the same space. He’d been itching to move out of his parents’ house the second he got this job, but now that he had his own place...well, there wasn’t much to do when he was at home.

He’d started cooking more and more elaborate meals for himself, to pass the time. It was definitely a pleasure to sit down to a gourmet meal and know that he’d created it with his own hands. But it would’ve been even better if he’d had anyone to feed it to.

Jeff had to admit that he was pretty envious of Grey, who had a gorgeous, nice, fun mate to come home to every night. Grey had said recently that he and Alethia were thinking about starting a family. Jeff had tried not to look too obviously like he wished he could think about doing the same.

All right, that settled it. He wasn’t going to sit around his house feeling sorry for himself. Besides, his leopard was yearning to get out.

So Jeff dressed for cold weather, in case he had to shift back for some reason, and stepped out into the blowing snow.

This does not seem like a good time, he told his leopard dubiously, surveying the dark, cold landscape. Night had fallen for real, and visibility was way down.

Out, his leopard insisted.

While it would be dangerous for anyone else to go out in this weather, Jeff’s snow leopard form was ideally suited for heading into mountainous territory in the winter, and he knew the area around Glacier National Park like the back of his hand.

He’d grown up right around here, shifting and running around the mountains from when he was a kid, and he’d always known he’d never want to live anywhere else. The park ranger job had been his dream.

But it was still nice to head out after work sometimes, spend time up in the wilderness without being on the clock and thinking about his work responsibilities.

Jeff shifted into his leopard form and bounded out into the snow. He’d run around a bit and tire his leopard out, maybe do a quick patrol of the roads outside the park to make sure no one was in trouble.

Actually, that sounded like a really good idea. The areas outside the park didn’t get as much attention in situations like this, without a ranger service devoted to making everything safe.

Jeff headed out with a purpose, trotting up towards the snow-covered mountain roads. His paws left footprints in the snow, but they were quickly filled up as he went. The storm was getting worse.

***

Leah was out of options.

She’d strapped Emily back in her car seat and tried to start the car. It wouldn’t start no matter how many times she turned the key.

Then she’d gotten out of the car and opened up the hood. Sure enough, as she’d thought, she had no idea how to even start to figure out what was wrong.

Finally, she’d stared at her cell phone, willing it to show just one bar, while icy wind howled in through the broken window and chilled her bare fingers. Nothing happened. She’d tried calling 911 just to see if it would go through, but it didn’t.

Leah knew that in an emergency, it was better to stay put so that people could find you, rather than try to walk somewhere when you didn’t know where you were going.

But no one was looking for her. No one knew where she was. Her mom wouldn’t start worrying until tomorrow morning, probably, and maybe not even then. She might assume that Leah had gotten too tired to keep driving and stopped somewhere to stay overnight.

There was no guarantee any car would come by. She and Emily couldn’t stay warm in their own car, because of the broken window and the dead engine.

She had to get out and start walking, and pray that she found shelter or another driver before she succumbed to hypothermia.

And Emily...

Leah’s eyes stung with tears, but she swallowed them down. She didn’t have time to cry. She was going to find help. She would make sure Emily was safe.

So she got to work. She packed a backpack with emergency supplies, including her little first-aid kit, food, diapers, wipes, and a change of clothes for Emily, granola bars and bottles of water for herself, and extra blankets. She put the backpack on her back, and on her front she strapped a squirming Emily into her carrier.

“Want to go on a walk?” she asked Emily, trying to keep her voice from shaking too much. “We’re going to go on a walk, doesn’t that sound fun?”

Emily waved her arms and smiled. She loved being outdoors, although she liked it better when she was in a stroller and could look around.

“Good!” Leah said. “Just one minute, and we’ll go on our walk.”

Leah’s winter coat was still the maternity coat that she’d been wearing last winter while she was pregnant, so she was able to zip it up around Emily’s little body. When she had them both all bundled up, she took a deep breath and stepped out of the car.