Alicia scrambled on her belly through the narrow opening. Her boots sunk into the snow. Snow flurried and she yanked up her hood.
"Trees," Josh huffed. "Back into the forest. Climb up. We'll call for rescue from there." The trees were farther from their pickup point. But the snarling beasts were closer.
She trudged through the drifts in a high-stepping run that screamed death. They needed to go faster, but the deep snow turned their sprinting into slow motion.
Ominous barking swelled from inside the cave. Then pow, the deadly symphony cleared the cave and exploded full force across the open tundra.
The trees grew closer. But were they close enough? She vise-gripped Josh. Ran. Prayed. Worked to dispel the image of hounds tearing at her husband.
She could feel the steamy caress of hot breath as her hood flopped behind her. Was it her husband breathing beside her? Or were the beasts that near? She didn't dare look.
Snowfall thinned from tree cover. She picked up speed, plunging deeper into the icy forest. She searched for a pine or birch strong enough to hold them.
There.
Five more steps. Josh knelt, hooking his hands together in a step.
She opened her mouth to protest and send him up the tree first to make the call while she...what?
Scrambled up as best she could.
"No time to argue," Josh shouted. "Go. That's an order, Captain." Her soldier soul couldn't ignore the command even as her wife heart screamed in protest.
"Yes, sir." Stuffing her survival mittens inside her flight suit, she placed her boot in his cupped hands. She bounced once, twice for leverage, and up...
She grabbed for a low-hanging branch. She gripped, her flight gloves slippery around the icy branch.
Please God, no missing that would cause Josh to stay on the ground longer. A firm hand landed against her butt. Supported. Shoved upward. She flailed her other arm, smacking a branch.
It held. Yes.
White birds flapped from the branches in protest. Dangling, swaying, she hooked her elbow around. She swung one leg up, then the other.
Josh.
She sprawled onto her belly on the thick branch, wrapped her legs and one arm around before reaching down. The barking grew intolerably closer. Josh grabbed a droopy pine limb, levered himself up with a boot. His gloved hand slapped into hers.
The first snarling wolf skidded to a stop at the base of the tree, a mangy gray creature with fangs bared.
Flashing teeth latched around Josh's leg. Her heart lurched as the other wolves closed in.
The sound of ripping fabric mingled with snarls. She stared down into Josh's face, icy branch slick against her parka. Determination stung through her. He kicked, thunking his boot against the wolf's head, once, twice.
Her hold strengthened. No letting go. The beast would have to pull them both down.
Pine needles, clumps of snow, lethal icicles rained from the shaken branches. A wolf yelped and fell. An icicle poked from its side while the animal thrashed in death throes.
Alicia slipped to the side. She stifled a shriek.
Josh's eyes narrowed. She read his intent too well. He planned to let go. He would fall to his death to protect her.
"No damn way, Joshua Rosen!" she shouted through gritted teeth. "Don't you dare let go out of some misguided macho-ass idea of saving me."
Her arms strained, one burning from the exertion of holding on to the tree. The other stretched to the limit from her hand locking with Joshua's. "If you fall, then I'm going down with you. There's not a chance in hell I can sit up here while those wolves tear at you. So you hang on tight because I look forward to chewing you out once you get—"
"Roger. Understood." A smile pushed dimples into his face, so at odds with the moment as he hung there somewhere between the branch and a pack of hungry wolves with white teeth and at least five pairs of crystalline eyes flashing up.
"Not letting go." Josh inched closer. "So quit wasting.,.energy talking and just pull."