Winona froze, chills skittering down her spine. “The wolf. It’shere!Hemust be here, too—the poacher.”
The two of them were exposed and vulnerable. If the poacherwashere....
Jason drew her closer, his gaze moving over the forest on the other side of the deck railing before meeting hers. “On the count of three, I’m going to get out of the water. You climb out after me and head straight inside. I’ll be right behind you.”
She grabbed her bikini top out of the water, held it against her breasts, her heart pounding. “Okay.”
Owooooo!
It was closer now, probably standing just outside the circle of light shining from the cabin’s windows and porch lights.
“One… two… three.”
Winona rose out of the water, followed Jason up the stairs, hurrying toward the door, Jason right behind her, shielding her body with his, one strong arm around her waist. She pushed open the door, stepped inside.
“Get dressed.” Jason shut and locked the door and drew the blinds. “Stay away from the windows.”
Owooooo!
She ran into her room, grabbed her bag, and hurried into the bathroom, where she stripped off her wet bikini, dried off, and dressed, questions chasing one after another through her mind. What was the wolf doing here? Why would the poacher come to the cabin? Was he just out trolling for beef?
When she walked to the doorway of her room, she found Jason standing in the kitchen, wearing jeans and a T-shirt, pistol in its holster, phone in hand.
“It sounded like it was twenty or thirty feet away at most. If your poacher is traveling with the wolf, then he’s likely here, too, and he’s almost certainly armed. Thanks. We’ll see you shortly.” He ended the call. “Nate will be here in about thirty minutes. He’s bringing a group of men to get us. He’ll take us back to the main house for the night. You’ll be safe there.”
But Winona wasn’t sure she’d feel safe anywhere tonight. “Do you think the poacher followed us?”
Jason considered that. “I don’t know. Maybe seeing the armed riders in the other pastures drove him this way in search of steers. Or maybe the wolf is out for a run. I won’t know until I can get a look at the tracks.”
She nodded, crossed her arms over her chest, and sat, her back to the wall outside her bedroom door where she wasn’t in line with any windows.
Jason crossed the room, knelt before her. “I’m sorry, Winona. I know this is scary, but I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
* * *
Jason wantedto kick his own ass. He’d gotten so caught up in his need for Winona that he’d let his guard down. He’d let his dick do the thinking—and it could have gotten both of them killed. If the poacherwashere, he could have opened up on them with that rifle and killed them both.
Owooooo!
“It’s farther away now. They’re leaving.”
Jason blamed himself for the fear on Winona’s face. “Why don’t you come sit at the table in the kitchen? It’s a lot more comfortable than the floor.”
He took her hand, helped her up, and walked with her to the kitchen. “Would someone just let their wolf run free?”
“I let Shota run off-leash on Forest Service land, but I never just turned him out to roam by himself. I was too afraid something would happen if…” Her words trailed off, a look of comprehension on her face. “The poacherhasto be here. Either that, or he lives nearby. I don’t know how the wolf could get here otherwise.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Wild wolves lope along at no more than five or six miles an hour, and they don’t travel more than thirty miles in a day. Either the poacher brought the wolf with him like he did when he killed the steers—or he lives a lot closer than you all think.”
Jason thought through what Winona had said, images from the day moving through his mind. The two cut sections of fence line. The four-wheeler tracks disappearing at the creek. The creek flowing onto Forest Service land.
Jack had turned back at that point, so Jason hadn’t gotten a look at the creek or its banks. It was entirely possible that the poacher had turned off the road at that point and driven up the creek.
We get squatters on Forest Service land sometimes. I’ve helped rangers clear off more than a few.
Jason needed to get back up there while there was still snow on the ground.