She reached out and brushed snow from a rock. It was an unusual color of onyx. Was this supposed to be here? She tried to pry it loose with the intention of taking it back to the cabin as a souvenir. She bit her lip and used a little more force and jerked back. The rock came free. She scooped it up and stood to her full height. She held it up toward the sky so she could observe it. The rock was smooth and reminded her of pure marble. It was a beauty, and she figured she could give it a good home back in Denver.
She turned to go back, and her boot slid.
Everything happened too fast, her foot finding a patch of ice under the snow. She tilted backward, her arms flailing like windmills.
“No…no…no?—”
Her feet flew out from under her, and the world practically flipped upside down.
Cold water swallowed her.
The creek wasn’t deep, but the shock of the cold water was a brutal slap to her. It immediately wrapped around her bones and took herbreath away. She gasped and swallowed a heaping amount of the freezing water as she plunged underneath the surface.
Her head popped up. She sputtered and glanced around. The cold was cutting through her as she tried to right her footing.
Pain exploded through her ankle and up her leg. Water surged around her. It was numbing, and her teeth chattered. Her heartbeat slammed against her chest. The current of the water was angry and determined to pull her under again.
“Come on,” she groaned. She tried to kick and find traction. Her ankle buckled again. The pain was unbearable. She bit back a sob, panic surging through her. She clawed at the stone and dirt along the bed of the creek. She couldn’t grasp hold of anything.
The Discovery Channel tips for surviving the wild were nowhere to be found in her head. The only thing she remembered—stay calm.
That was easier said than done. They weren’t currently trying to get dragged down a strong creek in the wintertime in the middle of Montana.
With a groan, she angled her body sideways, finally able to hook her arm over a rock juttingfrom the mud. Gasping, she managed to drag herself halfway out of the water. Her legs were still submerged while her boots were heavy with creek water.
She froze.
Not from the temperatures, but from a sound.
Something cracked in the woods. Nothing soft. A sharp snap.
Whatever it was tried to be stealthy.
“Eddie?” she called. Her voice trembled slightly. She frantically searched the area, trying to see what was in the woods.
The only response was silence.
Her heart rate raced even faster, her breaths coming in pants. It was watching her. She could feel it. Icy fingertips slipped between her shoulder blades. She twisted around and still didn’t see anything. The trees stood motionless. No wind. No birds.
Just a freaky stillness.
Her mind raced. She remembered Eddie warning her that the area was not safe. That wolves could be roaming the area. Rogue wolves, was it? She swallowed hard.
Another crack.
Whatever it was, was moving closer.
The cold was stealing what was left of her strength. Her teeth were clattering out of control.
There!
A figure stood hidden deep in the woods. Tall. Muscular.
And it was not Eddie.
Raw terror filled her, and there was nothing else she could do at the moment but one thing.
“Eddie!”