“Oh, goodness,” she breathed. “My sister. She probably thinks I’m dead in a ditch somewhere.”
“Call her.” Eddie shot her an empathetic glance before turning back to the road.
Liana tapped on her sister’s last missed call. The phone rang once before it was answered by hysterically crying and shouting.
“Liana? Is that you? Oh God, Liana. Where the hell have you been? Do you know what—I thought—you can’t just…why haven’t you called?”
Liana squeezed her eyes shut, feeling theprickling of tears. She inhaled sharply at the pain in her sister’s voice.
“I promise I’m okay,” she said softly. She wished she would have been able to call her sister. Had the shoe been on the other foot, she would have been a mess, too. She repeated herself at the sobbing that filled her ear. “I’m okay.”
“You just disappeared! Terri and I had the police looking for you, but they said this storm was one of the worst they’d seen in a while. Liana, I thought we’d lost you.”
The words broke something in Liana. The tears flowed down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry.” Liana whispered. “My car crashed. I got stuck out there in the storm. But I…I found shelter. Someone rescued and helped me.”
“Someone?” Jorrie sniffed. “What do you mean, someone?”
She glanced at Eddie who reached over and gave her thigh a squeeze. Liana reached up and brushed the wetness from her cheeks.
“I met someone,” Liana shared. A small smile played on her lips. “Someone I care about…a lot.”
“Liana English! Don’t you tell me you disappeared in the middle of the worst storm in history and come out with a new girlfriend!”
Eddie snorted. She could obviously hear her sister’s side of the conversation. Liana’s cheeks warmed.
“I’ll explain everything, okay? I just need to call Terri next,” Liana said.
“Oh, no! You are not hanging up without giving me all the details!”
“I promise I will call you back once we are settled at her place,” Liana said.
“Her place?” Jorrie shrieked. “We are so talking about this. You better call me back or I am hopping on the next plane out of here to Montana!”
“I promise,” Liana whispered. “I love you, sis.”
“You better! I thought we’d have to start planning your funeral.”
They disconnected the call with Liana pinky swearing she’d call her sister back. She then placed a call to Terri and had almost the exact same conversation. After the second call, Liana figured she’d wait before she called everyone else back. She wiped the tears from her cheeks. Shehated that her family had suffered while she had been tucked away in the snowy mountains.
Eddie reached across and entwined their fingers together.
“It will be our place,” Eddie reminded her.
Liana’s heart stuttered. She gave Eddie’s hand a squeeze. Love filled her chest at the warmth that radiated from Eddie. Was it too soon to tell Eddie she loved her? They hadn’t known each other long, but Liana was sure what she felt was love. The mark on her was definitely proof that Eddie wanted her.
But as a shifter, did that mean love?
“Yes, our place,” she murmured. She’d figure out everything later. Right now, this felt right, and she wasn’t going to miss out on this opportunity with Eddie.
They continued down the mountain road with sunlight glittering across the snow. After all of the chaos it had caused, now it was a peaceful white blanket that surrounded them. It reminded Liana of a new start.
Something she had gained with Eddie. A new life. She looked forward to embarking on her new journey with her mate.
Chapter Twelve
The ride down the mountain took much longer than Eddie would have liked. Every twist and patch of black ice kept her laser focused. She had to keep her mate safe. Her bear prowled beneath her skin the entire time. She, too, was anxious to get Liana home. She was restless and watchful yet still angry about the feral wolf who had hunted her down. She hadn’t caught wind of the wolf ever since that night. Even with Liana next to her in the vehicle, warm and enticing, Eddie couldn’t shake the primal urgency that hummed within her.