Loved By A Fox (Barret Lodge Book 2)

Chapter Three

Kara was so close. She could see smoke billowing through the trees far up the mountains. She had been traveling for hours, and her tank was just about empty. Her arrow was hovering over the empty line. She was simply waiting for the light to pop on.

Finally, a 'Barrott Lodge' sign arcing over the dirt road was her savior. She was there, a wash of relief set through her body. She was going to make it. Then a small mile marker sign which read 'fifteen miles ahead made her heart stop. She gulped harshly as a tear shed from her eye. She was so close.

She pushed on for another five miles until her car slowly came to a stop. She closed her eyes and took a harsh breath as tears began streaming. Why was everything in her life so difficult? No matter how hard she tried, nothing ever worked out the way she wanted it to.

As she opened her eyes, all the sadness left her body. All she could feel was anger. She gripped the steering wheel as hard as she could. She threw her head back and screamed. She let out all her anger, all her stress, all her regret. She let it all out.

Abruptly, she stopped. She took a deep breath, grabbed her bag, left her car, and began walking. If there was one thing she knew it was to never hold anything in. Her life never went exactly according to plan. She could try to plan out her life perfectly but nothing ever went exactly the way she wanted it to. So she would just let herself explode for a moment. Just one moment to lose control so she could gain it all back.

Small white flakes began to blow all around her. The air was cool and crisp. The snow began to make her long locks wet and damp. The moon was high and bright in the sky. Hanging over her was a tunnel of trees that hung above the road. If she didn't have a fierce fox inside of her then she probably would have been scared.

She had been through a lot in her lifetime, there wasn't a forest in the world that could have scared her. As she thought about her past endeavors, she could feel her fox purring inside. She had a very close relationship with her. She had been the only constant thing in her whole life. Her fox was the only thing that had truly always been there for her.

Kara just laughed to herself, as she felt the fox perk up with pride, deep inside her gut. Her fox could be an arrogant little thing sometimes. But, someone needed to have confidence in their relationship.

After an hour of walking, she felt like her feet were going to fall off. She really was about to give up. She was ready to let her fox take form, and go find a warm hole to sleep in. She's done it before, granted it was the summer. But, animals survive in the winter all season long. Surely, she could do it for a night.

As she continued to walk, a shadowed outline of a small house began to come into view. She froze for a second. Debating whether she should keep going or not. She wasn't scared, just nervous as to what could be occupying the small house.

She contemplated the outcomes. There could have been no one, or there could have been someone or someones. But, she didn't really have a choice, she needed warmth and shelter. She was beginning to get very wet and her clothes were no longer keeping her warm. Her choices were either, take her chances. Or, keep walking, for who knows how much longer.

She took a deep, calming breath. And, another for her fox. She was more riled up than Kara was. She had no choice, she needed to at least check it out. The closer she got, the more her stomach swirled.

She crept up to one of the windows and peeked through. It was completely dark inside and she could barely see a thing. There were no cars parked in the driveway and the whole place seemed completely empty.

When she crept around the front, she couldn't help but smile. It was adorable, a cute little log cottage in the middle of the woods. The window boxes were painted blue with white floral designs painted on the sides. They were all filled with little miniature pine trees. The log siding looked shiny and new and the small deck attached to the front had two rocking chairs set up side by side.

She crept onto the deck and jiggled the handle. Her heart sank a bit when the handle wouldn't budge. It certainly wasn't going to stop her. Kara had a few tricks up her sleeve. She took her bag off her shoulder and dug around for a second until she found her wallet.

She unzipped it and pulled out a small metal poking stick and little tension rod around the same size. She poked the tension rod and the poker stick into the door handle lock. She jimmied both of the metal poles around until she got the right tension.

"Click."

She pulled the rods out and shoved them back into her wallet and put it back inside her bag. She twisted the handle and let herself in. The cottage was cute from what she could see in the dark. It had a log couch with a chair right next to it. A small fireplace sat in the middle. Off the living room was a small kitchen with another doorway leading into a bedroom.

In the bedroom, there was a queen-sized bed, a dresser, and two nightstands on either side. Also, another door leading into a bathroom.

The bed looked so comfortable, and it was obvious that there was no one else in the house. So, Kara said, "fuck it."

She peeled her wet clothes off so she was only in a tank top and leggings. She pulled the covers back from the bed and slid her cold, tired, achy body into the soft cushion of the mattress. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. There was a small notification letting her know she had a new message.

"So, are you ever going to tell me about yourself? Anything, your favorite color? Your favorite food? Please, give me something."

The butterflies in Kara's stomach were going crazy. What was this man doing to her? She rolled her eyes towards the ceiling as she began to tap on her phone.

"Favorite food, taco's, of course. Favorite color, definitely red."

She wished she could tell him it was because of her beautiful red fox. But, he could never find that out. As much as she loved her beautiful, red, fluff ball. No one could ever find out about her fox. Whatever feelings she may have been developing for Mason. She had to push them all aside. She was never going to meet him anyway. As far as she knew he could have been some middle-aged man that lived in a different country.

She pressed the send button and leaned back into the pillows. Her tiredness hit her swiftly. She hadn't realized how tired she really was. Once her head hit the pillow, she could barely keep her eyes open.

Finally, she let her lids close as she snuggled into the comfy pillows. She let all of her thoughts drift off. Her mind cleared from all her stress and all her secrets she worked so hard to keep. Tonight, she was going to let herself get a full, uninterrupted sleep.