The Rogue Mate

Chapter Eleven.

I felt something wet poke my cheek, making me groan and try to swat it away. There was a quiet growl and then a giant weight landed on top of me. With an ‘oomph’ my eyes shot open just as Gizmo ran his tongue from my chin to cheek. “Gross!” I said, pushing him off me as I sat up, wiping at my chin.

I heard laughter and I looked to my open door where Chev, Mads and Yiannis stood. Gizmo nudged my elbow and I turned, giving him a pat behind his ears. “Don’t worry Giz, I still love you; unlike the mutts at my door.” I said, shooting a mock glare at the three men who just laughed harder as Giz licked my face again, barking happily.

Through the door I could smell the bacon Kate was cooking and I knew that with all the wolves around, if I wanted some I’d have to be quick. Without warning I launched myself from my bed, elbowing my way past Maddox and Yiannis, racing down the stairs with Giz hot my heels until I skidded to a halt in the kitchen where Kate was flipping a pan.

She smacked my hand away when I reached for a strip of meaty goodness sitting on a plate and I bared my teeth at her… so the rouges might have been rubbing off on me a little.

“So what’s going on today?” Chev asked, taking a seat next to me at the counter.

Kate slid a plate towards me and I dug in, thinking over his question. “It’s forecasted to snow so we should make sure that all the barns will be able to withstand the snow, move all the cattle closer the house and lock up the horses.” The horses were more valuable and since I was only just getting the breeding program up and running, I wanted to make sure that none of them froze in the storm. We’d be under a tight schedule though as it was predicted to begin snowing at around four o’clock this afternoon. “Keep the newer wolves closer the house; I’ll go out to the outer paddocks to corral the yearlings and get them in the barn.” We’d been weaning the foals from their mothers and the most effective method was when the babies couldn’t smell, see or hear their mothers so we put them far, far away from the mares.

“You have to take someone with you; what if the pack decides to attack or you get trapped in a snowstorm?”

“I’ll go!” Both Maddox and Yiannis said at exactly the same time. Over my head they turned to glare at each other and Chev began to chuckle.

“You should both go.” When I shot him a glare he shrugged. “What? You’ll need all the help you can get.”

I knew how dangerous it was out there with the threat of snow hanging over you, but I knew that Yiannis and Maddox strongly disliked each other; I think they had a love/ hate relationship and I was happy to just let them work it out.

I finished the plate, took a big sip of the coffee and headed upstairs to change. “Get ready to go boys.”

-

“You said it wouldn’t snow till four; it’s only two!” Maddox shouted as wind whistled loudly around us, carrying white flecks of snow across the already white paddocks.

I felt my teeth begin to chatter as we steered the last few yearlings towards the barn. I could feel my body shaking beneath the thick jackets I had on and I knew that I wouldn’t make it back to the house without freezing to death; I’d never experienced such cold temperatures.

Already there was already a thick layer of snow covering everything. Yiannis slid open the doors to the barn as Maddox closed the gate to the corral where around twenty horses paced. There were fifteen stalls in the barn as well as a hay loft, office, medical room and tack room; this was one of the bigger, more equipped barns since the paddocks surrounding it were more suited for the horses. Each stall could hold at least three horses and opened out into a small, fenced off paddock.

“Two horses in each stall, let’s go moving.” I forced myself to stay steady as I slid off Obi and lead him into the barn as Maddox began separating the yearlings. I knew that I could warm myself up by getting my heart rate up so I quickly untacked Obi and began helping Maddox with the yearlings.  I had no idea where Yiannis had disappeared to but I was more focused on getting the horses out of the snow; it was coming down heavy now and I knew that we had no chance of getting home.

By the time I ushered the last two horses into their pens my fingers were frozen and I was shivering so badly that I could hardly walk.

“Evan?” I looked up at Mads as my knees buckled; I was so cold, so very cold. I hit the floor as he ripped open the stall door. “Evan, Evan, what’s wrong?”

“C-cold.” I murmured, grabbing onto his shirt as he picked me up. His body literally emanated heat and I felt like an ice block.

“Shit.” He muttered as he walked out of the stall. “Shit, shit, shit.” He pushed open a door to a much warmer room but before he could do anything I was snatched from him and crushed to a hard, warm chest. I felt his breath on my neck as he growled at Maddox.  “Dude shut it; she’s got hypothermia and since we can’t build a fire we need to find another way to warm her up.”

I felt arms pulling away my clothes and I panicked, my heart rate spiking, but I was practically frozen and I felt like I could hardly move. As they reached my shirt and began pulling it off me, I felt tears slide down my cheeks; I didn’t like this feeling of helplessness!

“Hey, shh, shh it’s alright.” I felt someone gently stroking my hair and when I opened my eyes Yiannis was kneeling in front of me, shirtless. “We just want to warm you up a bit.”

Maddox pulled blankets out of a cupboard and lay them down. Yiannis carried me to the blanket bed and wrapped his body around mine as Maddox laid a few more blankets over the top of us.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were freezing?” Maddox asked, taking a seat next to me.

I shrugged as the heat emanating from Yiannis began warming me up. “I didn’t think it was that bad.” To be honest, I was enjoying the feeling of his arms wrapped around me, his tall body pressed against mine and the heat he emanated; it was like having a giant, warm teddy bear.

“Evan you’re human which means that you’re not invincible, no matter how much you think you are.” Mads said angrily. “What if you’d died? What then?”

“It wasn’t that bad Mads, I was cold but I’m fine now.” I said softly, trying to calm him down; I hadn’t been that bad, I’d just been really cold.

“God dammit Evan! I’ve seen people die from hyperthermia; you have no idea how serious it is!” He growled before storming out of the office.

I lay there, confused as to what had just happened, shocked that Mads had been so… mad; I’d never seen him angry in the many months he’d been here. Why did he care so much anyway? I mean sure he’d try to kiss me, but I didn’t think he was serious about his feelings; but he seemed to be really scared at the possibility of losing me.  

“Are you going to get on my case as well?”  I asked Yiannis bitterly; I hated getting yelled at, especially by people I care about.

He chuckled and I felt the vibrations against my back as his arms tightened. “No; he seems to be doing a pretty good job on his own.” I would have thought that he would have been angry at someone yelling at me… angry at the situation in general; though I guess he was probably enjoying spooning me. I felt fine now but I knew if I left the warmth of the blankets and his body, I’d freeze again; plus I was enjoying this a little too much. “He cares about you and you care about him but he’s your friend and no matter how much I hate his feelings for you, I know that it’d hurt you if we fought each other.”

He was right; I did care for Maddox and if they were constantly at each other’s throats I knew that I wouldn’t be able to handle it. “You’re right.” I said turning in his arms to look at his face. “I do care about him; but as a friend.”

The smile that graced his face would have put the sun to shame.