She lunged at me, teeth bared, hands curled into claws as her wild eyes took me in, looming over her where she slept.
She collided with my chest and my position balanced on my toes as I crouched down meant that she managed to take me out.
My ass hit the floor and I was sure my back would have too if she’d weighed more than a hundred pounds. As it was, I found a wildcat in my lap and her teeth sinking into my shoulder as she punched me.
“It’s just me!” I grunted as I was forced to try and wrestle her off of me.
Her fists collided with my ribs before her fingernails tore across my chest as I scrambled to contain her.
I cursed as she continued to attack me and somehow managed to catch her wrists in my grasp. But I’d been a fucking idiot to believe that would be enough to stop her. Her knee rammed into my balls and I really did swear as I lunged to my feet, dragging her upright in my arms, kicking and thrashing before tossing her down on the bed.
“It’s me!” I yelled, holding up a hand to ward her off as she got up onto her knees, those wide eyes filled with terror as she looked up at me, standing over her on my bed, like she thought I meant to follow her onto it.
She scrambled backwards until her ass hit the headboard and then yanked on the hem of the shirt she was wearing like she wanted it to cover more of her body, hide her bare legs away from me.
“Fuck,” I hissed, realising what a goddamn idiot I’d been to approach her while she was sleeping like that. She was staring up at me like I was some fucking monster come to hurt her and the way she was tugging that shirt down made me feel sick. “I’m sorry,” I said thickly, backing away from her to prove that I really didn’t mean her any harm. “You were shivering on the floor, I thought if I moved you to the bed you’d be warmer, be able sleep better. That’s all. I wasn’t trying to hurt you. You have my word that I’ll never hurt you.”
Winter chewed on her bottom lip, her green eyes falling to my bare chest and I looked down too, taking in the rows of fingernail marks and the bloody imprint of her teeth on my shoulder.
I sighed heavily and skirted the bed, picking up the knife as I crossed the room and tossing it down on the coffee table as I fought off the urge to massage my battered balls. I was willing to bet that if I started cupping my junk I’d just be giving her even more reasons to freak out.
Tyson was dancing from foot to foot, wagging his tail excitedly as he circled me like he thought that was one of the best things he’d ever seen.
“What happened to protecting your master, traitor?” I murmured to him as I unbolted the door and let him outside to relieve himself. Snow was still falling steadily from the sky, but it wasn’t quite as heavy as last night.
He shot out quickly, cocking his leg against a tree ahead and painting the snow yellow before charging right back inside again. I arched an eyebrow at him as he tracked snowy footprints into the cabin, wondering why he hadn’t gone for his morning mooch around the woods. The big dog ignored me entirely, shooting past me and leaping up onto the bed.
Winter squealed in surprise as he ran a wet tongue right up the centre of her face before promptly turning in a circle and curling up right beside her.
I watched them for a long moment, waiting as Winter’s posture relaxed slowly and her hand fell down to caress the soft fur around Tyson’s ears and his tail thumped against the mattress.
I bit my tongue on telling him to get his furry ass out of my bed and kicked my boots on before heading out into the cold to grab some more logs for the fire.
The sky was palest blue overhead and my breath rose in a cloud of fog before me as the frozen air instantly wrapped itself around my skin tighter than any blanket could ever manage. I piled some chopped logs into my arms from the store I kept cut and stacked in the woodshed around the side of the