a nosedive as the seconds ticked by, as they rolled into minutes and then close to an hour.
Evening was beginning to fall as Lowe emerged from his cabin, three bowls in one hand and an old cast iron pot in the other.
Saint’s mouth watered at the smell of the food as Lowe sat on the log, set the pot down and pulled the lid off. Lowe filled a bowl with the hearty bean and beef stew, and held it out to Saint.
“Thanks.” Saint was quick to take it, to grab the spoon and dig in. He groaned at the taste of it, threw Lowe an appreciative look.
“That good, huh?” Knox grabbed the next bowl from Lowe and scooped up a mouthful, ate it and was quick to nod. “Damn, that is good.”
Lowe looked as if he might blush.
It was probably just hunger talking, making the stew taste like the most amazing thing on the planet, but then again, it probably wasn’t. Lowe was a demon in the kitchen, always kept everyone well fed.
Saint polished off a second bowl and set it down on top of Lowe’s one inside the empty pot. He stretched and yawned, tilted his head back and stared at the Milky Way that arched above the moonlit mountains. That was beautiful. Not the snow. Seeing the heavens so clearly because of the cold, still air almost made being awake in winter worth it.
Almost.
“I’m hitting the sack.” He patted his full stomach. “Got enough fuel to see me through to spring now. Don’t stay up too late.”
Lowe nodded.
Knox snarled as a rowdy cheer went up to the south of the Ridge, followed by a round of laughter.
Saint glared in that direction, fisted his hands and fought to leash his mood as it blackened again, as he realised getting sleep wasn’t going to be as easy as it had sounded just a moment ago.
Knox stood when another peal of laughter drifted through the trees.
Saint held his right hand out towards him, stopping him from moving, and Knox scowled at him but obeyed his silent order to remain where he was.
“I’ll handle this. I’ll speak to Rath, convince him to keep the noise down.” Saint zipped up his coat again, the thought of having to head back out through the snow, in the dark this time, when it was even colder now, turning his mood pitch-black.
He had thought they would all be able to sleep now they knew who was causing the noise, but the look on Knox’s face said the male wasn’t thinking about hitting the sack. He was thinking about starting a war. No way Saint could sleep knowing that Knox was probably plotting ways to force the cougars to be quiet, liable to go off half-cocked to bloody some noses and ruin the fragile peace between Cougar Creek and Black Ridge.
He wanted to growl, his bear instincts coming to the fore as sleep was snatched from him again. He should have talked to Rath earlier, but he had wanted to avoid a conflict. Now he had the feeling that wasn’t possible.
Either he told the cougars to turn down the volume of their celebration or Knox was going to tear through Cougar Creek on a rampage.
Saint followed the path he had cut through the snow to reach the fire when he had returned from Cougar Creek, his anger rising with each step that brought him closer to the cougars’ territory. He was careful as he reached the woods, silently picking his way through the trees, moving with stealth so the felines wouldn’t sense him until he had located Rath.
He lifted his head and scented the air, picked up the cougar alpha’s familiar smell, together with the faint aroma of sweet berries. He growled at that scent, at the need to shift that swept through him in response to it, his thoughts treading dark paths of revenge again. Saint reined in that urge, put a lid on it and focused on his mission.
Talking to Rath.
The male was reasonable ninety percent of the time. If Saint asked nicely, explained the situation without a bite in his tone, then the male would probably agree to keep it down.
He tracked Rath’s scent and frowned when it led him towards the mountains, not towards the clearing. Laughter rang through the trees in the direction of that clearing, voices there filling the night air, drawing his focus to them. Was the female there? Ember. Knox had said that was her name.
And that she belonged