“Hey.” Lowe frowned at him. “I’m not like that.”
His brother scoffed. “Yeah… remind me again who it was I caught writing pages and pages of plans after our parents died?”
“Someone had to step up, Knox. Things at the pride were bad and I knew we had to leave, and we had barely a few dollars to our names. I had to find us a place we could settle that wasn’t near another bear territory, or encroaching on wolves or cougars.” Lowe stepped back, beyond the reach of Knox as regret shone in his blue eyes. “Our parents were dead. We had to leave. Just walking off into the wilderness wasn’t an option. It would’ve gotten us killed.”
Knox squeezed his eyes shut and heaved a sigh, stepped up to him again and pulled him into a tight hug. “I know. I’m sorry. You know me. Always shooting my mouth off, saying shit before I fully think it through. I put a lot of pressure on you back then and I’m sorry. I should’ve been more mature about it. I should’ve been more like you. I’m lucky you were there. I know that. I probably would’ve walked right into the territory of another pride or pack and landed in a heap of trouble if you hadn’t been there.”
Lowe tried to hold on to his anger but it was impossible as he sensed the regret in his brother, laced with pain.
“Mom and Dad dying… I wasn’t equipped to handle that and I made you handle it for both of us… and that was a shitty thing to do.” Knox squeezed him tightly.
Lowe sighed, wrapped his arms around him and hugged him. “It was hard on both of us, but we made it through… together. I wouldn’t have made it without you, Knox. I can make all the plans in the world, but when things go south, you’re the one who steps up and takes care of things.”
“You do suck at hunting.” Knox’s voice warmed and softened, the teasing note in it drawing a smile from Lowe. “Probably would’ve starved without me.”
Things hadn’t been that dire, but Lowe hadn’t been the best at foraging back then, and he certainly hadn’t had enough charm to get free meals from females at bars and diners.
“We good?” Knox pulled back and searched his eyes.
Lowe nodded, but couldn’t stop himself from adding, “You even look at her the wrong way and I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop myself from fighting you.”
“That doesn’t sound good, Lowe. That sounds a lot like—” Knox cut off as a noise came from Saint’s cabin.
His brother broke into a run for the cabin and had mounted the steps before Lowe could even react. Lowe followed on his heels, took the slippery steps up to the cabin two at a time and reached the open door just as Knox was crouching beside Saint.
A very naked Saint.
At least he had shifted back, but Lowe found it hard to take it as a good sign. His alpha was still out cold on the wooden floorboards, hadn’t really moved from where Lowe had put him yesterday. He looked around, seeking what had made the noise, and huffed as he spotted the fallen fire iron that rested near Saint’s foot. He must have kicked it in his sleep.
“Grab his legs, would you?” Knox glanced at him.
Lowe nodded and moved to Saint’s feet, stepping between him and the log burner. The fire was getting low now. He would take care of it once Saint was in bed, wrapped up warm. He stooped and grabbed him by his ankles, hauling him up as Knox held him under his shoulders. Getting him up the twisting staircase proved difficult, but they managed it without bashing his head against the wooden railings or the wall.
He helped Knox set Saint down on the bed and waited with him while his brother went downstairs. When Knox returned with some bandages, Lowe helped him tend to the worst of Saint’s wounds, binding them with the cream material.
“Had he shifted back when you left him?” He cast a look at Knox as he settled Saint back onto the mattress again.
Knox shook his head as he drew the covers over Saint. “No. He must have done it shortly after I left. I grabbed some sleep before I came to see you, but I was too tired to sleep for long and I knew you’d want to know what had happened after you had left… plus, I wanted to meet this female you’re holding in your cabin.”
“I’m not holding Cameo. She’s not a prisoner. I offered to call her an air ambulance, but she doesn’t want to leave.”
“Why not?” His brother’s eyebrows pinched hard, a dark edge entering his blue eyes, one that reeked of suspicion.
“Nothing nefarious. Just this trouble she’s in. Like I told you, there’s another man on the mountain looking for her and I told her I could protect her if she stayed with me. I want to help her.” Lowe sighed and looked off to his left, out the small window to the white world. “I think part of her is scared of leaving this place and part of her is scared of staying.”
Knox grunted. “Can’t really blame her. If what you told me is true, then she’s been through a lot.”
“You didn’t see the photograph. What they did to her brother—” Lowe growled, couldn’t bring himself to say any more than that. The thought of Cameo ending up like her brother, the fact she feared that would happen to her, roused a darkness inside him that had his bear side roaring for freedom, urging him to head out into the forest and hunt the male down.
Knox clasped his shoulder through his thick winter coat. “We won’t let that happen to her, Lowe. She might be worried about getting us involved, but we’ll stick to our guns. Whatever shit she’s in, it ends here.”
Lowe turned and dragged his brother into a tight hug. “Thanks.”
Knox patted his back and then twisted away from him, jerked his chin towards Saint. “We should probably let him rest. I’ll get washed up and changed, and then I’ll come back and check on him.”
“I’ll get the fire going again.” Lowe glanced at Saint one last time to check on him and then headed back downstairs, crossed the room to the log burner and busied himself with building the fire up.
His brother’s weary sigh filled the silence as he came down the stairs, as he moved to the deck and out into the crisp morning. Lowe glanced at him. He could feel how worried Knox was and he knew it wasn’t only about Saint. Knox was worried about him too, but he didn’t need to be. This thing with Cameo wasn’t going to end the way his brother thought it would.
At least he hoped it wouldn’t.
He closed the door of the log burner, stood and walked to the door of the cabin and out onto the deck. Knox paced back and forth on the compacted snow in front of the steps, the worry Lowe could feel in him only increasing.
His brother stopped just below him, ran a hand over his brow and then tugged his black woollen hat down again. His blue eyes held a flicker of concern as he looked back at the cabin, up at the loft bedroom.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“I don’t know.” Lowe shoved fingers through his ash-blond hair and walked to the steps. He sighed. “It’s like he’s just given up or something. He shifted back last night and I want to take that as a good sign, but…”
Knox suddenly pivoted on his heel to face the woods.
Lowe had sensed it too.
Scented cougar.
His mood took a dark turn as the female Saint had taken from the Creek stepped out of the woods, her purple woollen hat and scarf brightened by the sunlight. Rather than turning tail and scurrying back to the Creek, she strode forwards, attempting to look brave as she tipped her chin up. It might have worked, but Lowe could scent that she was afraid.