A Shifter Disaster Thanksgiving (Holiday Shifters of Frost Mountain #6)

Chapter Five

Real Housewives of Frost Mountain

Diane remained frozen to the spot at the sound of the voice. Time passed but she was barely conscious of it what with her heart pounding and her brain churning. She felt her terror grow. Who could that be?

It dawned on her then that the voice she’d heard was a woman’s. Somehow, she found that a little less terrifying. She drew a deep breath and turned around.

Sure enough, a woman stood barely ten feet away on a nearby porch, hands on her hips. The first thing Diane noticed about her was that she was beautiful. The woman looked somewhat younger than her and had silver hair that skimmed her shoulders. She was fair-skinned with kind, grey eyes that peered at her. The woman wore a brown, fur coat over black trousers.

For the next few seconds, neither of them uttered a word. Diane felt the woman’s gaze pierce right through her.

“Who are you?” the woman asked finally. Her voice was calm, but there was an undertone of danger that set off Diane’s internal alarms. “I’ve never seen you before. What are you doing here?”

“Uh…” Diane struggled to come up with an answer, but nothing was forthcoming.

“I saw you leave that cabin just now,” the woman said, pointing across the street to Sylvester’s cabin. “What were you doing in there?”

“Uh…” What was she supposed to say? That she’d come outside because she was looking for food? Right now, she had no idea who she could trust, or whether she was really safe here. For all she knew, this woman with the kind eyes could pose a serious threat to her. She’d already encountered a dragon. Perhaps this woman was going to turn into a wolf or something and try to eat her like the big bad wolf in “Little Red Riding Hood.”

Diane silently cursed herself. She should have stayed in the cabin like Sylvester had told her to. Her new husband had warned her that she wasn’t safe unless she was with him.

Then an idea occurred to her. “I... I, uh, I’m Diane. I’m Sylvester’s wife.”

The woman’s expression turned skeptical. “Sylvester doesn’t have a wife.”

“He does,” Diane assured her. “He asked me to be his wife, and I agreed,” she said as if it were just that simple. “He already left for the, uh, forge.”

The woman seemed to decide she was telling the truth and her features relaxed slowly. “It’s nice to meet you. I am Quinta, wife of Jon.” When Diane simply frowned, she added, “Sylvester’s friend.”

“Quinta? I’ve never heard a name like that before.”

“I’ve never heard of anyone called Diane either,” Quinta countered.

Diane smiled. “You’re right. I’ll, uh, just be heading back to the cabin.”

The woman smiled. “Why don’t you come in? I was just making preparations for our Thanksgiving dinner. It’s mostly some vegetables, but I also made some other food. You must be hungry.”

Diane started to thank her and say she wasn’t hungry, but then her stomach growled loudly, stopping her before she could utter a word.

Quinta smirked. “Sounds to me like you could use a good meal. Come on inside.”

***

Quinta and Jon’s cabin didn’t have any fur rugs, but it looked more lived-in than Sylvester’s. It was also warm. The living room had more furniture arranged in a semicircle facing the fireplace. It looked like Quinta had taken some care in decorating the place.

There were potted plants in the corners of the room, their leaves impossibly green. By the window, which was shut, sat a crude-looking desk on top of which several metal instruments sat.

Looking around, Diane almost forgot she was marooned on a snowy mountain, and it took her a minute to figure out why. This place reminded her of her own home back in Vegas and she couldn’t help feeling a twinge of nostalgia. She doubted it had been no more than thirty-six hours, but it felt like it had been months since she left home for the airport. That was the thing about traveling. The greater the distance, the more it tended to distort one’s sense of time.

Not bad, Diane , she told herself . Maybe you should put that in your next book if you ever make it off this freezing mountain.

Quinta disappeared, presumably into the kitchen and returned a few minutes later with a wooden bowl of food. Diane stared at it for a moment. It looked like mashed potatoes mixed with some vegetables, but she dared not ask what it really was. Her hunger trumped her hesitation, and she dug in, only remembering that Quinta was watching her when she was halfway through the bowl.

“You look like you’re enjoying your food.” Quinta took a seat opposite her, a pleased smile on her face. “My husband says I’m the most excellent cook he’s ever met.”

Diane was grateful her mouth was full and she didn’t have to utter a word in reply. She nodded instead, wondering if there was a chance that she’d find a Burger King on this mountain.

Quinta frowned all of a sudden. “How come I haven’t ever met you before? When did you arrive in Pine Gap?”

Diane figured that must be the name of this village. It made sense, considering the place was surrounded by pine trees. Still, what was it with these people and using literal names?

She swallowed. “I… yesterday.” If it was morning now, Sylvester must have brought her into his cabin in the afternoon when the plane came apart. “I got here yesterday.”

“How’d you two meet?”

It felt almost like a job interview. Diane stared at her wordlessly for a few seconds and was grateful when the other woman finally said, “Don’t worry about that. I’m sure Sylvester must be dying to tell us. He’s never been married before.”

“Really?”

It was hard to believe a man that sexy hadn’t already tied the knot with someone else, especially at his age.

“He didn’t tell you?” Quinta looked almost as confused as Diane felt. “I wonder why.” She waved her hand as if to brush the topic aside. “You’re from the other world, aren’t you?”

“Other world?” she asked, sounding confused.

The other woman knit her brows. “Has Sylvester not told you anything?”

“He told me that Frost Mountain—this mountain—is dangerous. And, uh, he told me not to leave the cabin.”

“I’m guessing you left because you didn’t believe him?”

“No, I was famished.”

Amusement flickered across Quinta’s beautiful features. She placed her hands in her lap. “He was right. Frost Mountain’s dangerous. But you should be safe in this village. Pine Gap hasn’t been attacked in a long time.”

“Attacked?”

“I’m sure he’ll tell you about that.”

“He didn’t tell me much about Frost Mountain,” Diane retorted. “I’m sure I could do with a bit of information. What did you mean when you said the other world ?”

Quinta let out a sigh. “You must have noticed that this mountain came out of nowhere.”

Diane nodded. It had. One second, the plane had been traveling over the United States—Nebraska, to be precise—and then the next thing she knew, she was falling toward a mountain. She was still having difficulty wrapping her head around that—and other things.

“What does that have to do with another world, though?” she asked. “Is there something—?”

The other woman looked dead serious, which made her gasp and her eyes widen. “You can’t be serious.”

Quinta tossed a few locks of hair over her shoulder, her intense grey fixated on Diane, and nodded. “Frost Mountain isn’t exactly another world,” she told her. “Think of it as more of a different… dimension.”

“A what , now?” The more Quinta said, the more Diane wondered if the woman was pulling her leg. But the look on Quinta face told her that this was the real deal.

“It’s a magical space apart from your world, your… Earth. You must have breached a portal, and it brought you here. There are portals scattered around your world. People have landed on Frost Mountain by accident. Cars, planes, even ships have crashed here. You’re not the first to arrive on this mountain.”

Diane couldn’t help noticing how calm she sounded as she spoke. “How did you get here?”

“I was born here, Diane.”

“Wait… what?”

“Don’t sound so surprised. People have lived on Frost Mountain for centuries, ever since the dimension came into being.”

“But why haven’t you all tried to leave?” The question seemed so obvious she wondered why no one else seemed to have considered it. “You said there were portals, right? A portal brought me here. Why not try to go back? Why choose to live on this mountain? I haven’t even seen much of it, but it doesn’t sound all that great.”

Quinta chuckled. “No one chooses to remain on Frost Mountain, Diane. It is all there is to this dimension. It’s a work of magic. You can’t get off the mountain. The portals lead here, but they don’t go back. You can’t even find one. And the mountain… well, it has no bottom. The entire mountain extends infinitely.”

“How’s that even possible?”

“Magic.”

Diane had been expecting an answer like that, but that didn’t make it sound any less ridiculous when Quinta said it. The idea of magic was farfetched. She’d never believed in it, never even had any reason to. It was unrealistic. But so was the fact that she’d somehow ended up on a snowy mountain out of nowhere, rescued by a dragon who also happened to be a possessive, yet irresistible hunk. All of that sounded pretty magical to her.

“It takes some time to get used to it,” Quinta assured her. “Trust me, you’re not the first outsider I’ve talked to about the mountain. Everyone gets confused and scared. It’s a massive mountain. And, well, magic makes most people uneasy.”

But Diane pressed her for more. “I don’t quite understand. Why can’t we leave? I mean, why does this place even exist in the first place?”

The smile began to fade from the other woman’s lips. “Frost Mountain is home to many of us… but it was intended as a prison.”

“Run that by me again?”

Quinta leaned forward in her seat. “Centuries ago, there was a battle between shifters and a group of witches. As you’ve probably already guessed, the shifters lost. The witches created this dimension to imprison them for the rest of their lives, perhaps hoping they would die out. They did not. Over the centuries, this mountain has become home to not only shifters, but other supernaturals and humans as well.”

It was amazing how casually Quinta spoke about the supernatural, as if they were absolutely real, as if they weren’t just fictional ideas dreamed up in a novel.

“I’m human,” Diane said, feeling the need to point that out.

“I know.”

“You can tell?”

“Your confusion told me everything I needed to know. That, and the fact that you look like you wouldn’t last ten minutes on your own outside of this village.” The woman’s eyes gleamed. “No offense.”

“Huh.” Diane set her bowl down on the floor, sinking her face into her hands. “So I’m really stuck on this mountain. It’s just goodbye to my life?”

“What was your life like in your world?”

“I was a writer.” Diane straightened. “I am a writer.”

Quinta gave her a puzzled look.

“I… tell stories to people,” she tried. “I write them down.”

“So do I,” Quinta said. “It’s one of the reasons I love cooking.” The proud smile was back on the woman’s face.

Diane was flummoxed. She couldn’t believe she was doomed to remain on this mountain until she grew old and died or froze or starved to death. No more writing. No new novels. No agent. No book signings. No cats. As far as the world was concerned, she was missing, but they’d never find her. Diane Garrick was gone forever.

“Don’t think too deeply about it,” Quinta advised her. “I know you must be upset, but Frost Mountain is not so terrible once you get used to it. Pine Gap is delightful. Jon and I have been here for less than a year, and it’s been great so far. I’m sure you’ll enjoy living here with your husband.”

At the word husband , Diane sat up a little straighter. She swallowed. “Sylvester?”

“Yes. He’s a good man.”

Diane got a sudden image of Sylvester promising to imprison her if she didn’t agree to marry him. “Do you know he’s a dragon?”

The other woman shrugged, shooting her a look that said, Duh . “So are my husband and I. But Sylvester is different. The Stormbringers are a clan of powerful dragon shifters. They’ve ruled this village for over a hundred years. Sylvester’s brother, Gregory, is the current chief.”

Diane frowned. Nothing about Sylvester had given her the impression he was related to the village chief, though he certainly looked powerful, among other things. And she would be spending the rest of her days with him, it seemed. Somehow, she wasn’t sure if she was excited or worried about that.

Chapter Six

“We Will Share My Bed”

Sylvester and Jon continued to work together at the forge for the next several hours until Jon announced that he had to head back home to his wife. A few hours later, Sylvester decided he should do the same. The sun had set by the time he left the forge and made his way across the village to his cabin.

It was not until the porch steps were creaking under his weight that he realized Diane had not had anything to eat since he brought her into his cabin. Feeling his chest tighten, he rushed into the cabin, his eyes scanning the living room and was surprised to see her lying curled up on the rug where he’d left her.

She jerked awake at the sound of his footsteps, and sat up, blinking at him for a few seconds. “You’re back.”

She got to her feet, rubbing her arm nervously, her gaze drifting from him to the floor and back. Sylvester felt his heart flutter. In the firelight, she looked radiant. The look of terror was gone, but she still seemed somewhat uncomfortable.

She was as beautiful as he remembered, still dressed in the clothes he’d put on her. Taking off the clothes she’d been wearing and replacing them with thicker ones had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done. He’d gotten a good look at her bare body, illuminated by the fireplace, and in the minute before he snapped back to his senses and slipped the new clothes onto her body, he’d found himself appreciating her smooth skin and delicious curves.

“Why are you still here?” he asked, discarding the thought as quickly as he could.

Her slender eyebrows furrowed. “You told me to stay here.”

True. “I know. I’m surprised you listened. I figured you might have tried to take off,” he admitted.

To his further surprise, she smiled and shrugged. “Don’t sound so disappointed. I did try, but then I ran into your neighbor, Quinta.”

“Ah, I see.”

“She gave me some food.”

“Oh?”

“And she told me about Frost Mountain.”

“Oh.”

Diane’s grin widened slightly, and Sylvester felt a tiny tug in his gut. He liked her smile, he decided. It seemed to make the room a little bit warmer.

He cleared his throat. “That is good. Now you know I wasn’t lying to you when I said this mountain is dangerous. And I’m sure you know what dangers lie out there. Did she tell you?”

“Not exactly. But she didn’t have to.” The smile vanished, to his mild disappointment. “The second I left the cabin, I nearly froze to death.”

“You’re human. Your chances of surviving on your own are minimal, even against the cold alone.”

“Thanks,” she said, rolling of her eyes. “That makes me feel so much better.”

She turned away, and he studied her, catching himself just as his gaze drifted to her curvy lower body. If Quinta had told her about Frost Mountain, then she must know that she is trapped here for the rest of her life. No chance of escape. How was she taking the news? She didn’t look much younger than he was, maybe somewhere in her mid-forties. Probably had left plenty of friends behind in her world. Or children. Or a husband.

As if having read his mind, she turned around, her green eyes locked on his face. For the next few seconds, neither said a word.

“Why did you ask me to be your wife?” she asked suddenly.

Sylvester’s jaw clenched. Should he tell her? She’d agreed to be his wife already. She didn’t have much of a choice now. She might as well find out the reason he’d asked her in the first place.

“You will find out soon,” he told her. “I’m going to talk to my brother tomorrow.”

“Your brother… the village chief?”

His left eye twitched. Clearly, Quinta had told her more than he’d expected.

“Yes. Gregory. I’ll go to see him in his cabin, and you will come with me. I’ll show you the village along the way.”

“Oh.” She frowned, marring her beautiful features. “Why are you going to see him?”

She asked a lot of questions, this one. “You’ll find that out, too. Tomorrow.” He pulled off his jacket, and he thought he heard her inhale sharply as he revealed his bare torso. “Right now, it’s getting late. I’m going to get some rest.”

With that, he proceeded toward his bedroom, but stopped just at the door. When he turned around, she was still standing on the rug, a confused look on her face.

“You should rest, too,” he said.

“I slept when I got back from Quinta’s.”

“Nonsense. You look like you could use more. Come with me. We will share my bed.”

She blanched. “I… I can sleep out here.”

“I wasn’t asking,” he told her. “You are my wife now. You should be sleeping with me.”

Silence passed between them like a gentle breeze, followed by the sound of her clearing her throat. She nodded. “Okay.”

He opened the door, stepping aside to let her through. Dim light filtered into the bedroom from the fireplace, casting a soft glow across the wooden floorboards. Blinking in the semi-darkness, Diane could just make out the outline of his bed, tucked in a corner of the room. Neatly arranged at the foot was a pile of clothes, among which were the ones Diane had been wearing when he snatched her in midair.

He gestured toward the bed, and she made her way to it, sitting awkwardly on the edge of the thin mattress. She blinked at him, as though waiting for other instructions.

“I’m going to take a shower,” he told her, gazing down at his hands, which were blackened from the forge. “Get some sleep.”

The shower was a quick one. By the time he returned to the bedroom minutes later, she was lying on her side, with her back to him. He sensed her stiffen as he climbed into bed next to her and knew instantly that she was still awake. They lay together in silence, and he felt the minutes tick by slowly as he gazed up at the ceiling, fighting the thoughts that surged through his mind.

He glanced sideways at her form. Curled up on her side, her curves were visible even in the dim light. Sylvester felt a sudden tightening in his trousers. The urge to reach out and touch her gripped him, but he held back, teeth clenched slightly. Not now . She might be his wife, but he hadn’t taken her as his so he could enjoy her body, no matter how powerful the temptation was. No, all he wanted was to get a rise out of Gregory. And he would.

Yet he could hardly take his mind off this woman. When had he ever felt an urge so powerful? He clenched his fists and closed his eyes, determined to clear his head of all thoughts.

He settled on focusing his mind elsewhere. The tension between the villages was growing as time went by. Even within Pine Gap, he could sense it. People were tense, as if everyone was expecting an invasion any moment. Gregory and Jon were right after all. Talk of war continued spreading.

Perhaps there would be war. Sylvester hoped not, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. Besides, his biggest concerns lay elsewhere. War or not, he would not rest until he avenged his father’s murder.