Senseless Fate (Cascade Storms Book 2) Read online

  "Sure," she heard her voice betray her again, "so what's your name?"

  Fine, she thought, let's see how you like it. It was seemed to her that this guy had secrets too so maybe if she asked him a bunch of personal questions it'd make him shut up.

  "Lowell."

  So much for that theory, Kara rolled her eyes without facing him. The proud declaration of his identity put a quash on her theories about secrets. The simple statement sounded so open, as if he was telling her more than just his name. Maybe the big oaf really fell down.

  Somehow Kara doubted it. He moved too gracefully. For a guy that size he had excellent reflexes. Every move he made was filled with strength and agility. He seemed perfectly at ease out here with the rocks and snow and he didn't even seem to notice how cold it was in the shadows of the canyon they were hiking through. Even when the wind kicked up, Lowell seemed perfectly comfortable.

  Kara notsomuch. She shoved her mittened hands into her armpits and tipped her face so that it was hidden behind the high wind collar of her down parka.

  She'd trained for this for almost a year. Spending extra time at gym, learning how to make it through a winter hike all by herself.

  At first, Anthony had appreciated the extra effort she was putting into "looking the part." He claimed he liked the extra curves on her but when it came down to the wire, he'd been more concerned about how she looked in a formal dress.

  "I can't have the public thinking I married a heifer," he'd say as he took half the food off her plate before she was allowed to pick up her fork.

  "I need you to look like you're married to a billionaire," he'd scold when he caught her going out shopping in jeans and a t-shirt.

  "Keep the tits, lose the gut," had been his remark when she'd joined the gym.

  In the beginning, he'd admired her firmer ass and her tighter abdomen and she had almost-- almost-- rethought her plan as Anthony doled out affection and complimented her "improvements."

  Then she "fell down" again.

  Kara set her mouth in a tight frown and picked up her pace, temporarily putting distance between her and Lowell.

  Anthony was her past. When she got to the car that was waiting for her at the end of this hike, she was going to drive it to Florida with her new ID and her new credit cards and her new life. And she was never. looking. back.

  "You been out here for a while?" Lowell asked innocently enough as he easily caught up to her.

  Kara rolled her eyes knowing he couldn't see through the back of her head. His questions were innocent enough but every piece of information he managed to pull out of her was another nail in her coffin.

  Or rather, the other way around. Another nail out of her coffin. Another clue that Anthony's men could use to figure out why there was no body in the car at the bottom of the gulch. She had to stop talking to Lowell but something about the guy was just too easy to open up to.

  Her head nodded under the hood of the parka.

  She heard Lowell grunt behind her.

  His voice was deep but it had a lilt about it that made her picture him telling jokes around a campfire. She liked the way it sounded comfortable and warm without the harshness that she was used to from Anthony.

  She couldn't imagine Lowell every telling a woman she was fat or ugly or stupid. On the other hand, she couldn't imagine Lowell ever compromising himself to marry a woman who was fat or ugly or stupid.

  Kara's feet slowed again. The burning sense of self-preservation that had quickened her steps a while ago ebbed, moving aside for the flood of self-doubt that she'd been working hard to purge.

  She was fat. She couldn't really defend against that. Sure, she could be a lot bigger, but there was no denying that she couldn't keep her dress size in the single digits. She hadn't owned a bra with less than 3 hooks on it since she was 14.

  She was definitely stupid. How else could she explain letting Anthony drag her through hell like he had? Saying one thing in private, then something different in front of his friends and family. Make her feel like she was beneath him and that she was lucky that he had settled for her. Convincing her that it was true? She had to be stupid.

  She figured ugly just went with the fat and the stupid. How was she going to argue with the heir to the Loupohme family fortune? The billionaire playboy that had chosen her over all the other women in the world to marry and settle down with? When he could have had anyone.

  Of course she was lucky. Every woman in the world told her so. Super models gushed over her "great catch," reporters winked at her, gossip columnists couldn't shut the fuck up already about how Anthony choosing to settle down for good with the voluptuous hometown girl was a fairy tale any girl would jump at.

  Puke, Kara's footsteps became heavy as she stomped through the snow, they can have him. She caught herself before she burst out laughing but she couldn't help a derisive snort. Turned out, plenty of them did have him. Were still having him. His marriage to Kara had been little more than a publicity stunt. A publicity stunt and a way to get his grandfather off his back.

  Turned out, his grandfather was going to cut Anthony out of the will if he didn't settle down and start working on continuing their family name.

  So Anthony had picked Kara. Just some girl behind the counter at a local coffee shop.

  Lucky her.

  4

  Kara was turning out to be a mystery wrapped in an enigma. Lowell figured maybe she hadn't wanted company. Hell, maybe she was out here communing with nature and he'd come along and ruined her vibe or something.

  He followed a few steps behind her, carefully pacing himself so as not to overrun her. Also, he really liked watching her ass.

  She was wearing some sort of soft shell snow pants that looked suspiciously soft but also warm. Several times he'd caught his hand reaching toward the swell of her hip as it bounced from side to side with her steps. He just wanted to touch the fabric.

  Heh, yeah, the fabric. That's not all he wanted to touch and he knew it. Although, he did want to feel the fabric.

  Weres ran hot by nature. Even in his human skin, the wolf curled somewhere inside him and its warmth radiated through him. He'd never felt like he needed more than a long sleeve shirt and a good pair of waterproof boots to guard against the elements. The weave of Kara's clothing was strangely modern and technical to him.

  He could see that the pants were thick, but the fabric was supple and it hugged her closely. Her jacket made it look like she was wearing a pillow. It was sewn into sections and filled with air that hid her true shape but her ass, now that he could see.

  If her top matched that bottom, he was going to have a hard time saying good bye at the end of this hike.

  Lowell was content to hang back and watch the mesmerizing sway of her hips but he was also growing intently curious about the woman that commanded that sway. "K-k-kara" wasn't much of a talker.

  His wolf had first pricked up its fur at the way she stalled and then stuttered on her own name. It was obvious she hadn't wanted to share the information. For all he knew Kara was something she'd come up with on the spot. Based on her evasive answers to his innocent getting to know her questions, he guessed she was running from something.

  He rubbed the wound that ran through his hand. It was already much better. His hand was still covered in blood but he figured it was best to keep it that way. Kara was less likely to see how bad the gash had really been and that meant she'd be a whole lot less freaked out when he washed his hand and revealed the healing progress. Of course-- he frowned as he flexed his fingers, curling them into a near first-- it was going to take a lot longer than normal before he was walking on all fours again.

  Damn shifter-induced wounds. That meant his broken nose was going to take its own sweet time too. Probably just be a few hours till the black eyes were gone and he was breathing normally again, but it could be weeks before his sense of smell returned.

  The thought of not being able to rely on his most acute sense was disturbing enough, but as he w
atched Kara tromping heavily through the snow in front of him he could feel his wolf whine. He couldn't agree more, not being able to scent her was killing him.

  He just wanted to know what she smelled like. He bet she smelled like one of those fancy body washes with lavender and rosemary. Yeah, all earth and spice with a touch of feminine floral herbs. And chocolate, couldn't forget that chocolate bar he'd interrupted. Oh god, what he wouldn't give to have been that chocolate bar. Or to slide his tongue along hers and taste it on her mouth.

  Lowell did a little two step dance and pulled at the fly of his jeans. Dammit, it had been a long time since his dick had jumped to attention over nothing more than a little ass wiggle in his view.

  On the other hand, it was a hell of an ass wiggle and he had just come off the adrenaline rush from the fight. The two things together made a hell of a combination that left his wolf ready to work off some stress.

  With his sense of smell all out of whack he had no idea what Kara thought of him. She could be terrified of him, or she could be disgusted by him, or her pussy could be dripping honey down the leg of those enticingly soft gray pants she was wearing with desire for him.

  The thought that he could be missing out on an opportunity like that sickened him.

  Lowell's gut clenched and his wolf moaned sadly.

  Yeah, he silently agreed with his internal beast, that would be one loss he would feel to his grave. The depth of that realization struck him as unusual, but he resolved to pay more attention to her visual cues. If it was really that important to get into those snow pants, he was going to have to work for it like any common human man.

  He had managed to give her quite a bit of lead and she suddenly stopped and turned, realizing he'd fallen behind her. He watched the graceful motion of her body twisting to look behind her, the rose tint of her cheeks from the cold wind, the way they blushed a shade brighter as her eyes landed on him, the pink tip of her tongue sliding along her lower lip and leaving it glistening before she pulled the corner of that lip between her teeth and watched him moving toward her.

  Oh hell yeah, his eyes worked just fine.

  "Sorry," he gave her his best boyish grin on purpose, "I got distracted." He decided not to push his luck and avoided the obvious nod to her bottom that he wanted to add. Kara might have just looked at him like he was a double-decker ice cream cone but he hadn't missed the agitated dart of her eyes taking in their surroundings, or the way her body shook with impatience for him to catch up.

  Definitely running from something, Lowell concluded.

  He found his wolf on the alert again, both he and the animal watching the surrounding mountains for signs of trouble even though he had no way of knowing what they might be expecting or any way of detecting it before it arrived.

  Whoever Kara really was and whatever might be after her, Lowell's wolf felt obligated to keep its eye on her. Fortunately, keeping eyes on Kara was a job that Lowell was happy to volunteer for.

  They topped a rise and Lowell could feel the tension in Kara's body release. They could see the road in the distance, a SUV-shaped lump of snow sitting patiently on the side of the flat ribbon of snow-covered asphalt.

  "Kinda brave to come hiking out here all by yourself in the middle of winter," Lowell mentioned, trying to sound casual, "Most women wouldn't even drive on that road this time of year, let alone take off cross country like this." Lowell motioned at her pack.

  Kara shrugged. It wasn't the nonchalant motion of someone who thought what she was doing was no big deal, it was a nervous roll of her shoulders that said she didn't want to talk about it.

  They headed down the last slope toward the waiting vehicle.

  "So you never told me what you're doing out here," she asked.

  It struck Lowell that now seemed like a strange time for her to start talking. They'd been hiking in awkward silence for the better part of 5 hours but he wasn't about to pass on the chance to hear her voice. She sounded like an angel.

  On the other hand, Lowell thought as he struggled for an answer, maybe anonymous silence had been for the best.

  "Well, I was just out for a hike and, like I said, I fell down," he tried to pass of a weak grin as sincere and gestured toward his busted nose.

  Kara's hooded head bobbed, "OK, but where were you coming from? There's nothing around here for miles. Like, nothing," Kara's head swiveled in a wide 180, taking in the full view of the desolate mountain pass they were hiking down into. The hood of her down parka slipped down the back of her head with her movement and Lowell got his first real idea of what she really looked like.

  He caught his breath. Her hair framed her face in thick chunks of shiny black hair that blew in the light breeze and stuck to the lip balm on her perfectly ripe red lips. Her hand came up and he watched in fascination as the puffy mitten pulled the hair back to the side of her head where it belonged.

  Those eyes, so dark and vibrant that they appeared violet from a distance, watched him innocently as he gaped at her beauty.

  She genuinely seemed to have no clue that he was standing there gawking at her because she was the prettiest thing he'd seen in 144 years.

  "You sure you're OK?" She finally asked, waving her mitten in front of his face and reminding him that he was staring.

  "Yeah," he managed to croak out, "fine."

  Her brows knitted together over her cute little nose. Lowell wanted to rub the spot with his thumb and smooth the lines that had appeared there.

  "Well, thanks for the company I guess," her voice was cheerful but wavered on a note of uncertainty, "Nice meeting you, Lowell."

  He watched her cross the road and stand next to the SUV. She let her pack drop to the ground and began feeling along the inside of the wheel wells as if looking for something. She searched the driver's front wheel and then the driver's rear before reaching for the GPS unit clipped to the strap of her pack and scrolling through the screen. Finally, she walked around the rear of the vehicle and took off one of her mittens. Then she bent down and felt along the rear bumper, up underneath it, till a triumphant smile lit her face.

  Lowell's heart raced, the sudden need to see her smile again chasing away the confusion of her behavior.

  "Hey, Kara?" He called out as she unlocked the car, "Mind if I hitch a ride?"

  5

  Kara's heart leaped into her throat at the sound of his voice booming through the canyon. First, it had startled her. Breaking her concentration away from her attempts to climb into the unfamiliar vehicle and take in the contents. Second, it sent an unexpected warmth washing through her body that felt a lot better than putting on a clean pair of socks from the duffle bag in the back seat.

  After 6 nights in the freezing Cascades with minimal gear for her hike, nothing should have felt better than putting on clean socks. Except a hot shower.

  The warmth seemed to have pooled inside her and when the word shower ran through her mind, the unintentional image of a wet and naked Lowell sharing it with her turned the warmth into a searing heat that settled between her thighs.

  Kara rummaged through the duffle, silently taking inventory and being careful not to answer him too quickly.

  She had the thick envelope in her hands when Lowell arrived beside her.

  "Is that cool? I mean, I need to get back to my--"

  Kara looked up at him expectantly. Yes. What, exactly, did he need to get back to? He hadn't been any more eager to share his personal details than she had.

  She wasn't a fool. She could see the lust in his eyes. She'd been used to men leering at her since her boobs hit double Ds in the eighth grade. She'd had plenty of time to learn to tell the difference between the stares that were appreciative and the ones that were predatory.

  Lowell probably had a family in a cabin somewhere back near where she'd found him. A worried wife waiting for him to return with an arm load of firewood, maybe a kid or two wondering where daddy had gone.

  "--friends," a broad smile moved across his rugged features as he f
inished his sentence. Open and genuine and entirely too sexy for Kara's resolve.

  "We're on one of those stupid man trips," Lowell was suddenly all laid back attitude and willingness to share. Kara couldn't help but be suspicious as he rounded the car towards the passenger side, "You know? Sleeping in tepees, hunting our own food and all? Communing with nature, getting in touch with our inner animal, howling at the moon?"

  "You don't sound like you're taking it very seriously," Kara scoffed as she watched him stand patiently by the door, waiting for her permission to climb inside.

  Kara peeked inside the envelope and palmed the ID and credit card, slipping them into her pocket without even getting a look at her new name.

  It didn't matter just yet. She couldn't leave Lowell out here in the middle of nowhere without a jacket. His nose was broken and his hand looked pretty bad. She'd just keep being Kara for a little longer. Long enough to drop him off at the first town they came to.

  "I'm headed east," she said apologetically. She was pretty sure, based on the map on her GPS that he needed to get to the other side of the mountains in the opposite direction, "but I can drop you off as soon as find a town or something?"

  Kara held her breath, genuinely unsure if she hoped he'd accept or decline her offer.

  That winning smile lit up his face again, "Sounds good to me!"

  With that, he yanked the passenger door of the SUV open and settled into the seat. Kara's stomach fluttered. She stuffed the envelope with the directions to the safe house deep into the duffle under the new clothes and climbed in behind the steering wheel.

  "Everything OK?" Lowell sounded curious as he watched her trying to familiarize herself with the instruments on the dashboard.

  Kara nodded absently and turned the key. The engine roared to life and she let it warm up while she poked at buttons, trying to figure out how to work the heater first and then the radio.

  "How long you been hiking?" Lowell's voice was a combination of mocking and concerned.