“What exactly is it that you want to show me?” All she’d told me was that she wanted to share “something intense” with me. It had been enough to make me curious, but that was when we were in the safety of the village.
“Look, Kayla, if you’re going to be a sherpa, you have to connect with your inner adventure girl. Trust me. What I’m about to show you is well worth the risk of losing job, life, or limb.”
“Wow. Really?” Was she dodging my question? It sure seemed like it. I glanced around suspiciously. “Is the male of the species involved?” Because honestly, that’s the only thing I considered worth the danger.
Lindsey sighed impatiently. “You’re hopeless. Let’s go.”
Since I didn’t want to be left alone, I fell into step beside her. As far as I was concerned, my caution was well earned. When I was five, my mom and dad were killed in these very woods. My adoptive parents had brought me here last summer to help me get over the trauma, which was probably a few years too late to really do any good. We’d camped here for nearly a week. I’d had an amazing time, but I wasn’t sure how effective the experience had been in helping me to get over my “issues.”
Yeah, supposedly I had emotional problems. So I was in therapy, spending a wasted hour each week with a shrink named Dr. Brandon, whose Yoda-like pronounce-ments—
face your fears, you must
—irritated more than helped me. Truly, I would have rather spent time with a dentist.
Maybe I was only kidding myself to think that I was brave enough to face the elements of the wild, day after day. Although what was I really afraid of? It wasn’t even an animal that had attacked my parents. They’d been shot by two beer-guzzling hunters—in the woods illegally— who had stupidly mistaken them for wolves.
Thanks to those hunters, snarling, growling wolves regularly inhabited my dreams, resulting in many restless nights and frequent bouts of screaming in my sleep. Hence the therapy to get at the root of my nightmares. Dr. Brandon theorized that it was my subconscious trying to justify how two idiots could have shot my parents and then, with straight faces, tell authorities, “They were wolves. Swear to God, they were. They were gonna eat that little girl.”
That little girl, of course, had been me. Everything that had happened on that long-ago afternoon was a blur. Everything except my parents lying dead on the forest floor.
God, how could they mistake people for wolves?
Behind me, brush crackled. I paused midstep. The hairs on my nape prickled. I slid my hand beneath the curtain of my red hair and rubbed my neck. A shiver went through me and goose bumps erupted over my arms. I had a feeling that if I turned around, I’d see whatever it was. Did I want to face it?
Lindsey tromped back. “What’s wrong now?”
“Something’s watching,” I whispered. “I can feel it.”
Lindsey didn’t blow me off this time. She glanced around. “Could be an owl checking out a tasty morsel— or that late-night snack scampering away.”
“Maybe, but it feels more sinister.”
“Growing up down the road, I’ve spent most of my life in these woods. There’s nothing sinister out here.”
“What about the cougar?”
“That was way deep in the wilderness. We’re still practically in civilization here. In a few areas you can still get cell phone reception.” She tugged my hand. “A hundred steps and we’ll be there.”
I followed, but stayed alert. There was
something
. I was certain of it. Not an owl or a rodent. Not anything
in
the trees, not anything tiny. Something that stalked its prey.
A shudder rippled through me.
Prey?
Why had I thought that? But it was true. It was what I felt. Something was watching and waiting. But watching
whom
exactly? And waiting for
what
?
How many steps were left? Forty? It had been so stupid to come out without even telling anyone. My parents were going to kill me if they ever found out. I’d promised to be responsible. It was my first time away from them, and my adoptive mom had lectured me ad nauseam about being careful.
Up ahead, a brightness through the foliage caught my attention. “What’s that?”
“What I wanted to show you.”
We stepped between the trees and into a clearing, illuminated by a campfire. Before I could ask another question, a dozen kids—the other sherpas—leaped out from behind trees. “Surprise!” they yelled. “Happy birthday!”
My heart nearly stopped. I pressed a hand to my chest and laughed, grateful that it didn’t sound hysterical. “My birthday isn’t today.”
“It’s tomorrow, right?” Connor asked. He combed his sandy-blond hair off his brow to reveal his dark-blue eyes. He held up a wrist that sported a watch with numerous dials. “In ten seconds, nine, eight—”
The others joined in the countdown. I could see them clearly, standing in front of the fire. A short distance away from Connor was Rafe, with straight black hair that reached his shoulders and eyes a dark brown that bordered on black. He never said much. I was surprised he was actually counting.
“Seven, six—”
Beside him, Brittany looked almost like his twin. Her hair, falling past her shoulders, was black and her eyes were deep blue. She’d been asleep when we left. Or faking it, I realized. Yeah, trying to pull one over on me. She’d succeeded.
How did she get here ahead of us?
I wondered.
There were other sherpas, ones I’d met but not really connected with. Still, it meant a lot to me that they’d shown up to make tonight special.
“Five, four—”
At school, I’d always felt like an outsider. The girl who’d lost her parents. The adopted one. The one who didn’t really belong. Jack and Terri Asher had taken me in. They weren’t wicked stepparents or anything, but they just didn’t always get me. But then, did any parents totally understand their kids?
“Three, two, one. Happy birthday!”
Connor moved around to the other side of the fire and crouched. A flame flared. Then a bottle rocket shot into the sky and exploded into a burst of red, white, blue, and green.
I was pretty sure that fireworks in a national forest were illegal. But I was too happy to care. Besides, I was free from parental restraints this summer. I wanted to finally test misbehavior boundaries.
“I can’t believe you remembered!” I was so touched. Not even my few friends back home had ever thrown me a surprise party. I’d never minded because my natural parents had died on my birthday, so I always had mixed feelings about the day.
“Birthdays are important,” Lindsey said. “Especially this one. Sweet seventeen.”
Brittany extended a tray that held seventeen store-bought cupcakes, a candle in each one casting its yellow glow.
“I love cupcakes,” I said, “especially the prepackaged, made-by-the-millions kind with the cream-filled center.”
“Make a wish and blow them out.”
I took a deep breath and leaned forward, and that’s when I saw him.
Lucas Wilde.
He was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed over his broad chest, almost lost in the shadows as though he didn’t want to be seen. But he had such a powerful presence that I was surprised he’d escaped my notice as long as he had. His eyes glowed silver in the darkness. As always, he was watching me intently.
Lucas terrified me. Okay, that wasn’t exactly true. What I
felt for him
terrified me. It was an attraction that I couldn’t quite explain. I’d had crushes on guys before, but what I felt with him went way beyond a crush. It was so strong that it was almost overwhelming—and a little bit embarrassing since obviously he wasn’t returning the feelings. If anything, he tended to avoid direct contact with me. I tried to keep my feelings buried, but whenever I looked at him they would bubble to the surface and I was certain that he would see in my eyes what I fought so valiantly to control.
His nearness made my heart gallop and my mouth go dry. I wanted to comb my fingers through the long multicolored strands of his hair. When I’d first met him, I’d thought the unusual shade came from a bottle. I’d never seen anything like it. But then, I’d never seen anyone like him either. He was so intense. He’d been one of our tour guides last summer, but he’d seldom spoken to me. Still, I often caught him watching me. It was as though he was waiting—
“Blow out the candles, already,” Connor said.
His words snapped me back to the moment. I made my wish without thinking and then blew out the writhing flames with one big breath.
“Here you go,” Brittany said, handing me a cupcake. “Sorry it isn’t an official cake, but these are easier to serve in the wilderness.”
“It’s great,” I said, beaming again, grateful for the distraction. “I wasn’t expecting anything at all.”
“We love surprises,” Lindsey said. “But you guys could have been quieter getting here. She heard you. It almost ruined everything.”
I playfully slapped Lindsey’s arm. “That’s what I heard?” Relief enveloped me, but at the same time, it didn’t seem like the right explanation.
“Well, yeah, they had to be in bed when you and I left, so you wouldn’t suspect anything, but they were supposed to hurry ahead to get things set up. And be quiet while doing it.”
“But I heard something behind us, just before we got here.”
“Like what?” Lucas asked, stepping away from the tree.
His deep voice sent a shiver of pleasure through me. It was just a voice and yet it touched me on a level I’d never experienced with anyone else. My absurd feelings made me self-conscious. I wasn’t the type to attract guys who were as darkly handsome as Lucas was. Having his attention focused on me was unnerving, and suddenly I felt silly about my concerns. “I’m sure it was nothing.”
“Then why mention it?”
“I didn’t. Lindsey did.”
I knew any normal girl would crave his attention. So why did he make me nervous? Why did my conversational skills take a hike when he was around?
“Relax, Lucas,” Connor said. “It probably
was
us. You know how it is. When you try to be quiet, you end up making more noise.”
But Lucas was staring at where we’d come from. If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought he was sniffing the air. His nostrils flared and his chest expanded with the deep breath he took. “Maybe I should take a look around, just to be sure.”
I knew he was nineteen, but he seemed older, maybe because he was a senior sherpa. He was the one in charge of our little group. If someone had a problem, he or she could go to Lucas. Although I’d probably let a wild bear eat me before I’d ask Lucas for help. Whether right or wrong, I suspected that he only respected those who solved their own problems. I had this absurd need to prove myself to him.
“Now you’re as paranoid as Kayla,” Lindsey said. “Grab a cupcake and sit down.”
But Lucas didn’t move. He kept his gaze on the path we’d taken to get here. It was strange but I knew if something had been following us, whatever it had been, Lucas would protect us from it. He just gave off those vibes. It was probably the reason that, as young as he was, he was given such authority and responsibility. He was so bold standing there that I didn’t want to look away. But I also didn’t want to give the impression that I was a lovesick kid.
Logs had been placed around the fire. I sat on one and peered over at Lucas. He was tall and in great shape. He wore his T-shirt like a second skin that outlined his muscles. I had this overwhelming urge to run my hands up those granite arms and across his shoulders. Pathetic. I was pathetic. He’d never given me any reason to think that he might return my interest.
“So what did your parents give you for your birthday?” Brittany asked, bringing my attention back to the others.
It didn’t look as though anyone had noticed where my attention had wandered. Least of all Lucas. He always seemed so alert, I was surprised he wasn’t aware of my assessment of him. On the other hand, it was also a relief that he gave me so little direct attention. Nothing was quite as embarrassing as one-sided obsession.
“A summer away from them.” I grinned.
“They didn’t seem
that
bad when I met them last year,” Lindsey said.
“They’re not,” I admitted, taking the candle out of my cupcake and tossing it into the fire. “They’re really pretty cool.”
But they’re not my
real
parents.
I chided myself as soon as I thought those words. They were my real parents; they just weren’t my original parents, from birth. Maybe what I’d sensed on our way here was the ghosts of my birth parents calling out to me. How silly was that explanation? I never had, never would believe in anything paranormal or supernatural.
“So what
did
they get you?” Brittany persisted.
“All the equipment I needed for a summer of trekking through the wilderness.”
“No car?” Brittany asked.
“No car.”
“Bummer.”
“What difference does it make?” Connor asked. “Cars aren’t allowed in the park.”
Brittany gave him a sideways glance, then shrugged. “I guess.”
There was something in her expression that I couldn’t read, but it made me wonder if she liked Connor.
“Anyone else think this group we’re taking out tomorrow is a little odd?” Rafe asked.
For a few minutes that afternoon, we’d all met Dr. Keane, his son, and several of the professor’s grad students. We were going to escort them to a predetermined spot in the forest. Then we’d leave them for a couple of weeks before returning to retrieve them. They’d mentioned that they were hoping to spot some wolves.
“Odd in what way?” I asked.
“Dr. Keane is an anthropologist,” Rafe said. “Why does he want to study wolves?”
“Wolves are certainly more interesting than people,” Lindsey said. “Remember those wolf cubs we found when you were home for spring break, Lucas?”
“Yeah.”
He was obviously a guy of few words, which only made him more intriguing—and intimidating at the same time. It was difficult to figure out what he thought about things, what he thought about me.
“They were the cutest,” Lindsey went on, unperturbed by Lucas’s lack of enthusiasm for the subject. “Orphaned. Three of them. We sort of adopted them until they were ready to go out on their own.”