Strength of Love: Book 3 in the Heirs of Orion Series Read online

  "We'll find her," Dean assured Tiny as he walked over to the other snowmobile to check it.

  Tiny walked over and helped with the quick inspections. They finished in record time. Each of them hopped on a snowmobile and sped in the direction of the footprints. Max kept the pace with them.

  Keith took the lead, and all of them kept up with him. Tiny kept his eyes on the footprints and the surrounding area so he wouldn't hit anything. The wind was becoming brutal and snow drifted in front of Tiny's face. They had to find Elle before it was too late. It had to be in the teens, but with the wind it was probably a lot lower.

  "Shit!" Keith yelled as he stopped in front of the forest. He turned back to all of them. "The tracks go into the forest."

  Tiny hit the kill switches on the snowmobile and jumped off. "Then that's where we are headed."

  He raced into the forest before the rest of them, including Max, could catch up. With his eyes glued to the footsteps, he nearly ran into a couple of trees along the way. Max caught up to him and stayed by his side as they continued following the trail.

  Keith uttered a rattle of curses behind him. Tiny had to give his former Sargent credit. Keith had lost his foot and saved Dean's life during one of their missions in the Middle East. With the prosthetic it wasn't so easy to walk through a forest riddled with dead logs, branches, holes, and other obstacles. Keith was stubborn but he also was the bravest man Tiny ever knew. He was thankful that Keith came with them. They would need the Sargent’s levelheadedness to kick his ass if he tried to do something stupid that would get all of them into trouble.

  The feeling in his gut became heavier and heavier as they trekked through the dense forest. If she left the cabin in the middle of the night, at these temperatures she could already be unconscious or worse. He swatted at a branch, causing it to snap. His gut started to churn worse than after he ate Big Ed's five alarm chili. What was wrong with him? He never felt like this in any of their missions. Emotions were always held at bay, because if a person acted on them they’d get him killed. Yet, he couldn't stop what he was feeling when he thought of Elle in danger, and it scared him.

  The forest became denser with more pine trees, so Tiny slowed down to avoid losing sight of the tracks that weaved between them. When a couple logs blocked the trail he had to climb over them to find where the tracks went.

  "I can't believe Elle walked through this," he told no one in particular.

  "People who sleepwalk can do the strangest things and not remember it." Evan's voice called behind him.

  The logs were so old the bark fell away exposing the smooth wood. Tiny knew that probably helped Elle avoid cutting up her feet. There were still other branches, twigs, and thorny brush which littered the forest. So far he couldn't see any blood in the tracks, but that didn't stop him from thinking the worst.

  "Did someone bring a first aid kit?" he called out.

  "What are we? Rookies?" Dean yelled back. "Of course we did. Why? You need a Band-Aid?"

  "No, I just think we'll need it when we find Elle. Look at all this stuff she walked through with bare feet!" He continued on the trek and went around a large pine tree. A twig popped up from the ground when he stepped on it. He ripped it and chucked it deeper into the forest.

  "At least it's not nighttime," Evan commented. "We would have never been able to find her in the dark."

  "We would have." Tiny grunted. "We will find her no matter what." His teeth ground as he moved on, not caring if any of the team was close by.

  Chapter 3

  The air was getting colder. Elle Stevens silently cursed the original builder for not adding more insulation to the resort room. It was on the list to get done, but it was on the bottom of the list. Elle reached out to pull the blanket around her, but her hand grabbed onto something soft, fluffy, and cold. Her eyes flew open and struggled to focus. It was white everywhere, and there were trees. Her mind began to race. Where was she? How did she get here?

  Slowly she sat up and realized she was in the middle of a forest. She wore her long pajama pants and t-shirt the same outfit she went to sleep in last night. Her whole body shivered from the cold. She stood up and looked around the snow-covered ground. Tracks. There was one set of tracks that led to where she woke up. Her bare feet stung, but she forced herself to follow her tracks.

  Her breath caught in her throat as a dark memory popped in her head. It happened a long time ago and she wanted desperately to forget about it. The darkness of the woods surrounded her as she tried to find her way back to her aunt and uncle's house. It was right after she used her power on her mother and she ran away. She was so scared and there was no light anywhere. The only way she knew she was in the forest was the feel of the dirt and trees surrounding her. She fell numerous times and finally decided to wait until daybreak to find her way back.

  A shiver ran down Elle's body. She had been scared, alone. A neighbor walking his dog had found her hours after sunrise. The sleepwalking didn't end until her mother died.

  Elle closed her eyes and held the tears at bay. She inhaled the frosty air whipping some sense into her. Her eyes flew open and she looked at the tracks. With her arms wrapped around her she started tracing the steps back. The wind picked up and tossed her hair into her face. She wiped her hair away, only to have snow blown at her. Mother Nature was definitely not cooperating with her today. Her body shivered as she pushed her feet forward to retrace her steps. Her feet were starting to get numb and she worried about frost bite. Maybe she wasn't that far away from the main cabin. She kept following the steps that swerved between the trees. How had her body managed to move around so well while she slept? There were so many stories of people who functioned normally while sleepwalking, and it fascinated her. She’d researched it and had tests done, but nothing really pointed to anything out of the ordinary.

  A clearing appeared up ahead and Elle raced as fast as she could to it.

  The cabin will be there. She reassured herself as she swerved past an oak tree and stepped on a twig. There was no pain, so she moved on. The steps led her straight to the clearing, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she moved closer. She bumped her arm against another tree and steadied herself so she wouldn't fall into the snow. As she neared the clearing her heart began to sink. The cabin wasn't there, only a large snow covered field that led to a mountainside. Her head tilted down and she stared at the snow. Panic began to fill her body. The tracks were gone. The wind had covered any trace of tracks in the area. Elle's legs buckled and, grasping for air, she leaned against a tree trunk.

  She was alone in the middle of nowhere with freezing temperatures. There was no way she would survive very long. Her head whipped towards the field. The wind was fiercer than in the forest, she would surely freeze faster out there. Hopefully by now everyone would know that she was missing and they would be out looking for her. The stinging from her feet reminded her that she needed to create some shelter from the cold. Her only hope would be to start a fire to keep warm. The fire would also be a signal to anyone looking for her.

  Her eyes scanned the forest for anything to use as tinder. The old vines were the first things she grabbed. Since they were inside the forest they were dry and would be excellent to start a fire. She was so thankful that her Uncle Kenneth had insisted she and her cousins learn basic survival skills. A white barked tree caught her eye a few feet over and she climbed over a fallen tree to peel the bark off of it. It was thin, like paper, and it would catch fire easily. After gathering some additional twigs she ventured out into the field. The fire had to be made in the open so the smoke would travel higher and be seen further away.

  Her hands stung from digging most of the snow out in a small area to create a fire pit. Her hands shook, causing the twigs to fall over twice before they stayed piled in the form of a tepee. She grabbed a piece of the vine, ruffed it up to get the fibers as small as possible and formed it into a birds nest to place under the tepee of twigs. She scanned the area to find something that could pr
ovide a spark to start the fire. A drift of snow twirled to her left and a fallen log caught her eye. The wind had removed some of the snow to uncover a sheet of ice. She pushed herself towards it. Numbness left her worrying about her feet. There was no way of knowing if she stepped on anything sharp or if her feet were even touching the ground like they should. For all Elle knew she could have been twisting both her ankles and not known it. It felt like the log was miles away and she would never get there. The hope of warmth pushed her towards the log.

  Think happy thoughts. Warm thoughts. She dragged her half frozen body across the snow. Marshmallows. Warm, gooey marshmallows roasting over a hot campfire. Her nose wrinkled. Where did that thought come from? She hated marshmallows.

  A couple more feet to go. The sweetness of the marshmallows on Tiny's lips. The heat from his kiss. Warmth as his arms wrapped around her and pulled her body against his. Elle sucked in icy air and the image shattered. The log was in front of her. She made it. Taking her frozen stumps that had her hands, she wiped the snow and tried to find a way to peel off the ice. One piece of bark protruded up and Elle grabbed it and pulled. The bark broke off and a large piece of ice loosened and tumbled in the snow. Elle dug it out and wiped the snow off of it. She lifted it and prayed that this would work.

  The walk back to the camp pit was a bit faster. The piece of ice in her frozen hands gave her hope of survival. She’d seen her cousin Daniel use a piece of glass to burn ants numerous times when they were younger. She hoped this childish practice would help her now. She knelt in front of the campfire and looked at the sun above her. She took the piece of ice and brought it close to the kindling. The angle wasn't right, so she moved it over to the left. Her hands shook and she desperately tried to keep the ice from moving. When a tiny speck of smoke fluttered, a gasp escaped from her lips. Desperate not to lose the fire, she held the ice in both hands, but it still shook. Her eyes fixed on the tiny spark that began to spread to the kindling. She leaned down and blew on the spark until it became a small fire. Elle grabbed some smaller twigs and placed them on top. They quickly became one with the flames and grew. Elle rubbed her hands in the warmth. The numbness started to slowly fade, but she knew that she might already have some frost bite. She tossed a larger branch into the fire and fueled it even more. This was a good start. She needed to get warm. Next on the list was shelter. With barely any clothes on she desperately needed it.

  She smiled. Tiny would have loved that. Those deep blue eyes would have devoured the sight of her. Her thawed hand touched her lips, and she closed her eyes and relived the kiss again. She’d kissed other guys before, but nothing even remotely felt like this. Tiny was so wrong for her in every way possible. There could be nothing between them. Her heart felt heavy. It was just lust. They couldn't have a future together.

  She sat down and put her feet close to the fire. At first she couldn't feel the warmth, but soon she started to feel tingling sensations. She threw in a bigger log and it slowly ignited and burned. Her back was cold as the wind kept whipping it. The new log provided more warmth and she moved closer. When her shivering stopped she knew she needed to start putting together some sort of shelter. The warmth of the fire caressed her cold body and she couldn't move away from it. She threw two more logs on the fire and curled up into a ball next to it, savoring the warmth as it thawed her frozen body.

  Chapter 4

  "I see a clearing up ahead!" Tiny yelled back to the team. He moved past another fallen rotted log and sprinted towards the end of the forest. All his muscles ached and sharp pain came from other spots if he moved the wrong way. He wouldn't have been surprised if he ripped open one or more of his wounds while maneuvering through the maze of trees. He blocked the sensation and continued to follow the footsteps through the snow. He had a hard time believing that Elle didn't stop in this dense forest. All of them had a tough time getting through it with boots and thick coats. Vines and branches protruded from various places and whacked Tiny more than a few times. Max had no problems moving around the forest.

  "We're right behind you," Keith reassured Tiny as he kept up with the rest of the team.

  Tiny didn't even look back. Max trotted in front of him. Tiny moved onward and reached the clearing just as Max stopped. His heart sank. The footprints ended a few feet in front of him. The biting wind covered all the tracks. There was no indication of where Elle would have gone.

  "Shit!"

  "What's wrong?" Dean asked as he emerged from the forest.

  "The wind covered the tracks!"Tiny frantically scanned the area. A couple of foot indentations led straight to the middle of the field, and then they vanished.

  Dean and Evan caught up to him and looked around the area.

  "Can Max track her scent?" Evan asked.

  "It's possible," Keith replied as he caught up with them. "Do you have her sweatshirt?"

  Evan took off his backpack and pulled out a light blue sweatshirt.

  Keith took it and called out to Max. Max walked back to him and sniffed the sweatshirt.

  "Max, search," Keith instructed.

  Max barked once and then placed his nose to the snow covered ground and began to run out into the field. Tiny kept pace with him until they got to the middle of the field. Max stopped and looked around, looking confused.

  "Come on, Max. Go find Elle!" Tiny encouraged him the best way he could. His heart kept racing as he waited for Max's response.

  The dog whined and looked around again.

  "Max, come!" Keith was a few feet behind him and still held Elle's sweatshirt. The German Shepherd ran to his side and wagged his tail. Keith gave him the sweatshirt again. The dog's tail began to wag. Keith then commanded him,"Search!"

  Max sniffed the ground where they were standing and continued to follow the trail back to Tiny. He stopped and began to whine again.

  "He's lost the trail," Keith explained. "We may have to split up to search for her."

  Tiny nodded. They had a better chance of finding her if they split up. "I'll go north." He pointed towards the vast field.

  "You'll need these." Dean reached into his backpack and pulled out a walkie talkie and a GPS device. "We're on channel 25.1. Radio in every fifteen minutes with a status update."

  Tiny took the devices and headed north. He didn't bother to look back to see which way everyone else was going. He was determined to find Elle. Ever since their searing campfire kiss he could not get her out of his system. It was crazy. He kissed many women in his life, but none had made him feel like this. It was as if a part of him had been asleep for years and Elle was the only one who awakened that part of him. It was primal and carnal the way he needed to claim her and protect her with every last fiber of his being. He never knew he had that kind of side. He was a player and just loved and left women. None of them made him want to tear everything around them to get to them like Elle did. He’d been on many search and rescue missions in the past and was always calm and rational. Now he had to remind himself to stay calm. The slightest thought that Elle was hurt made him want to rip something apart.

  He searched for clues to show him where Elle went. There was nothing except the smooth snow-covered field and the dense woods a couple feet away from him. This was literally like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. He stopped to listen. With the snow blanketing the area, most of the sounds could be heard clearly. He swore under his breath when he heard nothing out of the ordinary. He went back to scanning the area. The field seemed to continue until it hit a mountain. Maybe if he could climb it high enough he'd be able to find where Elle went. Unless someone abducted her. He shook that thought away.

  Elle will be fine. We'll find her. He reassured himself.

  The trek to the mountain seemed to take forever. Everywhere he looked there was white snow and no clues. Tiny lost count of how many times he checked in with the rest of the team. They didn't find any clues, either, and Tiny's usually calm demeanor started turning sour. His wounds stung like crazy and the rest of his b
ody screamed for a break. He swore at everything- the snow, the trees, the wind, the clouds, nothing was immune from his rant.

  A piece of a twig stuck out of the snow and he grabbed it and threw it against the bark of a pine tree in the edge of the forest. His foot hit a rock. He lurched forward and smashed into the snow, face first.

  "Ahh! You stupid piece of...!" he swore and rolled up to stare at the clear blue sky. His body pulsed with pain and exhaustion. He had to rest, otherwise his teammates would find his body frozen. Slowly he twisted to sit up and looked around. A fallen log was not too far away. it would be better to sit on that instead of the cold snow. He bit back a groan as he slowly got up. His wounds rubbed against the dressing. A sharp pain made him grind his teeth. He’d never felt pain like this before. It was so intense, how could anyone survive wounds worse than this? He’d developed a new respect for Keith. He’d highly regarded him before, but now he really respected the man. He wiped his face and scanned the area again as he walked towards the log. Nothing but trees and dancing clouds.

  His body stopped and froze. Wait, clouds don't dance, his mind yelled. Tiny's eyes narrowed. It was smoke, not clouds. He grabbed his walkie talkie. "Found some smoke coming from the northeast about 200 yards away from my current position. I'm going to check it out."

  "What are your coordinates?" Keith answered back.

  Tiny pulled out the GPS from his pocket and radioed the coordinates. He shoved the GPS and radio back into his pocket and moved as quickly as his body would allow him towards the direction of the smoke. The wind picked up and hit him in the face as Mother Nature tried to slow him down but failed. Nothing was going to stop him at this point. His feet were tired and continued to ache. Every step he took was like another knife into his body. The smoke became clearer as he walked towards it. A whole bunch of scenarios played out in his head as to what he would find. He didn't want to think of the worst. But in his line of work he always had to be prepared for the worst.