Cloak of Snow (Totem Book 3) Read online

  CLOAK OF SNOW

  TOTEM #3

  Christine Rains

  Cloak of Snow (Totem #3)

  Christine Rains | Copyright 2016

  Kindle Edition

  All rights reserved. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, any place, events or occurrences is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Tagline: No one messes with Saskia Dorn’s family and gets away with it.

  Summary: The same murderous shifters who had hunted her sister have attempted to steal a magical totem pole. Since the pieces are scattered across Alaska, Saskia, a polar bear shifter, takes her search to the tundra for any signs of the lost totems.

  Instead she finds Sedge, the latest reincarnation of the old Inuit Bear god, who just happens to be the man who broke her heart.

  They come across a small native village tormented by the Jinxioc, evil gnomes with an appetite for human flesh. Sedge declares he will rid the people of the menace, believing a totem token is nearby affecting the devils’ behavior. At his side, Saskia battles to save the tribesmen, but it could mean sacrificing herself.

  Cover design: Christine Rains

  All photos came from BigStock. Saskia model – Photographer: Tverdokhlib. Background – Photographer: mr. Smith. Frost – Photographer: Rafinade. Haida wolf for chapter headings – crochet pattern design by Eric Parnell.

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  To strong women everywhere,

  may you all find a partner equally as

  strong to stand with you.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Totem Series

  Where to Find Christine Rains Online

  Other Works by Christine Rains

  Untethered Realms

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Saskia lowered her snout to the frozen ground and breathed in. Nothing. It was just plain old fox shit.

  She huffed and rubbed her nose with a paw. That was the thirty-fifth pile of poop she’d sniffed today. Whose brilliant idea was it to do this? Oh yeah, Azarius’. But she’d been idiotic enough to agree to her mentor’s plan.

  Investigate the arctic fox population in northern Alaska. Sniff their shit and see what they’ve been eating, where they’ve been, if they mated. Blah, blah, fucking blah.

  There had to be an easier way to go about searching for totem tokens. Weird behavior certainly had to show up in ways less subtle than animal droppings. Azarius had been sure that something would happen in the area, and fox territory was small compared to the other animals of the totem pole. She trusted his instincts, but dammit, she was done with poop duty.

  Saskia trotted toward the southeast where she’d left her truck. She’d parked it three or four miles away over the hills. Not far on four legs.

  If her family was lucky, her sister Kinley would secure the owl totem. Funny how one of the tokens was so close to home. And hell, wouldn’t it have been better to deal with a bird than sniffing dung? All her sister had to do was keep an eye on its location until Azarius arrived, and he would do whatever was needed to retrieve it.

  Azarius had flown south that morning in his raven form. It might take a few days for him to get there, but Saskia wasn’t worried about Kinley getting into any trouble. Her sister was the cautious one in the family.

  None of them had acquired any of the lost tokens of the ancient totem pole yet. When two human thieves tried to steal the magical artifact, the totem pole had torn itself into pieces—seven token animals to be exact—and scattered them across Alaska. The fate of every shifter in the world rested on her family finding the totems and putting them back together.

  That left Saskia to concentrate on locating the fox totem. And hopefully before the first big snow. Which—she sniffed the air—was coming within twenty-four hours.

  Not that Saskia minded the snow, but it made the foxes harder to find. She needed Azarius’ eyes in the sky. And his calming company, especially with Sedge back.

  Sedge. After she fled from his den and his desire to make her his mate, she’d avoided him for the past seven years. But blissful the years had not been. Being so far from him, still feeling his mouth claiming hers, his body grinding down upon her… No one and nothing else would ever fill that hole inside of her.

  Saskia huffed and pushed him out of her mind. Time to focus on the task at hand. She’d drive to Galbraith. Maybe one of the truckers had seen something or she’d find a story on the news.

  She tossed her head and picked up speed. Maybe if she was lucky, there were snacks left in her truck. Or, at least, a beer. The hare she’d eaten earlier didn’t have much meat on it.

  She glanced at the clouds. The snow was close, but her pickup was closer. She crested a rocky hill and furrowed her brows.

  Her nostrils quivered. She’d parked right down there. But where was her truck?

  Saskia trotted down the hill into the field and scanned the area. Soil, wilted long grass, and rocks. A few scraggly trees. Yes, she spotted tire tracks. More tracks than she’d made herself.

  Surely Azarius didn’t take her pickup. He flew back to Wasilla. He didn’t like to drive.

  Taking in another deep sniff, she growled. Fuck no.

  Men. Humans. Two of them.

  Now that she was looking for it, she spied the extra footprints. And a little farther away in the mud, the tracks from a four-wheeler. Bastards!

  They stole her truck! She roared. She’d have their heads for this.

  Saskia snarled and raked at the ground with her claws, flinging dirt and rocks. She was stuck in the fucking middle of nowhere Alaska. Wiseman was maybe fifty or sixty miles to the south. Damn those thieves!

  What was she going to do? Dumb question. There was only one thing to do. She’d follow the trail left by the pickup.

  There was no way to call her family. Her phone had been in the truck. Her carpentry tools, her clothes, damn well everything was in it.

  She battered the ground again and bellowed.

  Another bear’s roar answered hers.

  Saskia quieted and turned in the direction where she’d heard it. She couldn’t see the other bear yet, but her ears twitched at the sound of movement in the distance over one of the hills. She breathed in deeply. Her eyes widened, and the fur stood up on her back.

  No. It couldn’t be. Sedge was out west with her father. But that scent, she knew it as if it were her own.

  A massive polar bear crested the hill and roared.

  Fuck.

  Saskia didn’t wait for Sedge to come down the hill. She shifted back into her human form and dipped into the warmth which tingled within the center of her gut and imagined herself clothed. Rarely did she call upon Black Shamans’ ma
gic, but this trick was the one she used most often. It was either do that or stand there naked.

  What was he doing here? Part of her quickened, excited to see him. The other half demanded she flee.

  She tightened her long black coat around herself as Sedge lumbered toward her. Better she meet him this way than as a bear. She’d be more given to submission in her animal form and that was not going to happen, no matter how much her body ached for it.

  Folding her arms, she made an impatient rolling gesture with one hand. “Come on. I don’t have all day. Tell me what you want so I can be on my way.”

  The gigantic bear picked up his pace until he stood directly in front of her. He thrust his head forward with his nose almost touching her face. On all fours, he was nearly as tall as she was and that was just over six feet in height. A low rumble, not unlike thunder, resonated in his chest.

  Saskia didn’t budge or flinch. Only the loud thumping of her heart gave anything away. “Well?”

  Like a flash of sunlight, the bear vanished and a gorgeous man clad in white with closely trimmed pale blond hair stood in his place. Scruff hugged his square jaw as he gazed at her with near black eyes. Four inches taller than she and twice as wide, one might consider him as intimidating as his animal form. To Saskia, his human form was far more frightening.

  “You should be pleased to see me.” Sedge’s gravelly voice rumble vibrated in her ears like an unearthly purr.

  “Why? Did Dad and you find one of the totems?” The wind whipped her coat and long hair around her as if punctuating her question. She wasn’t going to admit she was stuck out on the tundra after some stupid humans stole her truck, but the bastard always seemed to know everything. Mostly everything. He would never really know her.

  “No.” He huffed, his chest heaving with it. “But—”

  “Then I have no reason to be happy to see you. And since we don’t have any totems yet, I have work to do.” Saskia turned and started to walk away from him. If they drew out their conversation, they’d end up in a fight. She didn’t want to deal with him right now.

  She had gone three steps before Sedge spoke, “Humans took your truck. Are you going to walk all the way home just to avoid me?”

  Saskia pressed her lips together. Don’t scream. Don’t even answer. Just keep walking.

  Of course he followed. “You’re tracking the thieves. What will you do when you find them?”

  The ground crunched under their feet, the sound irritating her further. She hadn’t thought about what she was going to do. And it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like she was going to eat them or anything. She only wanted her pickup back.

  His presence behind her pressed against her back. Big. No, bigger than big. Not only in his physical size, but his power was monstrous. And his raw sexuality… Fuck.

  She hugged herself tighter and picked up her pace.

  “The journey would go faster if you shifted.” Was that humor in his tone?

  Saskia whipped around and clenched her fists at her sides. “My journey would go faster if I was alone.”

  Sedge held out his hands, open palms facing up. “I’m not hindering you in any way, am I?”

  In every way possible. Not that she was going to tell him that. “Why are you here?”

  He slipped his hands into the pockets of his thick coat and strolled ahead of her. “You drove off Dalton Highway to get here. Whoever took your truck must live closer than Galbraith.”

  Avoiding her question. Typical Sedge. Saskia marched past him. “I hadn’t thought it was someone from Galbraith. Some asshole hunters probably.”

  “Here so late in the season?” Sedge matched her pace.

  Saskia hissed out a long breath between her teeth. It didn’t matter who it was. She’d find them and get her pickup back. If only things could be that easy. Sedge loomed beside her, and Azarius wasn’t there to act as a buffer.

  “I know where these tracks are going.” He smirked at her.

  “And where’s that?” She asked when he didn’t say right away and ignored his smirk.

  “There’s a village between Itkillik Lake and Victor Gulch.”

  “No, there’s not.” She knew Alaska. Maybe not this area very well, but the tiny villages in the north became regular havens when she trained as a Black Shaman. Azarius wanted her to visit every one. There would be no place a shifter could hide in the state from her.

  That infuriating smirk remained on his lips. “Kuci. A few hundred of my people.”

  Saskia glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. His people? That could mean a dozen different things. A band of worshipers, bear shifters, or a Black Shaman training camp. He was the reincarnation of the old Inuit god Bear, after all, and seeing to the training of the Black Shamans was his responsibility.

  And why hadn’t she heard of Kuci? She’d been back and forth across Alaska a hundred times. Azarius had taken her to dozens of villages. Was it a secret place?

  Whatever. It didn’t matter. It was the likely spot to find her truck.

  “Okay. I can find it. You can go do whatever.” She waved him off and put her nose to the air in search of the scent of a large group of humans.

  “I’m coming with you.” He motioned with his chin toward the northeast and took the lead.

  “I’m perfectly capable of finding it on my own.” Saskia had picked up the scent. Funny she hadn’t noticed it before. But she would have, if he hadn’t arrived. “I don’t need you.”

  Sedge turned to stand in front of her. “You do.”

  His gaze bore into her. Hot and commanding. Once upon a time, she yearned for him to look at her like that. It was one of those be careful what you wish for things. And while some part of her still ached for him, she shut it away. No more.

  “I don’t.” Reining in the urge to run, she walked around him.

  If Sedge thought he could trick her and lure her somewhere to have her to himself… No. That wasn’t his style. The Bear never resorted to trickery. Maybe he’d throw her over his shoulder and carry her there, but what he wanted more was her to come with him of her own free will.

  Not going to happen.

  Saskia couldn’t be what he wanted her to be: his mate and mother to his cubs. She couldn’t have anyone relying on her, not when she couldn’t guarantee she’d always be there for them.

  Ever since her mother died, she moved herself to the outside of her family, of every group of friends. Maybe if her father had been there for her then instead of emotionally checking out himself, but no. Sorrow choked her, cut her off from the world, and made her never want to care for anyone else again.

  While Kinley and Ametta were nearer in age and more closely bonded, it was Azarius who came to Saskia’s rescue. As her mentor, he was the big brother she’d never had. He distracted her from her grief with training and meditation. Sometimes during their sessions, she felt free of her life, as if she were flying in the clouds with him.

  Sedge never understood these things. To him, everything was plain and simple, black and white. So her feelings for him were straightforward in his eyes. He couldn’t see them for the tangled mess they truly were.

  He muttered something under his breath before he said, “The people of Kuci live by the old ways. With my blessing. They don’t have trucks or cars or four-wheelers. But someone from there did steal your truck. I recognized the scent of their special hide tanning solution. It’s my business to find out who it is and punish them.”

  Saskia didn’t argue with him. If the village was his, then woe be unto the poor fellows who did steal her pickup. The old gods were not merciful. She hadn’t really planned on ripping their heads off. Maybe scare them a bit.

  Well, hell. She swallowed and almost said for him to go on without her. It was his business, after all. But it was her truck. No way was she leaving it.

  “All right. Let’s go.” With the ease of mist flowing in the wind, she slipped out of her human skin and into her bear’s. He followed suit.

  S
edge was right that it would be quicker to travel on four legs. And as bears, it would also prevent him from trying to talk to her about the two of them.

  The village Kuci appeared no different from any other Saskia had visited. Several small and finely built man-made log homes circled around the center of town which contained a large fire pit. The biggest building, the long house, stretched toward the north at the peak of Kuci. Smoke puffed from chimneys, and dogs yowled from their kennels along the fringes.

  Very few people wandered about or worked outside. Sure, the settlement was tiny, but it was nearing sunset. The hunters should’ve returned with dinner. Where was everyone?

  Sedge shifted and stared at the village. His brows furrowed.

  Transforming back to her human self, Saskia drew in a deep breath. Something wasn’t right. Not that any scent told her such, but it was the lack of certain smells which did. No fresh meat or skins tanning under the sun.

  She caught a glint of metal on the east side of Kuci. “My pickup.”

  He grunted. Always the master of conversation.

  If he wasn’t going to say anything, all the better. Saskia wrapped her coat around her and started down the hill toward the village.

  Sedge nabbed her arm and yanked her closer to him. “Something’s wrong. I’ll go first.”

  She shook her arm loose. Not like she needed him to tell her. It also wasn’t any of her business. “What’s wrong is there are thieves in their midst, and they have my truck.”

  “Stay with me.” He stepped in front of her and led the way down to Kuci. His white coat with the fur trim swirled around him, creating a grand effect. Like the man needed fancy clothes to look impressive. No one could mistake him for anything else other than a god. Or, rather, the most recent incarnation of one.

  Not like what people thought of when you mentioned gods these days. The old gods weren’t all powerful, and their strength depended on the body they were reborn into. Bear chose well inhabiting Sedge. As she nipped her lower lip, she mentally nodded. Oh yeah, very well.

  Saskia didn’t need a bodyguard, but when Sedge told someone to be wary, all her senses went on alert. Once she had her pickup, she’d be out of there. Sedge could stay and deal with his people. She had totem tokens to find.