The larger one, a black-and-gray beast named Bear, rose first.
The smaller one, a lean silver-gray female named Ash, followed.
Their ears pointed toward the cabin door.
Gideon noticed.
His entire body changed.
The nervousness disappeared.
The softness vanished.
He became the mountain man Clara had seen when they first met.
Still.
Alert.
Dangerously calm.
"What is it?" she whispered.
Gideon raised one hand.
"Quiet."
The dogs stared at the door.
Then came the pounding.
Three blows.
Hard enough to shake the latch.
Clara flinched.
Gideon stood.
The wolf mantle slid from his shoulders.
He reached for the rifle leaning beside the bed.
Another pounding came.
Then a man's voice.
"CLARA!"
Her blood turned cold.
The voice came again.
"Open this door—you really thought crossing a thousand miles meant your husband would never find you?"
Clara stopped breathing.
Gideon looked at her.
She had gone completely pale.
He had seen her frightened before.
But never like this.
"Who is that?"
She could not answer.
The man outside struck the door again.
"Clara!"
Gideon moved between her and the entrance.
His voice became low.
"Who is he?"
Clara stared at the door.
Her hands began to shake.
"I don't know."
Gideon looked back at her.
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm not."
"Then tell me why you know his voice."
Her lips parted.
No words came.
The man outside laughed.
"You told me you'd never leave me, Clara!"
She closed her eyes.
Gideon heard something in that laugh.
Not affection.
Possession.
The dogs began growling.
Clara whispered, "His name is Everett."
Gideon's eyes hardened.
"Everett what?"
"Everett Hale."
The pounding stopped.
For several seconds, the cabin was silent except for the storm.
Then the man's voice came again.
"You don't have to hide behind that mountain brute."
Gideon's jaw tightened.
Clara looked at him.
"He followed me."
"From where?"
"New York."
Gideon stared.
"You told me you came from Boston."
"I did."
"You told me your family was dead."
"They are."
"You told me you had no one."
"I thought I didn't."
"Who is Everett?"
Clara wrapped her arms around herself.
"He was supposed to marry me."
Gideon's expression did not change.
But something inside him went cold.
"Supposed to?"
Clara nodded.
"He wouldn't let me leave."
Gideon looked at the door.
"Why?"
"He said I belonged to him."
The man outside shouted again.
"Clara! Tell him!"
Gideon stepped toward the door.
Clara caught his wrist.
"No."
He looked down at her hand.
She released him.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"