ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) by Elisa Elliot

time was, but I wasn’t used to the length of the days here, and there was no telling how long I’d been out.
    When I moved to pick myself up my shoulder hurt badly, and every muscle in my body complained. It wasn’t the same kind of complain as when my muscles were stiff. This was bruising.
    I managed to push myself up and out of the snow. I thanked God ski clothes were all waterproof. I was frozen to the bone, but I was dry.
    I rubbed my hands together to get some circulation flowing in my fingers, but even inside the gloves they were ice cold. I looked around. I had no idea where I was. I was completely disoriented, all I knew was that the mountain sloped down, so that was the only way I could go and hope to find civilization.
    I started walking. A few steps down I found one of my ski poles. It didn’t have a sharp tip like I’d always though before this trip – instead it just ended in a blunt end. But it was a stick I could use to lean on when I needed it, and I could hit something with it at least if I was in danger.
    This was a tourist spot and I doubted there were dangerous animals among the trees, but I wanted to be prepared as I could be, lost in the snow after a skiing accident.
    In some places the slope was so steep I had to slide down it sitting down. In one place the snow was thicker and the ground further underneath my feet than I thought, and I sank into the snow and fell again.
    I didn’t know how much time passed, but after what I guessed was an hour I was about ready to sit down and cry. I sank down on a log that had fallen, and rubbed my arms. I was hungry, and cold, and I wanted to go to the hotel and crawl into bed. Anything would be good enough right now.
    Something moved through the trees on my left. Twigs snapped, like something large was weaving toward me.
    “Hello?” I called out. There was no answer. The wind picked up and with it came an eerie feeling, like this was the last place I wanted to be alone.
    “Is anyone out there?” I asked again. If whoever it was hadn’t answered me yet it was either because he had no intention of saving me. Or it wasn’t a ‘he’ but an ‘it’. I might have been wrong about the animals.
    I stood up and held my ski pole in front of me like a sword.
    A dark shadow suddenly materialized through the trees, and a moment later a large, white wolf jumped out of the trees. It had big black eyes, rimmed with yellow. The coat was ice white with a gray stripe running along the length its back, but its muzzle drew my attention. I would bet anything it was full of sharp, white teeth, ready to rip my throat out.
    We stood frozen like that for a moment. I was ready for it with my ski pole ready to defend myself. I ignored the fear that curdled my blood. It was do or die and there was no way I was going to die.
    But then it curled up in the snow, and started moving. It’s skin rippled like something was moving underneath it, and I realized it was the wolf’s bones. It took on a different shape, the bones shifting with a strange sound I’ve never heard before. The fur started retracting, crawling towards the spine, and white skin replaced the hair.
    A moment later a man lay curled up in the snow, wearing a coat with fur the same color as the wolf’s had been.
    When he looked up at me, those ice blue eyes smiled at me, and he got up. It was George.

Chapter 4
    “George!” I cried out and threw my arms around his neck before I remembered I didn’t like him. I took a step back, reluctantly sacrificing the body heat that radiated from him, and wrapped my arms around myself instead.
    “Are you okay?” he asked. His eyes were concerned when he ran them over my body. I almost physically felt everywhere his gaze touched.
    “I’m okay… a bit battered but nothing’s broken, I don’t think. My shoulder’s badly sprained, or something.”
    He took half a step forward before he stopped.
    “May I?” he asked his hand hanging in the air between us. He wanted to