Night of the Cougar Read Online Free Page A

could, she slipped on a patch of ice just before the front steps and fell hard onto the ground. It knocked the wind out of her. Then she heard the very feline roar threatening her, even closer than before.
    She scrambled to her feet and nearly leaped up the stairs. Grabbing the knob, she almost cried with relief as the door opened. She surged inside and slammed the door shut, locking it for good measure. Tossing aside her knapsack, it landed with a loud thud. She waited for Galen to appear, but he didn’t.
    Before she could even wonder why, a huge body hit the double doors, rattling them in their frame and almost bowing the center open.
    Loud growls, snarls and scratches resonated through the wooden doors until a second loud crash came against them.
    Fearing that another attack would weaken the lock enough to allow the animal to enter, Jamie put her shoulder against the doors and braced her legs, hoping to counteract the force of the animal. When the blow came, it nearly tossed her away, but she dug in against the doors, certain that if whatever was out there got inside, she was a goner.
    As she held her ground, the frustrated growling and rumbling of the animal on the other side of the door carried through the thick wood. She felt the weight of the beast as its footsteps on the front porch reverberated on the ground beneath her feet. The sound of nails clawing at the thick wood came before another powerful ram of the door, but the closure held, thanks to Jamie strengthening it with her weight.
    She didn’t know how long the attack went on. She lost track of whether it was hours or minutes, but eventually quiet came. Still, she didn’t relax her guard, leaning back against the center of the doors and sliding down to the wooden floor.
    Weariness crept into her body from the hike up the hill and the battle, but she knew she couldn’t fall asleep.
    She had to be ready, she told herself, and focused on the fire in the hearth across from her, once again wondering where Galen could be. After all, he must have started the fire and left the door unlocked. And the noise of the attacks and the animal outside had to have caught his attention. Unless something was wrong with him.
    That worry lingered with her during the night as she watched the flames die, leaving behind only glowing embers that slowly faded to black.
    She waited for daylight and her body told her it should be morning already, but there was still no light coming through the windows. As she examined the closest one with bleary eyes, she realized the windows had been shuttered closed. Big, thick wooden shutters that had not been in place during her last visit.
    Shooting a glance at her watch, she realized it was nearly eight in the morning.
    Where the hell was Galen?
    She rose from the floor, her body stiff with fatigue and the damp chill in the air now that the fire had died. Shivering, she wondered why Galen didn’t have the heat on.
    Luckily, the thermostat was only a few feet away and she punched in a higher temperature. The furnace immediately kicked on, the heating system forcing a whoosh of hot air through the large open space.
    It was then she heard the creak of the door and a knock. A feeble, faint knock against the thick wood.
    Heart thudding with fear, she hesitated, unsure of what was on the other side of the door. But then the weak knock came again, totally unlike the brutal blows from last night. Risking it, she unlocked the door and cracked it open an inch, praying it was not whatever animal had been trying to break in the night before.
    Fear morphed into shock at the sight of Galen’s naked snow-covered body lying huddled against the lodge’s wall. She threw open the double doors, and he sagged onto the floor where he lay motionless, his skin pale and deathlike.
    Dear God, don’t let him be dead, Jamie thought as she dropped to her knees beside him.

Chapter Four
    His skin was as cold as the snow that covered goodly portions of his body, but a pulse