“Yeah, me too. I thought we might be using it on Rosco. But you never know when you might need it, even for us if we’d gotten ourselves into trouble.”

  They continued to unbury the young man, Rosco pausing to lick the snow off the man’s face, and Landon chuckled. That was a good sign. They finally removed enough snow that they could gently pull the man the rest of the way out. He groaned in pain, but they had to get him warmed up and hydrated.

  Landon gave him some water. “What’s your name?” Landon asked, while Gabrielle checked him over for injuries.

  “Mick Johnson.”

  At least he was conscious and seemed lucid. The blond-haired guy groaned when Gabrielle touched his right arm. “It might be broken,” Gabrielle said. “Do you have anything to use to stabilize it in the first aid kit, Landon?”

  Landon was already pulling out the emergency blanket. “Yeah.” He brought out the splint.

  The splint was a moldable piece of aluminum enclosed in foam for comfort. After they splinted Mick’s arm, they gently lifted him onto the emergency blanket and wrapped him in it.

  “What happened?” Landon asked.

  “I was snowboarding and then the snow buried me. I thought I was never going to make it out alive. I was trying to call out for help, but then gave up on it. I knew I needed to save my breath. Since I was not on a main slope, I was certain no one would be out here looking for me. Then I heard someone digging at the snow. I never would have figured it was a dog.”

  “Rosco is an avalanche rescue dog. So you were alone off-trail when it happened?” Landon asked.

  Gabrielle realized they might need to look for someone else too.

  “Yeah, my friend said he wouldn’t go with me. It was too dangerous.”

  She was relieved they didn’t have to search for someone else buried in the snow.

  “Maybe he was right.” Landon got on his phone again. “Hey, Blake, we’ve got a snowboarder, possible broken arm. Rosco was digging him out.” Landon smiled and rubbed Gabrielle’s back. “Gabrielle found Mick Johnson and Rosco first. They make a hell of a team.” He laughed. “Okay. We need a pickup.”

  “You were there every step of the way.” Gabrielle shook her head at Landon, then asked Mick, “Where are you staying?”

  “The ski lodge.”

  “How old are you?” Gabrielle asked Mick.

  “Twenty. My friend is so going to tell me I told you so.”

  Gabrielle started checking Rosco for injuries. She leaned down to check his paws to make sure he wasn’t suffering from frostbite. “Do you have anything to put on his feet, Landon?”

  “Yeah, I was just looking for his dog boots in the emergency pack. We added fleece lining to the boots to make them even warmer, but he normally isn’t out this long in the snow.” Landon couldn’t seem to find them. “We can use some of the bandaging if we don’t have them in there.”

  That was the good thing about wolves. They had more fur on their feet that protected their pads and toes and kept them from sliding on ice.

  “Here they are,” Landon said, sounding glad to have found them.

  “Okay, thanks, and Rosco will be happier for them.” And she would feel better if he was wearing them. She slipped them on his feet and secured them, and then she checked his nose, tail, and ears for frostbite. Bigger dogs and those that had heavier coats were at less risk than smaller, lightly furred breeds. It only took thirty minutes for a dog to develop frostbite in freezing weather.

  “How’s he doing?” Landon asked, concerned.

  “He’s good, but it’s important to take preventive measures to make sure he stays that way.”

  After taking care of Rosco, Gabrielle rubbed her gloved hands together to warm up her chilled fingers.

  “Are you cold?” Landon asked, crouching next to her and wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

  “Yeah, maybe we can have lunch when we get back to the lodge and I can get warmed up before we ski again.” She was at least glad the snowboarder seemed okay, his memory fine. She was hoping he didn’t have any head injuries or any internal injuries that they couldn’t detect, but he seemed okay.

  “We’ll do that.”

  “I’m sorry about this,” Mick said, as if he suddenly realized he’d messed up their vacation plans.

  “We’ll get you out of here.” Landon gave Rosco a treat from the treat barrel around his neck. “Good dog for rescuing an avalanche victim.”

  “Do you always do that?” Mick asked. “Give him a treat?”

  “Yeah, it reinforces the idea that if there’s an avalanche, he searches for any victim. If he finds one, he gets a treat. We just didn’t know where Rosco had gotten off to. It’s a good thing he came to help you and we went looking for him when he was missing from the lodge,” Landon said.

  “How would he have known about me?” Mick asked, just as surprised as Gabrielle was that the dog was that alert.

  “If the door to the lodge was open and he heard the avalanche and you crying out, even from a distance, that could have clued him in,” Landon said.

  “Oh, yeah, I cried out for sure, all the way down the mountain as the snow followed me.”

  Landon smiled. “That was it, then.”

  “He’s a remarkable dog.” Gabrielle scratched Rosco’s head.

  Rosco lay down next to the victim to keep him warmer, but when she stopped petting him, he brushed at Gabrielle’s hand with his muzzle to get her to pet him some more. She chuckled and continued to pet him. She was ready for Rosco to warm her up too.

  Blake finally reached them, carrying another first aid kit. “How are you doing?” he asked Mick.

  “Good, considering that I could be dead.”

  “True. You did good, Rosco. Here we thought you were a wayward dog.” Blake rubbed the dog’s head, slapped Landon on the back, and gave Gabrielle a hug. “Hey, you look cold.”

  “Yeah, I am.” But hopefully this wouldn’t take much longer.

  “Landon, why don’t you take Gabrielle back to the lodge and get her warmed up. I’ll wait with the victim. The ski patrol will be here shortly.” Blake offered them fresh bottles of water.

  “No, we’ll all stay together.” Gabrielle wanted to be there if Mick’s condition took a turn for the worse. She might work with animals, but she was still a doctor. She took a sip of the water.

  Then they saw the members of the ski patrol coming for them and she was instantly relieved. She was so ready to get warmed up.

  “Here they are,” Landon said. “Right on time.”

  The guys of the ski patrol told them they had done a good job. They lifted Mick onto a stretcher and got him strapped on.

  The ski patrol members smiled at Gabrielle. They were all wolves.

  Then they headed back to the first aid hut so that the victim could be transported to the hospital in Green Valley. Poor Rosco was having a hard time getting back to the lodge through the deep snow though. Coming to rescue an avalanche victim? It appeared he could move mountains. But after all the work he’d done, he was worn out.

  “Too bad he couldn’t wear some snowshoes,” Gabrielle said.

  Rosco kept sitting down as if he wasn’t going to make it. Landon brought out another bottled water and gave Rosco a drink. “Come on, Rosco, you can do this.”

  “Yeah, there’s no way we can carry you,” Blake said to Rosco, and then to Landon, “Did you want to get the ski patrol to come back for Rosco?”

  “We might have to. That would be one for the record. A Saint Bernard needing a rescue instead of him always doing the rescuing.” Landon petted Rosco’s head. “Come on, buddy. Let’s walk a little farther.”

  They continued to walk along the same path that most everyone had trampled, but with Rosco’s weight and no snowshoes and the exercise he’d already had, he was having difficulty making it through the snow a second time.

  Landon called the ski patrol. “Hey, if you guys can do it, we need Rosco carried back to the lodge. He can’t make it.” He smiled. “Thanks.” Then Landon pocketed his phone. “Let’s get out the other emergency blanket and get Rosco warmed up until the ski patrol can return with a stretcher for him.”

  Since Rosco weighed 160 pounds, similar to a man’s weight, trying to make it through the snow while carrying him would be too much.

  “Too bad we don’t have a sled with us,” Blake said. “Then we could just give him a ride on top of the snow.”

  “And me too!” Gabrielle really was ready for lunch and a warming up now.

  Chapter 4

  While they waited for the ski patrol to arrive, Landon sat on the snow and reached his hand up to Gabrielle. “Come on, I’ll warm you up.”

  She smiled. “All right. Thanks.” Then she sat on his lap and he wrapped his arms around her. She did feel warmer like this, and it wasn’t just from Landon’s protection from the wind and cold, or his body heat either. She felt an attraction for him that she’d never felt for a wolf. Rather than a casual friendship between wolves like she’d experienced before, it was an intimacy between a man and a woman that she wanted to explore more deeply. Did he feel the same about her?

  Never could she have imagined she would be sitting on a hot wolf’s lap in the snow at the ski resort while waiting to have the ski patrol rescue the rescue dog—even if she had known wolves ran the whole place.

  “Sorry, Blake, you’re on your own,” Landon said.

  “Hell, the two, well, three of you had to do all that digging so you’ve had a lot more exercise than me and been out here longer than me. I’m good.”

  Gabrielle really wished they could continue walking toward the lodge. Moving got the blood circulating and warmed her up. She was envisioning sitting by the fire, roasting her fingers and toes, and not leaving there until she returned home to Florida. It wasn’t as bad as when she’d been submerged in a frozen lake, but she really needed to get thawed out.

  Though she had to admit that this was much more interesting than anything she’d ever encountered back home, and she was glad she could make a difference in the life of someone who wouldn’t have survived if they hadn’t gone looking for Rosco. Between the three of them, they had saved him.

  “I bet you’re proud of Rosco,” she said, having never seen a dog locate and attempt to dig out an avalanche victim, not even in a movie.

  “Yeah. You never know if the dog you train for that kind of work will be good at it. Many dogs wash out of the training. What’s interesting is that dog rescues are comparable in success to human rescues using probes in locating victims. As wolf shifters, we can smell scents and hear so much better and can often find avalanche victims faster than either humans or dogs. Still, as Rosco proved to us, since he’s trained for this kind of work, he remains alert when the rest of us are off doing other things,” Landon said.

  “When we realized he’d left the lodge, I really thought he’d chased after a squirrel,” Blake said, sitting down next to Rosco and petting his head.

  “Don’t you feel guilty for thinking the worst of Rosco?” Gabrielle asked.

  The brothers glanced at each other and smiled. Both said, “No.”

  She laughed, then grew serious. “I hope Mick is okay.” She had thought to check on him when she finally reached the ski resort, but he should be on his way to a hospital by the time they arrived.

  “He’s in the best of hands,” Landon assured her. “But he was lucky this time. Hopefully, he’ll listen to his friend next time.”

  They didn’t say anything for a while, and then Gabrielle worried she might be cutting off the circulation in Landon’s legs. “Did you need me to give your lap a break?”

  “Are you kidding? You’re keeping me nice and warm.”

  She smiled and he tightened his hold on her as if he was afraid she might just leave him anyway.

  “You asked about how the dating prospects were for me in Daytona Beach. What about you with dating?” Gabrielle couldn’t believe she was talking to a male wolf about dating stuff near a ski resort miles and miles and miles from her home.

  Blake was smiling, as if she meant anything by it. She just wanted to talk about something—other than rescues and snow and cold.

  Landon said, “I gave up a girlfriend when I left Vermont and moved here. I haven’t seriously dated anyone since then.”

  “What was your old girlfriend like?”

  “She was a pretty brunette and had everyone wrapped around her little finger.”

  “You too?” Gabrielle was amused to hear it. She couldn’t imagine anyone doing that to Landon. Then again, once he saw Gabrielle in her string bikini…

  “For a little while. My sister Kayla thought she would change, given the chance, but none of the rest of the family did. Lyn was a rule breaker.”

  Blake shook his head. “That was for sure. She was bound to get herself in real trouble someday.”

  Gabrielle’s lips parted. Then she smiled. “Like me.”

  “She was not anything like you. Okay, I have to admit the pool incident with you did remind me of her, but beyond that, nothing else,” Landon said.

  Blake laughed.

  “So if I sneak into the pool tonight?” she asked.

  “I’ll be waiting to swim with you.”

  She laughed. “I’m glad you’re one of the owners.”

  Then they heard people talking ahead and Rosco sat up and woofed.

  “That looks like your rescue committee, Rosco.” Gabrielle was glad they could start walking back to the resort now.

  As soon as the men came into view, Rosco got off the blanket and headed for them under his own steam. The brothers laughed. He kept going until he reached the ski patrol, while Gabrielle, Landon, and Blake, who had grabbed up the blanket and secured it to the first aid backpack, headed out after him.

  “Hey, Rosco,” one of the men said. “If you can walk on your own, that’s good news for us.”

  “But we’ll be here if you need us,” another of the men said.

  “Thanks, guys,” Landon said to them.

  “Hey, Rosco’s a hero,” the first man said.

  They all trudged through the snow but after another fifteen minutes, Rosco sat down.

  That time, Landon and Blake made Rosco sit on the stretcher and they started up again. Landon stayed with Gabrielle, as if he was afraid that she might fall behind, and Blake helped the other men with the stretcher.

  They finally reached the area where the snow was graded, and before Rosco wanted off the stretcher, several people took pictures of the rescue dog that had been rescued. Once they put him down on the snow-covered ground, he raced for the lodge.

  Everyone laughed.

  “It’s lunchtime for him. You notice he perked right up when he saw the lodge,” Landon said. “And it’s lunchtime for us.” He removed his snowshoes and helped Gabrielle with hers before they crossed the base of the ski slopes to reach the lodge.

  “Thanks, guys,” Landon and Blake told the ski patrol.

  “No problem. Rosco’s an important member of the team.”

  Then Blake had his snowshoes off, and the ski patrol headed back to the ski hut with the stretcher.

  “I hope this experience didn’t sour you for returning here in the future,” Landon said.

  “No. Though at one point I was thinking I might stay by the fire and never leave the warm lobby. Still, rescuing the man was worth every bit of the cold.”

  “Yeah, I totally agree with you there,” Landon said.

  Blake said, “I’m off to feed Rosco and take him for a walk afterward, but I suspect he’ll do his business right away and the walk will be brief this time.”

  Landon and Gabrielle smiled. She imagined the Saint Bernard would be sleeping by the fire for the rest of the afternoon.

  When they walked into the lobby, Rosco was lying by the fire, but as soon as he saw Blake, he raced to greet him, his tail wagging like crazy.

  “Lunchtime, what did I say,” Blake said.

  “I feel the same way.” Gabrielle was glad to see Rosco was just fine. She was ready for seafood.

  They dropped off their snowshoes at the storage room. Once they were in the restaurant, they began stripping out of their ski jackets and gloves, hats, and scarves. When Minx brought them the menu, Gabrielle ordered shrimp linguini and Landon had veal scallopini. She’d worked up an appetite.

  “How are you feeling?” Landon asked her.

  “Oh, great, now that I’m inside and getting warmed up.”

  Minx quickly brought them hot tea and coffee and fresh-baked rolls hot out of the oven. “I heard the two of you rescued a snowboarder. Well, and Rosco, of course. Great job.”

  “Thanks,” Landon said.

  “Blake said to make sure I brought over hot drinks for the both of you pronto.” Minx smiled. “Not that I wouldn’t have, but he just wanted to make sure.”

  “We appreciate it.” Gabrielle was already drinking her hot tea and getting even more warmed up.

  “I’ll bring your orders right out.”

  “Thanks, Minx,” Landon said.

  Gabrielle was just getting ready to butter her fresh potato roll when a man and a woman headed straight to their booth. She thought they might be guests who needed Landon for something. Or maybe they wanted to tell her and Landon how much they appreciated them for saving a snowboarder. News sure traveled fast in a pack.

  Landon smiled at them.

  Gabrielle smelled that the woman was a red wolf. The she-wolf wore a green sweater dress and black boots, her red hair hanging loose about her shoulders. She didn’t look like she was here to ski. The man was a gray wolf, his dark eyes studying Gabrielle, his dark-brown hair mussed up by the chilly wind. He was dressed in a warm green sweater, as if they had dressed to match each other, definitely looking like a cute married couple.