Karl didn’t rise to the bait. “I don’t want wildlife choking on plastic.” He flicked his gaze to Leon’s, very briefly. “And when Jesse comes out here once everything’s clear, he doesn’t need a reminder that strangers were here, watching him.”
Damn it, the wolf was right again. He was right so often it was rapidly becoming the most annoying thing about him, and the competition wasn’t exactly thin.
Leon pressed his lips together and nodded once, and Karl gave him a long, unreadable look before shifting again and loping off.
* * *
Leon was itching to catch up with their quarry because, as the miles passed, he realized how determined the people they were following must be. From what Karl had said of the logging road’s location, it was a three-day hike, or six days in total, there and back. It wasn’t something done for the fun of it. And then he rolled his eyes because that was pretty much the definition of hiking.
But it worried him that they’d gone to these lengths. They obviously had a purpose. Counterbalancing the worry was the suspicion that the people they were tracking were incompetent. Not only had they taken the easy route, but their trail was erratic, with backtrackings and detours that made no sense. Almost as if they didn’t know the terrain, or they had a really crappy GPS. The uncertainty about what they would find at the end of their hunt had him on edge.
It didn’t help settle him that the wolf’s gait was both too fast and too slow for him to run alongside comfortably. Cats were builtfor slower movements interspersed with bursts of blinding speed, not for this exhausting, relentless, ground-covering lope. But he was determined, and he pushed his body, ignoring the complaints from his abused muscles. He just hated that Karl made it look effortless, like a storm rolling forward, inevitable and unstoppable.
Things changed when they reached a swift-flowing river and ended up running beside it for a few miles. It meant that, every so often, he could stop to take a drink before bounding to catch up with Karl. It was a much more natural way for him to move, and the excuse of pausing for a drink meant that he didn’t look weak.
* * *
When Karl finally stopped, dusk was creeping in, the temperature plummeting as daylight faded. Leon shifted and stayed crouched low, his whole body trembling as he caught his breath, cursing every aching muscle.
Karl looked the same as always—grim and unflinching—but something in the way he stood, not quite meeting Leon’s eyes, made Leon think of wires stretched too tight.
“They won’t make the road tonight,” Karl said. “We’ll rest here. Food, sleep, out at dawn.”
Leon nodded, staying in his crouch until he stopped shaking. Which he would anytime soon. He hoped. “You got another of those lockers hidden up your sleeve?”
His non-existent sleeve, and Leon wasnotgoing to notice how Karl looked naked. Absolutely not. Not for an instant was he looking at those long limbs, curved with muscle, or the breadth of his chest. Or the trail of dark hair arrowing down his stomach like a goddamn invitation. Leon was at the perfect height to notice the heavy line of Karl’scock, soft but thick enough to make Leon’s mouth dry. Not that he was looking. Obviously.
Karl didn’t dignify his question with a reply, instead turning and moving toward a cluster of trees. Leon followed, mostly upright.
The cache was another well-hidden miracle, containing ponchos, protein bars, waterproofs, even sweatshirts. Leon yanked one on gratefully.
“You running a side hustle up here?” he asked.
“Preparedness isn’t optional.”
“That sounds like a cheap motivational poster.”
Karl gave him a dirty look, but it didn’t stop him tossing Leon a water bottle, an MRE and a folded emergency blanket, which Leon promptly unfolded and laid out while the MRE was heating.
The label said it was chicken, but the lumps ofsomethingin the gravy didn’t work the way chicken should. Still, the food was hot and filled the hole where Leon’s stomach used to be, before it ate itself from hunger.
Once finished, he glanced sideways to where Karl sat a few yards away, staring into the gathering dark. His body was tense, still, shoulders hunched just enough to look like either tiredness or defeat. Neither of which suited Karl, and neither of which went with the wolf he’d gotten to know so far. Leon didn’t like that look on him, and he didn’t know why.
Maybe Karl felt his gaze because, while he didn’t look at Leon, he spoke for the first time in five minutes. “Don’t get close to me while I’m sleeping. And don’t touch me to wake me. Not unless you want a broken wrist.”
Leon blinked. “Okay.” He watched Karl as he thought about his words, remembering what Karl had said earlier, about serving. If someone with Karl’s build and abilities got lost in nightmares… Leon could hold his own against anyone, but he’d rather not put it to the test with Karl.
“Because of your service?” he asked.
Karl didn’t answer at first. Just rubbed a hand over his face, weariness leaking through the cracks in his self-control.
Leon didn’t press. He went back to scraping the last traces of food out of his pouch.
Eventually, Karl said, “Thought I was done with it, but the choppers, the threats, everything with Jesse... it’s stirred it up again.”
“Flashbacks?” He wasn’t being nosy—he needed to know what he might be dealing with.
“No. Just, when I’m half-asleep, I sometimes forget where I am. Doesn’t last long, but it’s enough.”
