I know the wolves take the hierarchy of their packs extremely seriously, but I thought bears were different. My feet ache at this point though, so reluctantly, I shimmy in.
“Why are you going through all of this effort?”
I have no hope he didn’t see the pink starburst mark on my neck and shoulder, upraised like scar tissue. It would explain his gruff responses and the permanent scowl, but not why he didn’t just leave me for dead.
“You’d rather I let you drown in the river?” He quirks an eyebrow at me, not waiting for a response before shifting.
White fur covers his skin as his body expands and contorts. I’ve seen a few shifters transform in my life, but I doubt I’ll ever stop being awed by it. It’s surreal, and far more magical than anything I can accomplish.
How does the conservation of mass even apply? He’s got to be at least nine hundred pounds like this! Where does it all go when in the other form? Is it just energy pulled from the air instead of within?
On four paws, he prowls towards me, and maybe it’s because I’m able to associate him with the man beyond the beast, but I don’t have the same instinctual reaction to cower. Flopping down beside me, he stretches out before practically punching me in the face as he attempts to work his front leg under my head.
Curling into a ball inside of the sleeping bag, I rub my feet despite the ache in my torso, hoping I don’t lose a couple of toes to frostbite. As a harsh wind tests our fire’s perseverance, I ignore my awkward reservations and shimmy closer, soaking up the heat he radiates. He rumbles, sounding annoyed, but doesn’t growl at me at least.
There’s got to be no one around for miles. So why doesn’t that scare me as much as it should? I don’t know anything about him, let alone a name. Though to be fair, he could have done any number of horrific things while I was unconscious and didn’t. In fact, he seemed woefully unimpressed despite having a naked chick at his mercy.
That shouldn’t sting, should make me relieved. Means I’m safe. And I think that’s when it starts to make sense. It’s the fact that there’s no one around to hurt me anymore that has me breathing easier, that the men chasing me will think I’m dead. The distance between the horrors that I witnessed and me hiding in a polar bear’s armpit outweighs the risk of being trapped in a cave with someone that could snap my neck without breaking a sweat.
Maybe he’s just out here because he hates people too. But if so, why bother saving me at all?
Three
Rheyas
Roasting some deer over the fire, I glance to the side as she starts to stir in her sleep. It’s been nearly a week now and she’s looking better, but far from comfortable, which just proves that my instincts are correct.
She doesn’t belong here.
Gradually, she crawls out of my sleeping bag, clutching the waistband of the borrowed sweatpants to keep them from falling. She’s skinny, far more so than is healthy, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find out she was homeless. It’s a wonder she was even alive at all when I found her; girl has no meat on her bones.
As she sits on the ground beside me in matching silence, I finish roasting the meat and add it to the soup I managed to scrounge enough stuff up for. This time of year is hell to find anything. Between the animals holed up to survive the cold and plants dead until the spring, it’s exactly why I typically choose to retreat into my other form and ride it out. But she just had to pull me from my dozed state when I wasn’t prepared to even feed myself for another few months, let alone someone else.
She can’t hunt, can’t eat raw meat, doesn’t even have clothes that fit her since I was forced to cut the others off. They were plastered to her nearly dead body, starting to freeze the minute I hauled her out of the water into the snow and forced air back into her lungs. Girl belongs in civilization, not so deep into the uncharted areas of the wilds that even most shifters don’t venture here.
“I’m a little offended that you haven’t even asked my name,” she casually states between sips, gaze flicking towards me and away quickly.
Huffing, I palm my bowl and take a swig. “No point.”
“What if I was a serial killer?” she presses, not dropping the subject. “You just let any half dead woman into your cave? That’s how you get murdered, you know. Has no one taught you about stranger danger?”
Snorting, I take another long drink, not even looking up. “You want me to throw you out then?”
There’s a pause long enough that I look up at her. Her brown hair is a tangled mess hanging halfway down her back and her gaze is locked onto her food. It’s better that way. Her eyes are hypnotic, an icy blue rimmed in indigo that I keep getting fucking caught up in staring at when I meet her gaze, and I hate it. I don’t need the distraction, especially when she’s not staying.
She cringes. “Of course not, I don’t even have shoes. I’m just saying you should vet people better before stuffing them into your clothes like dolls and sleeping with them. Standards man, or people will start thinking you’re some creepy weirdo.”
Choking on my soup, I thump a fist to my chest, setting my bowl down during my coughing fit. “Excuse the hell out of me for saving your ass. Not like you’re locked in, you know.”
Grimacing, she backtracks. “That came out wrong, I’m sorry. I’m super appreciative of everything, don’t get me wrong! I was just trying to strike up a conversation and epically failed. But I’ve been here for days and don’t even know your name.”
“No point. You’re leaving today.”
She blinks a few times before honestly looking panicked and it frustrates me to no end that her reaction calls to my instincts, urging me to hunt down whatever’s out there making her that scared, only to know it’s me. “Did I do something wrong?”
Biting my cheek until I draw blood, I grab my bowl and finish off my food, buying myself time to shove down the urge to shift. “You don’t belong here. Storm’s passed now, so I’ll take you back to the nearest town so you can get back to your life.”
A flash of hurt crosses her face that she doesn’t even attempt to conceal. “Oh. Yeah, sure. You’re probably anxious to wash your hands of me.”
