Marking his mate - A Silver Shifter Series 2

Chapter 12 - Hunter

The water was cold today, I couldn't remember if it was this cold yesterday. I could see some fish in the water, I could eat that. Was I hungry? I plunged my hand into the water, grabbing at the fish. Missed, I'll try again. I missed; I never got any fish. I was now wet and cold; I should walk out of the water. Wait, what was that smell?

Deer?

I haven't had deer for nearly two weeks. The last deer that I had chased down made me sleep for a few days. Maybe this one will go longer. I liked deer, I like gnawing the meat of the bone and dragging it back to the cave. I slowly made my way towards the smell. It was strong like there were more than one. Maybe I could get a big one. From behind the trees, I could see a large elk, he was surrounded but a few deer. I wasn't a good hunter, the deer I caught last week was injured and had a dodgy leg. I could get this one. I charged, running as fast as I could. It was cold for the morning; I could see the dew on my paws. I could see the steam from my breath. As I started to approach the deer scattered, running every which way but I only had eyes for Elk. I continued running, my large paw pounding against the earth. Deer were agile, they could run fast and get over large rocks and tree trucks with one jump. I smack through a brush that it had jumped over and crashed into a fallen truck, smashing through it.

Suddenly, my face landed hard on the ground as I didn't see a ditch and my front paw landed it in. It hurt. Shooting pain erupted on my foot as my face stopped me mid-run, causing my body to tumble over. I rolled landing on my back, looking up to the sky. My face hurt. I saw a large sea eagle circling above. I was no good at catching deer. I would have to go back to the river for food.

I stayed on the floor for a while wondering if eating had always been this hard. To get food now I seem to have to work hard for it. A funny sound came from my inside as I looked down. Fish. I roared but it hurt my jaw to move it. The ground was hard. I rolled up and walked on three paws towards the river. I smelt something that was fish, was it coming from me? I remember not always smelling like this. I remember smelling like those humans that I found. The ones that come to take the deer. I was never like that.

The water was still cold, I could still the fish. The cold water felt nice on my sore paw. I plunged into the water; I wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. When I grabbed one and stood on my back feet, the water dripped off my fur leaving me dry. The fish was juicy, for some reason, I also thought of something tart or sour. My face would screw up, which still hurt from the ground. I ate a lot of fish before walking back to the cave. It was only small; it was away from those strange creatures. The ones that would look like animals and then look like humans. They would attack me if I came too close, then would hunt me if I took their pray. One would follow me; I didn't like her scent. She wanted to hurt us. She had hurt us enough; she needed to stay away. I would not let her hurt him, my human. He was inside me; he had refused to do anything for a long time now. I could not count time; I had no idea how long it had been or how many times the sun had come up. I don't remember, I don't care, I don't need it. The cave was warm, and I was tired. Sleep came over me.

Every time I woke up, I thought my human would stir, try, and take over as he used to. I used to hate him. He used to take these white things that he would put in his mouth. It would make me sleepy; it would make me not want to do anything. I knew he would be doing it because he didn't like me. All I wanted was my mate, my reason for being here. I wanted to go back to Kokoda, back to the life that I loved with the one I loved. Now I was stuck here with no mate, no human, and sleeping in a cave. My human did not want to come out, even when we heard his name being called. I ran the other way; I had a feeling I didn't want to be found. I was not found. I had not heard his name being called for a long time.

The water was cold this morning. I could see the fish and I grabbed one to eat. "Hunter!" I heard a voice. It was very faint; the humans were a long way away. I started to run. I ran the other way. My feet pounded on the ground as I heard it again "Hunter!" it was louder now. My human didn't stir but I had this feeling I had to keep running. There was a smell, I thought it might be deer, but it was bear. I smelt another bear. I had not smelt another bear around here since I had been here. There were no bears in this forest. "Hunter!" The voice was familiar, but I didn't want it near me. They would only hurt me again. They would only say bad things to my human, make him feel nothing as he does now. I turned running up the side of the mountain, towards the peak where the waterfall started. They would not find me up here, only animals could get here. The voices stopped as it turned from human voices to a roar. They were roaring now. They were not the stranger creatures that became panthers or jaguars, they were still bears. I stopped at the cliff edge at the start of the waterfall. The morning was windy, and the waterfall dropped far below.