The Hunter

Out of Luck

The scent of nearby wolves invaded Mira’s nostrils and panic overtook reason. Without thinking, she ran ahead a few paces and stopped right in front of Collin. As he stumbled to a stop, she quickly bolted towards the mountain to their left and away from the pack’s land. The mere idea of a wolf pack finding their scents had her sprinting forward in fear, with Collin struggling to keep pace. She’d been so lost in her thoughts she’d almost run them within two miles of one of her worst nightmares.

When Collin’s footsteps slowly fell behind her, she dropped her pace slightly. She couldn’t let up too much, because if the wolf pack caught them, Collin would be dead and she’d be worse than dead. With her senses on high alert, she led them up the side of mountain. The pack would be less likely to follow them over the mountain, and she hoped it’d be enough to shake them.

They had a few more hours of good light, and if they ran the entire time, they’d get to a spot where they could rest for a bit. Hopefully, Collin would manage with only a couple of hours of sleep, because she refused to risk more than that, especially in the mountains. Worse things than packs lingered in mountains, but the odds of survival there outweighed staying below. She only hoped that for once luck was on her side.

As the light dwindled, a faint scent on the wind had Mira pushing them farther. By the time the full moon showed its face, Collin could barely jog. Small caves were everywhere in the mountains and all she needed was to find an uninhabited one.

She followed her nose to a cave with the least number of animal smells. It was really more of a hole in the side of the mountain, but it was dry and provided some protection. Not wanting to take any additional risks, she bit Collin’s pant leg and pulled him to the back corner. He stood stock still and his eyes followed her every movement as she went to the entrance and sniffed.

Satisfied that nothing was there, she walked back over to Collin and waited. The longer he stood there staring at her, the more frustrated she became. Finally, she shifted and held out her hand. His eyes widened and he quickly took off his backpack and handed her a shirt.

After she pulled it on, he slumped against the cave wall and took small sips from one of his water bottles. He nodded his head toward his bag and she grabbed another for herself. His exhaustion was clear, and he wouldn’t take it well when she told him they could only stay here for a few hours.

“Do you always do that?” Collin’s eyes finally met hers. “Or was that some kind of rogue wolf version of hazing?”

She chuckled before sitting in front of him facing the entrance. “I wish I could say it was a hazing.”

“What’s going on?” He rummaged through his pack and nudged her shoulder with a bag of berries. “You haven’t relaxed since we got here.”

Popping a few berries in her mouth, she was too focused on the entrance to be able to form a coherent answer. She wished she could, but it probably would have sounded more like: ‘Pack lands. Safest in cave, but not safe in the mountains. Need to watch the entrance.’ In other words, she’d make no sense at all.

“Fine,” he huffed and stood. “It’s going to get cold up here tonight, so I’m going to go try to find some pine branches or something, anything, to make a fire.”

“Don’t move from behind me.” Her chest rumbled with a growl as her hand shot out and grabbed his pant leg and practically threw him back towards the wall.

“Mira?” His voice held a hint of fear, but the fear was of her and her actions not the situation. “Please tell me what’s going on.”

After she finished eating a few more berries, he still refused to move from his position against the wall. She put the berry bag behind her and forced herself to tear her eyes away from the entrance. Her body tensed—she wanted nothing more to shift and turn back to it.

The moonlight glinted off the knife clenched in his hand. His eyes never left her, but he made no move to try and attack her. She glanced back at the opening and sniffed. Digging her nails into the palms of her hands hard enough to break the skin, she forced herself not to shift. She could fight better in wolf form and she hated the vulnerability she felt as a human.

“Pack lands,” she finally muttered. “I almost led us onto pack lands. If the pack catches a hunter’s scent, they’ll follow it. We aren’t safe here. I’m sorry if I hurt you, but you need to stay behind me.”

With a sigh, he slowly sunk onto the ground behind her and sheathed his knife. “Next time just tell me. I thought you’d gone rabid or something. Heck, for a bit there, I even thought it might be something to do with the full moon. I know the full moon isn’t supposed to affect shifters, but I had no idea what was going on.”

“I’m sorry.” Her eyes never left the entrance. “I don’t really form coherent sentences when I get too focused. I’m half surprised this even makes a tiny bit of sense.”

He chuckled and started unrolling his sleeping bag behind her. “Are you really that worried that they’re going to find us?”

She nodded despite feeling guilty about only telling him half the truth. “Can you hand me a piece of the dried deer meat?”

“Oh, yeah.” He placed a cup with a few strips in it. “Sorry, forgot about that. I’m officially too tired to even eat that much. I never thought I’d see the day.”

Her eyes flicked to him and she smiled as she shook her head. With a mouthful of meat, she couldn’t really answer, but that didn’t dissuade him from continuing to talk. “You didn’t hurt me earlier, by the way, but I kind of thought you were looking for a place to put my body for a minute or two.”

The glare she gave him would have been more intimidating if she weren’t smiling at his lame attempt at easing the tension. “We need to leave early, so you might want to get some sleep.”

She stripped off the shirt and shifted. The shirt fluttered to the ground next to her, and he grabbed it and shoved it in his bag. She hadn’t missed the chill in the air or the way he nestled down into his bag. If they were going to continue going north, he needed warmer clothes. She chided herself at that thought. He wouldn’t be going north with her, because if they went to a town, he’d be going home.

“G’night Mira,” Collin muttered.

When his breathing evened out, she moved closer to the entrance and lay down on the floor with her head on her paws. Her eyes drooped close, and she drifted off into a light sleep. But as always, luck wasn’t on her side.

The light pad of feet woke her and her eyes shot open. A set of glowing eyes stared past her and into the cave. Fear clenched her chest. She’d promised to protect him and, at the very least, she’d die trying.