The Hunter

Visitor

As Mira woke, she stretched her arms above her head. The pain in her ribs reminded her why that was a bad idea. At least her ribs didn’t hurt as much as they had that morning. She opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times to let them adjust to the light. A rock stood in front of the small entrance of the cave, but enough space was between them to let in sunlight.

She sniffed the air only for the smells of damp leaves, trees and moss to greet her. Mixed among the smells was a faint trace of Collin’s unique scent. He hadn’t been there for a few hours. Had he put her here only to up and leave? What happened to his claim of needing her?

A shiver of fear went down her spine at the thought of him wandering these woods alone. The fear distracted her from the hurt she felt at him leaving. Her warring emotions were enough to tell her she’d gotten too attached. Maybe his departure was for the best. If only she could make herself believe that.

With a shake of her head, she groaned. The boy was going to make her have to track him down and she really didn’t have the energy for that. Of all the blasted woods he could have chosen, he picked this one. She wasn’t sure what would be worse: him wandering these woods alone or him finding his way onto pack lands? Either way he’d end up dead. The biggest difference between the two was that at least a pack would kill him quickly unlike the rogue wolves.

The forest was a safe haven for rogue wolves, and a campsite for a pack of former rogues lay about ten miles to the east. Normally, she’d stop to see them, but as it was, she’d already taken Collin too close to it. If Collin ever led hunters to the campsite, she’d never forgive herself.

Right now, she had two priorities: to keep Collin away from the rogue wolves in the woods and to make sure Collin didn’t find the campsite. The biggest hindrance to her plan was having no idea where Collin actually was.

Despite the pain in her ribs and back, she pushed herself up. Her legs refused to move and instead tripped her up. Thankfully, she caught herself on the cave wall before her face met the rock floor. The sleeping bag wrapped around her legs left her in a state of utter confusion. Why the heck would he leave his sleeping bag?

She groaned and shimmied out of the bag. After a couple of times of being in one, she was pretty sure they were a death trap. She rolled it up as she’d seen him do before. Albeit his looked much neater than this, but she’d managed a passable attempt.

Her eyes swept the cave before landing on his backpack leaning against the back. He’d gone out to set traps. She chastised herself for once again thinking the worst of him. The situation wasn’t much better, but he would stay closer to the cave this way. With a heavy sigh, she walked towards the entrance.

Right before she got to it, a familiar scent wafted towards her. She couldn’t help the smile that crept onto her face. The silhouette of a male figure appeared in the mouth of the cave. His light brown hair, trimmed beard and pale blue eyes hadn’t changed since the last time she’d seen him. As he walked towards her, he fiddled with the string on his track pants with a look of sheer puzzlement on his face.

“Why the heck do they bother with these strings?” he said before raising his head and cocking an eyebrow at her. “They just make it more difficult to take off before I shift.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “Why, hello to you, too, Thomas.”

“Huh?” He’d gone back to messing with the strings, but a light blush covered his cheeks. “Oh, hi, sorry. Guess I’m not really good with manners, huh?”

This time she rolled her eyes at him. “So what brings you out here?”

“Going to get a family of refugees from the Glacier pack.” Thomas wasn’t the only one who referred to the rogues coming to the campsite as refugees—most of the residents called themselves that. “Why are you wearing a shirt? Don’t you claim: ‘unless you’re at the campsite, your clothes are just going to get torn up so why bother’?”