The Hunter

Games

It took a few minutes, but Mira had finally stopped shaking. After that, she spent what felt like forever trying to convince Collin that she was really fine. The only way she got him to leave was by promising that she wouldn’t wander off and that she’d let him bandage her back when he finished his bath.

The one loophole in his conditions was that he never defined what he meant by “wandering off”. For all she knew, it could mean a 5 mile radius. Despite trying to reassure herself that it would be fine, she still stayed pretty close to the unfinished javelins. If rogues showed up, she needed to be able to get back to him or worse yet, if the trackers came.

As she walked parallel to the shore of the pond, her nose twitched, searching for any strange scents. Nothing unusual stuck out. She retraced her steps and continued on past their meeting spot. Trying to find intruders distracted her from the bigger issues floating in the back of her mind.

Well, technically, they weren’t really intruders, but her wolfish side had already claimed this area as her own. It was pure raw instinct—this was the place she’d stayed the longest in a while and it therefore was hers. After she cleared the area, she headed back to the equipment.

She had no idea how Collin was taking so long to bathe. He was a guy; didn’t guys take less time getting ready? She remembered that from before her rogue days. Should she go check on him? What if rogues had slipped past her? She paced the clearing for another few minutes before the sound of his footsteps reached her. It took a lot of mental strength not to run to him and search for injuries.

When Collin walked into the clearing, she stopped her pacing as he said, “What happened to you sticking around here?”

“I did.” She cocked her head at him and he chuckled. “Why are you laughing?”

“You are so wolf-like at times.” He smiled at her. “It’s kind of adorable.”

The look on his face said it all. He was trying to get a reaction out of her. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction and rolled her eyes. “We need to get moving soon. If we continue north for another couple of days, we’ll get close to a Hunter town. Thought it’d be a good place for you to go and contact your brother.”

His smile dropped when she mentioned the Hunter town and his face transformed into an impassive mask. “Right.” He stopped talking to assess her—his facial features giving nothing away. “That’s a good plan, but how are you going to manage in that town? Wouldn’t a human one be better?”

“Some of the more… volatile rogues live in human towns.” She sighed. “And I’m not going to take you to the town. I’ll take you about 10 miles out and you can run from there. It should be safe.”

“Gotcha.” He nodded and sat down on the log again.

She could have sworn she saw smoke pouring out of his ears at how hard he was thinking. While he never intentionally gave anything away, the tensing of his shoulders indicated something was wrong. Once again she found herself second guessing his motives without just cause. After a frustrated sigh, she plopped herself on the ground and leaned against a tree. She’d forgotten about the tenderness of her back and flinched when the rough bark scratched her through the shirt.

Collin swore and stood up before swooping down and grabbing her arm. As he pulled her to her feet, he mumbled under his breath until he had her sitting down on the log. He leaned over his backpack and rifled through it. With the brown medical bag in hand, he walked back over to her, he lifted the back of her shirt and started to work on her wounds.

The alcohol burned significantly less at this point, which came as a relief. It’d hurt badly the first time. As he started putting on bandages, he said, “Sorry. With everything else I forgot about your back. I guess it’s a good thing I’m going back to town. I’m running out of medical supplies.”