The Hunter

More Harm Than Good

**Disclaimer** Contains more cursing than normal!

Branches scratched Mira’s legs as they walked through the woods. Mira could sense someone watching them, but she couldn’t locate them. Every time she thought she had, the scent and everything would vanish. It didn’t make sense. She refused to run, even if the situation unnerved her. They could run right into a trap and that would end up doing more harm than good. No, right now they had to keep their wits about them and pinpoint the person watching them.

Her nose twitched as she continued to search for that fleeting scent. Pine sap, damp dirt, a couple of squirrels, a small herd of caribou, and even a mythical moose—she had a theory they didn’t actually exist since in all her years of tracking what others claimed was their scent she had yet to see one—surrounded them, but those all belonged! What she wanted was the scent that didn’t. Why couldn’t she pinpoint it? It frustrated her beyond belief.

“I told you to wear pants,” Collin said from behind her. “Your legs are getting all scratched up.”

“They’ll heal in a minute, so it’s not a big deal.”

Mira sniffed the air and scanned the nearby bushes while moving forward at what she hoped was a casual walking pace. Her hand tightened around the backpack custom made for her wolf form. She hadn’t wanted to leave it behind, so she opted for carrying it. Still nothing. She regretted staying in human form now. At the time, it seemed smart. She could carry more as a human, but now she wanted the sharper teeth and senses to defend them.

“I know.” Collin sighed and put his hand on her arm to stop her. She paused but didn’t turn to look at him—she couldn’t get distracted with him. “As much as I hate seeing you get hurt, that’s not why I’m worried right now.”

Her head swiveled towards him of its own accord and she studied his face. “I’m confused.”

“You’re leaving blood on the branches every time they scratch you.” Her face must have visibly paled because he smiled and rubbed both of her arms. Why hadn’t she thought of that? Normally she did, but she was too upset about letting Claude go off by himself. “Look, why don’t we take a break and you can put pants on quickly?”

Should she stop and prevent people from tracking her while letting the people currently stalking them get ahead of them? Or should she leave a trail and stop those nearby from setting a trap for them? Neither solution sat well with her, but she didn’t have any proof people were actually there.

“Okay, grab pants for me. Quickly.” She turned her back towards him so he could get in the human backpack she currently wore—the straps of the wolf pack slapped against her legs because of how quickly she moved.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to just take off the backpack?” Collin spoke slowly. “Or do you know something I don’t?”

“I don’t know anything for sure, but please just get the pants for me.” Mira huffed. When he hesitated, she said, “Please. Just trust me.”

She’d been on edge ever since Claude left them yesterday, but the feeling of being watched made it worse. Oh, how she wanted Claude to be with them. He could take to the trees and scout for the invisible watcher or watchers. That might have been her wanting to validate her desire to stay together, but either way, she wished they had. They wouldn’t have even gone north if they had stuck together, and who is to say that this thing would have found them if they had gone south?

A brush of cloth against her arm brought her out of her reverie and she grabbed the pants from Collin. A small smile crept onto her lips, which he returned. After another quick glance around and a sniff, she laid the wolf-pack over a branch before slipping into the pants, which is easier said than done. The difficulty probably came from the fact she hadn’t taken off her boots. Now dead leaves, pine needles and dirt filled her pant legs and kept dropping down into the top of her boots.