The Hunt

Chapter 11

I help my brother fix the door. While fixing the door, we introduced Clio to the wonderful world of power tools. Her reaction was adorable, until we had to chase her for the drill after she refused to give it up. After taking way longer than necessary to fix the door, we finished at around noon. My walking ability has mostly returned. However, Clio insists she "hold me up" everywhere I go now. I never realized how much she towers over me. I'm about 5 feet 11 inches tall, and she is nearly a foot taller than me. "I'm hungry. You guys wanna go hunting?" She sees the look of complete confusion on our faces. "Do humans not eat?" I have just realized we are her first experience with humans. To be fair to her, we haven't eaten much since we met due to the events that unfolded. "How about this. I'll cook us lunch, and you guys can hunt for dinner later. Sound good?" The ear twitch. "How could I say no to being fed?" I smile and walk back into the camper to the fridge. I have no idea what she eats. I feel her wrap her arms around me, gently resting her chin atop my head as I open the small fridge. I pull out hotdogs from the fridge, knowing she's a wolf, so meat is a safe bet. I grab buns, condiments, and a water bottle and head back out to the fire. I just realized we only have two chairs. Before I could think, I'm being picked up and set down on Clio's lap. I put 4 hot dogs on a stick and start roasting them over the hot coals. She pulls me tight against her, resting her chin on my head once again. "Hey, Matthias!" I jump and look around. I've heard that voice before, but I can't remember who it belongs too. "Welcome back! How was your winter?" I look over at the camper next to ours and see her. A cheerful lady, probably in her thirties or so waving at me from a window. I can feel Clio's grip on my waist instantly become unbearably tight when she hears the voice. I tap her hand, gently indicating she's squeezing the life out of me. I feel her loosen her grip slightly, accompanied by a growl. "Hello, it was good. You?" She smiles and disappears. "I hate her. I wanna make her go away." I feel Clio's claws poke my stomach softly, reminding me that she is still deadly. The lady emerges from the front of her camper, causing Clio to growl much louder this time, sending chills down my spine. "Hey, do you mind stopping there?" She looks confused and stops in her tracks, unaware that I'm sitting on her imminent demise. "You know with the virus and all, just trying to stay safe." She nods. "Ah, you're right. Do anything interesting over the winter?" I shrug and focus on the hot dogs, trying to ignore the claws that are still slightly poking my stomach through my clothes. "Not really, you?" I see her shrug out of the corner of my eye. "Not much. Find your better half yet?" That question was out of left field. "Yeah..." I glance behind me at Clio and start smiling like an idiot. "I found her." As soon as I said that, I felt her claws, as well as Clio's grip, relax. Her growling also went from an audible rumble to a light vibration on the top of my head. At this point, my neighbor realized I'm sitting on someone, not something. She also realized that who I'm sitting on is far from typical. "What's their name?" I smile softly, anxiety probably strewn across my face. "Clio." She smiles. "Hi, Clio. It's nice to meet you. I'm Brittany." I feel the ear twitch, yet Clio stays silent. "She's uh... shy today." Brittany awkwardly nods. "I see she does cosplay. She's great at it! She had me sold there for a bit!" I start sweating nervously. "Yeah... Cosplay... Definitely..." I can tell Brittany is very uncomfortable now. "Cool... Hey nice talking. I'm gonna go home. Talk to ya later." I sigh in relief. "Yep, Later." I just realized I'm nearly burning the hot dogs at this point. I pull them off the stick and place them into buns. "Clio, love. She's gone now." I feel her grip soften for the third time and a loud sigh. "Do you want anything on your hotdog?" I look up at her, flames still in her eyes. "Hello?" I reach up and poke her nose gently, which snaps her back to reality and accidentally startles her. "I don't know. What do you put on them?" I lean up and gently kiss her chin to relax her. "How about this. I'll put stuff on for you, and then you tell me what you like and don't." She smiles and nods, the caring Clio that I know finally back. I put everything on the hot dog and hand it to her. She quickly eats it, as expected. I look up to see her face when she finishes it, which emits nothing but pure bliss. "I love it!!!" I hand Alex two hot dogs and make two more for me. Clio intently watches as I make the remaining four just for her. I don't even need to ask if she wants seconds. I finish making them and hand the food to Clio, who gleefully eats them quickly. A burp from Clio indicates she's satisfied. After lunch, we go to retrieve the firewood that is still scattered across the forest from two nights ago. Clio has a fun time recreating that night, showing us where she stalked me from. We slowly brought the wood back to the camper, Clio carrying easily my weight in wood each trip. When we finished, we all sat around the fire once more. "Wanna go hunting for dinner?" I'm currently sitting sideways in her lap, leaning into her chest. "You and Alex go. I won't be any help, hon." She makes me look, her orange eyes expressing pure worry. "Nonsense! You would help keep me motivated!" I smile reassuringly and rub her cheek. "I promise I'll be fine. I'll stay here and clean the camper, you two go and get us some dinner." I stand up and scratch her head softly. "Fine. But when I come back, you owe me." Wait, what does she mean by that? "Wait, what do y..." I'm cut off by a deep kiss and a gentle nip on my bottom lip. Thankfully, her fangs don't break the skin, instead just igniting the flame inside me. "Be back, love." she says after breaking the kiss. My brother and Clio walk into the woods, off to find dinner. I walk back into the camper and sigh, looking around at the very messy room. "Alone to think and clean at last."