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Charlie yawned and stirred, then opened her eyes.
“Good morning, sunshine,” he said.
* * *
The three ofthem tried to eat breakfast, but no one had any enthusiasm for it — besides, all they had was a couple of eggs and the venison Kade had gotten then day before. Kade tried to make an omelet, but it didn’t turn out very well.
In the end, Charlie dressed in their clothes — much, much too big — in the hopes that it would make her look like she’d escaped.
Then they left the cabin, Daniel and Kade shifted, and they walked to where her pack was in silence, Kade leading the way.
The forest was quiet. It was almost too quiet, but Daniel knew that he was just on high alert, listening for every twig that snapped and every bird that called out even once. Charlie had to stop and rest a couple of times, but she insisted on walking herself, rather than riding one of them.
“Stop it,” she told Daniel, as she was sitting on a rock. He was nudging her leg with his nose. “I’m not riding you. I need to look like I actually walked through the woods.”
He sighed and sat down, his head on his paws. In bear form, it was much harder to control his impulses — and his impulse in this case was to pick her up as gently as he could with his mouth and carry her back to safety.
Humans didn’t like that, and he knew it.
At last, they reached her pack, and he could tell that Charlie was relieved. All the way over she’d been fretting about what she would do if it were gone, but as she pawed through it, everything was there.
“I don’t know why they didn’t take it,” she said. “They probably should have.”
Daniel and Kade shifted back to human, both on high alert, as Charlie shouldered the pack.
“You’re coming back, aren’t you?” Kade asked.
“Didn’t I promise?” Charlie said, smiling up at him.
He kissed her hard, and then Daniel did too.
He felt like his heart might kick through his chest, but he’d laid awake all night without thinking of a better alternative.
“Be safe,” he told her. “Please.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said.
She kissed them both again.
“Go,” she said.
Then she turned around and started walking toward the wolves’ ranch, at least a few hours’ walk away.
