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I raise my nose and get shivers all over as I breathe in her scent once again. It’s faint, but I can follow it.
“All right,” I mumble to my bear as I start walking. “It’s my turn.”
Don’t fuck it up, he grumbles back. There are no third chances.Chapter FourMadisonI’m in a bad spot now. I ran off the trail and it’s getting dark. If I’m able to find my way back to camp, there’s probably going to be a wounded (or dead) grizzly bear lying on my broken tent.
And the worst part is, I’m feeling guiltier than I’ve ever felt before.
The poor bear. He must have smelled the food cooking and came over for a quick bite. I just wasn’t willing to be that bite. I wasn’t about to get eaten.
I look around at the dark trees and get a shiver as I zip up my sweater. It gets cold here in the mountains at night, and I have a long dark freezing few hours ahead of me.
I doubt I’ll sleep a minute with the mountain lions, wolves, and bears prowling around, looking for their next meal.
“Oh crap,” I whisper when I hear a rustling in the darkness. Here comes one of them now.
I point the gun at the noise and wait in silence as it gets closer and closer.
The sliver of the moon is barely casting any light through the trees, giving me hardly any visibility. I wish I had my flashlight. I wish I had my ammo to reload this gun.
“Get back!” I scream when I hear a branch snap under the beast’s tremendous weight. I’m picturing lots of sharp claws and deadly teeth as I struggle not to pull the trigger over and over again until I’m out of bullets.
“It’s okay,” a deep masculine voice says from somewhere I can’t see.
Now my heart really starts pounding. It’s thrashing in my ears as my body trembles. A man? I wasn’t expecting a man.
I was expecting a wild animal who wanted to plunge its claws and teeth into me, but a man might want to plunge something else inside of me and that is not going to happen.
“I have a gun!” I scream as loud as I can. “Get back and leave me alone or I’ll let it rip!”
“I’m not going to hurt you,” says the voice in a calm manner. “I just want to talk.”
“Then talk!” I shout. “But if you take one more step closer, I’m pulling the trigger and I’m not stopping until your body looks like Swiss cheese!”
The rustling stops. All I can hear over my pounding heart is his slow deep breaths.
“Who are you?” I shout in a panic.
“I’m someone who’s been looking for you for a long time. I’m someone you’re destined to meet.”
“Oh, that’s not creepy at all!” I snap back. Fuck this. I’m out of here.
I start running back in the direction I think my camp is in, but it’s so dark and I can barely see anything. Branches keep coming out of nowhere and whipping my cheeks as I run. I trip on a root and fall, but I spring back up and keep running.
I don’t know where Mr. Pervy Creeper is, but I’m not slowing down to find out.
Finally, I see the light of my dwindling campfire in the distance and I pick up my pace. I just hope the grizzly bear is not still there and looking for revenge. Thankfully, it looks like he’s moved on.
I run toward the fire so I can quickly grab my things and then leave. I’ll never survive out here in the wilderness without my bag and my tent.
Wait a minute. Where the fuck is my tent?
The broken poles are here, but the colorful nylon is gone.
Did that bear take it? Why??
And why are my clothes all ripped up?
I don’t have time to make sense of any of this. I have to keep moving. Quickly.
I’m throwing things into my bag as fast as I can as I keep an eye on the dark forest, hoping I don’t get any more unwanted visitors.
“Yes,” I whisper when everything is packed. I slip my arm through a strap and then hoist my bag onto my back as I keep an eye out for danger.
Danger comes.
The silhouette of a huge man cuts through the night sky and I curse under my breath as I grip my gun and point it at him.
“That’s close enough,” I warn as my finger strokes the trigger.
He takes one more step and the orange glow of the fire lights him up.
“What the hell?” I gasp when I see him.
This man is a giant. A shirtless giant.
My eyes are drawn to his massive chest first. The fear that was flowing through my veins starts to get replaced by a warm desire to snuggle up against it.
