He took hold of her hand. “You’re only mine.”
She chuckled. It took them forever to reach their camp, and they saw the other men walking on the trail toward their own camp. Grayson’s face and head were bloodied, and the blood was seeping through his cargo pants and T-shirt.
“Hell, man, did you tangle with a cougar?” one of the men asked, his eyes wide with concern.
“Grizzly. This is their time to mate. I just got between a couple of grizzlies fighting over a female. Just be cautious out there,” Grayson said.
Which was true, even if she and he had been the grizzlies involved in the fight. Humans needed to be careful not to get hurt in a situation like that.
“Grizzly bear? Which direction were they in?” the one camper asked.
They couldn’t tell them they’d gone off trail. “Oh, I’m sure they have left the area already. Just keep an eye out, don’t make eye contact, back off if you encounter one,” Kendra said. “And of course you should always bring bear spray, a bear horn, or a banger.”
“Got it,” the one guy said, patting his backpack. “Are you leaving your campsite?”
“Yeah,” Kendra said before Grayson could answer them. “We’re going to the hospital. If you get into a bear fight, infection can set in, so you want to have someone clean the wounds.”
The guys exchanged looks, as if they wanted to end their stay there too. “Can we help you?”
“We have a friend coming to help. Thanks,” Grayson said.
“All right. Well, take care.” The three men hiked off.
When Rowland arrived, he helped them pack up the camp and carried some of it back down the trail toward the parking lot. He had wanted to carry more of it so that Grayson wouldn't have to carry very much, but Grayson was fine. He didn't want to act like he was an invalid, though he was banged up quite a bit.
They walked in silence for hours until they finally reached the parking lot, where Rowland helped them load their gear into Grayson’s SUV.
"Are you going to search for him some more?" Grayson asked.
"I think you're probably right. That Younger would have packed it in and taken off, either to get more camping gear or to find somewhere else to hide, but since I’m here, I’ll search a little longer. I'm surprised he hasn't already left the state," Rowland said.
"Maybe he wants to grab his stepson when he's bonded out and then leave the state. Even though he's the stepdad, he might want to save him so he doesn't go to trial, or he wants to ensure the kid doesn't tell on him. He might not trust him to keep his mouth shut," Grayson said.
"Who's handling Billy's bail bond?" Rowland asked.
"My dad." Grayson knew he’d done it to see if they could put the kid back in jail if he broke any of the rules.
"That's good, then you can take him into custody if he flees," Rowland said.
"And if they're together, catch them both," Kendra said.
They looked over the vehicles parked there, sniffing them for any sign that Younger had a different vehicle, but none had his scent. Grayson presumed Younger had taken off.
"You get him looked after," Rowland said to Kendra. "I'm going to check out the area some more. I shouldn't have the kind of trouble you had unless I run into a female and a male thinks I'm after her."
"Just be careful," Kendra said.
"Yeah."
Kendra checked her phone and said, "Oh, Amy texted me saying that we were going to run into bear trouble at Glacier National Park."
"Now she tells us." Grayson eased into the passenger's seat of his SUV since Kendra was standing at the driver's door, and he knew she wasn't going to let him drive.
"We were running as bears, while our phones were in our backpacks. She texted us well before you were in the fight."
"That’s amazing."
“It is.” Kendra got another call. "Hey, Amy."
