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Nope. Which means hunting and gardening are the main sources of food. My steps grew eager as I approached the border of our land. I sniffed, picking up the scent of a rabbit. It wouldn’t be enough to take home but it would ease the ache in my own stomach. Problem is food is scarce. It was a bad growing season and most of the hunts are unsuccessful.
Wolves hunt in packs, he mentioned casually and I gnashed my teeth.
It’s not my ability, I retorted in irritation. I have to go further to find meat, I explained, reining in my anger as I pounced on my dinner. I tore into the rabbit, finishing it in seconds. Every year there are less animals.
Do you know why? I sensed his puzzlement. It would be difficult to over hunt the land since I was essentially the only predator around.
They sense the wrongness, I suggested and felt his unease. It matched my own. Every year the crops grew smaller and the hunts less successful. It was as if my mother’s curse spread, contaminating every inch of the land. The land is poisoned, cursed by grief.
You can hunt our lands, he offered and I shook my head, ears flapping, even though he couldn’t see.
No, I answered, zeroing in on a fresh trail. We don’t need your help.
He hummed, but I didn’t respond as I stalked my prey, unyielding on this point. What’s mine is yours, he finally mentioned. That’s the way it is with mates.
I hope that doesn’t mean you expect me to share my dinner, I retorted, the wild boar coming into sight. A tingle of fear went through me as I watched the beast root in the dirt, its sharp tusks gleaming in the moonlight.
What are you hunting? Caleb questioned abruptly. Dru, he said sharply when I didn’t answer immediately. What are you hunting?
Whatever is available, I said evasively.
That’s not an answer. His growing concern pressed down on me. I should be with you.
You should be with your own Pack, I retorted, slinking forward. Now be quiet so I can concentrate. His emotions cut off abruptly, but I could still sense him with me, a Pack mate ready to offer assistance.
Boar, I answered and he cursed. A second later though, possible strategies flooded through the link, images of successful hunts, and I smiled, filing them away as I prepared to lunge, my best chance a surprise attack.
My teeth sank into tough hide and I immediately started to shake my head, trying to tear through as it squealed, twisting its body to get me off. I hung on, trying to avoid the sharp tusks and hooves. Blood made it slippery and my grip loosened, and the boar gave a hard shake and sent me skidding to the side. The boar trumpeted, not turning to run, but instead turning to charge me. I moved, but not fast enough as one of those sharp tusks pierced my side, and I twisted, using my claws to rip into its underbelly.
My teeth snapped at its neck, finally sinking in deep enough to do damage. I felt it start to weaken and clung, desperate to end the fight as blood oozed from my side. Luck wasn’t with me though as a snuffling snort broke through the clearing, and another boar trotted into view. I started to back away, dragging the dying boar with me, not prepared to take on another one.
It stopped, sniffing the air, its beady eyes focusing on me, and I prayed it would turn and go the other way. It scratched the ground and I dropped the boar clamped between my jaws as the latest one charged me.
Get behind it, Caleb directed and I obeyed, leaping over the charging boar. Attack it from behind.
I twisted, nipping at the boar’s hind leg, hearing it squeal as my teeth broke bone.
Gut it.
My claws tore through its belly, feeling a hoof shatter one of my ribs but I didn’t stop, knowing this was my only chance. I kicked with my back legs, sending it slamming against a tree, a loud crack telling me its spine had snapped.
I collapsed on the ground, blood seeping faster from where the tusk had gotten me, and each breath was harder than the last as the bone from my shattered rib pressed on my lungs.
Shift, Caleb instructed, shift before you bleed out.
I blinked, the trees blurring as the pain started to fade.
Dru, a voice yelled. Dru, shift now. Dru, please. His panic plucked at me, sharpening my focus. If you don’t shift you’ll die.
That didn’t sound so bad, I thought.
It’s very bad, he replied desperately. I need you. Paige needs you.
Her name sent a jolt through me, and a hiss escaped me as pain pierced through the numbness.
That’s it, come on, Princess. Fight. Strength filled me, first a trickle and then a flood as I felt the force of his will through the connection we shared. Do not leave me, he ordered and my nose twitched at the command. You don’t like that? Do something about it, he dared, reading my emotions easily.
