AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Besides, she was the one panicking about the river. Here she’d thought Brett would be the problem, but maybeshewould be the one to ruin the assignment.
“Wait,” Brett said suddenly, snapping Ellie out of her ruminations. “Why do we have to be mindful of the daylight?”
Ellie chewed her lip, pausing before she answered so she could choose her words wisely. She wasnice,after all. Brett had reminded her of that.Be nice.“Because it’s no fun trying to pitch a tent in darkness. If we stop too late in the day, it will be hard to find a suitable site to camp.”
She tried to give her best smile, but she could only manage to pull up one corner of her lip for a second. Anxiety had fully extinguished all her optimism and excitement about the assignment. Would she have to teach Brett every step of the way? How much would that slow her down? Forget her grade; what if they couldn’t make it to the extraction point on time?
What if she gotwet?
Ellie’s stomach was in knots, and her mind was almost out of control at this point. She envisioned herself as a cat clawing the raft to pieces in an attempt to stay out of the water. Maybe it was silly to fear that she wouldn’t be able to keep her shit together in her human form, but Ellie also knew how she reacted to rain as a cat. It wasn’t pretty.
“What do you shift into?”Brett’s warm voice somehow soothed her anxiety.
“A cat,” she replied quickly, ready for him to share his animal too.
“Oh. That explains the look on your face. You look terrified.” His words seemed sincere, and she almost thought that he sounded as if he felt bad for her.Him? Feel bad forme?
“I am good at camping and hiking, though,” she added, not wanting the pity from the man who’d never been camping before. She looked down at the blue squiggle on the map that symbolized the river they would be trekking down, still waiting for him to share his animal side. She almost didn’t want to know the answer. What if he was another animal that hated getting wet? Maybe they could just spend all their time in their human forms and avoid water if necessary. Finally, she had to ask, “You don’t change into a cat, do you?”
“No.” Brett shook his head. “I do not shift into a cat.”
Ellie let out a sigh of relief. She could let go of the picture of two wet cats stuck in a raft. That sounded like a shifter horror flick.
“I’m a sloth.” A shy smile spread slowly across Brett’s freckled face.
Her heart sank.Shit.I am going to be a cat in water with a slow-as-molasses sloth on a timed assignment. We are so fucked.
Sometimes being a shifter was fun, but in circumstances like this, it was stressful! Ellie used to love outdoor activities. Or at least, she thought she did. Images of canoe trips were part of her pre-experiment memories. Those memories always came with a sense of peace, so she assumed she used to enjoy water—at least as long as her shoes didn’t get waterlogged. But now, the cat inside of her shrunk at the thought of being anywhere near it.
“What’s wrong?” Brett asked, his brows furrowed in concern.
Ellie didn’t want to tell him her worries about him slowing her down, so she gave him half of the truth. “My cat side isn’t a fan of water.”
She hunched her back, feeling slightly defeated before the assignment even began. Fears of wet feet and clothes filled her mind. Worse, what if she freaked out in the raft and caused them to flip? Or the rapids popped their boat? Then she’d be wet for sure. The whole thing made her uneasy and gnawed at her stomach. Ellie chewed on her lip as more scenarios flooded her brain.
Brett puffed up his chest. “I will do my best to keep you dry.”
A slow smile spread across Ellie’s face, tugging at the corners of her mouth.What a sweet thing to say. He was a chivalrous knight at her service. “Thanks,” she said softly as her anxiety began to melt away. She knew it was probably impossible to stay dry on the trip, but something about Brett’s confidence was soothing. Maybe the assignment would be better than she initially thought. The world didn’t end every time a cat got wet. Ellie had to slow her roll and put everything back in perspective.
If only her anxiety would agree with her and take a backseat on this one. Unfortunately, the FUC scientists had yet to come up with a cure for undesirable nerves, so it would just take practice and courage to overcome it.
“But you may have to help me stay awake,” Brett said, stretching back into a yawn. “Sloths like to sleep a lot!”
Damn it.Ellie’s eyes widened in horror. Yep, her first thought was right. This assignment was going to be a struggle for the both of them.
The outdoors wasn’t something that Brett was a pro at, which probably wasn’t a surprise to any of his classmates. He had never been camping growing up, and when he found himself in a forest, he generally wanted to climb into the boughs of a tree and take a nap. He couldn’t help it. His sloth side enjoyed sleeping.
Brett couldn’t believe his ears when Grayson read the groups out. Brett was partnered with Ellie Talbot, the smartest cadet in his class, for the biggest assignment yet. Ellie was the single person who seemed to have an exceptionally vast knowledge of all things survival. She was the one who knew all the answers to any questions their instructors lobbed at them, from naming edible plants in the region to listing various methods to start a fire. In contrast, Brett had to work hard at his grade. This was not an easy class for him.
He didn’t know Ellie that well outside of the classroom, but he’d been drawn to her since the first time he laid eyes on her. With those strange shadows rolling off her at all times, others might find her creepy, but Brett thought she was unique.
And quite beautiful.
Plus, she was nice, always having a smile for whoever she passed in the hallways. Brett had wanted to get to know her better but hadn’t yet found the courage to do more than just smile or wave from a distance. Now it would all change. This assignment gave him the opportunity to finally talk to Ellie.
When Ellie’s face dropped after they started working on their plan, it saddened him. She was always so cheerful, so it was difficult to see her worried. Even her shadows appeared bummed out as they dropped off of her arms as she slumped back into the chair. That was when Brett blurted out, “I will do my best to keep you dry,” like some dork. The second the words were out of his mouth, Brett regretted them, especially when Ellie gave a weak smile before chewing on her lip again.
He mentally slapped himself on the forehead. The words he uttered were cringe-worthy, and he found himself shrinking back from Ellie, his confidence shrinking too. He might as well get a giant “L” tattooed on his forehead.
