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I try not to sound too eager or say something stupid, but I see Isaiah and Ash exchange an eyebrow raise with one another.
“Good, after what happened with the lab coats yesterday, I don’t want to take any chances that you’ll get hurt.” Chase tries to explain.
“Do you need my help setting up the tent or do you mind if I go wash off in the lake?” I ask.
Chase’s eyes dart over to the lake a couple of hundred feet away from where we have decided to set up camp. “Let me scope it out first and make sure you don’t run into any surprises.”
“Okay, can you hurry because I smell like a barnyard, and I really want to get cleaned up.” I smile shyly.
“You do not smell like a barnyard,” Chase says throwing me a somewhat hurt look as though I’d told him he was the one who smelled like a barnyard.
“She kind of does bro, I know you’ve got that whole sense of smell because she’s your-” A rock goes hurling at Isaiah and cuts him off before he can finish his sentence. “OW!”
I look back and forth between Chase and Isaiah. Both are staring at the other one like ‘I can’t believe you’ve just done that.’
Ash cracks up laughing as he piles up the camping gear.
My mouth hangs open, I’m his what? My mind reels but something tells me even if I ask, I won’t get an answer out of them.
“At least Isaiah is honest,” I say with a wink. “Would you mind scouting out the lake I am dying to get cleaned up and into a change of clothes. I’ve got to wash the ones I’m wearing and hang them to dry too.”
“Don’t do or say anything stupid,” Chase orders his friends before stalking off with red cheeks towards the lake.
In a few minutes he returns looking much less like a lobster. I straighten my shoulders and lean my head to the side as he comes over. “Here, I picked up a few things for you the last time we were in town.”
He extends a medium sized canvas bag. “You did what?” I asked surprised.
“Ash, Isaiah, and I can handle roughing it and obviously you can too but after all you’ve been through, I don’t want you to have to.” He says as though a little embarrassed.
Gratefully I take the bag from his hands but wait to open it until I am at the water’s edge. It’s weird, it’s only been about ten years since the world found out about the existence of shifters.
Of course, they’d always existed but with the rise of technology and everyone filming every moment of their lives itgot too difficult to keep a secret. Ten years ago, when the news broke, I was terrified.
I’d never have been able to imagine that now I’d be living on the road with two wolves, a bear, and now a panther. Aside from the whole shifting into an animal and having super strength and senses better than any human could possibly have, shifters aren’t much different than the rest of us.
Not everyone agrees but enough people do so that they are able to live alongside the rest of us. Now, getting to know Chase and his friends, I am really glad that they do.
I find a spot in the brush where I can have a bit of privacy to open the bag and to strip down for my bath. My fingers tremble as I unknot the tie that holds the bag shut.
“Oh wow,” a warmth spreads through my chest as I go through the contents of the bag. How thoughtful.
There is a towel, natural shampoo and conditioner, a new toothbrush and toothpaste, socks, a few pairs of pants and a few t-shirts. My heart skips a beat as I see the new bra and pack of underwear.
The right size and everything, how did he know that? Thank God I waited to open this up until I was down by the water.
Shaking my head I push my embarrassment aside; it doesn’t take much for the excitement of getting clean and having something fresh to wear washes over me.
When I get back to camp the tents are set up and a fire is roaring.
“There she is!” Ash hollers with a smile on his face.
“Smelling not even in the least bit like a barnyard I might add,” Isaiah says with a sly grin on his face.
Chase’s cheeks are pink as he shows me our tent. On a few branches nearby I hang the wet clothes I’d been wearing before to dry out.
“Thanks for the new clothes,” I say in a low voice.
“No problem,” he clears his throat. “I’d have gotten you some new shoes too but everything I could find would have fallen apart in a day or two. Next time we stop in a bigger town we can get you some comfortable shoes.”
