Chapter Fourteen
AURELIA
She moved it,” I announce in disappointment. “She moved her den.”
“Of course she did,” Zeke responds, sounding a little too pleased with my disappointment. “Didn’t you say it was a bear that did this?” He gestures to the destroyed den that Thorin is currently crouched in front of.
“Yeah.”
“It was likely a rogue male,” Thorin says as he inspects the den. “This is his territory now. The she-wolf will want to take her pups somewhere safer.”
Oh. Well, I guess that makes sense. “You can track her, can’t you? Where would she go?”
Thorin stands and comes closer until he’s standing right in front of me.
Weirdly, Zeke is the one who doesn’t seem to want to leave my side. He’s been hovering ever since we left the river. He probably thinks I’m leading them into a trap and his proximity to me will lessen the chances of it working.
“Songbird, the last thing we’ll want to do is disturb her and force her to move her pups again.”
“I understand. She doesn’t have to know we’re there, and I promise I’ll do whatever you say. I won’t make noise. I’ll stay downwind. I just want to make sure they’re okay.”
“Why is this so important to you?” Zeke asks in that word-vomit way that tells me he didn’t really mean to.
“I told you,” I say without meeting his gaze. “She’s my friend.”
“Khalil and Thorin must be sore company if you’re befriending the wildlife. You should know it’s one-sided, Aurelia. The she-wolf is a wild animal. She can’t be tamed.”
“You didn’t think so when you pet her.”
“I…” He blanches. “What?”
“Technically, Seth did. I wasn’t there, but Khalil and Thorin told me all about it. To be honest, I still think they’re making it up. Care to humor me with a replay?”
Zeke recovers from his shock and sneers at me, but it lacks conviction. “Hoping I lose a hand?”
“Don’t be silly, rabbit. I’m not unreasonable. A couple of fingers will do.”
Zeke’s lips part, and I brace myself for whatever vitriol he feels I’ve earned this time. Fortunately, Thorin interrupts before he can. “If you two are done flirting, we should get moving.”
“We’re not flirting,” Zeke and I deny at the same time.
“Let’s go,” he orders again.
Thorin leads the way, and it takes us two hours before we finally track Meera’s den to a small cave halfway between Big Bear and Maia.
The cave is burrowed into the sidewall of a dried riverbed.
The mouth of the den is small, though, making it impossible for a human to enter unless they’re on their bellies.
Of course, Thorin won’t let me anywhere near it.
He only allows me close enough to spot the pups playing outside of the cave while Meera devours a gray hare soaked in blood.
“So that’s Meera,” Zeke says as he studies the tawny wolf.
“Yup.” I grin.
“She’s beautiful.”
“Isn’t she?” I squeal like a proud mama.
Thorin gives me a sharp look in reprimand, and I wince and lower my voice. “Sorry. Can she see us?” The three of us are lying on our bellies on the much higher elevated side of the riverbed.
“Not at the moment, but she’ll hear us if we’re not careful. We’re downwind, so as long as we stay quiet, we should be fine.”
As if fate had other plans, Zeke’s radio crackles and then Khalil’s deep voice comes through with a boom. “Hello? Hello? Zeke. Zeke! If you’re getting this, pick up!”
Across the dried riverbed, Meera raises her head. Her warning growl is faint when it reaches my ears, but it still raises the hair on my nape all the same.
“Shit,” Zeke swears before crawling away to keep from giving away our position. I watch over my shoulder as he stands when he gets far enough and unclips the radio attached to the back of his jeans.
I’m reluctant to leave Meera’s den behind, but my worry for Khalil wins out when I remember that we left him alone this morning.
I cast one last longing look at Meera, who’s standing now and staring in our direction but not seeing us.
Her hackles are clearly raised, so the best thing I can do for Meera and her pups now is to leave them be.
The guys are right. Meera is an unusual wolf but a wild one all the same. She’s a predator who won’t hesitate to rip out my throat. I have to either trust that she can take care of herself or…
I gulp.
Let nature take its course.
Up ahead, Zeke presses the receiver button while Thorin and I catch up. “Khalil?”
“Goddamn,” Khalil immediately fusses. “Where the fuck y’all at? You were supposed to be back hours ago.”
“We went sightseeing, asshole. What do you want?”
The radio is quiet for a few seconds before Khalil finally answers in a more subdued and curious tone. “Is Aurelia okay?”
Zeke rolls his eyes and presses the receiver with a quick glance my way that at the last minute becomes searching as if he’s assuring himself of his answer. “She’s fine,” he offers curtly. He lets the receiver go and then he presses it again. “Thorin and I are fine too. Thanks for asking.”
“Look, I ain’t ask you about all that,” Khalil immediately retorts. “Let me talk to my baby.”
Zeke hands me the radio, and I reach out to take it. There’s a brief moment when our fingers graze, and it feels as if my entire body has been electrified by that small, accidental touch.
I don’t have to question if he felt it too.
Zeke snatches his hand back so quickly someone might think he’d actually been electrocuted. Cursing to himself, he avoids further eye contact as he stomps off. His mood swings are really starting to piss me off.
I press the receiver. “Hello?”
“Hey, Goldilocks. Where are you? Where did you go?”
“To find Meera’s new den.” I grin again. “Her pups are getting big.”
“What is it with you and this wolf? She’s a wild animal, Goldilocks.”
I huff. “So everyone keeps reminding me.” It’s not like I’m trying to domesticate her. Jeez.
“You’re on your way back now?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool. See you back at the cabin, Goldilocks. And hurry up. I miss you.”
Zeke looks back at me at the same time I feel my smile widen. “You wouldn’t have to miss me if you had come with us like I begged you to.”
“Fishing? Nah. That shit is boring.”
“Thank you!” I shoot Thorin, who’s walking a few feet away, a smug look. Hearing me, but not looking away from his constant scan for threats, he flips me off.
Khalil is saying something else on the radio, but I don’t hear a word of it because in my peripheral vision, Zeke has gone deathly still. He was leading the way home, but now he’s facing me and his green eyes are full of panic.
A moment later, there’s a low growl that comes from my left. Fear melts into my bones, and I wish that I could evaporate too. Better than being torn apart by whatever made that sound.
“Aurelia, don’t move,” Thorin warns.
“Really? Because I was leaning strongly toward running for my life.” Another low growl reaches me from another direction, and my voice trembles when I ask, “Wolves?”
Why is it always wolves? I swear they’re drawn to me like flies to shit.
“It’s not Meera.”
“Does that really matter?” I hiss. All around us twigs snap as the brush is disturbed by the padding of multiple sets of paws. Two more wolves finally come into view and… Fuck, they’re huge. Bigger than Meera. A shuddering breath escapes me. “What do we do?” I whisper-yell.
“Try not to look appetizing?” Zeke suggests like he’s bored.
“Oooh, I don’t like the way that one is looking at meeee,” I squeal as I point toward a black wolf. He snarls and snaps at me, and I flinch, yanking my hand back.
I’m vaguely aware of Khalil screaming my name over the radio.
“Aurelia, back toward me slowly, baby. Do not run.”
I don’t immediately do as Thorin orders because terror has me rooted to the spot. My gaze shifts to Zeke, who’s farthest away, wanting to see for myself that he’s still in one piece.
“No,” he immediately scolds, sensing more than seeing my gaze on him.
He’s staring down a brown wolf with a missing eye.
Oddly, I think of Meera’s pups, wondering if this wolf or one of the others could be the father.
I thought Meera was a lone wolf, but maybe not.
“Keep eye contact. Make yourself appear as big as possible.”
Thinking of a bear standing on its hind legs, my arms immediately shoot into the air, and I take big stomping steps backward to Thorin.
The punchline: it actually works.
The black wolf that was eyeing me like fresh lamb chops suddenly looks unsure as it whines and looks at one of the others. Zeke breaks his own rule and glances at me, making a strangled sound that sounds suspiciously like choking back a laugh when he catches sight of my ridiculous movements.
Seriously? Who laughs when only seconds away from being torn apart?
I’m reminded of Seth, but there’s no room for longing when I’m this close to death.
I take another exaggerated step, and then I feel Thorin grab my shirt, tugging me the rest of the way.
The drooling, gray wolf that wants Thorin bad growls again.
He must be hungry because a second later, he looks as if he’s about to go for it and leap.
Sensing this too, Thorin curses and releases me as suddenly as he grabbed me.
I assume he’s going to do something stupid like try to fight the wolf, but he starts yelling and beating his chest like he’s King Kong. Catching on, Zeke and I join him. We jump up and down, clapping, stomping, and screaming at the top of our lungs.
After what feels like forever, the gray wolf howls, and the three of them run off.
“Whew,” I exclaim as soon as it feels safe enough to do so. I don’t have to mock wiping the sweat from my brow. My entire body is soaked in it. “That was a close one, am I right? It’s a good thing I suggested that walk, huh?”
Thorin and Zeke both throw me vicious glares.
“Is this what you wanted, Goldilocks? Is that what you wanted to feel?”
“Yes,” I answer Khalil while strangling Thorin’s sheets in my fists. Thorin’s fucking my ass from below while Khalil pounds my pussy between my thighs. I’m in heaven. “I want it.”
I’m trying to be quiet. I’m trying to be good.