Chapter Fifteen
Posy
I’d never spent such a warm, comfortable night in the forest. Or anywhere.
Lying with one arm thrown over my face, I savored the furry warmth around me. Getting up held little appeal, but my position made it evident that my tramping around in the woods left me less fragrant than I wanted to be.
To put succinctly, I stank.
Bad.
Sure, the bears had a scent, but I didn’t want my perspiration to overtake the smell of three huge animals. Or for them to think their potential mate reeked to high heaven. They traveled all the time, and if all anyone they met remembered was their smelly mate, how would that go over?
No, I usually didn’t stink, but they might make an assumption based on this moment.
I couldn’t tell them apart, at this moment, only having met the bears in the dark of night, but I was currently on top of one of them, his furry bulk protecting me from the hard, cold ground.
The other two curled toward me on either side, creating together a self-heating fur sleeping bag no queen could buy.
Maybe I could sneak away and clean up in the stream I’d followed not far back along the trail. From the even breaths and occasional snores, they were completely out, so I eased my way down and to the side then tiptoed away. If I hurried, I’d be back before they noticed I was gone.
The air was still cold, but my pride made me want to be fresh and clean for them when they woke.
Perhaps I couldn’t look the way I’d like to, but at least I wouldn’t be covered in dirt with twigs in my hair.
I thought I remembered where the stream was, but it was a bit farther than I remembered.
Still, I kept a careful eye on my progress, making sure I wasn’t going to miss a turn and get lost again.
The bears had taken it pretty well, better than I deserved.
Not that I couldn’t have hiked by myself, but I should have not only let them know with a note or by actually speaking to them, but I hadn’t even taken the time to see where I was going.
There were trail maps available at the campground as well as rangers who could have given me information. Had I thought about it.
Which I hadn’t.
As I eased down the hill toward the stream, I wondered how they had even found me.
I hadn’t taken the same trail they did, nor had I told a soul where I was going.
Had they been able to track me somehow? Sitting down to untie my hiking boots, I had a fleeting thought that there might be a tracking device in something I wore, but why would they do that?
No, there was only one reason I could come up with as to how they tracked me down. By scent. And from my understanding, that would make me their mate.
Wouldn’t it?
My hoodie, tank, and shorts didn’t provide much protection, but when I took them off, I missed them. Dipping a toe in the stream, staying stinky sounded pretty good. Maybe mates weren’t offended by the smell of their significant other?
But I’d come this far. The birds were waking, small animals rustling in the leaves, and I’d never suffered from cowardice.
So I stepped in and sank down to let the water rush over me.
Icy, fresh from the upper slopes where the last of the snow hadn’t melted, it smelled so fresh.
Squatting, I dipped my hands into the flow, lifted them, and let water stream through my fingers. Cold, refreshing, and clear.
Shivering and covered in goose bumps, I hurried to rub my skin as clean as possible without any kind of soap or cloth.
Deciding I’d done all I could, I prepared to get out when I heard a twig snap.
Another animal? I looked around, but I didn’t see anyone.
This far up the mountain, I didn’t expect to see another person, but that didn’t mean that some evil doer couldn’t have stumbled upon me.
Heck. I’d been lost. Maybe there were a lot of people who hiked through here every day and I’d managed to miss all of them.
But even growing up in a wolf pack where nudity happened every day, since I didn’t shift, it didn’t happen to me, and whoever was out there, I’d feel a whole lot less vulnerable if I had something on.
Then, just as I was about to scramble out for my clothes, I knew. This was no stranger. It was someone I was hoping to get to know very well.
“Which one are you?”