Chapter 23 Cyn
Cyn
One thing I know how to do is my research, so the first thing I do when we stop for lunch is go on a hunt. It takes me about an hour to find everything I need and head back.
Bonnie spots me immediately. “Where have you been?”
“Who, me?”
“Yes, you.”
“Ah, last night’s rations didn’t agree with me.”
It’s a lie, and I’m almost certain she sees straight through it, but what can she do? Accuse me of lying in front of everyone?
I wink at her, which just makes her scowl harder.
“Let’s get going. I want to get to the clearing and get wood before the weather hits us.”
The sky has turned an ominous steel grey, and the wind has picked up. Bonnie was right. The weather has changed for the worse.
We walk single file, and no one really talks.
It’s nearing mid-afternoon when we finally get to a clearing.
There’s a small river that is only a few inches deep running to one side, but it’s easily fifteen feet wide.
The ground is relatively soft with thick grasses but scattered with boulders that sit half buried in the earth.
It’s the prettiest place she’s brought us yet.
Bonnie doesn’t head down to the river, though, or even to the open space; she goes straight to higher ground.
She peers up at the trees, purses her lips, then turns and walks away from them.
“We’re setting up here,” she says and indicates a place that’s got no trees around it but a slab of rock that sits shoulder high on one side. It’s on the far side of the clearing and appears to be a natural staircase up and out of the small bowl and to higher ground.
“The trees would be better!” Nathan snarls. “We’ll freeze.”
“Huddle for body heat,” Bonnie says.
“I’m not fucking doing that!” Kevin snarls.
“You don’t camp under trees in bad weather because of the widow makers,” Bonnie says without looking at anyone. She holds out her hand and takes Kota’s pack, pulling out the tent.
I look up at the trees. Yeah, good call. I don’t want to be splattered
“What’s a widow maker?” Kendall asks.
“Branches, debris, or dead trees that can be dislodged during bad weather. Also, there’s the threat of lightning. Let’s just camp here, where there’s less chance of us dying.” She sounds like she’s had enough and is barely holding her temper.
“What about the river? What about flash floods?” Kendall surprises us by asking.
Bonnie smiles at Kendall. “That is a good point and is why we are setting up here. But during this time of the year, there will probably be a hell of a lot less chance of flash floods. Regardless, if anything does happen, our escape is this way.”
Bonnie points up the slabs of rocks that climbs and climbs until it hits a section of land that sits much higher than this valley.
“So, are we all good to set up?” Bonnie asks in exasperation.
Vale grabs my jeans at my ass and pulls slightly, putting pressure on my cock and balls.
“Vale,” I warn.
He tugs a little harder, and when I inhale, lets go. “How did your fossicking go?”
“Perfectly. They are going to have a very unpleasant evening,” I say with a smile of pure satisfaction.
He leans forward, putting his chin on my shoulder. I press back into him, a thrum of a satisfied growl rumbling out of me.
Bonnie pauses in what she’s doing and looks at us. Her eyes get wide before she looks down at Dakota and starts trying to set up the tent. He shoos her off, which leaves her with no choice but to find something else to do or look at us.
As if she can’t help herself, her gaze is drawn right back like a magnet, and I swear, her eyes heat.
“I’m going to get firewood!” she shouts.
“We’ll help!” I say before anyone else can.
Bonnie turns away, cursing.
Vale chuckles in my ear. “That was mean.”
“No, you know what’s going to be mean? Her sharing the tent with us tonight.”
Vale frowns as he falls in beside me. “I have been thinking about it all damn day.”
“Me, too,” I say honestly.
Bonnie scrambles away from us, keeping distance as she piles high an enormous armful of wood.
“We need to get enough for a couple of days,” she calls out. “No mucking around.”
“Yeah, we can save that for later,” I say under my breath, watching the way she walks away from me.
“Her ass is killing me,” I say to Vale.
He laughs and dumps his collection of branches in my arms. “Go back to camp and breathe.”
I huff. “I need a distraction, anyway.”
I turn and head back. By the time I get there, the tents are up, and Dakota has three small pots filled with water waiting to be boiled.
“Walk with me Cyn,” Rory says and grabs my arm.
We walk hand in hand around the clearing. It’s pretty massive, maybe fifty or sixty feet. On the other side of the river is a cliff or rocks that look easy to climb. There’s a mountain behind it. I want so badly to grab my pack and go exploring.
“We’ll come back here,” Rory promises. “Just the five of us.”
I suck air through my teeth. Yes, I want that. I force myself to look away from the mountain and jump on the rocks, crossing the river, so I can check it out.
“There’s fish in here!” My excitement bubbles at the thought of a hot meal of fresh fish.
Rory jumps across and stares into the water. “Where?”
I point.
Silently, we turn and go back the way we came. Rory finds two sticks that work perfectly, and we set to carving sharp points on them.
I take my shoes and socks off and roll up my pants as I edge into the water really slowly, trying not to make any movement.
I hold my makeshift spear up in front of me, preparing for the moment when I see them. The water is bitterly cold, and soon, my feet ache, but I’ve been trained to ignore my discomfort since I was a kid.
I see the fish and then another two. The biggest one moves closer to me, and I strike, smoothly lifting it out of the water and onto the bank.
Rory lunges and hoists his prize up, too. He laughs, his eyes shining.
“We’ve caught dinner!”
Bonnie walks over and sees what we’re doing. She hops across onto the rocks. Okay, be cool, she’s watching, do not fuck this up.
I see a fish; let all of everything fall away. All there is is me and him. Dinner. That’s his name. Get in my belly. She’s watching! Shut up, head.
With a speed borne from years of rigorous training, I spear the fish and lift it out of the water.
Rory gets another one, and we walk out of the water. I sit down and dry my feet off.
“Brr, that’s cold.”
Bonnie just stares at me.
“What?”
“You can hunt fish?”
I lean back, smirking at her. “Bonnie, I can do a lot of things.”
She huffs and goes to walk off, only to stop. “Can you clean them?”
I dip my chin.
“Good.”
I wait until she’s out of earshot before I turn to Rory. “I would be offended, but did you catch the scent wafting off her?”
Rory lets out a growl and looks at the fish. “I’m gutting them.”
“Suits me, I’ve got a job to do.”
I leave him by the river with our catch and head back to the camp, waiting for the perfect moment. It comes about twenty minutes later, and I deposit my surprise in the tent with no one else the wiser.
Bonnie, Vale, and Kota have the fire going, and everyone sits down. The wind is picking up, but thanks to the massive rock, we’ve got some protection. The fish is so delicious that I don’t even care that much that the other alphas are eating it.
“Have you been caught up here in bad weather before?”
Bonnie wraps her hands around her cup of fish broth and nods.
She’s got a faraway look in her eyes. “Yeah. There was a year Dad and I were out here alone. It was the middle of winter. It rained the whole time, and we got cut off from crossing the river, and Dad hurt his leg. We were out here with no supplies for a week before we could safely get across and get back.”
She pauses, staring at the fire.
“My mum came into the park; she never does that. But she brought Meg and Desi, and they met us at the river. We didn’t check in, so she came and got us. Brought everyone. Medics, ambos, search and rescue.”
She purses her lips and then drinks the rest of her soup.
“But the weather can get scary up here. So, our plan is to hunker down, stay in the tents. Try to avoid getting wet, stay warm, and ride it out. Hopefully, it should pass over us quickly.”
“And if it doesn’t, if it’s here for days?” Rojer growls.
“Then we make do with what we have, and we wait. Can’t fight Mother Nature. You won’t win. I’ll be back soon.”
With that, Bonnie gets up, grabs the drinking container, and goes and gets more water.
Rory shadows her while I watch these three alphas who have been growing ever more hostile.
“Where’s she sleeping?” Quincy asks hesitantly.
“She can sleep with us,” Rojer says with a smirk.
Air hisses between my teeth. “No, our tent is bigger. She can stay with us.”
“Uh, I don’t think that’s very safe-”
“I’m not asking; this isn’t up for debate. The beta’s tent is too small. She is not going in with you three and your hostile attitudes.”
“Watch yourself, Jennings.”
“Don’t last name me, Rojer,” I growl.
The tension around the fire goes up and gets vicious, but then Nathan leans in and whispers. Rojer listens and slowly relaxes.
“Okay, you keep the whore.”
It takes everything in me not to react, and Vale catches Kota before he can move.
I just smile. “Sleep well.”
The three of them disappear into their tent. The betas do the same. I start packing up everything. Bonnie’s going to stay up boiling water for as long as she can, I know it, so I don’t put the fire out. I just put the pot back on and fill it with water.
At least it’s got a lid.
I go into the tent and find four sleeping bags laid out. I check everything, place a weapon under my sleeping bag, then go back out.
For two hours, we cycle through, filling everyone’s water bottles. Once the last pot of water is done, Bonnie sets a lid on it and douses the fire. At some point, she went and bathed, changing her shorts for the exercise ones.
“Ready for bed?” I say with a grin.
She looks up at the four of us, her jaw tight. She moves in close, stopping when she’s right beside me.
“If anyone touches me, I will make you wish your father had worn a condom.”
I smile and open the tent for her. She grumbles and growls. It’s tight, but they all get in their bags, while I hold mine open for her.
She stares at me like I’m the devil.
I guess I kind of am.
“Scared, Bonnie?”
“Keep dreaming,” she mutters, then she slides in between me and Kota, and I zip us up in the sleeping bag and pull her into my arms.
She stays stiff for a while, but then she relaxes and falls asleep, and I have my omega sleeping in my arms.
I meet Kota’s eyes in the faint glow of the lantern. He smiles.
Yeah, it feels exactly like that.