JEWEL

As Bear continued to improve, everything else went to shit. The addition of the low wolves ran through our supplies, and artillery ensured we couldn't steal so much as a loaf of bread from mid town.

"We should go hustle off mountain," I said, watching as the deer Huck killed was devoured raw before the animal had even had time to cool.

"No." He was sitting on the ground beside his broken gun, no longer tinkering but just staring at it.

"Are you waiting for it to speak?"

He ignored me.

"We need supplies," I said.

"We'll get supplies once we make it past the line."

"And when will that be?"

"Not now, Jewel."

I bared my teeth at him. "Not now, Jewel. Not now, Jewel. Yes now, Huck! Our people are starving! We get weaker by the day, and we were already weak to begin with!"

"You think I don't know that?" he snapped.

"Then do something about it, Alpha!"

"I am!"

"By staring at that gun?" I laughed, though it may have been a sob. "It's broken. Exploded even! There is no earthly way possible you could fix it out here. Why in the hell are you so fixated on that thing?"

"Because the goddess gave it to me!" he roared.

I froze, staring at him, but no matter how long I looked, his expression didn't change. "She gives us a lot of things, Huck. Most of them are shit."

"No. Not like that. I saw her, Jewel. She was real. She was—" His jaw clenched, and his eyes narrowed as if peering into the past. "She was made of moonlight." His words drifted, then he shook his head. "And she led me to this fucking gun."

I opened my mouth, closed it, and then swallowed hard. His features were drawn, his eyes bloodshot. We all looked rough, but he suddenly seemed so much worse than the rest of us. How had I not seen it before? I'd been so tied up in the way he was treating me, our situation, and my newly rejected mate keeping an infuriatingly respectful distance. But now that I saw it, I couldn't look away. My best friend. My first love. My family.

He'd cracked.

"Don't look at me like that!" Huck growled. "I know it's hard to believe, but it's the truth."

I took a slow breath in through my nose. We were so fucked, but arguing with him wouldn't help. At any moment, he was going to tell me to go away in a tone I couldn't ignore. "We can go to the buyer and ask for a loan."

"No." Huck turned back to his gun. "We stay on the mountain. We can't risk weakening our wolves right now."

"You mean the starving wolves, Huck? One day you'll look up and find us all already dead."

"No. I won't, because I happen to have a perfectly capable beta." He looked at me, and for the first time since he came back, it felt like I actually had his attention. "I need you now more than ever. If we need food, go hunt. Make them hunt. Everyone should be hunting." He picked up a wrench, tried to use it, then threw it back into the plastic tool box with a clatter. "Now leave me be. I'll come tell you if I figure anything out."

* * *

I weaved through camp, making moves like a player in a chess game. We had enough scrap wire to make ten traps; whatever good that shit would do. I divided them up amongst ten low wolves, telling each to place them in the woods beyond our scent range, and check it daily.

When I found Briar hustling a low wolf boy out of a cheap, plastic water gun, I sighed. "Briar, come here."

He groaned. "But I'm playing fair! Honest!"

"I'm sure you are." I pointed at the ground in front of me.

Briar begrudgingly stomped into place there, glaring up at me.

"I have a job for you."

His eyes narrowed. "What kind of job?"

"I want you to gather the other children, valley and low, and pair the ones who can forage with the ones who can't. Then I want you all to spread out and see what you can find in the woods surrounding camp. Nobody goes farther than the patrol line."

"What do I get?"

I pursed my lips. "You get to eat."

"Flora wouldn't let me starve."

"Flora is just fattening you up so she can eat you."

He rolled his eyes.

"Think of it as stealing from nature."

"Nature doesn't have a water gun."

I coughed to cover a laugh and then forced a stern expression. "Do I need to tell Huck you said no?"

"Fine. I'll forage."

"Good choice."

He trudged away, and I turned to find Bear watching me from a distance. My heart skipped, stomach clenched. How long had he been standing there? "Spying on me?"

"My mother always told me I was too big to be a spy."

I eyed him up, as if I hadn't already memorized every glorious inch of him. His mother was right, but he could be so many other things. A guard. A fighter.

A hunter.

I chewed my lip. Huck said everyone should be hunting, but Huck wasn't in his right mind, and hunts took us too far from camp. The less who ventured away, the safer the majority would be if an attack happened. But I wanted big game. I would need a big wolf.

He was a very big wolf.

"Do you know how to hunt?"

"Yes."

"In wolf form?"

He hesitated. "No."

I studied the scar on his chest. Not even a valley wolf was guaranteed to survive that kind of injury. He may have spent his life playing human, but he was as strong as anyone I'd ever met. So much potential. "Would you like to learn?"

"What do I get?" Bear asked, mimicking Briar from a moment before.

So he had been spying. My eyes narrowed. "I happen to know where there's a fairly decent water gun."

"I was hoping you'd offer that." He smiled.

Goddess have mercy, when he smiled...

I quickly looked away. "Good. Then we leave in half an hour."

In the end, six wolves headed out on a hunt to feed hundreds. Terran and Flint, twins twice as fast as anyone I knew. Our best hunter, ironically named Hunter. Raven, my dearest friend and highly skilled tracker. Me, and Bear, the most impressive wolf I had ever seen.

I kept pace beside him at the back of the group, quickly explaining the art of the hunt as we went. "We follow our prey as a unit, then we spread out and ambush from all sides. Big game fights back, so keep your eyes glued, and your body ready to dodge."

Bear nodded.

"Jewel," Raven called quietly. She had knelt down twenty feet ahead, her long, black hair hanging down to brush at the dirt.

"What is it?" I asked.

She looked back at me, her expression grim. "Grizzly. A big one. Maybe an hour ago. Headed east."

I stopped and chewed my lip, eyeing up our group. The pack could take down a grizzly as a whole, but six wolves? But a large grizzly could sustain us much longer than a deer. My stomach growled, and I nodded once. "Everybody shift. Raven leads the way."

"Wait," Bear said.

I turned to him.

"Shouldn't we go for something less dangerous?"

"We go for what's there or we starve." I pulled my shirt over my head.

Bear released a strained squeak, pulling my attention back to him. Parted lips. Pained expression.

Nudity was as natural as fur, but the mountain's ridiculous views had him blushing. "You'll get used to it," I said.

"Happily."

Heat spread through my middle, and I shifted before he could see just how much his approval affected me.

We headed east, following Raven to the river. Trash and debris tossed in the waves and lined the rocky banks, not quite as bad as the valley but bad enough that I wouldn't drink it. Raven stopped and scented the air, prompting me to do the same. Grass and wet fur permeated my nose.

Raven motioned with her snout, signifying that the animal had crossed.

Shit. The last thing I wanted to do was go into that water. I stared across the divide, more annoyed with Huck than ever before. It was his job to make the stupid decisions. I was the voice of reason. But we needed that bear, and stupidity was the only way to get it.

With a heavy sigh, I rushed forward, jumping in before I could change my mind. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. I kept my nose high and my breath held, swimming as fast as I could through the filth. When I reached the shore, I shook out my fur with a fury that gave me whiplash, and then I turned to find Bear exiting right behind me. So much for Terran and Flint being the fastest. They followed a moment later, along with Hunter, and then Raven, who looked supremely annoyed by my decisions.

We continued down a trail, and a pile of fresh scat let us know we were headed in the right direction. The terrain inclined, leading to a cave half-hidden atop the climb. I stopped before we reached it and looked around the group, motioning each wolf in the direction I wanted them to go: Bear and Raven above, Terran and Flint on either side.

Once they were in position, Hunter and I crept forward, approaching the opening. If we could draw it out, we could all attack at once, and the surprise would hopefully allow us to take it down before it had time to react.

I scented the air, confirming beyond a doubt that the beast was in there. Then I shifted into human form, picked a rock off the ground, and threw it inside the gaping darkness. Its landing resounded; the cavern was deep. If we went inside, we'd never make it out.

I threw another rock, waited, and then threw a third. I was just about to throw another, when a chuffing echoed from within. Footsteps followed, growing louder, closer.

A flash of brown fur. I started to shift and then froze.

It was just a cub.

I held up my hand. Shit. Unlike the mountain, we didn't make orphans. No matter how hungry we were, we would never rip a mother away from her young. "Pull ba—"

Everything happened too fast. An enraged mama bear barrelled out of the cave, headed straight toward me. I scrambled back, but one swipe of her massive claws sent me flying sideways. I hit the ground hard. The air flew from my lungs.

Another roar. Thunderous steps. Death charged toward me.

Bear jumped into its path, snarling a warning.

The grizzly rose up onto two legs and roared back. Spittle flew from her mar. Blind rage poured from her lungs.

Hunter leapt up, latching his jaw onto her throat. Terran and Flint went for her back legs. Raven dropped from above, biting into the skin of her back. It wasn't enough. She threw them off as if they were flies, a nuisance, but harmless. I tried to stand, but my leg gave out beneath me, and fire seared its way up my back.

We were all going to die here.

Then Bear lunged, moving faster than his size should allow. Two monsters collided in front of me, their color and size making it nearly impossible to distinguish which was which. Unlike Hunter, when Bear latched onto her throat, the skin tore. Blood sprayed. Her roar turned labored, and she slowed, the fight seeping out of her like air from a balloon, until she hit the ground and fell still.

Bear released her, stepped back, and shifted, rushing back to me.

He'd taken down a grizzly in one move.

He dropped down beside me, inspecting the damage done.

I followed his attention; five deep gashes split the flesh of my left thigh, painting my skin crimson. "Is anyone else hurt?" My gaze scanned the group, but from what I could tell, none were seriously injured. Thank the goddess. Or don't. I wasn't sure which this time.

Bear scooped me up bridal style and began carrying me down the hill.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"You're wounded."

"But—"

"Go," Raven called. "We'll butcher the meat and carry what we can. Send more people to collect the rest when you make it to camp."

Bear carried me as if I weighed nothing. His hands were firm and still where he held me. He didn't touch me anywhere he didn't need to. His eyes remained fixed forward. How could a man who so clearly wanted me be so platonic? So respectful.

"Aren't you a gentleman," I breathed, my voice tight as the adrenaline wore off. He was oddly comforting, but the more I calmed, the more my brain realized my body was torn.

"Mother didn't get the spy she wanted, so she had to make me something."

I smiled despite the fire in my thigh. "An impressive woman, indeed."

He glanced at my face, but he didn't smile back. His gaze turned forward, and it didn't return until we reached our clothes. Bear gently sat me down on a downed tree and grabbed my pants. "Do you want me to?"

"No."

He extended them forward, still pious as a priest with his eyes ultra-focused away from me.

I took them and slid them on, hissing as the material brushed my cuts.

Bear had my shirt ready for me, but he didn't bother with my shoes. The second I was covered, he lifted me back off the ground and continued toward camp.

"I think I can walk," I said.

"You probably could if you had to."

I didn't say anything else after that. The truth was, I'd never been all that respectful, and the urge to touch him, test him, was nearly impossible to ignore. How far could I go before he took it further? He impressed me with his size, his power, his skill. But I hadn't expected this.

It was nice.

I kind of liked it.

Thankfully, we made it back to camp before temptation won. "Flora will bandage me," I said. It would have been nice to see if he was a capable nurse as well, but I knew better than to push my wolf any more than I already had.

Bear didn't argue, and we found Flora in the center of camp, washing greens the children must have found while foraging. The second she saw us, she stopped what she was doing and stood. "What happened to you?"

"Grizzly got my thigh."

In an instant, she was practically prying me away from Bear. He set me down and took a step back, meeting my eyes for a brief moment as Flora set to work. "I'll take some wolves back to finish collecting the meat," he said.

I nodded.

He hesitated, turned as if to leave, then stopped and looked back at me again. "Promise me we'll go fishing next time."

I watched him go, and when I turned back to Flora, she had that look. The I-know-every-damn-thing look. I cleared my throat. "Someone should let Huck know how the hunt went."

"Huck left. Said he figured out a way into mid town."

My blood turned to ice. Why had I left him alone? He obviously wasn't thinking clearly, and who knew what he was about to do? "Did he take anyone with him?"

She shook her head. "And he said if he doesn't make it back by morning, you're to lead the pack wherever you feel is best."