“No, but it’s big.”
I should feel guilty for scaring them, but I don’t. Humans with guns deserve to be uneasy out here. They came into this forest to dominate it; they can leave with their tails tucked.
I lead them in wide loops, deeper into the woods and far from Elias’s station. My Nature Sense stretches outward, feeling Elias safely back at camp—calm heartbeat, steady presence, no disturbances near him.
Good. He needs to stay put and stay safe.
I rustle a shrub loudly, letting just the shape of my silhouette slip through a gap between trees. It’s only a flash, enough to spark imagination but not enough to confirm anything.
The men stop dead.
“Jesus,” one breathes. “That wasn’t a bear.”
“No kidding.”
“This isn’t right. Something’s watching us.”
They’re finally picking up on what the foxes and deer figured out hours ago.
Time to send them home.
I snap a fallen log with one hand. The crack is loud enough to reverberate off the hillside. Birds explode into flight. The hunters scream and backpedal so fast they nearly fall.
Then one of them does the stupidest thing possible.
He raises his rifle.
“No,” I snarl quietly, “don’t you dare?—”
He fires.
The crack of the gunshot tears through the air so violently the forest seems to flinch.
Pain ignites in my side, hot and immediate. The bullet slams into my ribs, ripping through muscle and embedding somewhere deep. My vision flashes white around the edges.
I stagger, gripping a tree trunk to keep myself upright.
The hunters freeze.
“Did… did you hit it?”
“I don’t know!”
An enraged sound rips from me—somewhere between a roar and a warning, instinctual and furious. Every animal within hearing distance goes silent.
The men scream and run.
Good. Run until your lungs burn. Run until your legs buckle. And do not come back.
I push off the tree, breathing through the pain. My healing kicks in, but the process is slow while the bullet is still inside me. I need to get it out. I need to get home.
Then everything gets worse.
Because through my pain, through the haze of adrenaline and fury, I feel a presence approaching fast.
Light footsteps pounding the trail. A sharp, elevated heartbeat. A familiar scent of sweat, pine, and human warmth.
Elias.