Wolf Camp (Bear Naked 2)

Chapter 12, part 4

As the pack started to settle for the night, Amanda saw Brianna quietly move away from the fire and then off into the woods. She stood and followed.

She found Brianna only a few yards in the woods. She was leaning against a tree trunk, her face buried in her hands.

"What's wrong?" Amanda asked as she came up.

Brianna dropped her hands. In the light of the rising moon, Amanda could see her eyes, wet with tears. Brianna shook her head. "Just what Courtney said," she said.

"I don't understand," Amanda said. "I don't think she meant anything bad."

Brianna shook her head. "She didn't. I am not mad at her. It's just -" she broke off and stared into the dark woods for a long time. "She's right. Betas don't get married. They don't have life partners. Their life is the pack. I don't suppose it bothers Tanner any, or Erica, for that matter. But some of us want -" She broke off again, tears threatening.

Amanda wrapped her in her arms and rocked her while she cried. "It's okay. Some do. Look at Jonathan's aunt. And if not, you've got a whole bunch of people in your life."

"I know," Brianna said after some time. "It's silly. It's just I grew up thinking I would get married someday. As a little girl, I had the whole white wedding thing all planned in my head. Then in junior high, I went through a phase of reading these stupid romance novels, all about meeting 'the one' and that shit. I had this daydream about meeting some guy at camp one summer. Instead, I found out I was a werewolf."

Amanda laughed. "That's not quite what you asked for, was it?" Brianna nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"So, you and Connor?" Brianna said. "You two just know you're right for each other. I can see it in his eyes."

Amanda looked away. "Yeah, but what Courtney said, I mean, what about Bear Clan?" She was scared to voice it, but she felt relief once it was out of her mouth.

"I don't know," Brianna said. "What about Bear Clan?"

"Uncle Darren has never had a serious girlfriend, as far as I know. I mean, he's had girlfriends -"

"Aunt Valerie," Brianna put in.

Amanda chuckled, "yeah. But nothing long term."

"Aunt Maggie?" Brianna asked.

"She says marrying a man means you can't kick him out of the bed when you are done with him," Amanda said. "And who wants a man who hangs around all the time?"

Brianna snorted. "That sounds like your aunt alright. Your parents?"

Amanda's heart warmed at the thought. "Yeah, they were the real deal. It's just like with Jay and Courtney. They would look at each other and you knew, they loved each other heart and soul."

Brianna stiffened. Amanda's hackles rose. She peered into the dark. Something was moving in the woods. "Wolves?" she whispered.

"Wolf, wolves?" Brianna whispered back. She sniffed the air and shook her head no.

"Back to the camp," Amanda said and started running.

The wolves beat them there. They were among the pack, barking and snarling. They had found, to their surprise, that most of the pack had already shed their clothes and shifted into wolf form as well. A vicious melee was breaking out all around them.

Amanda stared around the camp site, trying to figure out what the point of all this was. Then she spied Olivia in wolf form, her nuzzle in their one remaining bag. "Brianna!" she yelled and pointed.

Brianna ran for the canoe in human form. She grabbed one of the paddles and swung at Olivia, who darted out of range. She took off into the night, a plastic baggy in her mouth.

Amanda rushed over to Brianna and found another paddle. She hefted it and positioned herself in front of the canoes, ready for the next rush. It never came. There was a sound of howling and the others fled as well.

"What the hell was that?" Connor protested. He stood over the fire, naked. "What the hell?"

The others transformed into human form and gathered around the fire.

"Was that some sort of demented panty raid?" Tanner groused. "What do we have left for them to steal? They took all our supplies at the start."

"They were going to sabotage the canoes," Brianna told them as she sat her paddle down. "That's what they came for."

"No," Amanda told her. In her mind's eye she could see the baggy in Olivia's mouth. "There is still one thing they can steal from us, and they did, our map."

Connor blanched as the implications swept over him. "That's - that's reckless!" he raged. "I mean, they want to win, fine! But this is totally out of line. We are stuck in the middle of this wilderness with no idea where we are. How are we going to find the final destination tomorrow? Worse still, can we find our way home? Are we going to be lost out here? This could be really dangerous."

"You're not lost, though," Jay said from the edge of the camp site.

"We aren't?" Connor said.

"Nope," Courtney said. "Your elders are camped over there," she pointed away into the darkness, "on a tiny island in Boulder Bay, right on the U.S. Canadian border."

"You know that?" Connor asked.

"Of course," Jay replied, indignant. "We keep telling you, otters live up here. You think a bunch of wolves can just move into our territory and we don't know about it?"

"Can you find it? Without a map?" Amanda asked.

"Yes," Courtney said.

Brianna started laughing and then everyone joined in. "That will really show Mitch and his pack."

"Yeah, but they will be up early tomorrow and pushing it hard," Connor said. "We should set a watch, but the rest of us need to turn in. Tomorrow is the last day. We will have to push it as well."

"Yeah," Jonathan said. "Now is when we really need the speed."

"First watch?" Connor asked and Jonathan nodded.