The Hunter and the Hunted (Bear Naked 3)

Chapter 51

Amanda came to naked, face down in a snowdrift. The first notion to penetrate her mind was cold. She forced herself to her feet as goosebumps erupted on her back. She hadn't ever felt so cold before. She brushed the remnants of snow from her front and began to dance around, trying to warm up.

At first she couldn't figure out what she was doing. She was deep in the woods somewhere, alone. How had she gotten here? Then it came back in rush, the hike, meeting Uncle Darren...

She stared around. Where was he? Where were the others?

She was considering yelling out for them when she heard a noise in the under brush. Jay came out, still in otter form. He looked at her for a second and then rose, transforming.

"Where is Uncle Darren?" she demanded.

Jay appeared shaken but unharmed. "He, I lost him," he said. "There was a lake, up above that rise." He nodded.

"Did he hurt you?"

Jay shook his head no. Amanda grabbed him and hugged him hard. Then she let go and wrapped her arms around her chest. Her teeth started shivering violently.

At least I am not tired, a distant part of her brain told her. That's the final stage of hypothermia, getting tired and numb. She knew that was coming soon and it was little comfort now.

She glanced over at Jay. Goosebumps had erupted on his skin and he was shivering as well. "Where are the others?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I told them to follow at a safe distance. Shouldn't be far behind."

"Transform," she said. "No reason for both of us to freeze."

He looked like he was about to protest, and then was replaced by his otter form.

She heard more noise. Two black wolves broke into the clearing. Jonathan gave Erica one quick look and then disappeared back into the woods. Erica came forward, transforming as she went.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Amanda nodded. "Just cold."

"Darren?"

"Gone."

They both looked off in the distance. The mountain looked peaceful.

Amanda looked back at Erica, who was rubbing her arms against the cold. "Transform," Amanda said. Erica looked at her uncertainly. "Just do it," Amanda commanded. Erica was replaced by her wolf form. Amanda knelt and wrapped her arms around the wolf. "Fur," she breathed in relief. She felt Jay's paws on her back, adding what little body warmth and protection he could.

The others found them like that. Jonathan, still in wolf form, was the first to arrive, with Connor at his back. Connor had ditched his pack to run behind Jonathan. Amanda saw him and rushed to greet him, throwing Jay off her back. She threw herself into his waiting arms and then wrestled back out, his expression turning confused. Shaking too hard to explain, she bent and started rifling through one of the side pockets on his pants. As she came out with an emergency blanket, he smiled in comprehension. He took it from her shaking hands and opened it, wrapping her in the thin mylar sheet and then wrapping his arms around her again.

Corey was there minutes later. Jay didn't bother to transform, but leaped into Corey's arms in otter form. Then the others were rapidly filtering in.

Connor sent Erica and Jonathan to carefully track Darren, see where he was. They nodded and left, both in wolf form. Mark had Amanda's pack and sat it at her feet. Amanda hurriedly dressed. They didn't have long to wait before the scouts were back, announcing that Darren had gone over the next ridge and down into the woods below.

"Good enough," Connor replied. "We set camp here and regroup. Discuss our next move."

They set camp but they did not discuss their next move until after they had eaten supper and were starting to settle down for the night. Amanda kept catching the other's worried looks and knew what held their tongue. She held back, not wanting them to voice it.

Finally, she broke the silence. "There was a moment when our eyes met, right before I turned. He recognized me."

Everyone looked away. After some time Jay spoke. "He's still really feral."

"I know," Amanda said. "But he recognized me."

"And Amanda, even feral, has some control," Connor said in her defense. "She immediately moved to protect Jay."

"Your protective instinct runs that deep," Brianna gushed.

"How is Mitch?" Tanner asked. "Last we heard he was still having trouble controlling his shifts, but his mind is better."

"Darren got a bigger dose of the drug, much bigger," Connor said. "It might take longer to get out of his system."

"And I've been thinking," Amanda said. "Mitch has the advantage of being in human form, he can rationalise what's happening to him. If we could just get Darren back into human form... What?"

She shot this last at Tanner, who had shivered. "Just thinking about Mitch, wrestling him in the hotel room," Tanner said, looking down. "Even in human form Darren is a lot bigger and stronger."

"I can do it," she snapped. "Remember with Mitch? If I can control the buzzing in my head, I can control the shift. If I had been prepared...if he hadn't caught me off guard, I could have stopped my shift and maybe, he would have un-shifted." It sounded like a pretty dicey plan, even to herself, but it was all she got. "And Jay..."

Corey wrapped his arms around Jay. "Took a huge risk," he said. "I know you want to save your uncle. We all do. But you can't put him in a risky situation like that again. He could have gotten hurt."

Jay broke out of Corey's hug. "I took the risk gladly," he said. "He's my uncle, too, or practically. And I can handle myself. I agree with Amanda. We just got surprised. Now that we have some clue where he is, and what sort of shape he's in, we can be more careful."

Amanda felt much better for Jay's support. He moved to a central space around the fire. "In fact, I've been thinking. You know the knockdowns, how you corral feral wolves until they calm down? We obviously can't tackle Uncle Darren but we could do something like that. Trap him in a valley somewhere. Circle him in until he's used to us and calmer."

"Yeah," Tanner said, trying to make up for his earlier doubts. "It's like all those nature shows. The wolves run in circles around their prey, wear it down."

A moment ago, Amanda had the horrible sinking sensation that they all wanted to turn back, that they felt Uncle Darren was too dangerous to approach. Now a new, worse feeling settled in her gut. What if one of them got hurt or killed trying a plan like that? Could she live with herself? Could Darren, when he recovered?

"Nothing quite so dramatic," Jay said. "We gentle him. Like you train a wild animal to your hand. We got to get him used to us being in his territory but not threatening him. Get him used to our scent again. Then we get closer, into his presence. Eventually he'll start to accept us as part of his world."

"Yes!" Amanda leaped to her feet and rushed Jay. She grabbed him and hugged him hard. "By the gods, I love your brain so much right now."

He struggled, blushing. "Amanda," he protested but she wouldn't let him go until she had planted a huge sloppy kiss on his forehead.

"You always think of the best plans," she said as she finally let him go.