The Rise-Book II

Chapter 52: Elk

"What is it baby?"

"I'm just thinking about Aaron and Amber," I mused while I brushed some my hair in front of the sink in our bathroom, looking into the mirror to make sure I got all the lumps out.

"We should take them with us today," Ethan called out from the shower, turning the hot water off before he reached for a towel that he had tossed over the top of the shower.

"Why did you shower when you know you're just going to get dirty hunting today?"

He scoffed dramatically then walked over to me, pulling me to him while he shook the water from his hair on me. Squealing, I tried to push him away but his arms were like steel as they held me close and his mouth like fire nipping at my ear lobe.

"Because, sunshine," he breathed against my skin, the wetness dripping off his skin from the shower was starting to soak through his shirt that I was wearing. "We both will probably be getting dirty later which means we both will need a shower; and besides, I like this conditioner stuff."

"You used my conditioner?"

He nodded innocently. "It smells like you," he replied before he kissed my neck.

I rolled my eyes and set the hair brush down. "Thief."

He kissed my neck again then wrapped the towel around his waist before he picked up his tooth brush, using my toothpaste to brush his teeth; I was going to have to just start getting double of everything.

We made it out to the pack house before the sun broke in the morning. We had a hunt scheduled that day, a hunt that I was truly excited to go on. There was so much going on, so much we still needed to do, but we couldn't ignore our pack. The hunts had to stay on schedule, especially with winter coming.

Evie and Derek were sitting with Amber while Aaron talked with Jake and Evan. I waved to her then made my way to Amber as Lyanna walked out of the pack house. Lyanna hugged me and rubbed her cheek against mine while Ethan walked over to Evan.

She pulled me aside, her eyes flickering to Amber before she looked back at me. "I think it's good she's going, but she's weak Char and those elk are strong. I don't know–"

I sighed and nodded. The last thing we wanted was for someone to get seriously hurt, and Lyanna was right. Amber was so much skinnier, her muscles degrading and her face more hollow. As of recently, she's been doing better, but I wasn't sure about letting her wolf take on an animal like an elk.

"Well, we need to collect those herbs and weeds. What if we let her lead that? There's other's going that are just going to go, some children. They could help Amber?"

"I think that would be good. We could have the females bundle them together?" Lyanna added.

"Ya, let's do that," I said with a slight smile. "Maybe have something at the pack house with wine and snacks while we bundle them together?"

"I like it," Lyanna replied.

"Like what?" Evan said as he and Ethan walked over while Ryder got the trackers rounded up.

"Lyanna and I were thinking, there are people who are not hunting going and we need to get those herbs and weeds Bernard was talking about. Amber could lead them and then we could have the females help us bundle them at the pack house?"

"Considering everything, I think that would be good for her," Ethan said before he kissed my temple.

"Alright, I'll tell her? I think Bernard was going to meet us out there with Dagny, he was looking at the tree this morning. I can tell him to find Amber?" Lyanna offered.