Secret Lives

Chapter 21, A Silent Admission

 Chapter 21

I could feel Mitch’s eyes on me every few minutes, my labouring breathing being obvious as we reached some sloping terrain.

Rosy had offered numerous times for me to climb on but being the stubborn person I was, I refused easily each time and was surprisingly leading us up the slope somehow.

I was determined to get some of my stamina back; lying around relaxing had done nothing for my condition as I popped over a small log, my front leg almost buckling as I reached the top.

Noting as the scrub became denser, it seemed like we had stumbled across some sort of pine forest; I had never been into this area of the forest before, my nose following the wolf scents as I realised the bikes were not far behind.

We had maybe only travelled a few hundred metres into the pine forest until I stopped in my tracks, my eyes stopping on Vince and the small boy who sat playing some sort of card game.

Why these morons had stopped in what I would call out in the open was beyond my understanding as I slowly approached, Vince throwing me an easy smile.

‘How’s the hunter doin’?  Looks like you’ve recovered well overnight’.

Snorting after inhaling a deep breath of the cool air, I kept my head low, the dirt being stirred up around me as the bikes passed.

Pulling up not too far away, Mitch was the first to jump off as he walked over to literally stand beside me, the behaviour seeming somewhat territorial to me.

He’s protecting us

Protecting us from what was the question; these wolves were the least of our problems now. 

Feeling his warm hand brush across the fur on my back, I could feel as each blade of hair seemed to tickle then flatten against the pressure.

I was trying to make it less noticeable how much the trip had taken out of me; the sneaky looks Vince was giving me making me feel uneasy.

I leant closer to Mitch, the comfort I was finding seeming odd but enough to settle my tense muscles.

Soon the small crowd was gathered in a circle, an eerie silence settling until a few wolves went to hunt while we were meant to wait like the prey we were.

We were the prey waiting for the predator to find us, the knot in my stomach told me our time was still limited but the wolves didn’t seem bothered. 

Now sat off to the side, I kept away from the few wolves left, Mitch occasionally glancing at me as he talked away casually with Vince.

Neither of us spoke, my eyes scanning the trees closely as I waited for them to arrive like I expected them to arrive.

Hearing the sound of someone nearby not much later had me at my feet instantly, only to be greeted by the returning wolves, a deer carcass being lifted between them.

The glares I received did not go unnoticed, sitting and waiting as I was passed my share, I dragged the meat away further into the trees, no wolf stopping me as I put distance between us.

It was a long ten minutes before I felt a presence nearing, his scent the most familiar.

‘The wolves still troubling you Sonya’?

I could hear the undergrowth crunching with each step Mitch took, silence filling the air as I felt his presence next to me.

‘The wolves are naïve, the hunters are coming and they’re doing nothing to defend themselves’.