Page 31 of Chosen

“You’re not going to die,” Damon whispered back. “Remember what I told you? You’re always safe with me, Sam. Always.”

I relaxed against Damon, my body seeming to believe his every word.

“Just wait… just wait…,” Damon murmured, as he pulled me even closer to him, his arm wrapping around my waist. “Just wait…”

I closed my eyes as I sunk my face against his neck, listening for the bear below. At first, there was nothing, no movement, no growls. I pictured it looking up at us, watching, waiting…

But then, I heard its paws crunching against the leaves, slowly, its weight shifting from side to side, maybe losing interest, maybe never having been interested in us, at all.

And after that, there was nothing.

It was gone. It had to be.

I moved slightly away from Damon’s side, my arms shaking. “Is it gone?”

“It’s gone,” Damon replied, his eyes locked on mine. “How are you feeling? Are you all, right?”

“Is that normal?” I pressed. “For bears to be out like this?”

“In the woods? Pretty normal, yeah.”

“Jerk!” I playfully hit Damon on his shoulder before I let out a grateful sigh. “Shit. That was a close one.”

“Not as close as it could’ve been.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I just mean that it could’ve been worse,” Damon replied. “A lot worse. We’re very lucky that we were up here and not down there.”

“Have you ever been down there? When a bear was walking through?”

“Not me, personally.” Damon looked away for a moment, like a painful memory was playing behind his eyes.

“Damon? Did something happen?”

“To one of my friends,” he continued, his voice low. “We were in high school. He and I were both super athletic, super competitive, too. Still, we found a way to get along. We bonded through loving nature, although he was always on more of a survivalist kick than I’d ever been.”

Damon smiled before the expression shifted into something sad and somber. “He went out on this hike without me. I was supposed to go with him, but I had a chem test coming up that I needed to be ready for since I’d been falling a little behind. So, out he went, and I stayed home. The next day, I heard that he’d been rushed to the hospital. I went to visit him as soon as I could and—”

Damon’s voice broke as he went on. “I thought that was going to be the last time I ever saw him. He looked… I’d never seen anyone attacked by a bear before, but it was the worst thing I’d ever seen. He was able to make a full recovery, thankfully, with just some scars on his face and his chest but I… if I’d lost him, I don’t think I’d ever have been able to forgive myself.”

“That wouldn’t have been your fault, Damon,” I murmured. “You were a kid. You were both kids.”

“I know.” He nodded, solemn. “It doesn’t change how I feel about what happened, though. What could’ve happened.”

“What could’ve happened is that you both could’ve been killed by a bear,” I replied. “Maybe the only reason your friend survived is because he was alone, because the bear didn’t feel as threatened as it could’ve felt.”

“You’re right.” He nodded again. “I know you’re right. Still. It’s hard to let something like that go.”

“You want to know the worst thing I ever did in high school?”

“What?”

“I broke my friends up before prom.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, it’s exactly what it sounds like.” I grinned. “One of my best girlfriends was dating one of my best guy friends but they weren’t right for each other. Like, at all. And one night, my best guy friend had a little too much to drink and I watched him make out with some girl from another school. I could’ve kept my mouth shut, sure, but what kind of friend would that make me? So, I spilled the beans first thing Monday morning.”

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