Page 112 of Raw

“See that?” Papa asked, but I didn’t turn to look at him. “A bear was climbing that tree. You can tell by the scratches up and down the trunk,” he explained to Vespyr.

“It’s impressive how well they can climb,” she said, keeping her voice low.

“Right? They start climbing when they are young. Helps them stay safe from predators, but they also like to look for food up there,” Papa explained.

Vespyr knew all those things, but she didn’t mind listening to him tell her everything again.

“Not much up there for them to feed on other than bird eggs in the winter.”

“That’s true,” Papa said, and finally, they were both quiet.

At times, just the simplest sounds bothered and overwhelmed me, causing me to lash out in the most unusual situations.

And sometimes, even their voices bothered me.

As if I was overly sensitive to them without wanting to be, and I blamed it all on my sick mind.

Neither of us moved or said a word, but when it was clear that the bear wouldn’t return to this spot, I started walking again.

“Fennec,” Papa called out, but I didn’t stop. “We should stay together,” he then added as I heard his footsteps follow me.

“Then move,” I growled, and sure enough, they were both following me.

A heavy sigh left Vespyr’s chest, but I didn’t turn around to see the frustration on her face.

She wasn’t happy with my behavior, but of course I didn’t care no matter how much I loved her.

I was an ass most of the time, and because of last night, she’d have to endure me being an asshole to her for a little while longer.

Until I decided not to be mad at her and Papa anymore.

It wasn’t fair the way he treated me today, and I was slowly starting to think that he had heard Papa and me talk last night.

Why else would he be mad at me?

There was a reason.

There had to be one.

As much as I wanted to know, there was no way for me to talk to him about it as he ignored me or glared at me as soon as I tried to approach him.

We had walked for hours, following the paw prints a bear had left behind in the snow.

But as fast as we were, the bear was much faster on its four paws so we decided to make our way back to camp.

“I have to pee,” I told Papa, reaching for his hand to stop him.

I couldn’t hold it in any longer, no matter how close to camp we were.

“Okay. Go behind this tree. And keep an eye out. Always do.”

I nodded and looked at Fennec, who had stopped walking to look back at me, and once I was hidden behind the tree, I heard Papa walk a few steps away so I could have some privacy.

It got quiet around me again, and I used this moment to collect my thoughts on how to handle Fennec.

He was obviously punishing me for what I said last night, and although I hadn’t meant to hurt him, it was still a bad idea to talk behind his back.

I would feel awful too, but ignoring someone instead of confronting them didn’t seem right to me.

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