Page 55 of Mitchell's Untamed Mate

“Okay, I think it’s time to find that spot Mitchell was talking about.Peterson and I have a lot of ground to cover,” Van hastily interjected.

Mitchell raised an eyebrow when he noticed Van’s flushed face.Whatever the story with the porcupine was, it must have been good.He would have to remember to ask Tracy about it later.

Turning, he finished climbing to the top of the ridge.Three-tenths of a mile later, they reached a level area large enough to set up their tents.Van and Peterson dropped their gear, set up their tent, and disappeared.It was obvious from the quick, efficient way they set everything up that they had done this many times before.He and Tracy set up their tent.

“Do you want a fire?”he asked.

She shook her head.“No.I think it might be best to skip building one.If we are being followed, it might attract attention.”

“I agree.So, what happened with the porcupine?”he asked, sitting on a half-buried rock.

Tracy laughed.“You really want to get me in trouble with Van, don’t you?”She shook her head.“We were on an unauthorized climbing trip.Unauthorized because there was a storm coming and we were too stupid to know any better.Thankfully, we weren’t 'too stupid to live' like Van said.My friend, Karri, wanted to stay for the summer so she drove down.Ty and I were going to help her turn this old van she bought into a camper van.Her parents, being the responsible shifters that they were, followed her down to visit with my folks.Anyway, a group of us piled in Karri’s old van and headed for Mount Rainier for a weekend outing without telling our folks.We made it to the base camp when it began to snow.I looked at the forecast before we left and thought everything was good.It turns out it wasn’t.There was a shift in a low-pressure system the forecasters thought would dissipate—it didn’t.We were going to return to the van, but the temps dropped along with the visibility faster than we expected, so we set up camp.The storm dumped a shitload of snow.The tents we brought weren’t like these,” she said, waving a hand to the modern, four-season structures they had just set up.“They were clumsy, heavy canvas pup tents with no flooring.Lucky for us, there was an emergency shelter near the halfway mark before the climbing gets more interesting.We abandoned the camp and hiked the half-mile to the shelter.It was pure hell.We had to tie ourselves together so we didn’t lose anyone.I can laugh about it now because everything turned out alright, but it was pretty scary for a while there.”

He imagined their group of cocky juveniles with more attitude than sense.Jace, Thomas, Connell, Jayden, Ella, and he had been like that.Cyrus and the other elders had been on them constantly when they were younger.

“But you made it,” he said.

Tracy came over, waved at him to scoot, and sat down next to him.He loved the expression on her face.It reminded him of the looks in the elders’ eyes when they told their stories.

“Yeah, we made it and we piled into the emergency shelter.Thank the goddess it had a wood-burning stove, some wood, and an assortment of can goods for idiots like us who decide to go out before winter is over and think pot, alcohol, and potato chips will last us more than a few hours.When I think of some of the things we’ve done, it’s amazing any of us survived to adulthood,” she confessed with a wry grin.“Anyway, boredom swiftly overcame those of us too stupid to realize how much trouble we were in.We ate, got high, and used way more firewood than we should have while wondering how long it would take before our folks discovered what we had done.Karri always had a crush on Van.It wasn’t long before they found a corner and decided they would keep each other warm.”

“I take it that Karri is a porcupine-shifter?I didn’t know there was such a creature,” he mused.

She flashed him a reproving glare.“Wecome in many different shapes and forms.You’d recognize her as soon as you saw her.She has wiry hair and is tiny, as in she barely comes up to my chin.Man, but she could rock scramble.”She laughed at her musings and shook her head.“Anyway, they are trying to be quiet, but it was hard to ignore in such a tiny space.They were in the corner, grunting, kissing, and giggling when suddenly the door swings open with a bang.It scared the daylights out of all of us, but it really scared Karri.She shifted, and the next thing we knew, there’s Van, naked as the day he was born, hopping around with quills sticking out of places no quill should ever be near, and all our parents standing in the doorway.My dad was in charge of the parks and when he discovered what we had done, he called everyone in to search for us.Poor Van was literally caught with his pants down and there was Karri’s dad and older brother.”

He cringed and chuckled in sympathy.He could remember a few embarrassing moments during his youth.It can be hard to live them down when you live in a small community.

“How did they handle it?”

Tracy shook her head and laughed.“Well, after they finally talked Karri out from under the bunk where she was hiding, they hustled us out to the snowmobiles.Van’s dad and mine stayed behind to help Van get the quills out.Ty and I were grounded for the next month.Dad said it was to make sure we didn’t try any other stupid stunts until after the threat of a snowstorm was over.Mom said it was to give Van time to heal.I think his pride was hurt more than anything.Poor Karri kept apologizing, which only made it worse.On a good note, we got Karri’s van renovated with all the extra help we had that month and it looked awesome!”

He smiled.“It sounds like it was fun.”

She looked at him.“What about you?Did you ever do anything crazy and stupid?”

“Some.We mostly dared each other,” he admitted.

“What are some things you’ve done that you shake your head at now?”she asked.

He thought about it for a minute.“We would dare each other to climb to the falcon’s nest to see how close we could get before she would swoop down on us.”

Her eyes widened.“Wow!Daring and stupid.They are very protective.”

He nodded.“Yes.We liked to compete.Sometimes we would test our agility by climbing the largest trees or rocks.Other times, we would test our skills by exploring deep inside the mountains.That was always the scariest for me.”

“What do you mean?Exploring deep inside the mountains?”

He rose and walked over to an outcropping of rocks.The rocks were low enough to provide a buffer from the wind when sitting, but when standing, he could look out over the valley.Tracy rose and came to stand next to him.

“There are many caves throughout this region, created by volcanoes,” he said.

She nodded.“Lava tubes.How did your people handle the eruption back in the 80s?”

He nodded toward the north.“My father and the elders told us stories about it.I wasn’t born yet.They said they felt the rumbling of the Earth and then noticed the change in the taste of the water, so they headed north, away from this area.My father said when the mountain exploded, the force could be felt for hundreds of miles.If they had stayed, we would have been wiped out.It took a long time, but humans have finally learned to listen to what the Earth is telling us.”

She stepped in front of him and laid her hand on his arm.He pulled his gaze away from the view and looked down.He could see the compassion in her eyes.Lifting his hand, he tenderly caressed her cheek.

“If humans had listened long ago, we might have found a way to live in harmony with shifters instead of fighting you.”

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