Page 80 of Sergi
He moved on, following trails that led in the general direction of a village he remembered seeing on the map of the area. A map he’d studied for hours preparing for this mission.
“How long will it take us to get to a town?”
“Two or three days. This side of the mountain is more treacherous, and I doubt we’ll find a direct trail. We might find a logging road, but I didn’t see any on the map. Our first task is to find a cave where we can stay the night. It’s almost dusk, and we don’t want to be out in the open.”
A half-hour later, they found a living room-sized cave tall enough to stand in. Sergi checked for any evidence a wild animal might have been using it but didn’t find anything to be concerned about.
“I’ll find some wood so we can start a fire.” He dropped the backpack in the center of the cave.
“Don’t we need something to start it with?”
Sergi pointed to the pack. “I grabbed a few supplies. There should be a lighter in there.”
“A vampire who thinks ahead.”
He gave her a quick grin. “We’re not all savages. I’ll be back soon.”
She looked like she wanted to say something but didn’t. Instead, she squatted next to the backpack and started rummaging through it.
Sergi walked farther than he wanted before finding branches and wood dry enough to start a fire. When he returned, he found the cave empty except for the backpack and a few things Alex had pulled out. Then he spotted her clothes lying in a pile. She’d shifted.
He dropped the firewood and considered following her. He didn’t remember seeing any wolf prints by the entrance, but he’d been focused on the interior of the cave. And if he was honest, he needed food. A growl from his stomach, or was it his beast, validated his thoughts. At least he’d found a few nutrition bars and a small container of nuts.
He decided he’d give her wolf time to stretch its legs before worrying about her. But if she wasn’t back in a half hour, he’d have to search for her. He didn’t even know what her wolf looked like.
He started a fire, and as he watched it catch on the twigs and branches, his thoughts turned to Devon. It had been a week, maybe more, since he’d been captured, and Devon would have acted once the team’s transmitters showed no movement. The question was whether he would send a large enough force to make a difference. When small footsteps interrupted his thoughts, he grabbed a dagger and jumped up.
A wolf, the size of a mastiff but thinner, stood in the entrance, a dead rabbit in its mouth. It stared at Sergi, and when he made no move, it walked to the fire and dropped the rabbit. Once it was in the light of the now blazing fire, he could make out its coloring. Mostly white with strips of brown, black, and gray running through it. A striking color.
The wolf continued to stare at him, and he said the only thing he could think of. “Thank you.”
Then it yipped and raced from the cave.
Alex was on the hunt. He grinned as he picked up the rabbit and, with his dagger already in hand, began to skin it. He would have preferred something with more meat, but beggars and all.
The wolf brought three more rabbits before Alex shifted back to her human form. He didn’t mean to stare at her nakedness, but he couldn’t help but appreciate what sleek muscles she’d been able to retain after a year of near starvation and little activity.
That wasn’t the entire reason he couldn’t look away, though he knew how rude it was. But he wasn’t currently in control. His beast had a soft spot for the shifter. He brushed it off as nothing more than gratitude for a life saved. It was impossible to knowwhere he’d be now if Gheata had gotten another dose of the modified Magic Poppy in him.
She’d been staring at him as well, and a slight smile curved her lips before she turned away and slipped on her clothes. “I think that second rabbit is done cooking.”
That broke his stare, and he removed it from the spit he’d made as she handed him the next one he’d skinned to be placed on the fire.
She sat near him and took the cooked rabbit he offered her, while he picked up the first one he’d laid on a stone near the fire to keep warm. “You shouldn’t have waited to eat that. It’s been some time since I’ve had to cook rabbit over a fire. The one thing I can remember is that it doesn’t taste as good cold. And you need something to eat.”
“It’s still warm enough, and the same goes for you. How long has it been since you’ve eaten meat?”
“It’s been a while. They gave us porridge for breakfast with an occasional egg. For dinner, and lunch when they were generous, we got stew that was more vegetable than meat.”
“It’s easier to handle shifters when they aren’t fed meat.”
She ripped a piece of flesh from the rabbit and ate it greedily. Then she quickly swallowed a second piece, and before he ate half of his, she tossed the bones into the fire. She licked her fingers as she watched him eat, then grinned.
“You’re right. I needed that. It was all I could do to stop the wolf from eating them raw.”
He grimaced. “It’s been a long time since I had to do that. It wasn’t pleasant.”
“So, how old are you?” She poked at the cooking rabbit and what little fat there was sparked a sizzle when it hit the flames.
