Page 41 of Wolf Fated
The bear roared and I trembled.
Bang! This time the bullet skimmed the side of the bear’s head. Oh God, I just pissed it off more. The bear charged me.
I pulled the trigger. Click. Click. Click. What? Why would Nathan bring a gun with only a few bullets in the clip?
I had no more ammunition or weapons.
I held the rifle over my head, cringing from the hot pain lancing down my arm, and yelled.
For a split second, I thought it was going to come after me. I held my ground though, my heart squeezed in my throat at the thought of the bear killing me and Nathan dying out here because of me. Because no one knew where the hell we were or that he was injured.
Using all my strength, I shouted again.
The bear lowered down on its four legs, then scuttled off through the woods. I let out a shaky breath and dropped the rifle, dashing to Nathan's side. Blood coated his head, coloring his auburn hair a bright red. Wounds covered his body and he shook like he was going into shock.
"Oh God, Nathan, stay with me." I placed my hands over his, not knowing what to do or if I could even help him. "Do you have your cell phone?" I could call an ambulance. Yes, they could carry him and get him to the hospital.
His emerald eyes stared at me like he wasn't seeing me.
"Nathan," I said again, but his eyes were vacant. "Okay, I'm going to check your pockets for your phone." I was pretty sure he didn't have a phone in the deer stand. It had been just a flat platform when we were in there before.
As gently as I could, I turned him over on his side. Blood gushed from a wound on his back. I dug through his back pockets and pulled out his cell.
The screen was cracked, but the power lit up. I hit the first number... Axel.
"Hello?" I said as soon as the phone stopped ringing. "Axel?"
"No, this is Drake, Axel is in the shower." He paused. "Brook? Where's Nathan."
"H-He's hurt bad. A bear." I choked out sobs, trying to get my voice to work again. "W-we're in the forest, by the deer stand."
"Is he conscious?" Drake asked.
I shook my head, then realized he couldn't see me. "N-No. He's bleeding a lot."
"What color was the bear?"
"What?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Surly he wasn't asking me what color the bear was.
"Brook, answer me." His tone was firm and hard.
"Brown, I think."
"Then I need you to do something for me, Brook. Are you ready?"
His nonsense tone sent a shiver down my spine.
I nodded. "Yes."
"The bear is a grizzly and it's going to come back. You need to get up into the deer stand. If the bear was big enough to put Nathan down, it's too big to climb up. You'll be safe until we can get help there."
"What about Nathan?" I placed my hand over his and looked over my shoulder expecting the grizzly to come charging through the woods at us any second. "What will the bear do to him? I can't carry him."
"You're going to have to leave him, Brook."
"No. No way." I clutched the phone tighter. The idea of leaving Nathan when he came out here to save me made my stomach heave. There was no way I could just leave him out here to die or for the bear to return. "What's the address here? For Nathan's deer stand." I needed something to be able to give the firefighters or animal control or whoever was called for a bear attack. Couldn't exactly say somewhere in the forest.
"You're not listening to me. Get up and run to the deer stand now."
