Page 35 of The Untamed

CJ shakes his head. “You used to play baseball. Not falling for it.”

Jace, not one to be stopped, rears back his arm and then sends the rock sailing. It hits one of the trees near the river with a loudthunkand then goes straight down.

I bark out a laugh and then nudge CJ. “Should have taken the bet!”

CJ grumbles but picks up a different stone. He throws his, but it doesn’t go quite as far. Jace is about to throw another one when he looks at the rock, brows scrunching together.

“Who names rocks in the middle of the fucking forest?” With a shrug, he throws the one in his hand, this one making a splash in the river.

My blood runs cold at his words. I whirl around and notice the rocks they’ve been throwing—and continue to throw—are those of a grave. Or several graves to be exact.

“No!” I cry out, smacking a rock out of CJ’s hand. “Stop! You have to go get them. Right now!”

CJ frowns in confusion. “What? Why?”

“My aunt,” I blurt, “lost several babies. Those are their graves.”

CJ’s eyes widen in horror and Jace frowns like he might be sick. Guilt has my stomach twisting painfully. I may hate Wild, but his mother is awesome. I love Aunt Eve. Knowing we disturbed the grave of her many unborn children makes me want to throw up.

“Hey,” CJ says, clutching my wrist gently. “It’s okay. We’ll get them and put them back. We didn’t know.”

I nod, swallowing hard. I catch Destiny also frowning, her bottom lip wobbling. Carter doesn’t say a word, just tries to stay out of the way.

Something moving behind a tree has me stalling in my effort to collect the rocks that were thrown. The hairs on my arms stand on end. It’s the growl—deep and threatening—that makes me completely freeze up.

Bear.

“Shit,” Jace hisses. “Is that a fucking bear?”

I whimper and give him the briefest of nods. To my absolute horror, Destiny is the closest to the bear that’s standing on its hind legs to appear more menacing.

And it’s a huge female grizzly—at least seven feet tall and around four hundred pounds if I had to guess. Destiny is dwarfed by the beast’s massive stature.

“I’m scared,” Destiny cries out and then takes off running.

As she blindly darts past me and slams her shoulder into a tree that sends her flopping to the forest floor, the angry bear begins its chase. Mage howls, scampering off into the trees, away from the predator. All I can do is stare at the grizzly as it rushes us, snarling and growling in fury. It rises up on its two hind legs again when it’s near and then swipes at the person closest to it.

Carter.

The kid goes flying, the bear’s claws shredding through his backpack and emptying the contents in one fell swoop. Still, I can’t move my feet, and from the looks of it, neither can Jace or CJ.

We’re all going to die.

Grab your knife, dummy!

My knife, sheathed at my belt, remains untouched because I can’t move.

The bear sinks its teeth into the back of Carter’s leg, making him scream in pain. The bear stands on its two hind legs once more, drawing Carter off the ground, letting him dangle by where it has him captured in its jaws.

We have to do something!

Boom!

The echoing sound of gunfire has me crying out in surprise. The bear makes a pained sound, dropping Carter to the ground before turning around.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

With each shot, the bear jerks, but it’s the one to its face that ultimately sends it crashing to the ground. Then, more shots ring out.

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