Page 6 of Feelin' Pine

Throwing the GPS phone back in the bag, I stop midmotion when heavy barking hits my ears. I gauge the direction where the sounds are coming from. Up here, people run into friendly and not-so-friendly dogs in the woods. It’s always best to remain cautious. With my years of experience, I’ve learned to read them quickly.

A massive German shepherd bounds toward me through the tree line, barking incessantly, but not necessarily aggressively. I clutch at my bag as I have a gun inside for emergencies, but I’ve never used it. I hope not to start now, but the dog isn’t slowing down. I wrap my hand around the holster, and the dog stops at my feet, sits, and barks at me with no mistaken urgency. He keeps glancing from me to the trees behind him. The hairs on my body rise, and my emergency instincts take hold of me, and the need to run in toward the danger has me in its thrall. If somebody is injured, I need to get to them. Fast.

“Hey there, big guy.” I lower my hand for the dog to sniff. I’m confident he won’t attack.Well, mostly confident.He has a loose leash so he was attached to someone at some point. I look for a tag but can’t get close enough as he gets up and won’t settle. He keeps turning in circles and barking at me.

“Can I see… hey, just sit… bud, come on…”

The dog barks, jumps up to my chest with his paws, and then starts to run in the direction it came from, looking over his shoulder. When I don’t move fast enough, it stops, barks some more, and circles a few more times.

Does it want me to follow? Apparently, I’m taking too long, and the dog runs back to me and jumps on me, but this time he grabs the handle of my rucksack and pulls me along.

I’ll take that as a yes. Follow human or you’re going to be lying on the ground.

“Okay, okay… I’ll go with you! Got it, I’m coming.” Stumbling forward, I say, “Okay, Lassie, who’s fallen down the…”

Freezing in place, I pray I’ve mistaken what my nose is scenting and take a deep inhale.

“Shit.”

The big whiff of air isn’t lying. Smoke. Ten or fifteen miles away. And not far enough.

“’Kay, boy, lead the way.” I run after the dog, and once he realizes I’m following, he leads me further into the woods, outpacing me, but he looks back adjusting for my limping jog. I keep up as best as possible, but my ankle tells me I shouldn’t be running, but the dog seems so…

“Kraine! Kraine!”

A woman’s screams flood the mountain range, echoing through me. I halt, throwing dust in every direction off the trail, trying to orient where I’m at compared to the fire and an exit. The air is gaining that all-too-familiar haze.

The dog barks back at me and works to get my attention and launches again in the opposite direction.

My stomach starts to clench, and, in most people, this would be a sign of anxiety or worry, but to me, it’s normal and I push the feeling down to find whatever or whoever this dog wants me to get to. I follow and hope I can get to the woman because whoever she is, I need her to leave the mountain. This situation isn’t going to get better.

The dog takes a sharp right, and I move faster to catch up after losing sight of him. I can’t lose the dog. I won’t.

“Kraine?! Come on, buddy, where are you?” Fear laces cracks in her voice as she calls for her dog, or at least who I assume is her dog.

Kraine? Cool name.

A small clearing opens in front of me, and there she is. My heart sputters inside of me. I take in her strawberry blonde hair whirling around her face as she looks like some magical, curvy forest sprite. Her hands cup around her perfectly pink mouth like a cone so she can call out. My cock twitches at the sight of her, and my protective instinct overtakes my senses. The need to wrap her up and get her out of here bangs inside my chest.

“Kraine?” she whimpers as she coughs and circles again.

The German shepherd stops and looks at me, barking loud, snapping me out of staring at the beauty before me.

Lifting my brow, I glance at the dog. “Kraine?” I ask, and the dog excitedly jumps over me with a shiteating grin. “Down, boy. Okay, I see her. Good dog. Let’s go save her, huh?”

Glancing at her again, I soak in everything I can as I know this is the only time I’ll get a solid look at her, as the next bit of time will be critical in getting her off this mountain and away from the fires.

I need to save her.

But is she the only one needing saving?

CHAPTERFOUR

MAITLYN

“Kraine! Kraine!”I repeatedly shout for my best friend but haven’t encountered him in the past ten minutes. I’m disoriented and don’t know how to return to the Blaine cabin. I find myself in a clearing and figure this is the best place to stop, and hopefully, Kraine will return to me. I’m high enough on a slope to see some trails and can glance down the mountain, but none of the terrain is familiar. Everything seems cast in a misty haze.

Turning in a circle, I bite at my bottom lip as I twirl my fingers around each other. Did I come from behind me or to the right?

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