Chapter 7

It was, and the sun was still visible over the Sierras to the west. “I thought we’d go at least until sunset and then find a place to set up the tent. Unless you’re tired?”

“No, not really. Not yet.” He sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a longwhoosh. “Smells good already.”

I sniffed, letting the clean pine-scented air fill my lungs. Technically we weren’t in the foothills, but it appeared that way since the valley sat at nearly 5000 feet above sea level. I turned around and walked backwards, taking in what might be our last view of the area where we’d grown up for a while. “If we go another hour or two, we’ll get some real distance behind us.”

“Agreed. I’m ready to let my wolf out. He’s been antsy for a while.”

“Mine, too. It was their den as much as our house.” Leaves crunched under our boots, a reminder of how late in the year it was but also a balm to my really rattled soul. Our garden had been a sanctuary, but since it was gone, massacred by progress, I’d missed the quiet of being in nature. My parents’ home, where I’d stayed only on a temporary basis, was in the middle of a busy area not too far off Highway 395, and the constant hum of traffic had just about shredded my nerves. Funny that it hadn’t bothered me much growing up, but now? I’d slept with my pillow over my head.

We traveled on in silence for a while, the easy quiet of people who’d been together more than apart for most of their lives. An hour later, we were passing through a section where one of the wildfires of the past summer had extended its fingers, charring the trees and burning out the underbrush. Acrid and distressing, this was not a place where we could stop, so by unspoken consent, we continued on for another three hours until we reached the shore of one of the many secluded lakes.

“Here good?” Liam dropped his pack on the ground and reached to unzip it without waiting for an answer.

I gave him one anyway. “Good spot. We should be able to do a little hunting without too much trouble.” After our long hike and with a couple more days of it ahead of us, we needed to be energy conscious. “If you’re hungry.”

“I’m hungry and for more than the beef jerky you’ve stuffed in my pack.”

I chuckled. “It’s one of the few things we had room for after taking all our supplies. Let’s hurry and get set up so we can run.”

“Yes.”

Not our first time camping together, we had the tent out and up and our sleeping bags inside in a very few minutes. The lake was blue and tempting, but even in the height of summer, this glacial pool would be freezing and tonight; we’d never get warm if we took a plunge. But as soon as we’d stripped off our clothing and donned our fur, our wolves were lapping at the icy water, drinking it down to rehydrate after our hike. It burned down my throat but tasted amazing. In two-legged form, I had to filter water from these sources, but my wolf seemed to process it just fine.

After our drink, we ran into the brush and chased one another and any small prey we roused along the way. It was a good way to travel without carrying a lot of food, if time allowed. The moon rose, casting her light over us, and energizing our wolves. All of which led to our spending far too much time frolicking, cavorting, and otherwise letting off steam after a very long, tense time.

When we finally came back to the tent, we did the practical thing and crawled inside still in fur. We probably didn’t need to worry about zipping the tent because this late in the season, most of the creepy crawlies had already found somewhere to hide. Also, our wolves didn’t care about things like zippers.

As we had on other occasions, we fell asleep on top of our sleeping bags in a mini puppy pile consisting of two wolves. Unlike on other occasions, we woke up no longer in our fur but still tangled in a pile. Rather, I woke up because at first, I had no idea whether or not Owen was awake. Or what to do about it.

I’d spent so much time trying not to be aware of him, not to do anything to make him uncomfortable or ruin our friendship. All the years we’d been friends, he’d never done or said anything to make me think he was interested in me, and it was not because he was not interested in anyone. Liam was a serial dater who rarely went out with someone more than once. He didn’t talk about them much, and I got the impression they weren’t important to him. Certainly not a true or fated mate, but it was only a matter of time before he did find someone he liked a lot—and that would be hard to take.

But not as hard as my cock, currently nestled in the crack of Liam’s ass. And I had absolutely no idea what to do about that. Well, I had ideas, but they would have to involve consent and a conversation before anything more happened.

I should roll away, maybe climb in my sleeping bag or put on clothes, or both, but with the firm halves of my secret crush’s ass squeezing my cock, I wasn’t sure I had the strength or moral fortitude to do more than just appreciate the experience and hope we were still friends when this night was over with.

As I wavered, my dick remarkably getting even harder, those cheeks squeezed harder, and my oldest friend said, “Feel good, Jessica ?”

So good I could barely draw breath, but like the goof I sometimes can be in situations where I don’t know just what to do, I said, “Yes. It feels pretty great.”

Mia

Despite the security brought me by my fur, my wolf’s absence in my mind preyed on me, and I lasted only a few hours before giving up on sleep and deciding to move on. It would be cold, but as long as I put on most of the clothes I brought and kept moving, I shouldn’t lose a finger or toe. My boots were old, discarded by one of our visitors, and they didn’t fit perfectly but they were lined and warm. Three sweatshirts, two with hoods, two pairs of leggings and one of jeans. A scarf, a hat…gloves. I’d taken the best of what lay within our closet, no matter which family member had once owned it, so everything was an odd size but that didn’t matter.

What did was the fact that I was so layered, it hampered my stride and slowed me down.

The moon had risen, since I lay down, and there were almost no stars visible, but the silvery light lit the trail for me, and as it climbed and descended, I hummed under my breath and tried to imagine what it would be like when I arrived at Triple L.

The alpha female would greet me and make me welcome. She would find me a little room in someone’s home that I could pay for maybe by caring for their children or garden or chickens. I would get to know these people who lived happily together and were supported in their dreams by their alphas and elders.

I would be—

A groan shattered the quiet of the forest, and I came to a stop. What animal made such a sound?

Late fall…hunters would be about and I’d not thought of that at all. In wolf form, we were vulnerable to them, although there were no tags for us. Not for shifter wolves or any other kind in this area. But that didn’t mean that some overeager poacher wouldn’t feel that he had the right to take us down. We’d always been warned of that, told to keep close to the village in fall especially.

My breathing was loud against the light whisper of the icy breeze brushing the aspens who had not quite given up their leaves quite yet. Their characteristic rattle made music, and whatever I’d thought I’d heard no longer seemed to be happening. Perhaps I was too lonely here, without even those remaining pack members who barely paid me any attention unless they wanted to buy eggs or rolls or something. Wolves were not meant to be alone.