The second she stepped onto the squishy moss forest floor, chills blasted up the back of her neck. It was so quiet here. Ian was always silent when he moved through the woods, but here, with the lichens under her rubber-soled hiking boots, even she, in her natural human clumsiness, was silent when she moved.
Ian handed her a backpack, then pulled on his own. In silence, they chambered a round of ammunition in their rifles and checked the safety on each, then shouldered the weapons and made their way up a small trail that led upward between two moss-covered boulders.
Ian pointed out a set of enormous grizzly tracks on the beach sand headed up the same trail, then cupped the back of her head and whispered, “How old?”
She squinted at the prints, bigger than her head, and remembered everything Ian had taught her about tracking animals over the last month. These were half dry on damp sand. “A few hours at least,” she whispered against his ear.
As a reward, he leaned down and sipped at her lips, massaging the back of her hair gently. “Good. Keep alert, but he should be out of the area. They’re on the hunt right now, not sleeping much, trying to build up last minute fat reserves for winter.”
Ian had been doing the same thing. Even nervous about following a grizzly trail, she smiled. While her backpack was full of ammunition, deer tags, hunting knives, and a bedroll tied on the outside, his was full of food.
The deeper they hiked into the Afognak woods, the eerier they became and the thicker the fog rolled in. Sometimes they walked blind in the thick cloud cover and other times hiked through a clearing, surrounded by the thick fog. She relied on Ian’s instinct to guide them because she couldn’t see any great distance in front of her. They could be hunted right now by a brown bear, and she wouldn’t know, but Ian constantly turned his head at every sound. This way and that, he angled his ears, and she could almost see him identifying each one and tossing them away as non-threatening.
The claw mark on her leg was almost healed, but it tingled here in the quiet wilderness of the haunted woods. The remembered pain from that bear raking its six-inch claws through her flesh made it hard not to panic and give in to the claustrophobia that the island pressed against her.
Deeper and deeper Ian led her into the heart of the island, each step silent against the spongy moss. The vibrant green lichens grew so thick on everything, she could be walking over boulders, tree roots, or bones of the dead, and she would never be able to tell the difference.
Ian’s need to bring her to Afognak wasn’t just about hunting or showing her his charred den. He hadn’t been able to get a hold of Clayton to tell him about Miller’s threats, and Elyse knew a piece of her mate was hoping there would be an order for the crazy wolf waiting at the entrance of his winter den where they’d always been delivered before.
They weren’t hunting now, though Ian’s eyes were always scanning their surroundings, as were hers. It was natural to search for opportunities now that she’d been on hunts with Ian. He was slowly adjusting her instincts, honing them to look for wildlife that could serve as food during their long winters. She was more aware of her surroundings than she ever had been.
Over a rocky ridge, a Sitka doe bounded away. Ian’s gaze followed her until she disappeared, but he didn’t seem inclined to track her. Not now. Instead, he turned and offered his hand up the side of a slick, exposed rock surface, helping Elyse up. And after what seemed like hours of hiking, half-afraid of what would charge out of the fog, Ian led her into the small mouth of a cave. She had to crouch down to get through the opening. Once inside, she could stand.
Ian squeezed her hand, pulling her to a stop, then kissed her forehead. “Welcome to the Monster House. Stay here,” he said on a breath as he clicked his flashlight on. “Let me make sure it’s clear.” Of grizzlies claiming my den. He didn’t have to say the last part, though. She was understanding more and more about Ian’s life and of the wild animals he had to live alongside.
Two minutes later, and he was back. He jerked his head in invitation, and she pulled a headlight from her backpack, slid it onto her forehead, and clicked it on.
The cave smelled like smoke and charred wood, and when she laid eyes on the rubble, she hated Miller even more.
He’d taken Ian’s home from him.