VESPER

 

Rudy had these green eyes that were as intense as anybody’s I’d ever seen before. He gave me a focused stare, his jaw clenched. I could tell he was trying his best to remain calm even though he was shaking slightly.

“This might sting a little,” I said.

“A little?”

“…Okay, maybe a lot…”

He let out a short chuckle and nodded. I sighed a deep breath and turned my attention to the wound on his leg.

The embers were burning on the stick I held. I pushed it forward on top of his wound to seal it shut. His skin sizzled softly and the steam rose.

Rudy let out a soft grunt but he took the pain well. He remained calm in his seat without complaining.

I pulled the small stick away and threw it into the fire.

“That should do it,” I said. “There might be a little bit of a scar when it heals but at least there’ll be no more bleeding.”

“Scars I can handle.”

He gave me a smirk.

There was something charming about his face. He had a youthful appearance, his skin unwrinkled and unblemished. It helped that his hair was a platinum blond that was almost white. His body was lean and sinewy, which was a contrast to the men and women I was used to associating with. But there was something more about him. The way he looked at me was like there was something on his mind. I just couldn’t figure out what it was.

He stood up straight and stretched his arms out. He turned toward the entrance to my cabin.

“I guess it’s too late to try and make it back to the herd,” he sighed.

“Not if you wanna get caught up in the storm. Right now, everybody out there is hunkering down. Don’t worry. I don’t mind the company.”

“I’ll mind my manners. I promise.”

I gave him a nod and he took a seat back down near the fireplace. I sat right next to him, stirring the small pot that was boiling over the flames.

“What is that?” he asked.

“Just a little something I’m cooking up. Some oats mixed in with some of the fruits we picked.”

“Smells nice.”

“Here.”

I grabbed a bowl and poured some of the porridge for him. Rudy took it from me and looked down into it. He didn’t eat it though. He just stared at it like he didn’t know what to do with it.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I didn’t put anything in it that’ll kill you.”

“It’s not that. It’s… I don’t recall ever having something like this before.”

“It’s an old recipe we bears use. Nothing special. But I suppose since you haven’t been around many bears, it must be something different for you.”

“Yeah, it’s different all right…”

He grabbed a wooden spoon and started digging in. Watching the younger Omega eat put a smile on my face. He had a zest and appetite I hadn’t seen since I was with my sleuth all those years ago.

I turned my attention back to my pot, so as not to stare too much at him.

“Do you really live out here alone?” he asked.

“I do.”

“I would have thought you would be living with other bears.”

“Yes, there was a time when I did.”

“How long ago was that?”

“About six years now. I’m almost 30 years old now.”

“Why did you leave the others?”

“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “I just thought it was time for me to leave the sleuth. Some stick around. Others have left for Dirge. But for me… I wanted to find my own place in the Timberlands. And I wanted to be alone.”

“I see…”

He smacked his lips as he continued to stare intently at the flames, shoveling more of the porridge into his mouth.

“What about you?” I asked.

“What about me?”

“You talked about the herd. What are you doing all the way out here?”

“I…”

He hesitated. I waited for his answer but it didn’t come. I turned toward him and saw that he’d stopped eating.

“…I ran,” he said.

“You ran away from the herd?”

“I wasn’t running away from the herd. I was just enjoying some time out in the woods with one of the other Omegas. Then someone emerged.”

“Who?”

“A hunter. He attacked me.”

My eyes widened in surprise. I wouldn’t have believed him but I couldn’t figure out a reason for him to lie to me.

“He was a man,” he continued. “A man dressed in plain clothes. He had knives.”

“That’s how you got that wound…”

“That’s right,” he said with a nod. “He’s a hunter. He has to be. Do you know anything about them?”

“No. I’ve only heard stories but I thought those were myths that elders told the young ones to frighten them into not traveling to far from their packs.”

“I heard the same. But for sure it was a hunter. I know it is. Someone else would not have used weapons and attacked me as a man. If I were crossing into the wrong territory, they would have told me so. That man… That… stranger… He’s not from around here. I know he’s not.”

Hearing Rudy’s story was worrisome. The tales of hunters coming out to the Timberlands to attack others for sport was always just a rumor. I wanted to believe that Rudy was lying but there was a part of me that knew he was being sincere.

“I know what you’re thinking,” he said.

“Do you?”

“You think I’m some stranger who wandered into the wrong part of the forest and stumbled into you, looking for comfort and shelter. I assure you that what I just told you is the truth.”

I sighed a deep breath and smiled.

“I believe you,” I said. “But even if you were lying, I would have offered you comfort and shelter just the same. It wouldn’t be right to make anybody have to brave the cold by themselves.”

“I would have braved the cold if I had to. Right now my only concern is the herd. If the hunter is still out there, there’s a chance he’s looking for them right now.”

“If the hunter is still out there, he will eventually freeze to death. The Timberlands are no place for a man from Dirge and certainly not when the cold is as bitter as it can be all season.”

My words seemed lost on him. He just kept staring at the fire in front of him with worry in his eyes.

I put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. He jerked his head toward me and his eyes widened.

“Your herd is safe,” I said. “And when the snow goes away, I will do what I can to help you get back to them.”

“Thanks… But I don’t need any help finding them. I know the way.”

“Of course. My offer still stands if you need it.”

He smiled softly at me. The young Omega had an innocence about him I couldn’t explain. I figured it was because it had been so long since I’d seen an Omega. But in any case, I appreciated the reminder of what it was like to be in the presence of someone so exuberant.

“Here,” I said. “Have some more.”

I scooped more of the porridge into his bowl.

“I don’t want to take all of your food,” he said. “Perhaps you should save some for yourself.”

“I always stock up more than I need. Most of my time when the snowstorm comes is spent in my slumber. The extra food is for emergencies. It’s for guests.”

“Situations just like this.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

He smiled softly as he took another bite of his porridge. I tossed some more of the fruit into the bowl and let it simmer over the flames.

Rudy shifted his eyes around the cabin, examining his surroundings.

“This is a nice place,” he said.

“Thanks.”

“Did you build this yourself?”

“I did. It took me more time than I’d care to admit but it was all me.”

“It would be nice to have something like this back in our camp.”

“What do you have?”

“Not much. Just a bunch of tents made from linens and cloths.”

“That’s more than enough to brace yourself from the snow.”

“Maybe. But the tents are barely big enough to house a few people. There isn’t any more space to move around.”

“I’m a bear,” I said with a laugh. “I do need my space.”

“I get that… Sometimes I feel like I need the space, too. Now that I think about it, that’s the reason I’m in this situation right now.”

“What do you mean?”

He stared off to the corner of my cabin. There was nothing for him to look at but that didn’t matter. He looked like he was lost in his thoughts. His mind had floated somewhere else.

“I’ve lived all my life with the herd,” he said. “That’s been the way of life for all my people for generations. I have nothing to complain about and everything to be grateful for. But sometimes…”

“You just wanna get away.”

A subtle smile formed on his lips.

“Yeah,” he said softly.

His eyes shifted toward the ground, his mind still wandering somewhere in space.

“The Timberlands are so large,” he said. “There’s so much to explore. And then there’s the city as well. I wanna see all of it even though I know I’ll never get the chance to.”

“Maybe that’s for the best. Wandering too far from the herd led you to a dangerous hunter.”

“That’s one way of looking at it. I’m sorry that the hunter is still out there. Maybe when the snow comes, he’ll come looking for the herd now that he knows I’m out here. But danger comes with the discovery. I’d like to see what’s out there in the woods. Just like all of those who came before us explored. They wouldn’t have established Dirge if that weren’t the case.”

He turned back to me, his eyes no longer lost in his thoughts. Just the way he looked at me was enough to put a smile on my face. He still looked as innocent as he always did. But with it now was a sense of wonder like a young child.

“Perhaps one day you’ll be able to see the rest of the woods,” I said. “Maybe you’ll even get to visit Dirge.”

“What about you?” he asked. “Aren’t you curious about the city?”

I put my head down and chuckled softly to myself.

“What’s so funny?”

“It’s nothing. I was just asked the same question from a friend who visited earlier in the day.”

“I see…”

“I’m content where I am. I’ll admit that the curiosity of Dirge has a certain appeal to it but I’m in no hurry to get there. It’s not as if either one of us has a choice. The snow will keep us confined to where we are for quite a bit.”

We shared a laugh together.

I looked into his bowl and just realized he had eaten all of it.

“Would you like some more?” I asked.

“No. I can’t. I don’t think filling my stomach until I burst will do me any good.”

“When I was with my sleuth, before the snowstorm came, we would all eat to our heart’s content and more. We stuffed our bellies until there was no more room inside of us.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Because when we slept and waited for the snow to pass, we didn’t have to worry about our stomach rumbling. Here…”

I poured more of the porridge into his bowl. Rudy looked down at it and sighed.

“I suppose I can’t turn down your hospitality,” he said.

He shoved another spoonful into his mouth. I smiled at him, doing my best to let him know that I welcomed his company.