The dinner was over before she knew it, and it was every bit as good as it had looked and smelled. If the clan really did eat this well every day then Laura was in for a treat.

After dinner Ming insisted on giving her a tour of the camp. The camp didn’t really seem big enough to require a tour, but Laura didn’t resist. She liked being around Ming, and it felt good to hang around with someone who might become a friend. Someone who might even be able to empathize with being the odd person out in the clan.

She caught Rick’s eyes before leaving, motioning to Ming and mouthing the words ‘see you later’. He nodded and said something to Tommy, both of them bursting into laughter.

Laura pulled the hat and gloves out of the pockets of her parka after she zipped up. The sun was well down by this point and the air had gone from freezing to something worse. If they were going to spend some time outside she would need to be bundled up.

Ming pulled on a coat that looked similar to hers, though she went without a hat or gloves. She pulled Laura through clumps of people standing near the entrance, both of them exchanging pleasantries as they went.

Once they had made some space between themselves and everyone else Ming leaned into her. “Okay Ell, out with it. What brought you two back here?”

“I thought you were giving me a tour!” Laura whispered back in mock outrage.

“Sorry, sorry, I forgot. That’s the dining hall and company offices,” she said, motioning to the building they had just come from. “And these are people’s homes. All done! Now let’s hear it.”

So Laura began, unsure what or how much she was going to tell Ming, but once she started it all came out in a flood. Craig’s gambling debt, meeting Rick, Craig’s death, her kidnapping, all of it.

It felt amazing to share it with someone else, which wasn’t something she had expected. Rick had been with her through everything, wasn’t that enough for her? But it turned out that it hadn’t been enough. She loved Rick with an intensity that scared her, but you couldn’t build a life around just one person. You couldn’t expect them to be your everything. A person needed friends, a community.

Ming interjected constantly while Laura spoke, silly questions mostly, enough to make Laura chuckle more than once. They were walking outside of the circle of buildings which formed the camp by this time, heading away from the noise of dinner breaking up. Ming directed them to a path made of beat down snow leading into the trees, Laura still deep into her story.

She finished with her vision of Craig just as they had been leaving Blackendale, tears forming in her eyes at the thought, though freezing shortly after. She had to wipe the small trail of ice off her lower eyelids.

Ming wasted no time in hugging her then, squeezing her with a strength that would have been surprising if Laura hadn’t known what she really was. It probably would have hurt if Laura had been wearing a thinner coat. She held her like that for a few moments before she pulled back.

“Well, it looks like us two loners will have to look out for each other then,” Ming said. Laura thought she heard a hitch in Ming’s voice as she spoke, but couldn’t be sure.

“I’d like that,” Laura replied.

 

Laura and Ming spent a short time walking through the forest together in silence before they headed back to the noise and bustle of the camp. The silence seemed right after what had just been shared, and Laura was sure that Ming felt the same.

As they approached the circle of buildings, Ming took her gloved hand and gave it a little squeeze. “So tomorrow yeah? Let’s go for a little hike.”

“Deal,” Laura said back.

They separated then, Ming heading for the trailer she lived in. There were still a few people to be seen here and there, standing in small groups chatting. One was even in bear form, heading out of the circle of light towards the forest. She was surprised that the shifters here were willing to shift so openly, but it was pretty remote up here, and she supposed they must have some way of watching the roads for people approaching.

She was coming to understand why this clan had chosen to live so far out in the wilderness. The cold was an issue here, probably even for shifters, but it allowed an amount of privacy that couldn’t be had in many places. A place where they could truly be themselves, a refuge.

Which made it all the more important that Rick help Tommy straighten things out. It wasn’t just the two of their lives that would be affected, every one of the people living here needed a place where they could be safe. This was bigger than them.

Laura wasn’t sure how much help she could be with any of this. Despite Rick telling her about his clan, she still understood very little of how the politics worked here. Rick had seen tension just in the way people gathered for dinner, so clearly the discontent was there.

She was within the camp by then. She took a moment, spinning in a circle. It was hard to pick out which building was theirs, as they all looked mostly the same. Some had more colorful blinds or curtains than others, but all were essentially the same in form.

She found it by using the dining hall as a point of reference and strode off toward it. Before she had taken ten steps, however, she heard footsteps crunching on the thickly packed snow behind her. She turned and realized it was Rick jogging towards her.

He barely slowed before plowing into her, and before she knew it she was being held in a fireman’s carry on Rick’s shoulder. He was still jogging, towards their trailer she realized. She heard laughter and what sounded like crude jokes from the groups of people around them, something that might have made her blush if her face hadn’t been so cold.

She pulled her glove off and pinched the skin on Rick’s neck, hard. He let out a yelp and the grip around her waist instantly loosened, allowing her to wriggle free. She slid down his chest and once her feet were firmly planted she wagged her finger in his face. “Bad bear,” she said with as much sternness as she could muster.

Those around them instantly erupted, their chuckles replaced by gales of laughter. Rick too was laughing, his sides shaking.

“Guess we know who wears the pants,” a man nearby called out, to more howls of laughter.

“Guess we do,” Rick said quietly, gazing adoringly down at her. His hand found hers and he started for their home again, this time Laura walking next to him.

Laura closed the door behind them, sealing off the hoots and hollers for the night. Rick’s lips found hers immediately, the rough stubble on his face scratchy in an intoxicating way. His tongue slipped into her mouth, teasing and caressing, while his hands began unzipping her coat.

Laura followed suit, that familiar heat already building within her. She pulled her gloves and hat off, throwing them somewhere behind Rick, too engrossed in his embrace to care about where they landed. Her hands found their way under Rick’s sweater, her cold skin causing him to pull back slightly before he caught himself.

The heat bleeding off Rick’s body felt delicious. She ran her hands up and down his muscled chest as they kissed, her palms sliding over the smooth, hot skin. His hands began working at her clothes, fingers undoing buttons and zippers deftly. His lips never left hers, however, as if caught fast in their passion.

Soon she was naked before him. The trailer had held the heat from the fire remarkably well, so the air was warm against her skin. Her hands drifted down to his pants, easily undoing his belt, something she had done many times before. He pulled his sweater up over his head, fully revealing the gorgeous body she had been touching. He was still astonishing.

She undid the button on his pants, then began lowering the zipper, suddenly slow now. She could feel the bulge directly beneath her hands, straining against the fabric. Her change in speed drew a growl from low in his throat, half impatience and half barely constrained lust. He let her play her game, however, slowly unzipping while brushing her hand across his erection.

The zipper reached the bottom, and her hands went to Rick’s hips, sliding his pants down. They pooled around his ankles, revealing the near entirety of his body to her. His cock was hidden only by the small patch of fabric that was his underwear, although that was the wrong word. Nothing about it was hidden.

“How soundproof are these walls?” Laura asked, eyes glancing at the room around them. The windows were all covered by dark brown blinds or curtains.

“Very,” Rick said, the heat in his smile telling her that she would soon be testing his statement. That heat warmed her in a way that the woodstove would never be able to do.

She led him down the short hallway to their bedroom, which was about as plain as the rest of the building. The bed was set in one corner, just small enough to ensure that they would need to cuddle while sleeping. Next to it was a small nightstand, adorned only by a small framed picture of what looked to be Rick and Tommy together as children. Opposite the bed was a single dresser standing next to a closet that Laura hadn’t looked inside yet.

Her eyes swept over the room but before she knew it she was being swept toward the bed. She turned as she reached it, pushing Rick onto it first. As always, he let her lead when she wanted to, allowing her touch to dictate.

She climbed on top of him, pushing his shoulders down to the bed with her hands and his head with her lips. His hands roamed over her, tracing patterns of heat across her still slightly chilled skin. She could feel the thick shaft of his cock against her leg.

Her tongue lapped against his. She could feel his hands move past her ass and down to his boxers, pulling them down as quickly as he could without dislodging her.

The need to feel him inside of her had built until Laura felt she was thrumming with anticipation, and she wasted no time in guiding him in. She sat back slowly, taking him in bit by bit, savoring his delicious ascent into her. A groan escaped him, some of the tension bleeding away at the pleasure.

Laura placed her hands on his chest and began to move, sliding up on down Rick’s cock, still moving slowly, enjoying each inch. One of his hands reached up, coming to rest on her chest between her breasts, then moving to cup her face. She took one of his fingers into her mouth, running her tongue along it. This drew another groan, almost a gasp, from Rick.

She felt his hips begin to move beneath her, but sat back more forcefully, holding him down. At least as much as someone as small as her could hold down a man like Rick. His eyes opened, and she shook her head, indicating that she wanted to keep running the show for now.

A smile played across his face, though it left as she began to work her way up and down him again. Laura began to pick up the pace, moving a little faster, feeling something powerful building inside her. She could feel from the increasing tension in Rick’s chest that he was nearing his release too, and began moving yet faster still. The orgasm building in her had become a tidal wave, just on the verge of breaking.

Rick, as always, seemed to sense where she was at, and began lifting his hips to meet hers each time she sat back. His thrusts drove her past that breaking point, walls of pleasure rocking through her body. At the same time, she felt him go over more rigid beneath her, as he found his own release, the warmth of which filled her.

She collapsed on top of him, chest heaving against his. Rick’s arms encircled her and they just laid there for a few moments, catching their breath.

After a few moments she felt Rick stirring beneath her. She slid off him and stood up, stretching herself out. Rick sat up on the edge of the bed.

“You make a new friend tonight?” he asked, a silly grin pulling up half his mouth.

“Yeah, I like Ming a lot,” Laura replied. She paused, realizing that it might have been better to ask Rick before giving Ming their whole story. “I kind of told her everything…”

Rick chuckled, a reassuring sound if ever there was one. “That’s fine, I told Tommy too. He needed to know since it could affect the clan. As for everyone else, that’s up to you.”

“I don’t know why, but I felt like old friends with Ming almost instantly,” Laura admitted. It was good that she had the leeway to determine who would or wouldn’t know about her story, but she still felt like she had to explain why she hadn’t talked about it before.

“No surprise, the two of you are the only non-grizzlies in the whole clan. You’ve got your outsider status in common, I guess.”

Laura nodded. She had felt that when they had been speaking.

Soon enough Laura and Rick were curled up together on the too-small bed. The mattress was quite hard, and the blankets were a little scratchy, but it still felt like home.

 

Laura dreamed of Craig again that night. She thought he would have liked this place. Laura had always been dead set on city life, but her brother had always loved nature. Camping, hiking, fishing, all of them had been Craig’s favorite things to do.

Laura had actually been a little surprised when he moved to New York. It had seemed out of character, his living in a place that was hours from the nearest spot to fish. At the time she had thought that he had missed her, as they hadn’t lived near each other for a few years. Weekly phone calls just weren’t the same as a shared dinner.

She wished he could have seen this place, met these people. He probably would have fit in here much more naturally than Laura.

Rick woke up just before dawn, as was his habit. He let her lay in bed as he went out to the kitchen to rekindle the fire. The air inside had cooled down considerably overnight, though Laura thought that was probably because neither of them had bothered to adjust the woodstove before collapsing into sleep.

Soon Laura heard the telltale sounds of grease popping over a stove, and the smell of bacon wafted into the bedroom. She really was pretty damn lucky. She rolled out of bed and began digging around her pack, eventually finding a pair of black fleece pants and a grey hooded sweater. Her wardrobe was pretty limited at this point, since they hadn’t exactly had time to pack while they were in New York. It didn’t much matter though, since most of what she had owned for clothes there would have been useless to her here. Practical seemed to be the most important word in her new life, and she was surprised to find that she liked it.

She walked out of the bedroom into the hallway, already feeling the heat of the woodstove working its way through their home. It felt strange to think of this place as home, but it also felt right. That was probably more to do with the man currently cooking her breakfast than anything else, but beggars shouldn’t be choosers.

She took a seat at the small kitchen table and admired the broad back of the man she loved. He made the fairly large wood stove look almost like a toy for children, bent slightly over it as he was.

She soon had a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon sitting in front of her. Rick took the seat across from her. They ate their meal in the comfortable silence of two people who had just made love. Rick was the first to break the silence.

“Sorry there’s no coffee here, I’ll have to get some sent in on the next shipment we get.”

“That’s alright, we’ve survived this long without it,” she replied between bites.

Laura could see the beginnings of sunrise peeking around the edge of the blinds by the time they finished their breakfast. She was on her way to the sink with the dishes when she heard a knock at the door. She could hear muffled shouting from outside, but couldn’t make out anything of what was being said.

A glance at Rick showed him to be grinning and shaking his head. “It’s for you,” he said simply, clearly fighting the urge to laugh.

She set the dishes down by the sink and went to the door, wondering who would show up this early.

Opening the door unleashed a flood of excited talking on her. “… get going already, the sun’s already up! It’s time to go hiking!” Ming was standing on their doorstep, practically shouting. Apparently she had remembered that Laura was a human today.

“Hey Ming, I didn’t think you’d want to get started so early!” Laura said, grin creeping its way onto her face despite the slight annoyance of being hassled out of a peaceful morning with Rick.

Ming was wearing a full complement of cold weather gear, leading Laura to believe that she would be taking this hike in her human form. On her back was a pack off of which dangled ropes and equipment of various types. Most of it was unrecognizable to Laura, but some of it seemed to be the kind of carabiners used for climbing, thick metal ovals that could be opened on one side.

Laura grabbed Ming by the shoulder of her jacket and pulled her inside, quickly closing the door behind her. The air outside was frigid compared to what was provided by their woodstove inside.

“Early? The sun came up a few minutes ago!” Ming said, practically bouncing on her toes.

“Alright, you’ll have to give me a bit to get ready,” Laura replied, once again surprised by the sheer energy the relatively small woman radiated.

“No problem, that’ll give me and Rick some time to catch up,” Ming answered. She was already unzipping her parka and swinging the pack off her shoulder.

“Yeah, we really should chat,” Rick replied slowly, his eyes on the equipment hanging off Ming’s bag.

Laura suddenly realized that she hadn’t asked one of the most important questions about living here yet. “Do we have hot showers?”

Something of the dread in her tone made both the shifters in her kitchen laugh. Rick was the one who answered. “Yeah, we run generators during the morning and evening, and Ralph built a water tower on one edge of the camp to provide running water. Try not to use too much though, we all have to share in the camp.”

Laura let out a breath that she hadn’t known she had been holding in. “Thank god,” she whispered.

Rick and Ming laughed again, and Laura made her way down the hallway as they began to chat with each other.

Laura finished her shower quickly, mindful of what Rick had said about not using too much water. It wasn’t quite as hot as she might have wished, but up here she supposed you took what you could get.

The conversation in the kitchen sounded friendly as she exited the bathroom, Rick apparently recounting their meeting with the forest ranger after crossing the border. She smiled to think of the kind man. They had been lucky in meeting him.

She dressed herself in full thermals under a sweater and thick hiking pants. The temperature would probably be a fair bit higher during the day than it had been last night, but it would still be frigid.

Ming tossed her another set of thermals as she entered the kitchen. “You’ll want to put these on before we go out, they’re thicker than what you wore when you were trekking here.”

They did indeed feel quite a bit thicker than the thermals she was wearing, so she took the advice and changed quickly. They fit her surprisingly well, though they were a bit wide in the shoulders and the pants were a little too long. She supposed they were a pair of Ming’s.

By the time she got back out to the kitchen she was eager to get outside. The borrowed thermals were indeed warmer than her old ones, so much so that standing anywhere near the woodstove was uncomfortable.

“Thanks Ming! You ready to get out of here?”

“You bet’cher britches!” Ming answered, pulling her parka off the back of the kitchen chair.

Laura suited up, putting on everything they had purchased in town the day before. She once again felt a bit like a marshmallow when wearing everything, but she sure as hell would stay warm enough.

Rick spoke up just as they were going out the door. “Be careful with her Ming. Don’t forget that she doesn’t heal like we do.”

“No problemo,” Ming answered.

The moment Ming opened the door they were assaulted by the sound of furious roaring. Laura rocked back on her heels, eyes peeking over Ming’s shoulder.

Near the center of the camp, barely visible from the doorway, two large bears were tearing at each other viciously. Both dripped blood from wounds all over. Surrounding them were a number of the clan, mostly in human form, though Laura could see one other bear sitting casually on the hard packed snow.

“What the hell?” she blurted out.

“That’s just Ralph and Terry having it out,” Ming replied, seemingly unsurprised. “Terry’s been talking about challenging Ralph for his spot in the hierarchy all month, kind of surprised he actually went through with it.”

She looked back at Rick, who gave her a little nod and smile, as if to say this is who we are.

The air still held the added chill of night, but the brightening light said that it wouldn’t stay for long. From the better vantage gained from walking outside she could see the full scene playing out in the camp.

About 20 shifters stood in a loose circle around the two dueling bears. A better look at the fight showed Laura what Ming had meant by her earlier comment. One of the bears was clearly losing. It was visibly smaller than it’s opponent, and bleeding much more profusely.

Laura leaned over Ming’s shoulder. “Will one of them really kill the other?”

“What? No, Ralph doesn’t need to kill Terry over this. Terry’s so outmatched that he can just hurt him a bit, put him in his place, then let it be.”

Her casual tone shocked Laura. This wasn’t just some brotherly spat, a black eye or something. These two animals were really going at each other, and the wounds she could see looked deep, at least from this distance.

Ming turned to face her. “Woah, I kind’ve forgot that you don’t have that much experience with us, sorry!” Her face was sheepish as she continued. “The hierarchy is something important to the men of the clan, they screw their chest hair up in a bunch and fight over it all the time. It’s really really rare for a bear to die during a fight, it would only happen between the real macho kind of bears who are really close physically. Ol’ Terry there is nowhere near as strong as Ralph, so the fight will never get to the point where it’s kill or be killed.”

They were walking toward the circle of people as Ming spoke, the fight drawing ever closer. It did look like it was winding down. The larger of the two bears was circling aggressively, the smaller falling back before it. After another moment the smaller bear allowed its front legs to fold and sank to the ground in defeat. The larger reared back on his hind legs and let out a roar that turned Laura’s blood cold. There was real savagery in that roar, an animal beastiality that was hard for her to associate with someone like Rick.

Ming seemed to notice her discomfort. “Don’t sweat it Ell, this is just Tuesday around here.” She took Laura’s hand and led her towards one edge cluster of buildings that marked the camp, the gear hanging from her pack jangling as she walked.

Inside, Laura was cursing herself for a fool. She had known that Rick had the instincts of a bear within him, but hadn’t really grappled with what that meant. Could he be that vicious? She had seen him angry, both in human and bear form, but it had always been in defense of her. That was a kind of anger she could understand, anger at someone threatening someone you loved. It was human.

But the ferocity of the two bears battling had been something different. It hadn’t been at all human, and it was terrifying in a way.

She glanced back as they reached the edge of the buildings. One pair of people stood out, Moira and Tommy. They were standing close together, Moira leaning in, both smiling and laughing.

That was a bit of a relief. If Moira switched her sights to Tommy over Rick then at least Laura wouldn’t end up in any silly conflicts with her. Still, something about seeing them there together stirred unease within her, though she had no idea why.

They passed through the line of buildings, breaking Laura’s sight of the gathered shifters. She turned her gaze back to Ming. “Has Rick fought like that a lot?”

“Not since I’ve been a part of the clan, him and Tommy were already top dogs when they took me in,” she replied.

“But before that, to get to ‘top dog’, they had to fight?”

Laura felt like she was pressing where she shouldn’t be, but Ming responded as if they were talking about doing the laundry. “Oh hell yeah, they each would have fought every male in the clan on their way up. It’s just what we do.”

Laura spent a few minutes pondering that as they trudged into the line of trees that surrounded their home. Before too much farther, Ming stopped and tossed her a nylon sack that had been hanging from her bag.

“Put these on, the snow will be a couple feet deep before too much farther,” she said, unclipping a second bag from her pack.

Inside the bag was a set of snow shoes. Laura began strapping her boots in. “If you’d told me we were going to need snow shoes I would’ve brought mine!

“Don’t worry about it Ell, there are tons of spares laying around,” Ming answered. Despite starting after her, Ming had the snow shoes on and was stamping her feet on the ground to settle them by the time Laura had finished putting on her first.

“Where are we going today, anyways?” Laura asked as she started on her second shoe. “And why did Rick ask you to be careful with me?”

“We’re going tree climbing!” Ming practically shouted, dancing back on forth on her snowshoed feet.

“Tree climbing? In winter time?” Laura asked. The buckles on the second snowshoe were proving difficult to do up.

“Heck yeah, this is the perfect time to learn! There’s like a foot or two of snow under the trees, so if you take a big fall you’ve got some cushion!”

Laura laughed. It was hard to resist Ming’s infectious good humor, even if it meant trying to climb trees while wearing enough clothes to cover an entire family.

Finally managing to get her second snowshoe on properly, Laura stood up and imitated what Ming had done, stamping her feet on the ground to settle them in.

They started off through the trees together. The snow quickly got deeper, but the snowshoes kept their steps from sinking too far with each step. The trees quickly thickened around them, cutting the light down somewhat.

The forest itself was beautiful, each tree carrying a dusting of white that reflected what light did make it through the canopy above them. This created dazzling patterns that shifted any time the wind blew through.

Thanks to Ming’s thermals and the gear they had purchased yesterday the cold barely registered to Laura. She could feel it on her face, but her body was kept so warm that it was actually refreshing to have her face open to the air.

Ming chattered as they walked, pointing out different types of trees and commenting on which were worth cutting down, which were mostly useless. Laura tried her best to remember what Ming was trying to teach her, but she buzzed past each point and onto the next so quickly that Laura was sure she had missed a lot.

They kept to a straight line that was unbroken by trees, making Laura think that they were actually walking on a trail. Laura couldn’t see it due to the snow they were walking on, but it must be there.

They walked for a solid half an hour before Ming veered off of what Laura assumed to be the trail, now moving between and around trees. She seemed to know exactly where she was going, keeping what looked to be an unerring line despite being forced to one side or the other by thick, old tree trunks. After another ten minutes she pulled to a stop in front of a huge tree which sat in something of a clearing.

“Alright, you ever climbed trees before?” Ming asked as she set her pack down and starting rummaging through the equipment inside.

“Yeah, lots when I was younger, but not in the last decade or so,” Laura replied. She gazed up the tree, trying to figure out exactly how you were supposed to climb something like it. The lowest thick branch looked to be at least twenty or thirty feet off the ground. The trunk itself was pitted and might offer some sort of handholds, but Laura didn’t think they would be anywhere near enough.

“Let’s start with the climbers job,” Ming said. She was pulling out ropes and what looked like a harness as she spoke. Her voice had lost some of its bubbly quality and was all business now. “After the crew picks a tree to cut down, they’ll tell us which direction it’s going to fall. Our job is to make sure it falls that way. That means we go up, check the path down, and cut off any branches that will hit other trees as it descends.”

“If the whole tree was falling and a branch hit another tree, wouldn’t it just break off?” Laura asked. The pile of gear Ming was making looked more complicated than she would have liked.

“Maybe, but it could also make the tree fall in a different direction,” she answered. She appeared to have pulled out everything they would need. “And our crew will be near the base, expecting it to go one way. If it shifts on the way down it could hit someone.”

Laura nodded as Ming spoke. “Alright, so how do we climb a tree like this?”

“For something like this, we’ll use a line to climb up,” she said. “The first thing is to send up the line.”

What followed was an hour of fairly intense but practical instruction on how to climb a tree using a rope system. It was surprisingly easy once everything was set up. A line was tossed over a large branch high in the tree, then looped around the base and tied off. The climber put on a harness and piece of leg gear kind of like a boot and attached this boot to the line. The climber could then climb the line in a way that almost looked like walking up stairs, stepping up with the boot, releasing it, pulling it up behind you, then repeat. Ming made it look easy.

When Laura got her turn it turned out to be anything but. There was a way to hold her foot with the boot so that it would catch the line, allowing her to put pressure on it, and a way to release it so the line could slide free. She continually messed this up, once resulting in a fifteen foot drop to the ground.

Ming had been right about this being the right time of year to practice though. The thick snow beneath the tree cushioned her fall admirably, turning what would have been at least a badly sprained ankle into nothing more than what felt like a burgeoning bruise on her butt.

“You okay Ell?” Ming asked, leaning over her on the ground.

“Nothing too damaged, other than my ego,” she muttered back.

Laura wouldn’t be deterred, however. She got right back up and started climbing the line again. She would do this. She could do this.

Not more than twenty minutes later she made it all the way to the branch the line was thrown over, a full sixty feet in the air. Laura realized at once why Ming had chosen this tree. It was a fair bit taller than those surrounding it, giving Laura a view from just above the top of the forest around it.

Her heart caught when she took her first look around. It was breathtaking, almost like looking down at the top of a snowy mountain range. The sun was halfway to midway by this point, tracing a path through a cloudless sky so blue it was hard to believe.

She spent a few minutes just enjoying the view and the feel of the cold wind blowing across her warm face. After the exertion of climbing for so long Laura was almost too warm beneath all her clothing, so a breeze that normally might have seemed frigid now felt wonderful.

“Nice view from up there eh?” Ming’s voice called up.

Laura looked down to answer. “It sure is.”

Looking down proved to be a bit of a mistake. The dizzying drop below her made her head spin momentarily, making her cling tighter to the line holding her aloft. She regained her composure after a moment, though her breathing was still quicker.

“You okay?” Ming asked, concern showing in her voice.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she answered. “So uhhh, how do I get down?”

Ming’s laughter sounded a little nervous to Laura’s ears. “Just the same way you went up, but in reverse. Grip the line in your hands, release the boot, step down, catch the line in the boot, then lower your butt to it. Rinse and repeat.”

Laura took her time going down, concentrating on each action before she did it. There was no room for mistakes up this high, even with the snow below her. Each time she put her weight on the line her breath stopped for a second, praying that it would take her weight, but she was being deliberate enough about her actions that the line was securely caught in the boot with each step.

Once her legs got to about Ming’s height she released the boot one more time and let herself drop to the ground. She thought she heard a gasp from Ming as she landed and sank a few inches into the snow.

Ming was right in her face as she got her footing. “Are you okay? Rick will kill me if I get you hurt.”

Laura couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m fine Ming, perfectly fine.” Something about Ming looked sheepish, a look that Laura found unusual on her. “What’s wrong?”

“I maaaybe shouldn’t have let you go that high on your first day,” she said, eyes drifting down. “People don’t usually go above twenty feet for the first week.”

“Well I’m glad you trusted me, Ming,” Laura said, giving her a quick hug. “That view was well worth the little fall I took before.”

Ming’s smile was a little tremulous. “Thanks Ell, but I really shouldn’t have. I keep forgetting that you can’t heal like we do. I’ll be better from now on.”

“Hey now, don’t be using kid gloves with me,” Laura said, putting a mock sternness into her voice. “I can handle it.”

“Rick would be pissed at me even if you were a shifter,” she replied somewhat bashfully. “A fifty foot fall is no joke, even for us.”

Laura looked up at the branch she had climbed to and had a sudden flash of herself falling from that height. Snow or ground, she would have been jelly.

Laura shuddered a bit. “Alright, I won’t tell Rick. But I did pretty good right?”

“You’re a natural, Ell.”

Ming set about unhooking the rope while Laura took off her climbing harness. They packed everything up and set off back towards the trail they had turned off from.

The camp was a bustle of motion when they got back, people and a few bears walking every which way. Most of the activity seemed centered around the dining hall, as the sun was nearing its zenith. Laura’s stomach let out a grumble to remind her.

“You want to get some lunch?” Ming asked, looking towards the log building.

“Nah, I should check on Rick, see how he’s doing,” Laura answered back, flashing Ming a quick smile. “Take me out to practice again tomorrow?”

“Sure thing!” Ming chirped happily before turning away.

The building Rick and her shared was easier to find this time, her sense of the camp layout having improved somewhat. She headed towards it but a twinge from her hip made her stop and wince. Apparently that first fall she had taken had given her more than a small bruise after all.

Rick was inside when she entered. He was sitting at the kitchen table, sorting through a pile of papers and shaking his head. He looked up at her as she entered, smiling. She saw through the smile though, something was bothering him.

“Everything alright?” she asked, closing the door behind her. She began stripping off her outdoor gear right away, the warmth of their home feeling like a furnace after the chill outside.

Rick shook his head, leaning back in his chair. It creaked somewhat alarmingly under his bulk. “Tommy has changed, leadership has made him… I don’t know, arrogant? Harsh?”

Laura tossed her parka on the second chair and started stripping off her snow pants. “Tell me all about it,” she said, her pants joining the parka on the chair. She started stripping off her thermals next.

Rick’s gaze drifted for a few moments before he answered. “I’m not sure what’s gotten into him. When I brought up doing something to repair relations with the town he straight up laid into me, ranting about questioning his authority and crap like that. It was bizarre.”

“So Sam wasn’t exaggerating when he told us about what’s been going on,” Laura said. She didn’t want to push him on this, he needed to come to his own conclusion about his brother.

“Guess not,” he muttered.

She left it alone for now, concentrating on getting out of her thermals. Once they were off she was left wearing just panties and a sports bra, with a tank top over it.

Distracted or not, Rick’s gaze traveled up and down her body, stopping on her hips. “Are you okay?”

Laura looked down at herself and saw a large, purple bruise already developing on the left side of her hip. It looked worse than it felt really. “Yeah I’m fine, I took a fall from about fifteen feet but landed in some snow. No big deal.”

Rick’s face darkened. “Did Ming have you high today?”

“No, she did her best to keep me under twenty feet,” Laura lied. Did people smell different when they lied?

Regardless, Rick appeared to accept her answer. It was another sign of how worried he was about his brother, normally Rick would have been much more concerned about even a minor injury like this one.

She put her gear away then put on some clothes. When she got back to the kitchen Rick was still sitting in the same position, eyes blank.

“Did you have lunch yet?” Laura asked.

“Nope, haven’t had a chance yet,” he said quietly.

“I’ll whip us up something,” Laura said, before remembering that the fridge had been mostly empty when she left.

It was mostly full now, however, Rick apparently having brought some food in during the morning. She set about making a quick lunch.

They ate quietly. Laura wanted to give Rick his space to figure this out. It was her job to fit in and contribute to the community, but dealing with Tommy was his. She would be there to support him in whatever he did, but she was pretty sure she was on the bottom rung of the clan politically, so she was no use in this. It rankled, but it was just the way things were.