Chapter Three
Caleb had fallen asleep but it wasn't morning when he woke up. That much was clear from how dark it was outside. So, what had woken him? The answer to that question growled from the other side of the thin nylon. Caleb froze, listening and gathering as much information as possible. He heard something rummaging, making too much noise to be anything other than a wild animal. Caleb looked at the other two occupants of the tent. They were both awake, eyes wide, mouths open in surprise. Caleb brought his index finger up to his lips in a shushing gesture. The two boys nearly clung to each other and Zeke visibly trembled.
Caleb turned his attention back to whatever was outside their tent. It snorted and sniffed loudly, attempting to locate whatever had drawn it to their site in the first place. In a moment of pure panic, Caleb remembered that the packs containing food were sitting in the tent with the girls. He'd been careful to clean up any food debris in the campsite but had not checked to make sure all the containers were sealed tightly. Even if he had, a bear could smell through packaging.
"Stay here, no matter what," he ordered quickly before unzipping the tent door enough to slip through.
As he made his exit the large bear stomped closer to the other tent, lifting its paw to swipe at the fabric and get to the food inside. The girls screamed from inside their tent and Caleb operated on pure instinct. He shifted into his wolf form, but this was a big bear and he was still smaller. He growled loudly and the bear stopped, turning to him with a confused expression.
Caleb bared his teeth and lunged forward, snapping at the bear's leg. He bit down as the bear growled loudly, swiping at Caleb's body. Caleb pushed off and ran, hoping he'd done enough to entice the bear to chase.
He'd been successful, if that was what you could call getting an enormous bear to chase you through a dark forest. In reality, Caleb could run faster in his wolf form than the bear could ever hope of running, but he didn't want it to lose interest and go back to the campsite.
Caleb stopped when he heard the bear's pace slow. He spun around but had misjudged just how much fight was left in the wild beast. The bear was there, his paw raised. He slammed it down, making firm contact against the side of Caleb's head.
Caleb saw stars and fell over. He had enough time to look up at the bear looming above him. His dinner rolled in his stomach, threatening to come back up. The bear swiped at him again, hitting his head so hard he knew he was going to lose consciousness.
In the distance, a wolf howled. Caleb hoped it wasn't the kids trying to rescue him. He hoped they would know well enough to run. Then, Caleb didn't worry about anything as the darkness overtook him.
***
"Caleb! Wake up!" a sobbing voice pierced through his skull.
"Don't shake him!" came another voice. "He could have a head injury!"
"He definitely has a head injury!" another voice said.
Caleb groaned and tried to sit up. He expected to find his body mauled and mangled but was surprised to find that one of the kids had thrown a blanket over his middle and what he could see of himself was unharmed.
"Where is the bear?" he asked groggily.
"You didn't kill it?" Garett looked around wildly. "We heard this crazy weird howl and thought that was you. Then when you didn't come back, we went looking for you."
"I tracked you," Ruthie said proudly.
"I didn't kill it," Caleb said. "I thought it was going to kill me." His head pounded and his forehead felt tight from the blood that had dried on his skin. "Can someone bring me clothes?"
Zeke handed him a shirt and shorts.
"Don't worry, I tracked you with my eyes closed," Ruthie said. Her cheeks had gone pink. "I smell better that way anyway."
"I'm confused," Lena said. "If the bear knocked you out, then where is it? Did it feel badly for you?"
"I don't think so," Garett said slowly. He grabbed a stick and hooked something on the end of it, turning back to the group he presented the object to them.
Caleb stared at the tuft of fur on the end of the stick. There was a small amount of blood on the corner. Definitely fresh and definitely bear fur.
"The Skineater," Garett said at a volume so quiet, Caleb could barely hear him.
Caleb stared at the fur. It was clean on one side, much like Caleb had described. But that was impossible. He had made the Skineater up. He got to his feet, still amazed that he was basically unharmed. Even his headache was fading away. That bear had been ready to kill him, so, why hadn't it?
"Let's go back to the campsite and pack up."
The kids stared at him with varying degrees of worry and fear.
"Don't worry, Zeke, I'll explain it to your mother, but we should go back down to The Den. Something is going on up here." The five of them silently made their way back to the campsite. It wasn't a short distance and Caleb would have to remember to properly congratulate Ruthie on tracking him that far. He'd do that, once he got them all home safe. Running into the bear had been inconvenient, finding that beer had been worrisome. Caleb had seen enough horror movies to know that this was about the time that the smart people bailed.
They packed up their sleeping bags and took down their tents. By the time they were all done the sun had risen. The sky was a deep shade of blue and birds sang in the trees, mocking Caleb's fears.
"Maybe we could keep going?" Lena asked.
Caleb shook his head. He wasn't going to mistake the eye of the storm for an all clear. "We were going to have to head back in a day or two anyway. It was only supposed to be a two-week hike."
"But, I don't feel like we did as much as we could. Maybe we could go again soon?" Lena asked. "You could take us, right?" She sounded so hopeful, Caleb smiled.
"Yeah, I can take you all again." But next time he might bring another adult shifter.
Caleb led the way, going more carefully down the mountain than he had up. He'd been lucky, assuming the forest would be empty because people said so. The hours trudged on and when the sun was all the way up in the sky, it had grown hot. He was sure to have a substantial number of unappealing sweat spots, but at least it was better than wearing his intestines on the outside of his body, like he thought he was going to with that bear. It just didn't make sense. He had provoked it, had wanted it to chase him. Getting sideswiped in the head by the thing and knocked out hadn't been on his to do list, but that had happened. He should be dead right now. Or, at the least, hurt severely. Had he shifted from wolf to human when he got knocked out and scared the bear? But that would have only made him an easier kill. And where did that bear hair come from?
Caleb was lost in his thoughts for much of the hike. All of a sudden, it was hours later and they hadn't stopped for a break. He turned to the crowd of kids and took a moment to look at them without them knowing. Garett's face was down, Zeke was all dirty. Even Ruthie's long braids hung listlessly. They looked tired, dirty, but worst of all, they looked defeated. Caleb bit back a swear. He didn't want them to think that the bear had been their problem, or that the possible appearance of other people had anything to do with how they had acted. Sure, they had complained and made snide comments almost the entire time, but they'd also worked hard and took their task seriously.
"Let's have a water break," he announced, pulling out his canteen. He took a few good-sized gulps and the kids did the same. It was too early to make camp, but they could stop for a bit to play a game. "Do you guys know how to play sardines?" If he was remembering the game correctly it would be the perfect thing to distract the kids while also getting them to work together.
"Is that like hide and seek?" Lena asked.
"Yes, except, you all start in different hiding spots and the object of the game is to join together before the person who is it catches you." Caleb caught a hint of a grin from Zeke and Garett.
"Who's it?" Zeke asked.
"Me, of course," Caleb replied. "You can time me," he said, purposefully trying to sound cocky.
That really got them going. Ruthie stood, bouncing a little on the balls of her feet and Lena stretched her arms out over her head like she was preparing for a long jog.
"I'll give you guys five minutes to hide, in whatever form you choose, just know I'll be in my wolf, so the game will last, maybe a few minutes." He exhaled on his nails and pretended to buff them on the front of his shirt. His words and gestures were met with jeers and other loud calls poking silly fun at his bravado. "Ready? Go!"
The four kids dispersed into the woods. Caleb hoped they would shift and see how much fun being a wolf could be. He sat down and tried to turn off his natural instinct to track their noises and smells. "No cheating and no head starts," his younger self said in his mind.
He slowly undressed to distract himself and to prepare for the shift. He could shift with clothes on, but it was always more comfortable naked. Ruined less clothes that way as well. Sliding his jacket off he hung it up on a branch and then did the same with his pants. He stood in his shirt and boxers when he heard a twig snapping in the brush beside him. He spun toward it and stared into the blackberry brambles and ferns.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he noticed how quiet it had become in that little clearing in the middle of the forest. The birds had stopped their singing and Caleb couldn't hear any small animals rummaging about in the brush. It was as if every animal in that space had stopped to watch. Caleb used every one of his shifter senses but saw and heard nothing. He inhaled and then gasped. Something was out there and it smelled good.
His body reacted immediately to the stimulus. His hands grew sweaty and his legs trembled ever so slightly as he faced off with the invisible being in the brush. He was aware of every sight and sound around him, if only because there were so few. He heard his own deep breaths, his heart beating solidly in his chest but beyond that, nothing. He squinted, straining his neck forward as his gaze bore into the scene in front of him.
It was only with his extreme focus that he could hear a sound so quiet it barely existed. An exhale, followed by a trembling leaf, shaking from the force of it. Caleb took a stuttered step forward.
Behind him, a shrill cry pierced through the forest. He spun away from whatever phantom lingered in the tree line toward the panicked, familiar scream. Caleb ripped his remaining clothes and shifted, landing on the forest floor on all fours he took off in the direction of the cry.
He reached her in minutes. Ruthie hung from a tree by a rope circled around her back leg. She was so frightened that she was unable to control her shift and did so repeatedly. Morphing from human to wolf over and over so quickly she looked like a blurring ball of fur. When in human form she screamed, causing a sharp staccato sound, like a car alarm.
Caleb surged forward on his human feet, slipping the clothes he'd carried in his mouth on, his hands raised in front of him. "You're okay, Ruthie, it's okay." He looked around for a sharp rock, finding a jagged one at the base of the tree he sawed the old rope in two. Ruthie landed on the ground with a thud and a groan. She remained in wolf form, panting on her side. Caleb went to her side and removed the rope from her foot, checking the area for further damage. "Can you stand on it?" he asked.
Ruthie's wolf head nodded and she gingerly got to her feet. It didn't look broken, but she held it lifted from the ground, afraid to put much weight on it. Lena, Garett and Zeke all broke through the brush with wild eyes. They were all in their wolf forms growling and whining at Caleb and Ruthie.
"It's okay, everyone. Ruthie just stepped into a trap." The reality of what he said hit him. He went back to the rope and examined it. It was old, made of tightly wound rough fibers and was dirty. Caleb noted spots of something that was a rusty brown color at the end. He lifted it to his nose and confirmed, the rope was also used. He hadn't been sure before, only finding the beer, but after finding this primitive trap he was sure he knew who had joined them on the mountain. Coyotes.
It was unusual to find them so far up. Coyote shifters preferred the fringes, far enough in the woods that they could easily hide, but close enough to society for them to make frequent trips to trade or steal. Caleb had never actually met a coyote and only knew as much as he did about them because one had caused his pack trouble weeks ago.
If their tiny pack ran into a group of coyotes, they would be in big trouble. Even one coyote would be able to do some damage. Notorious cowards, coyotes would usually run if the opportunity presented itself, but cornered, they would gnaw off their own leg and the legs of anyone around them. They grew braver as their numbers increased, but who knew? Maybe Caleb's pack of pups wouldn't frighten even a single coyote away.
Caleb thought about what they should do. His brain stuttered to a near stop. If they quickened their pace down the mountain, they might be so loud and sloppy that they attracted attention from the coyotes in the area. But, if they went slowly and carefully, they would be longer going, giving the coyotes more chances to run into them.
The question of what to do was erased as two coyote shifters in their animal form broke through the brush line opposite to Caleb and his kids. Lips raised, they snarled and snapped.
"We don't want any trouble," Caleb said in a clear voice, sweeping the kids behind him. He would have liked to not be in his underwear and shirt but there was nothing to help that now.
One of the coyotes began to morph. Reforming into a tall male with messy brown hair and a missing front tooth. He stood naked in front of them with a lecherous expression. "You don't want trouble because you can't handle trouble," he said and Caleb thought he could smell the man's sour breath from where he stood.
Caleb remained in his protective stance. "We can handle more than you think." The teenagers growled behind him, but Caleb could tell they were scared.
The coyote in human form laughed. "You smell young, all of you. This doesn't have to go badly. We could have some fun." The man licked his lips disgustingly and Caleb knew there was no hope of coming to a peaceful agreement.
"Run, don't stop until you reach The Den," he said out of the corner of his mouth. He turned back to the coyotes and jumped, aiming for the man. He shifted in time to clench his jaws around the man's throat. He bit down and his tongue encountered fur as the man shifted as well. Caleb kept his jaws clamped shut, tasting blood, while he kicked and scratched at whatever his four legs met.
His efforts were near futile. By concentrating his teeth and claws on only one of the two, Caleb was left completely vulnerable to attacks from the other coyote. He felt the other coyote attacking him. Felt the sharp, slicing pain as it bit into his skin and slammed against his body. Caleb's bottom half fell to the ground. Twisting in an unnatural angle that stretched his leg to the point of snapping. The pain was white hot and blinding but he would endure it if it meant Lena, Ruthie, Garett and Zeke would have enough time to escape. They were a week's hike up but they'd been going at a relaxed pace, doubling back often and in a zigzag up the mountain. If the kids ran in their wolf form, they could make it in a little more than a day. They'd be exhausted, but they would be alive. Which was more than Caleb could say for himself. Perhaps going on the offensive so early on had been a bad idea. His attackers were relentless. He felt like a rag doll in the mouth of a frisky puppy. Cute imagery, horrible pain and injury.
With a mighty heave, Caleb pushed back managing to disengage and get a few feet away. He stood off, panting and exhausted. He wobbled on three legs. His back leg felt broken. The coyotes separated, approaching Caleb from opposite sides. All it would take was for them to attack at the same time. His entire body hurt and he could feel his life force draining as he grew more and more tired. If he'd had a chance to look down, he would have seen the red puddle growing around him.
He growled, sad that this was how he would meet his end, but glad it had been for a better cause. Maybe this was why he had never found a mate, he wasn't meant to be around for long.
He bared his teeth and gave one last growl. Somehow it came out much louder than the last one and the coyotes who had been circling him, licking their lips, stepped back and away. They weren't looking at Caleb though. Their attentions were fixed behind him. Caleb had enough energy to look back, figuring it wouldn't hurt much if he took his attention off his attackers since they had already taken their attention off him.
A wolf bigger than any he had ever seen stood behind him. He was dark brown in color and had black, soulless eyes. Oddly, the last thought Caleb had before passing out was, "Skineater."