Chapter Eleven – Hannah

They hiked along the trail as the night pressed in around them. When last of the light left the sky, she might as well be blind. Knox was right, there was no way Hannah was going to walk along the trail without light, and she reluctantly switched on the flashlight. Reluctant, because the arc of light was like a beacon pinpointing their location to anyone who might be out here on the mountain.

Anyone such as Dustin. The light left them totally conspicuous.

“We should meet up with the trail Dustin most likely took in a few minutes.” Knox spoke over his shoulder, avoiding looking at the beam of her flashlight, which Hannah pointed at the ground.

“And what happens when we get there?” Hannah asked.

“If we want to pick up his trail, if we want to know for sure he went this way, I should change into my bear.”

“I’m OK with that.” Because what could be more natural than a man turning into a bear before her eyes? A thrill of excitement passed through Hannah. Knowing about shifters and actually seeing someone shift was not the same thing. Hannah’s curiosity was almost too much. She was here to find Dustin.

Knox walked on for a few more feet and then turned around to face her, his hand out to stop her. “Wait there.”

Hannah stopped dead in her tracks, her flashlight trained on his feet. “Can I watch?”

“Sure. If you want to. Just don’t freak out and run off,” he warned.

“I won’t,” she assured him. “I’m sure there are worse things on the mountain at night than a big cuddly old bear.”

Hannah heard him chuckle before the air began to pop and fizz; a halo of light appeared around Knox before fading away. She was alone on the mountain, with no one to guide her back down. Her panic subsided as a large, shadowy figure came back into focus.

The beam of light from the flashlight wobbled, and Hannah had to take a deep breath to steady herself. The night seemed to close in around her as the shadow came into focus. There, where Knox had been standing only moments ago, stood a large bear. Bigger than any she had seen.

“Wow.” The word came out as a breath of vapor on the air, and she shivered, excitement and fear mingling. Coming out here, onto the mountain, with a man she hardly knew had been a risk. The fact that man could change into a bear, a bear who could rip her throat out, was not lost on her. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. This beast of a bear could outrun her, and had admitted his sense of smell was very good.

The bear snuffled the ground, clouds of vapor rising up like smoke. Hannah stood frozen to the spot, watching with a fascination she hadn’t experienced since she was a child. Who was going to make the first move? If she did, would the bear feel threatened?

If he did, would she feel threatened? Probably.

Keeping the beam of light level, careful to avoid the bear’s eyes, Hannah took one step forward, and then another. The bear stood his ground, watching her with soft brown eyes. If she looked closely enough, would she be able to see Knox in those eyes? Did he know her?

“Hi there, big bear.” Hannah held her hand out to him as if she were meeting a dog for the first time. She let him take the last steps to her; she didn’t want to pressure him.

The bear watched her, before shuffling forward on large paws. She stood still, her eyes averted as he reached forward and sniffed her hand, his breath warming her cold fingers. Hannah slid her fingers along his snout and dug deep into his thick fur. The bear trembled, his body shaking with what? Excitement? He huffed some more, and then slowly turned around, brushing against her legs as he walked around her.

With a last rub of his head along her thigh, he walked away from her, continuing to follow the trail toward the cabin. Playtime was over, they were back to business.

The trail joined another well-worn trail that led up the mountain. Knox’s bear walked with his head down, like a sniffer dog, weaving back and forth across the trail as he tried to pick up the scent. He paused and concentrated on a small area of ground. Hannah stood back, letting him do his thing. Then he suddenly shimmered and shifted back into human form.

“Wow,” she said. “Some warning would have been nice.”

“Sorry.” He grinned and shielded his eyes as her flashlight shone straight at him.

“Sorry.” Hannah quickly shifted the focus of the light. “Took me by surprise. Did you pick up the scent?”

“Yes. I’m certain he came this way.” He reached out for her hand. “Come on, the trail is wider, but it rises up steeply in places.”

“I can manage.” She shifted the weight of her pack.

“I know you can. But humor me.” Their fingers entwined and he led her along the path, sure-footed even though he had never walked the trail before.

“You seem like a natural up here.”

“I’ve climbed my fair share of mountains.”

“When you were a kid. You said you roamed the mountains.”

“I did, a range to the north of here. I may have crossed this way at times and not realized. I never ventured into the towns.”

“I’d like to see the mountains in the daytime.” She looked from right to left, but couldn’t make out anything in the darkness. There was no moon tonight to give even a hint of what lay out there. Hannah looked up at the stars; they were even brighter from up here, with no real light pollution except her flashlight.

“We can explore them together. It’s been a while since I’ve run with grass under my feet.”

“You mean paws.”

“Paws or feet. It feels as if I’ve spent years walking in dry deserts, over arid ground. At night it used to feel as if my soul left my body and returned to the hills and mountains I roamed as a kid. I used to imagine sitting outside my aunt’s house. Staring at the front door, waiting for her to come out so I could ask her why she sent me away.”

“Is she still alive?” Hannah asked, her breathing harder as the trail climbed higher.

“I don’t know.”

“You didn’t keep in touch at all?” Hannah asked, trying to figure out how a woman could ask her nephew to leave, knowing he had nowhere else to go.

“She made it pretty clear she didn’t want me around. I asked her to change her mind, but she told me she’d done her duty. Now it was time for me to stand on my own two feet. She blamed me for my mother’s death too.”

Hannah stopped walking, tugging on his hand. “She blamed you for your mom dying?”

Knox turned to her, his eyes flashing in the light. “She never said a word. In all the time I was there. Not until it was time for me to leave. When I asked her to let me stay, she told me she couldn’t look at me for another day. So I left.”

“Crap.”

“That was when I truly understood how much sorrow and loss can affect a person. I knew it from losing my dad. But this was a woman who had fed me, made sure I went to school, kept me healthy. Then when she’d done her duty, that was it. Gone.”

“Normal people don’t do that.”

“I know. It took me a long time to figure it out. She was a solitary bear, she never wanted a mate, never wanted kids, it goes against everything a shifter craves.” He started walking again and she followed. “The cabin is just up ahead. We have about a half a mile to go. Have you thought what you’re going to say when we get there?”

“Not really. Aside from reassuring Dustin he’s not in trouble and that I’m here for him, whatever he needs.”

“And what if that need is to go to the scene where his father died?” Knox climbed up a steep part of the trail, pulling her behind him. She was grateful for his help; she was tired, the events of the last twenty-four hours sneaking up on her. What she wouldn’t give for a hot shower and her nice, comfortable bed.

Knox pulled her up to stand next to him, where she stood for a moment, thinking of how she was going to handle this. “You think we should go with him?”

“I can’t see why we shouldn’t. We’re here to keep him safe. My guess is he’ll try it again if he doesn’t make it.”

“And I’ll lose his trust if I try to prevent him from going.” There was no real choice, they had to go with him and support him in this.

“Plus, how exactly do you intend to stop him?” Knox had a point. “Listen, my advice, the advice of a kid who has been where Dustin is…”

“I’d like to hear that advice. From a boy who really understands.”

“Let him go. I don’t mean alone, but if he wants to go, we go with him. Keep him safe. Then we take him home.”

“I agree.” Knox was talking perfect sense. Hannah didn’t like it, but Dustin needed to know they were there for him. “I’ll need to call Brad, and get him to relay the message to Dustin’s mom.”

“We’re not going to get cell reception up here,” Knox advised her.

“Brad gave me a satellite phone.”

“OK, then let’s go see if your runaway is at the cabin.” Knox held her hand tightly as they traversed the last part of the trail. It wound around a steep embankment before flattening out onto a plateau, the ground changing from gravel to soft spring grass.

Side by side they followed the trail, the wind colder as it attempted to sneak under her clothes and chill her skin. They had lost whatever shelter bordered the lower trail; up here they were more exposed. Hannah tugged her jacket around her, zipping it further up around her neck. Not much further, Knox had told her, and then they would be in the shelter of the cabin. A nice cheery fire would soon chase the cold from her bones. As would sleeping with Knox’s arms wrapped around her, his body rested against hers.

“There it is.” Knox pointed into the darkness.

“I can’t see a thing.” Hannah leaned forward, straining her eyes but all she could see was darkness. Slowly her eyes relayed the information that there was a dark patch, where no stars shone. A few feet closer, as if she were joining invisible dots, the outline of a roof materialized. Hannah moved closer still and she could make out the whole of the cabin, with its front porch and steps leading to a door through which small chinks of light filtered out.

“Someone’s home.” Knox let go of her hand. “I want you to wait here.”

“But Dustin knows me.” She didn’t want to wait beside a tall tree, whose only features were rough bark and spidery branches reaching up to the stars.

“We don’t know it’s Dustin.”

The chill in her bones deepened. “OK.”

“If there’s trouble, you have the satellite phone. Get away from here and call Brad.”

“Sure. How will you know if it’s Dustin?”

“I’ll smell him.” Knox’s teeth flashed white in the beam of her flashlight. “Out here, the wind takes the scent, but in there, I’ll know.” His hand folded around hers. “You might want to keep this switched off too.”

Hannah nodded. “I’ll wait right here.”