Wolf Camp (Bear Naked 2)

Chapter 11, part 3

By the time they found their site, Jay and Courtney had caught more than a dozen fish. Connor sent Jonathan and Tanner to make sure there were no other wolves nearby. Amanda and Erica went into the woods around the campsite to gather wood and forage for edible plants. Connor found his pocket knife and began to gut the fish at the lake's edge, while Brianna used Amanda's fire starter to start a fire.

Amanda and Erica didn't go far. For one thing, they didn't have anything other than their hands to carry with. Secondly, they quickly found several downed branches and a large stand of edible Lambs quarter.

As they came back into the campfire, Brianna looked up from the tiny smoking pile of kindling. She pointed towards the lake's edge and said, "well, they are definitely in touch with their animal nature."

Jay, still in otter form, looked up at them. He had one paw holding down a fish. A strip of skin was still between his teeth. He smiled. He pulled the strip off the fish and began to munch on it contentedly.

Connor shook his head as he watched the two otters feast. He gestured at the pile of gutted fish at his feet. "Any idea how those of us not willing to do that are going to cook our catch?"

"No problem," Amanda said. She turned to Erica, "we need to find some long, straight sticks."

"Like roasting marshmallows?" Erica said with a smile.

"Thicker than that," Amanda said. "But that's the idea."

When they came out of the woods again, this time with a half dozen sticks each, Jonathan and Tanner were back. Courtney was back in human form. She was wearing a T-shirt. She was wading, knee-deep, in a stand of cattails. She stopped and stuck her hands down into the lake. After a short time she pulled up a cattail by the roots and began peeling small tubers off the roots. She threw them up on the bank, where she had a growing pile.

Jay was still in otter form and still eating off the fish. Jonathan and Tanner were watching him, morbid fascination on their face.

A cattail root fell a few feet from him. He jumped on it and rolled into a ball, growling. Brianna laughed aloud, and the others smiled as well. He took the tuber to the lake's edge and began to wash it. When it was cleaned of mud, he transformed to human form. He came over to the fire, smiling. "Thanks, Hun," he called to Courtney. He sat by the fire and took a bite from the root.

"I didn't even know those were edible," Tanner said.

"They're better when cooked," Courtney said as she climbed out of the lake. "But that goof ball can never wait."

"I was hungry," Jay protested. "All the fishing we did today."

"Thanks for that," Connor said. There was a chorus of agreement from the entire pack. Amanda said her own thank you as she began to skewer the fish on the long sticks. Jay rose to come help her.

"Maybe you should find some clothes," Brianna suggested to him.

"Yeah, you hussy," Courtney joked. "I don't want everyone looking at my girl, all naked and stuff."

Jay stuck his tongue out at Courtney. He went to the bag and found first a pair of panties and then a pair of boxers to wear as shorts over that.

With his help, Amanda finished staking the fish. Then they brought them over and sunk the stakes into the earth at an angle so the fish sagged over the fire. While they had been doing that, Courtney had cleaned the cattail tubers. She positioned a large flat rock right on the edge of the fire, so flames lapped at it. She arranged the tubers on the flat surface where they were just out of reach of the flame. "That should do," she said.

While the food cooked, they traded stories about their summer adventures so far. Jay growled when Amanda told them what they had learned about the Sons of Garm, how there was more than one pack, and they were seeking a treaty with the Leidulfs.

"I am not surprised," Courtney said. "My mom told her mom about what happened. When we went there, Grandma made me read several passages out of an old book. It detailed some of the Otter Clan's encounters with Sons of Garm. She was hoping it would dissuade us from helping you guys."

"Which it did not," Jay said. "I have no desire to get involved with such people, that is true. But I am even less inclined to let one of my friends become one of their victims."

Reading aside, Jay and Courtney had a more relaxing summer than the wolves had, but they had their share of adventures.

"Do you remember that lock and dam in Minnesota?" Jay said, nudging Courtney and smiling.

"Oh, that was funny," Courtney said and launched into the story. "So we had to get around the lock and dam, you see. It was alongside a town and there was a city park nearby. It was late, not full dark, but pretty close. We decided the fastest way across the park would be on two legs."

"So we transformed and started across the park," Jay said with a glint in his eyes. "Only there were these teens, drinking or something."

"Yeah, the first thing we see or hear of them is somebody yelling, 'hey, look, those two are naked!'" Courtney said. "We can't just transform in front of people."

"So we take off running," Jay made a running motion with his hands.

"They all started chasing us and yelling, 'streakers!' All across the park," Courtney said. Jay was dissolving into giggles.

"What did you do?" Amanda asked.

"We made it to some brush right on the edge of the river," Courtney explained.

"And the second we were out of sight, we were otters, let me tell you," Jay finished. "And then," he sat upright, "there was that time when we got bored eating raw fish, tell them that story."

"You can tell it too, you know," Courtney said. "Anyway, yeah, we got bored eating just raw fish and it was still more than a day before our next destination, so this one gets the bright idea of going up into a park, in broad daylight, in otter form."

Jay was giggling like mad. "Yeah, this family saw me, right? The man decides he's going to throw scraps of bread, see if he can get me to come closer, so the kids can get a better look. He's got one end of a huge loaf of French bread and he's tearing pieces off and throwing them. I make this huge deal about taking a couple steps closer, getting scared and then moving back. Pretty soon he's at the edge of the woods, trying to entice me to eat out of his hand. Both the kids are staring, wide-eyed. Mom's got her phone out and is taking pictures. And..." he gestured at Courtney.

"I snuck around them and made off with the rest of the loaf," Courtney said, grinning from ear to ear.

"They noticed at the very last second," Jay said. "One of the kids starts yelling. There's Courtney running off with the loaf in her mouth, the kids chasing after and the parents yelling. It was so funny. And the best bread ever."

"Isn't that stealing?" Brianna asked.

Jay waved his hands dismissively. "The way I see it, they can buy more bread on the way home and they got the story of a lifetime out of the deal."

"That's true," Erica agreed with a laugh. "I'll bet those kids won't forget that."