The Bite (Book 1)

Original Edition - Chapter 17: Blood and Bonds

"Here it is," Levi grunted out as he tossed down a large leather sack to me from the attic. As I caught it, dust flew everywhere; it had been left alone up there for a while.

Levi climbed down the attic ladder and wiped his dusty hands on his jeans before taking the large pouch from me. "What is that?"

He set it on the coffee table and began to unwrap it like a kid unwrapping his first Christmas present. "This is my first bear skin from my first bear hunt with my dad."

He pulled out the large brown fur and unfolded it then shook it out. It was huge, to say the least. The thing covered almost the entire living room floor.

My wolf looked curiously at it as the smell of leather, dust, and wilderness danced our nostrils. She was eager for a skin of her own. "It's massive, how did you even manage?"

Levi just shrugged as he looked it over. The skin was not without blemishes. There were massive claw marks and gashes in the fur from the fight with Levi's wolf I assumed; that bear did not go down so easily. "Like I told you girly, I beat its ass then beat it some more."

I rolled my eyes as he looked over his skin, checking it for any damage. It was beautiful; chocolate brown, black, and a few hairs of blonde blended together. "Can I make a skin of my bear?"

Levi nodded. "You can do whatever you want with the one you kill. Some wolves want to boil the skulls and keep them on display." I scrunched my nose and shook my head. Levi shrugged and shook out the skin some more, ridding it of any extra dust that may be lingering. "Some make rugs, blankets, boots. It's really up to you girl."

"Is a blanket hard?"

Levi shook it head. "Nope, we could make ya a good bearskin blanket. That thing will be real warm too."

I felt my heart flutter as my wolf wagged her tail in anticipation. Over the last few weeks, Levi had been training me hard for the bear hunt. There were some days that I thought that he was going to kill me, maybe because he was trying pretty damn hard to do so, but my wolf and I always pushed through. She was tough, and she wasn't about to back down from a challenge.

As the days went by, I grew more and more excited. I had never done anything like it before and the thought excited me, it especially excited my wolf. She was ready to run wild in the wilderness and show her true form off.

Levi and I grew closer since that night that he made me the sandwiches, he even started talking about his family more. The first time was around Liam and I when we were chopping wood; Liam almost cut his toe off from the shock.

It was a good thing, though. We were healing as best we could. I still had nights that were tough and days that felt like they were too close to my past, but Levi was always there to push me forward or make me peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

I walked to the refrigerator and poured myself a glass of juice while Levi laid the skin over the sofa. He made his way next to me and pulled out some leftover manicotti and made a plate for himself and me, then stuck them in the microwave to heat up.

"So how did you do it? Kill the bear, that is."

The microwave dinged and Levi took out the hot plates and set them on the counter. "Well, very carefully."

I rolled my eyes. "Obviously."

Levi let out a breathy laugh and passed me a fork and ripped off a paper towel. "We're going to be hunting them right in the beginning of the salmon migration. They will be all coming out of their mating season, so more agile and fueled with hormones. It makes them more stupid and more dangerous."