The Bite (Book 1)

Original Edition - Chapter 20: The Bear Hunt Part I

After a few hours of road-trip games, which included a categories game that Levi was tragically bad at, and a decent nap on Elliot's shoulder, we drove past a worn wooden sign that said 'Welcome to Moose Pass Alaska.'

My wolf perked up as the trees seemed to thicken around us, it was if the land was becoming more wild with every mile we drove.

Levi looked down at his map and grumbled something while Lander rolled down his window and let the fresh air in our car. It smelt amazing. It was crisp and fresh; it smelled like the Christmas trees my father used to buy us at the local lot back home mixed with evergreen and the ocean.

"Alright, turn in should be up here," Levi muttered to himself.

"There, right there," Lander called out while pointing to a dirt road. Levi turned the car down the dirt road, that started to disappear little by little as we drove on. Lander clapped his hands together and rubbed them. "Well, alright, alright, alright, who's ready to get a bear?"

Claire leaned forward and kissed his cheek before whispering something in his ear that made him let out a low growl. Liam just rolled his eyes and sunk back in his seat. "You would think they just mated."

"Please, I cannot wait until you meet your mate so we can say the same," Lander shot back teasingly. The words though sent a pang into my chest. Liam's eyes met mine in the rearview mirror apologetically. There was a large part of me that wanted Liam to be my mate still, even a part of my wolf.

I sighed. We would have to keep our distance from him on this trip.

The road became bumpy and started to toss us around like rag dolls. Levi just kept cursing and gassed the car forward, not really caring who was flung around in the cabin.

We pulled up to a circle graded with gravel where a few other trucks were parked. There were a few older men, between Levi and Lander's age, waiting with younger men that had to be around Liam's age. I felt my gut twist. My beast and I were not a fan of being around unmated males that were not our male.

Our male.

She was so damn protective over this 'male' of ours. I groaned. It was a constant battle on that front with her.

Levi parked and stretched his arms before hopping out of the car. I followed Elliot out into the crisp morning air and stretched my legs that felt almost stale from sitting so long.

A low growl vibrated from the group of young males. I snapped my eyes up to see a few of them staring at me approvingly. My wolf wasn't a fan of these boys. She showed them her teeth before we decided to walk over to Levi to help him unpack the car.

He was eyeing the boys with a stormy look in his eyes before looking back to me. "If any of them tries anything you have my permission to beat their ass into next week."

I chuckled darkly and nodded. "Don't tempt me."

Levi let out a low chuckle before handing me my saddle bags. Elliot was watching the group as well warningly. He looked over at me and winked before smelling the air. "It will be a good hunt."

"Ya?"

He nodded. "I can smell them already. Shouldn't be too hard to find you a nice big juicy bear Char. "

I rolled my eyes as butterflies filled my stomach. I was too excited. My wolf was pacing anxiously. She wanted to be let loose, really let loose. She wanted to run in the wild as she was meant to, and find herself a decent kill for us to bring home.

Claire came to stand next to me and linked her arm in mine. "Don't let them intimidate you. None of them are even a shadow of what your true mate will be. Just stick close to me, alright?"