The Forest Pact
r, crickets chuffing, the brisk br
ing her breath in steady, measured intervals
o attention. We want to know how religious and to what extent they were religious after their eyes w
here to stu
ut there was a gnawing fear in the pit of her
crawl, for the woods were beautiful, wild, and untamed, but t
erness, places where humans seld
where the balance of nature was
d took a few images of tracks from th
ves wer
the distance, deep and mournful, sending a
for months, wanting to figure out their migratory
e more she could sense that someth
lusive, eve
almost oth
be protectors of the forest, but those tales seemed lik
a low, guttural growl that s
she froze, still ha
rd, trying to find the
luded them, but the ai
warily, peering into
omething moving in the underbrush, a blur of moti
, there was a huge, powe
d at her with talonlike claws and a gaping mouth f
heart s
e thick underbrush as the bear bore down on her,
her feet in a panic,
er, growling so loudly
ad taken along for emergencies, though she
rd her, there was movement, a blur, a
ng, the bear was abruptly yanked backward, it
wall was a giant of a man
eyes, and, for one brief moment, eve
ast and strong, he jumped up onto the b
r, wrestled the bear to the ground and gripped its thr
stic and seamless, like he
me to take in how
ing but stare in
ve move. With one final cry, the bea
asping, golden eyes flash
breath and stepped
ered, too dazed even to c
don't kn
man interrupted, his v
upposed to be out
a bli
the way he spoke that made
t just a
when you're not any more interested in doing what's ex
d uncombed, and his body was lean and muscular in
It was how he moved-smooth, deliberate,
eling the adrenaline still
s and everything, and... I did
s," he replied, eyeing the bear's
danced between his lashes, t
oo close to th
'm not harming them.
study them, ge
not answer
if assessing her a
rly fond of humans. Es
nge of apprehension
just any
biol
learn, to
red into what could h
them, you'll get out. It
d the defiance flared from the pit of
an important
re unlike any
d something we
ing and his golden eyes shimmering with a warning. "T
are better
urned, disappearing into the fore
ere, watching him,
at did "different"
had to get back
led her, and the stranger's
forest and about him k
nswered questions,
behind the trees, Au
ould
than she had ever thought po
his stranger was the key, Si