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