Callie's Captors [Mountain Men(4)

Damn, I hope not. I am not playing Jane to some alien-ape thing.

“Gwegun.”

She jerked her head up again. “What? Did you say something?”

He tilted his head again, reminding her of the way a dog would when trying to understand its master. But was Scrunch the master or was she?

“Gwegun bles.”

Curiosity made a fast track in overtaking her fear. “You did. You spoke.” She took a step toward that side of the pit. “But I don’t understand.”

He pointed at her backpack and grunted several times. The lines of verbal communication were deteriorating. She squatted next to the bag. “Yeah. This is mine. Thanks for bringing it.”

Rummaging through it relieved her anxiety a bit. Nothing was gone except for a couple of granola bars and her water bottle. Even her camera had been tucked securely inside it.

“I guess a couple of snack bars are a good price to pay to get my stuff back.” She searched again, although she was sure she wouldn’t find her water. “But you could’ve left me a little to drink considering I’m stuck down here.”

She stood and he started hopping up and down on his front feet, his excitement brightening his red eyes. “Unless, of course, you can help me get out of here.” But if he did, would she be safe with him? Or safer in the hole? Still, what choice did she have?

“Listen, Scrunch, can you help me out of this mess?” She smiled and was surprised to see him copy her gesture. At least she hoped it was a smile. “If you help me, I’ll buy you a whole carton of granola bars. Even the gooey, bad-for-you chocolate ones. How about it?”

He scrunched up his face even more, giving him a strangely wizened expression. After a couple more grunts, however, she was sure he wasn’t going to give her any help.

“Okay, so don’t help. I’ve done just fine on my own.” Until now.

She plopped down on the ground and resisted the urge to cry again. Scrunch lay down by the edge and stared at her. They stayed that way for a while as the moon floated across the sky.

Suddenly, he stiffened and jerked his head up. His gaze scanned the horizon on the other side of the hole. Every part of his body was ready to spring into action.

“What is it? What do you see?”

Scrunch brought out his fangs and hunkered down, digging long claws into the dirt. Saliva dripped from his teeth and any idea she’d had that he was docile was gone. She had no doubt he could tear her apart if he wanted.

She pivoted toward the direction of his attention even though it put her back to him. But the hole was too deep for her to see anything.

Another deeper, meaner growl rolled out of Scrunch. She glanced up just in time to see him dart away, moving faster than she’d have thought possible.

“Scrunch! No, don’t leave. No one knows I’m here.”

Did she expect him to call for help? It was a ridiculous idea, but, like when the buck had stood over her, having him around had made her feel better. She stared at the place where he’d been and wished for him to return.

Another growl had her spinning toward the sound. She gasped and flattened her body against the wall.

“Oh, holy hell. I am so screwed.”





Chapter Two




Three huge wolves, their gazes hard and steellike, stared down at her. She hurried to her backpack and rummaged through it, hunting her knife. It wouldn’t do much good if all three attacked her, but at least she’d go down with a fight. She found the knife then backed toward the side of the pit that was farthest from them.

Even though her heart pounded in her ears, she couldn’t help but admire them. One was a golden color with shades of light brown covering his haunches. A white streak ran down his face to the end of his nose and tipped the ends of his ears. He stood like the other two, large paws planted apart as he swished his tail.

The one standing next to him had dark hair with lighter brown covering parts of his body then blending back into black before lightening again. He lacked the white accents and he was bigger, his chest wider than the first wolf’s.

The third broke apart from the trio to pace a few feet away. His fur was coal black with no variation in his coloring, making him a striking contrast to the other two wolves.

They were beautiful and majestic, a sight anyone would appreciate. But it was their eyes, locked so intently on her, that took her breath away. The amber in them shone in the darkness, but it wasn’t the color that had her gasping. Instead, it was the way they looked at her.

As she would’ve imagined, their eyes held a hunger. But she couldn’t help but think their hunger was not born from a lack of physical nourishment. No, the hunger was one of longing, like a child’s gaze when he presses his nose against a toy shop window and yearns for the bright, shiny toy beyond his reach.