Hunted (Dark Secrets Book 1) (8 page)

"There's Orion." I pointed again.

"Which one?"

"Over there." All of a sudden, I felt Theron's shoulder and arm against mine. He must have inched closer to better understand what I was seeing. My body flushed with heat from his touch.

"That one is Perseus," I said.

He leaned over toward me and I could hear his breath closer to my ear. "That one there?"

I shivered and wondered what his breath would feel like on my skin. "Yes," I managed. "And Andromeda." I could feel his eyes running over me and I glanced out of my peripheral vision to watch him.

"What's that bright one?" He nodded his head to indicate the smoldering orb of light suspended in the deepest black of the sky.

"The planet Venus, goddess of love and beauty."

I heard his head turn more toward me, if that were possible, his warm breath playing across my cheek and neck. I became aware of the back of his hand pressed against the back of mine. My heart pounded so hard in my chest I was sure he could hear it.

"Another goddess," he said.

"Yes," I smiled. I never thought about Freya being a goddess
—it had always just been my name. "Venus was a Greek goddess," I clarified.

"What does the name of the forest
—
Homochitto
mean?"

"It's the native Choctaw language. It means 'big shelter.'"

"Shelter," he said thoughtfully.

"Yeah." I realized that both of us could use a little shelter and that we had found some in each other.

The next morning I followed my regular routine. I had my water bladder and my belt (with knife, hatchet and bear spray) and my Take Down was slung around my back with a load of bolts. This time though, I woke Theron up and asked him if he still wanted to run with me. He was up, wide awake and ready pretty quickly. I grabbed my backpack containing a clean outfit, shampoo, conditioner and hair color.

"After we're done, I'm going to stop at the lake to clean up," I mentioned.

"That's a plan," Theron said as he grabbed his pack, clothes and body wash.

I fired up my iPod, placed one earbud in my ear and dropped the other one down the front of my shirt.

"What
is
that anyway?" Theron asked with a puzzled expression.

"You're kidding, right?" The words just slipped out of my mouth.

He shook his head. "Never seen one until yours."

Remember this guy grew up in a really deprived way and stop saying stupid things,
I scolded myself silently. "It's my iPod. It plays hundreds of songs," I told him as we built up a brisk pace into the forest. "What bands do you like?"

"We weren't permitted to listen to music."

I stopped cold and closed my eyes, trying to imagine a world without music. "When we get back to camp, I'll introduce you," I promised. "Let's power run."

"Power run?"

"You'll figure it out." I smiled and tore ahead of him.

I accelerated, darting around trees and jumping over roots and rocks as the dark green pines formed a canopy above our heads. We made it to a ravine and I climbed, using both my hands and feet to balance and scaled the steep wall of earth.

Theron was right beside me. "This is exhilarating!"

"It is, isn't it?"

He put on a burst of energy and pushed past me—challenging me.

"Okay, soldier boy," I breathed. "It's on."

We were running so hard that tree branches bent, bowed and whipped at our bodies. I measured my breath for distance. Tree trunks whizzed past us at a dizzying speed. Neither of us let up. We got to a creek and plowed right through with abandon. Balancing on the slippery rocks was a real workout in dexterity. We got to the other side and ascended up the bank. We were pretty much neck and neck, though he had a slight lead on me. Our fingers and hands clawed and sunk into the earth. Our knees collided painfully with protruding stones. We made it to the top at almost the same time and fell breathless to the grass. Hot sweat stuck our shirts to our skin and matted our hair to our heads. We looked toward each other and started laughing.

"That was fun," he said between breaths.

I rolled over onto my stomach and propped myself on my elbows. "Theron
Hawk
, right?"

"Mhm, Hawk. You never told me your last name."

"Nope, I guess I didn't," I teased, and then leaped up and tore off at breakneck speed across the clearing we had ascended into. I knew the lake was right over on the other side. I didn't waste energy or time turning to see if he was gaining—I just assumed he was. When I got there, I charged into the still, glassy water, submerging my entire body, clothes and all. It felt so good.

Theron stopped on the bank. "So that's the game you're going to play?"

I shrugged my shoulders and lifted my nose with elite aristocratic snobbery.

He laughed, shed his hooded sweatshirt and shoes and plunged in after me. I swam as fast as I could in the opposite direction. I turned my head for just a second to see his position. He spied me and dove
—torpedoing through the water toward me. I screamed in surprise as his hand clasped over my ankle. He was fast.

He reemerged to the surface with my ankle in his hand like a trophy. Drops of water dripped from my drenched jeans while he inched my leg higher and higher, threatening to knock me off balance.

"No!" I whined.

"Give," he warned.

"Not a chance! I don't care—I'm already wet," I told him pompously.

"Then I'll just hold your leg up here for the rest of the day until you tire or cramp up. I'm sure that will be very comfortable."

I made a quick yank at my ankle, but he had me in a vice-like grip.

"Un-uhn." He shook his head and looked very delighted with himself.

I twisted and sunk myself into the water hoping I could maybe trick him into letting go. Nope, he wasn't having it.

"Catten!" I said, coming back up for breath and regaining my balance awkwardly.

"Freya Catten?"

"Yes!"

He let my ankle go, and I assaulted him with a water storm. He countered, skimming the whole of his forearm across the water's surface, drenching me further. With both hands, I went at him with everything I had until he was so soaked he could hardly open his eyes.

"Truce!" he shouted at me and laughed as he put his head underwater and started to swim away from me.

"Coward!" I called after him. I realized the word left my mouth the moment he had come back up for air.

He completely heard me and doubled back after me again.

"Kidding! I'm just kidding!" I screamed. "Truce, remember?"

He smiled that knee-melting smile and did the backstroke across the lake.

I took the chance to get cleaned up. I got out of the water and brought all my stuff to the edge so it would be within easy reach. I turned to see where Theron was. He looked like a dot on the other side of the lake. I mixed up my hair color and took off my shirt, leaving my bra on. I stripped down to my underpants, shimmying out of my wet jeans—which wasn't easy—and saturated my red locks with light brown dye. It was only a ten minute tint so the time went by quickly. I had taken along my pot so I could pour water over my head onto the grass. I still felt like I should apologize to the environment, but it was the best I could do. I stood over next to some bushes to hide my form from Theron, leaned my torso forward and started pouring pots of lake water over my hair and into the grass, painting it brown.

When the water ran clear, I flipped my head back up, got my shampoo and conditioner, waded into the water and scrubbed myself from head to toe. After I rinsed under the water, I massaged conditioner into my scalp and hair. When I was finished drying off, I put on a pair of black jeans and a blue embroidered hippie shirt. I called out to let Theron know I was done. He came back over and I tossed him his body wash.

"I'll give you some privacy." I turned, marched up and over the ridge with my stuff and plopped down in the grass with my face toward the sun.

A few moments later I heard some rustling in the brush. I peered over and spied a flock of pheasants. Slowly, so as not to startle them, I removed my recurve, loaded a bolt, took a breath, pulled back the string, aimed and shot. The arrow sliced right through the bird's neck. It dropped instantly. The others flew away, scattering through the air.

"I'm sorry to take your life little one," I spoke gently over the fowl. "But I thank you for the offering of your body for our nourishment. Thank you, Spirit, for this gift." I removed my bolt and wiped it clean in the grass. Then I unhitched my hatchet, lopped off the bird's head in one smooth blow and let it bleed out over the ground.

"So you believe in God?" Theron's voice spoke behind me.

"I was taught to hunt by the Blackfeet. My mother and I lived on their lands and became part of their community for a while. They have a great respect for the Spirit, the earth and all living things." I thought for a moment. "I believe in something bigger than me. You?" I twisted around to look at him.

He was wearing a pair of blue gym shorts with a wide black stripe down each side and a form fitting black T-shirt. His hair was still damp from being washed.

He shrugged. "Haven't made up my mind."

Back at camp, we hung out our wet clothes to dry over a few low branches. I went about gutting and cleaning the bird, which was much like dressing the fish only I sliced it with my hunting knife into two parts. It was easier to gut and faster to cook that way. The real pain was plucking feathers. But, because I wasn't interested in eating its skin, I continued to use my knife to separate its skin from its body
—feathers and all came off quickly and easily.

Theron enjoyed building fires. He built one up and I slid the spit pole through the pheasant halves and left them to roast.

"This will take a while to cook," I said. "Would you check the fishing lines and the snares while I get some of our stored food?"

"Sure."

We walked in separate directions. An animal had tried to get into the Ursack last night. I smiled at the fabric's toughness as I took it down. Small muddy raccoon prints were all over the bag, but he couldn't break through. I removed a couple of nutritional bars, just in case we caught no fish.

When I got back to camp, Theron was cleaning two nice-sized trout.

"Good catch," he said when he saw me approach. "Your snare also got a bird. I did what you did earlier, including your prayer over it and hung it over there." He lifted his knife to the right.

"It's a grouse. A lot like the pheasant."

"I re-laid the snare and put the lines back into the water."

"You're pretty good at this!" I exclaimed.

"I have a good teacher."

"Thanks." I turned feeling warm. "Where's your water bottle?"

"Right there." He indicated the rock it sat on.

I'm going to purify some water for us. Thanks for building the fire."

"No problem."

I filled the pot with creek water and set it into the flame to boil. While that heated, I filled his bottle and my bladder with the same creek water and dropped in a chemical water treatment that would make the water ready to drink in half an hour.

Theron cooked the fish in the pan while I sliced the fruit. When the water in the pot rolled to a boil, I removed it from the fire to cool. We sat and ate our meal, listening to the nearby babbling water, the crackling fire and the birds and crickets chirping, and everything felt very right.

"Now to fulfill a promise," I declared as I stood up, walked to the tent and retrieved my iPod and its compact docking station. I set it on a log in the sun to charge along with my flashlight and mini-lantern.

Then I was faced with a very strange dilemma.
Which song should I play for him first?

This was an important experience
—I wanted to make it memorable and perfect. Before I could decide, the iPod chose for me, selecting from my song list.

A guitar riff sang through the speaker, then the vocal chimed:

I'd give up forever to touch you…

The Goo Goo Dolls
—one of my favorites. Theron closed his eyes and listened breathlessly.

After the chorus broke, he breathed, "It's
… " —he grappled for the right word without opening his eyes—"passionate."

I watched him. He was so full of awe from the experience; I couldn't help but join him. I closed my eyes too and, before I knew it, I was singing along with the lead singer.

When I opened my eyes, I found Theron staring at me. "I'm sorry," I said sheepishly. "It's one of my favorites."

"Don't be. You sing beautifully." He shook his head a little. "I wouldn't have guessed you could do that too."

The song ended too quickly. "Can you play it again?" Theron asked anxiously.

I nodded, happy he was so pleased. "As many times as you want," I assured him and played it again and again.

The third time through I asked, "Would you like to dance?"

"I've never danced before." His voice was slightly unsteady. I had watched him throw a knife with deadly accuracy into the flesh of an opponent with no hesitation, and
now
he was going to be nervous?

I stood over him and offered my hand. He took it and got to his feet. I positioned myself about a ruler's length in front of him, then held my breath as I closed the gap.

"You place your hands here." I put both of his hands on my hips.

"I like dancing already," he said with a smile that filled even his eyes.

"Don't be fresh," I scolded playfully. Then I put both of my hands onto his shoulders.

"Now, I definitely like this."

I smiled. I liked it too.

"Now we sway." I gently rocked us back and forth and moved my feet nice and slowly.

He checked his stance and loosened up when he realized he had tensed. He looked into my face with an expression I couldn't name. Then he closed his eyes and sunk his fingers deeply into the muscles at my waist. The action took my breath away.

Intensity.
The expression on his face had been intensity.

I closed my eyes, feeling it too, and involuntarily slipped my hands up onto the nape of his neck
—my fingers tangled into his dark, loose hair.

What are you doing?
But the music continued to play, and I had been so broken—and obviously so had he. He was strong and overwhelming, and for this moment… just for this one moment, I wanted to allow myself to get lost in his arms, lost in his power. It was—just a song—just a moment.