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it and finally discovered the opening by falling over a rock and into the mouth of the cave. She froze as she hit the ground, listening for any sounds of an inhabitant. When she heard nothing, she felt around for a handful of rocks. Backing away, she tossed the rocks inside before scrambling up onto one of the boulders at the opening. She could hear the dull thud of the rocks striking other rocks but, to her relief, no growls or sounds of scurrying feet.
    Satisfied, she crawled inside, feeling her way carefully and finally settled with her back against the smoothest, flattest stone she could find. It gave her the creeps, sitting in a darkness so thick she could almost feel it, but she was out of the wind and relatively warm. Once it was light she could explore the cave more thoroughly and decide whether she wanted to remain or look for other shelter.
    It comforted her to see that, now that she was inside the cave, the starlight made the world outside look far brighter. Dropping her cheek to her knees, she focused on the light outside. Her eyes were just beginning to drift closed when movement outside jerked her awake once more.
    It was the grat … and it was heading straight for her.
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Four
     
    The grat stopped just outside the cave entrance, sniffing the air and then dropping its head to sniff at the ground. A low growl rumbled from its chest and then it slunk forward until it was just inside the entrance of the cave, its red eyes glowing malevolently, staring unblinkingly into Tempest’s.
    Either her luck was running true and she’d managed to wander around the pile of rocks until she’d found the grat’s cave, or the grat had followed her because of the meat she’d brought with her. At the thought of the food she’d brought, two things occurred to her simultaneously—she did not want to be holding something that was going to draw the thing closer, and, if it had followed the smell of the meat, then tossing it to the grat might appease it.
    Tearing a small piece off, Tempest threw it. The tidbit landed almost directly between the grat’s forelegs and it jumped back, startled. Cautiously, it eased forward again, sniffing the cave floor in tight little circles until it found what it sought. It looked up and directly toward her once more even before it had finished eating it.
    The second piece Tempest tossed hit the grat on the forehead and bounced away, rolling to a stop only a few feet from Tempest’s foot and her heart skipped several beats as the grat scrambled after it. The idea had been to get the thing away from her, preferably away from the cave entrance altogether so that she could escape, not tempt it closer. She knew she had to wait until she had the grat’s attention again before she threw the last of the meat, however, otherwise it might be hard to convince the thing that she didn’t have it anymore.
    The next time the grat looked up expectantly, Tempest hurled the remainder of her meat as far as she could send it. The grat ducked, apparently thinking she’d thrown a stone at it, but its nose automatically followed the arc as the scent of the meat whizzed past its head and, with a hopeful growl, it launched itself in pursuit. The moment the grat shot out of the cave, Tempest scrambled out behind it. Unfortunately, she emerged just in time to see the grat trotting back triumphantly with the meat in its mouth. Tempest froze, staring at it, but the grat stopped well before it reached her and focused its attention on devouring the meat.
    Slowly, Tempest began inching away, her gaze fixed on the grat as it ate quickly and looked up at her hopefully once more.
    “Do not move!”
    As quietly as it was said, the voice was so unexpected Tempest jumped, glancing quickly toward Kiran as he emerged slowly from the predawn gloom. The grat’s reaction was far more violent. It whirled toward Kiran, all four legs splayed in a stance that dared him to approach. The bristly hair that ran