confused. Filling my canteen quickly, I disappeared back into the woods, eager to get away from either predatory force on the island.
* * * *
It took me about an hour to find my way back to the path up the mountain. From there, I would be able to scrutinize the layout of the land from my vantage point, and plan a course of action.
But as I reached the clearing at the foot, I realized that there were other plans in mind for me.
Because the fucking wildcat was back, and this time, he brought some goddamn friends.
They appeared out of nowhere, all five of them. Snarling and growling, they descended upon me with a savage bloodlust, and I recognized the one from earlier — its ear still bleeding lightly from the bear swipe. Locking eyes with me, it seemed to snarl, Look here, you stupid bitch. You see what I had to go through? Ooh, I can’t WAIT to bite you good.
There was NO WAY I was going to successively pull my way clear of a pack of wildcats, not when they approached me in a circle, hungrily ready to pounce…
My luck had hit lightning once. Would it hold up again?
They lunged for me as I cried out my last gasp…
…And the two bears swatted them from the air, roaring with primal rage. Darting into the clearing, they viciously attacked the wildcats, defending me with a ferocity I wouldn’t have dared imagine. Their shaggy muscles pounded in the sunlight as they knocked back the cats, standing up on their hindquarters to roar down at the pack.
She is protected , they seemed to shout. You will not have her this day.
I couldn’t imagine why I was personifying these predators, but before I could seriously think about it, one of my rugged, naked rescuers darted into sight. It was Craig, who immediately outstretched his hand.
“Grab onto me!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, I clasped it, and he yanked me onto his back. My wrists wrapped around his neck as I clasped my ankles together around his groin, my feet careful to not enter his bush and destroy his dangling cock as he raced forwards. With incredible speed, we darted between the bears and the wildcats, and effortlessly scaled the slope of the mountain. His feet pounded the rocky ground, instinctively finding the right stones to press against as we ascended, and within seconds he had dropped me into the cave.
“What the fuck?!” I shouted in a mixture of fear and exhilaration. “What the hell are you?”
“You’ve forced our hand, you curvy little minx.” Craig chuckled as the air around his skin began to glimmer. The hair atop his head rippled across his body and his muscles swelled. Before he was finished, he jumped out the mouth of the cave. Fleeing to the edge, I watched his body contort as he rolled down the slope, immediately transforming into a massive bear as he leapt into the fracas below.
Their roars bounded off the mountain walls as they fought. All I could do was clutch the side of the cave mouth and stare incredulously as the bears battled the wildcats. Snarls escaped at the top of their lungs as they swiped their claws, viciously attacking the cats that had tried to rip me to shreds.
Their battle raged on for fifteen minutes, until three of the wildcats lay on the ground, defeated for good. The remaining two, snarling and hissing, turned tail and tried to scamper into the forest. The bear who had been Craig lunged in after them, unwilling to let them leave with their lives. After a moment of rumbling, I heard the faint sounds of screeching…and then silence.
As Craig-bear returned from the trees, all three of them gazed up the mountain to face me. Trembling, I pulled free from the cave mouth and crept backwards into the temporary safety of the stone recess, listening to the rumbling as they ascended the mountain after me…
But it was not a pack of bears who lumbered into the
Craig Buckhout, Abbagail Shaw, Patrick Gantt