Chapter 10

Michael awoke what seemed like mere minutes later, but judging by the sun’s position in the sky was probably more like a couple hours. His body slowly came back online, and his brain did an inventory of his limbs; each more painful than the last. By the time his feet registered, Michael was seriously considering amputation as a form of physical therapy.

He groaned and grunted himself up into a sitting position and took stock of his surroundings. His bow was in a thousand pieces, his shirt was missing, his quiver was empty and nearby there was a huge bear, doing a passable impression of a pin cushion. Not that all those arrows had made a lick of difference.

Movement caught his eye from the bears stomach. A glimmer of tan flesh and red fur. He sat bolt upright, his weakness and ache suddenly taking a backseat.

“Kari?” His voice trembled.

A shaggy mane of red hair popped up above the corpse of the bear, attached to a face that was covered in blood. Kari quickly gulped the last of her mouthful, and jade eyes flashing as she met his gaze.

She quickly rose and bounded over to Michael, leaping nearly eight feet straight up and over the carcass in a single bound. Her face split into a huge grin, made seriously macab by all the blood staining her teeth red, as she tackled him in a hug.

“Yay! You’re awake,” She said as she rubbed her face into his neck, completely ignorant of the mess she was spreading. Her lithe form pressed into his, as she cuddled against him. “You were asleep so long, I was scared,” she trailed off sniffling.

Michael pat her hair gently, trying to ignore the feeling her nakedness against him. Her pert nipples scraping against his bare chest, and her perfect tanned ass against his thigh.

“Sorry to scare you. I didn’t have much say in the matter. Brain kinda just, shut down.” Michael checked his status and saw that in the few hours he had rested, his health has been completely restored. Didn’t seem to slow down the soreness he currently felt though. ‘Have to ask Sara about that, next time I see her.’

Michael eyed Kari’s petite little form. “It seems that you’ve had an upgrade though. How’d that happen? Were you always a girl trapped as a wolf?”

Kari’s head popped up from his shoulder, and licked some of the blood from her lips. “I don’t really know. I remember you saving me in the clearing, and then traveling along the river. The bear attacked and all I could think was ‘Grrr!’.” Her brow furrowed, eyebrows drawing together in a look of confusion. “I remember getting hurt, and then getting angry. I saw you standing there as the bear ran at you, and getting angry again.”

She looked up at Michael from her spot on his chest. “The next thing I remember was this feeling of cold. Every hurt. I couldn’t breathe. I was so scared. But then there you were, and you touched me. Your hands were so warm. I felt the warmth fill me, surround me.” Kari’s eyes glassed over, and she shivered. “It was the best thing I’ve ever felt. Then you were standing above me, looking so strong. I lost my alpha, and I’ve been scared ever since. When I saw you standing there like that, I felt… safe. I knew you would take care of me.”

Kari sniffled and tears fell from her eyes. She shook and curled up against him, sobbing quietly. Michael was very uncomfortable. He had never been good with women that didn’t take cash by the half hour. His last serious relationship was eight years ago, and he hadn’t improved in talking to normal women, nevermind nude werewolf girls.

Michael hugged her quivering form to his chest, and searched for anything he could say to help. Her tears ended abruptly, and she sat straight up.

“Oh, I almost forgot! We killed the bear. Are you hungry?” Michael opened his mouth to respond, but she was already off, tearing out chunks of bear with her bare hands. Kari ran back over to him with a large slab of still bleeding meat. “Here! Eating time for my Alpha.” She said with a giant smile on her face.

Michael’s stomach did a few flips as he eyes the raw piece of meat. . “No, that’s ok. I’ll get a fire going and cook some of that, then we can enjoy it.”

Kari’s face fell. “You don’t like it? I did bad?” Her shoulders slumped, and she was the very picture of dejection.

“No! No no, that’s not it at all! I just like it better cooked.”

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“Cooked? With the fire?” Kari’s head tiled exactly like it did when she was a wolf. “But why? You must eat it fresh. Fresh meat makes you big and strong. My alpha must be strong!”

That was the second time she had called him her alpha in the span of a minute. “Your alpha? What does that mean? I’m not a wolf, and certainly not an alpha.”

She nodded insistently, red hair bouncing over her exposed shoulders. “Yes, yes you are. You saved my life. I’m yours. I will hunt for you and protect you forever.” She nodded emphatically, punctuating her statements. Her face was set in stone, and her jade eyes flashed as she met his gaze. Her shoulders squared as she brooked no argument.

Michael chuckled. Kari’s mind warbled between childlike enthusiasm, and stalwart determination. It was like a child who would kick his ass and had the body of an olympic gymnast. It launched a whole cascade of confusing thoughts and emotions.

“Just because I saved you doesn’t mean you belong to me. I healed you because you saved me, and because it was the right thing to do. I would heal anyone who needed my help.”

Kari smiled. “Exactly! You take care of me. You will take care of others. You’re my alpha.” She ripped a hunk of meat off her slab and shoved it in his face. “I take care of you too. Eat. Get strong.”

She smeared blood all over his face as she tried to wedge the piece of bear into his mouth. Michael nearly fell over, trying to lean away from it.

“Wait. Wait! Let me cook it first.” He tried to bat her hand away but it was like smaking a steel pipe. She barely twitched, and just shoved the meat in his mouth despite his protesting.

“There! You eat. You will like it. I eat this, then we get more and eat more. Get big, strong, and fat.” She dove into the rest of the slab she was holding, tearing off huge chunks with her teeth and wolfing them down.

Michael quietly spit out the piece she had shoved in his mouth and chucked it in the river. He staggered to his feet and cast about for fallen wood. Kari was wrong about the cooking method, but she was right that he needed to eat. His stomach chose just then to growl in agreement.

It didn't take him long to start a fire, and with Kari’s help, cutting off enough meat to make kebabs was much faster than before. Soon he had several spits roasting with enough meat for the next several days.

“That’s done, but now I have no way to carry it.” Michael looked at the stream. Last he saw his shirt, it was being washed downstream. The water was deep and rapid, with nearly twenty feet from one side to the other. It took him nearly an hour to track it down. Fortunately a root jutted out into the water, where the bank had washed away, and the shirt was snagged on it.

“Great.” he exclaimed. “Means we can carry spare food, and stretch our supply.” Kari ear’s seemed to cock in his direction as he grumbled.

“Don’t worry my alpha. I’m good at hunting, I will hunt for you. We will be strong.”

Michael smiled at her. She wasn’t the sharpest spoon in the drawer, but based on the last couple days travel she was certainly a good hunter. He handed her the shirt to wear. It wasn’t much, but it was certainly better than being a walking distraction.

“Thank you my alpha” she said, a huge grin splitting her face, and she nearly vibrated with pleasure at his gratitude.

Michael sat next to the fire, watching Kari tear into the bears carcass and waiting for his own meal to cook. She devoured her meal at a ravenous pace, which surprised him. It wasn’t as if he had been starving her for the last few days. He wondered if her metabolism was higher than normal because of the healing. Or perhaps because the change from being a werewolf.

He watched her go to town. After a few minutes he saw her begin to pant, and she began rubbing her tight stomach that was bulging with food. With a final groan, she finally sat back on her haunches.

“You were that hungry?” He asked.

“Oh no. I’ve been full for a while. I haven’t eaten this much since I was a pup. I just wanted it.” She groaned again, looking a bit green around the gills. “I feel sick.”

Michael threw back his head and laughed. Apparently she wasn’t quite free of the animalistic instincts that ruled a wolf’s every thought and action.

‘So it’s not just the “alpha” thing. She is still pretty much a wolf, just in human clothing.’

Kari moaned and rubbed her stomach. She waddled over to him and lay down next to the fire, and putting her head in his lap as her stomach gurgled and churned.

“Sleepy time.” she murmured against his thigh.

Michael scratched her head gently, and played with her hair a bit. She crooned softly and was asleep in seconds. Michael stared off into the fire and let his mind wander. He thought about the game. He had been logged in for four days now, and that was a lot longer than he had originally planned. Not that he was complaining, but he longed for a shower. Doing some quick math in the dirt, he figured that at 16x speed, he was about six hours logged in real time. That was halfway to his twelve hour timer. That gave him eight days total before he had to take a break and the mandatory twelve hour lockout.

He sat back and looked up at the sunset. A dozen moons already filled the sky, their atmospheres displaying vibrant colors ranging from a golden all the way through the spectrum to a virulent purple.

“There are worse ways to spend a vacation” he said as he enjoyed the celestial display. “Beautiful countryside, beautiful view,” Kari snorted in her sleep, leg kicking gently. “Make that a gorgeous view.” Michael said taking in her curves again, studying her flawless skin from her feet to her ears, and pausing for a few seconds on the middle bits.

He laid back on the sand, pillowing his head in his arms. “Definitely. Best vacation ever.”