Chapter Sixty

ASH

He smiled as Keyara fell deeply asleep as soon as she lay down, then he turned back to the horse to relieve the load from his back.

He was proud of how Key had pushed herself, never once complaining, even though he could feel how tired she was. Her body was still recovering but becoming stronger by the day.

He set their supplies in neat piles, then placed a blanket on the grass next to Keyara. She didn’t even stir at his approach.

He returned to the horse, taking off the saddle and rubbing him down before leading him to the small creek some distance away to drink.

Ash filled a bucket as well. They would need to boil it tomorrow to refill their water skins once they were empty.

He set the bucket of water down once back at the camp, taking one last look around to make sure everything was in place. He sniffed the air cautiously but could sense no humans nearby. Finally, he was satisfied.

His own fatigue was creeping in, and he tied off the horse before lying down next to his mate. He pulled the blanket over himself and gathered her into his arms gently.

She made a small noise in her sleep, relaxing into his body. He buried his face in her hair and joined her in sleep.

KEYARA

She awoke alone the next morning, although Ash’s scent still clung heavily to the blanket beside her. She rolled over, searching for him. Their camp was organized, and she realized he must have done it all after she fell asleep.

Moments later he appeared, coming around the side of a tall stone with his arms filled with firewood.

She jumped up quickly, approaching him to take the wood from him. She felt guilty he was already hard at work while she indulged in sleep.

“Let me do that,” she murmured, gathering the wood into her arms.

He smiled at her and gave her a soft kiss. She turned away and began arranging the wood in the stone circle he had already put in place for their campfire.

Ash picked up their blankets, folding them neatly as she worked and setting them on the nearest flat stone. “How did you sleep?” he asked her, taking a seat on top of the cushion of blankets.

“Fine,” she replied, propping the last log into place and wiping her hands as she stood. “Too long. I’m sorry.”

“Nonsense, love,” he replied. “You needed the sleep.”

She joined him on the rock, leaning into him as he put his arm around her.

“Are you ready for a werewolf crash course?” he asked her with amusement after a few moments. “I left the horse by the stream so we can shift.”

She jumped to her feet, pulling her shirt off, eager to begin. He laughed softly at her enthusiasm, placing a hand on her arm to stop her before she pulled the shirt over her head.

“Slow down, Key. First I show you how to take advantage of your senses in your human form,” he told her.

She let the shirt drop, blushing slightly, standing to face him.

“Close your eyes,” he told her. “Smell the air. What do you smell?”

She did as instructed, inhaling deeply, taking in the scents and tasting them in the back of her throat as the air traveled from her nose.

“I smell you. I smell the grass we’re standing in. I smell the rocks around us. They smell like dirt.”

She took another deep breath and concentrated. “I smell water, and the horse, faintly.”

“Good,” he told her. “Now, listen closely. Try to make out the sound of the water.”

She stood silently, listening. Wind was rushing in her ears, and the trees creaked all around her as they moved. She could hear birds and insects. She could hear the horse knicker faintly, along with the sound of the water.

She tried to tune all the other sounds out, focusing on the water, until she was able to isolate the trickling sound from the creek below.

“Close your eyes again,” he instructed. “Focus on the smell of the water and match it to the sound. You didn’t see the creek on the way in, so this is a good test. See if you can lead us to it.”

She kept the sound of the creek in her ears, inhaling again to gain the scent. She turned her head to the right, following the smell. She opened her eyes and grinned, walking confidently down the hill.

He was right, it was easy. After about a ten-minute walk with her leading the way, they came to the creek, the horse standing calmly beside it.

“Easy,” she said, turning to face him triumphantly.

They started back to the camp, the horse snorting at their interruption. Once they got back to the camp, he started undressing, and she followed, knowing the next step was to shift.

“This will be all your nose. I hid a piece of bacon we had left over from Emily’s food,” he told her as she finished undressing.

“I placed it this morning before I started collecting the wood. I’m not going to tell you which direction, but I will tell you it’s about a mile away from the camp.”

They stood naked in the clearing as he gave her instructions, the wind tickling her skin.

“To track something, you have to consider everything about the situation. So you know I left the camp with only the bacon this morning,” he explained. “You will look for my scent leading away from the camp.”

“I came back more than once so there will be more than one trail. You will have to use your nose to sense what else was there.

“It’s still fresh so you should be able to discern the smells. If it’s a trail with me along with wood, you know that was after I hid it, right?”

She frowned and nodded, understanding what he was getting at but doubting she could separate the scents like he was explaining. His smell was so overpowering to her, it was hard to focus on anything else.

“All right, shift. Let’s see how long it takes you to pick up the right trail,” he instructed her.

She shifted, shaking out her fur when the transformation was complete. He shifted after her, touching his white snout to her dark one briefly.

~“Trust your nose, Key.”~

She closed her eyes and sniffed around the perimeter of their camp, picking up four different trails of his overpowering scent all headed in the same direction. So at least she knew which way to go.

She went back to each, studying them in turn, trying to ignore the scent of her mate to pick up what else was there.

She knew the first trail was the end of his trip. She remembered him coming around this boulder, so that gave her an advantage. She inhaled deeply, tasting the scents on her wolf tongue.

Once she got past the smell of Ash, she could detect the scent of the firewood. There was a hint of the moss that clung to the wood, as well as the dry scent of old timber.

She also picked up the scent of leather from the clothes he had worn and knew not to focus on that particular scent.

She returned to the second path. She could smell the wood on this one as well, almost as strong as the first. She did not pick it up on the third, but wanted to verify it was the correct path, moving to the fourth anyway.

A faint scent of wood in that one. She returned to the correct path, bounding down the hill after it. Once she had the right scent in her nostrils, it was no trouble to follow, even when the paths crossed each other.

In no time, the trail had ended, and she uncovered the piece of bacon from underneath a small rock he had placed over it.

She shifted back and grinned at Ash, watching her in his wolf form, as she held it triumphantly in the air.

He leaned forward and snatched it from her fingers with his teeth, swallowing it before opening his mouth in a wolfy grin, his tongue hanging from the side of his jaws.

He shifted back, giving her a pleased look. “See,” he said enthusiastically, “easy. I’ll make it harder next time. I just wanted you to get the basics.”

“Thank you, Ash,” she told him. Even though she suspected he had made it very easy for her, her success made confidence fill her body and lighten her mood.

“Now let’s run,” he said, winking at her, shifting back at lightning speed. She followed, close on his heels as he took off into the trees.