Page 25 of Bear Haven
But fuck…
From behind, another howl. Luke was torn, but when a gunshot rent the air from the same direction, he wasn’t torn anymore. The decision had been made for him.
He cut through more trees and yards in an effort to find the sources. In a small, less dense area of wood near the lake, a rope dangled from a makeshift tree stand.
Ah, hell… They’d been keeping watch on the house, on the comings and goings.
For how long? How long was it that they’d been spying on him, Gus, Bex, all the shifters? He knew they were targets, but damn…
It shouldn’t surprise him. It shouldn’t surprise any of them, but it was a violation he came face to face with and it pissed him off.
Apparently, they should’ve had look outs posted on the surround.
Luke inched closer, careful not to draw undue attention to himself. He saw no animals around and no humans. He didn’t smell the wolves of his pack or the bear that had run through earlier.
But he did smell the smoke from the fire still and blood. It was faint, though as he neared the top, the scent became stronger.
Luke cocked his head. The Mayor had been there. He’d know that man’s scent anywhere, but by all accounts, no one was there now.
He was sure the shot had come from near where he stood now. He lowered his head and sniffed around the tree. He stretched up on his hind legs and sniffed. Blood. It was strong within the strands of straw. Was the mayor up there? Was he the shooter? Who had he shot?
Or, was he one who’d been shot?
He hadn’t thought to question Roan’s information or suppositions before. Was there, in fact, dissent among the hunters? Were they wanting to oust the Mayor?
There was only one way to find out what was up in the tree stand and that was to shift and climb the rope.
Buck. Ass. Naked.
This was what he got for trying to do right. Be a stand up shifter.
The shift left him weak and wobbly on his legs. He’d been in wolf form for so long now, shifting back would take time. He’d need rest and recovery. And food. He wasn’t even sure he had enough strength to climb and so help him if he ended up with rope burn in places rope should never be, someone was going to pay and pay with pain.
Not to mention, there was the likely a fine for public nudity and he wasn’t interested in jail.
One hand over the other, Luke hoisted himself up until he could get a foot on the landing. One dead hunter. A bullet through his head, but it wasn’t the Mayor.
Maybe the new ringleader?
Or a minion.
Luke had no way of knowing. There were no weapons in the tree stand, either. No firearms. No bows and arrows. Not even a knife that he could see. Nothing but a tiny folding chair and a dead man.
And while he wasn’t too keen on what he was thinking at that moment, looking down at the man, he knew there was no other option. He had one thing Luke desperately needed.
He couldn’t very well get back to Bex’s place without clothes and he had to get back there. He had emergency stashes in various places for times when he found himself outside a shift, but none were near this particular location.
That left the dead man’s clothing and it wasn’t as though he needed it any longer.
“This fucking bites,” Luke muttered, kneeling to unbuckle the man’s belt. “Really. Fucking. Bites.”
