Page 153 of Bones
“You don’t believe me?” He raised an eyebrow as he packed the snow into a tight ball.
I scooped up another handful of snow, monitoring him as I grinned. “I’m just sayin’ that’s a lot of talk with little to back it up.”
"I can't believe—" he started, but then he charged mid-sentence.
I shrieked and chucked my snowball at him, missing by a mile, and turned and ran. His snowball hit me in the back of the head and a second later he tackled me into the snow. I got a faceful of cold wet snow, and when he flipped me over, he laughed at the snow coating my face.
“You believe me now?” he asked, full of smug confidence that he’d won, but he didn’t know my brother taught me to fight dirty.
I smashed two handfuls of snow into his face.
He sputtered, and I dissolved into laughter. Most of the snow dripped off his face right away, but some stayed stuck to his eyebrows and the stubble on his face, making him look like an old man. He glared down at me for a moment as I laughed at him, but then his lips crushed into mine, silencing me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back.
The earlier tension between us melted away as swiftly as the snow.
24
We rode until dusk, stopping to make camp near a small river so the horse could get a drink. The horse shifted nervously when the wolves began howling again. They didn’t sound any closer, but they also didn’t sound farther away. Both Trey and I stopped making camp to stand and listen.
“Do you think they’re followin’ us?” I asked Trey in a low voice.
He frowned. “They should have plenty to hunt without needin’ to track us down, but I’ve heard stories of packs sometimes gettin’ bored and goin’ after humans just for the challenge.”
I shuddered, the hair on the back of my neck rising.
“It’s ok,” he said, reaching over to squeeze my gloved hand. “They’re still not close enough to be a threat.”
“And if they get close enough to be a threat?”
That muscle in his jaw flexed once. “Then we’ll have to be prepared to fight.” He looked down at me, his eyes sharp. “You know how to shoot?”
“Yeah. Well, I didn’t get much practice with Juck, but Wolf taught me.”
“I’ve only got the one pistol, but hold on.”
He moved into the trees, searching for something while I stood with the horse. A loud crack sounded, and the horse and I both startled.
Trey returned holding a large dead branch. “We’ll make this into a torch. Animals have an instinctive fear of fire, so that can be an effective weapon.”
I nodded as we moved back to our campfire, taking a seat beside him as he stripped some of the smaller branches off.
“If the horse takes off, let her.” He glanced at our horse, regret clear on his face. “The wolves will probably go after her instead of us. Theywanttheir prey to run, so no matter what,don’t run.”
Nausea swirled in my stomach, but I nodded.
“And if I tell you to climb a tree, you gotta promise you’ll do it, even if it means leavin’ me behind.”
My eyes shot to his face. “No.”
“Bones—”
“No,” I snapped.
“Bones—” he tried again, reaching over to grab my hand, but I jerked away.
“No.” I fixed him with a fierce look. “I’m not gonna leave you behind. So don’t you dare fuckin’ ask me to do that.”
He stared at me for a moment and then sighed, bringing his hand up to rub his face. “Just, can you at least promise that you’ll try to stay safe? Remember you can heal me, but if you get hurt,” his voice broke, “I can’t do a damn thing about it.” He dropped his hand, and the worry in his eyes made my throat tighten.
