Fierce Wanderer by Liza Street

Author:Liza Street [Street, Liza]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-05-31T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Either the sleeping mountain lion in front of her had waited for Blake to strip out of his clothes before devouring him, or the sleeping mountain lion in front of her was Blake.

She shook her head. Impossible. Neither scenario was possible.

But there were Blake’s clothes. His t-shirt with the superhero emblem, the pants that fit against his butt so well, his shoes, his pack. All of his things. But where was he?

She took a step back, trying to be quiet. A few minutes ago, she’d heard him groan, a decidedly not-bathroom sound, and had come to see if he was hurt. His head injury looked bad, all the blood. What if he’d fallen and needed her?

But this wasn’t at all what she’d expected to see when she followed the sound of the groan.

She took another step back. If Blake was gone, if the lion had eaten him, where was the blood? Why were those clothes in perfect condition? Sure, she might miss a detail here and there in the dark, but not piles of blood and gore. And would it even have been possible for a mountain lion to consume an entire human in less than ten minutes? She doubted it.

One more step back. She’d just ease away, pretend she never saw…this. Whatever this was.

The lion opened its eyes.

Blake’s eyes.

She gasped.

No, she’d seen too many movies. There had to be another answer, another explanation.

The lion stood up. She was done for—there was no way she’d survive an encounter with a mountain lion. They were vicious. Every report she’d heard about man-killing mountain lions flashed through her head.

“Blake,” she whispered. Maybe he was nearby, maybe waiting to help her. Maybe he really was off, relieving himself behind a tree somewhere. Because everyone gets completely naked to go to the bathroom, right?

“Blake?” she said again.

The lion took one cautious step toward her. She froze. If she ran, it would only invite the lion to chase her. Were they like domestic cats? Would they chase anything, even if they weren’t hungry? Even if they’d already eaten something…or someone?

Placing its paws carefully on the needle-strewn ground, the lion approached her slowly. Its eyes were wide, projecting calm. So like Blake’s eyes.

He was within kicking distance, but she couldn’t bring herself to move. Instead, she stood stiller than the pine trees, as the large cat came right up next to her and rubbed its cheek against the back of her hand.

Scent-marking. She’d heard that cats did this, rubbed their faces against things to mark territory.

She hoped he wouldn’t pee on her next.

A low, rumbling sound came from his throat. Purring?

A small sound escaped from Hera’s lips. It wasn’t a gasp of fear—it was more like an, “Awww.” She did what her instincts wanted her to do, which was reach out and scratch her fingers behind his ears. He purred even louder and leaned into her. She nearly fell over, and laughed. He moved away again. That’s when she saw the cut on the back of his head.

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