Page 19 of Squirrel Hunt
“We’ve talked every day. You could’ve told me someone was staying in my cabin.” Farris scowled at him.
“I could have, but you were busy trailing drunks and stuff. It didn’t feel like a good time.”
Farris grunted, and Konrad believed he was mostly forgiven.
“A fucking squirrel.”
“I didn’t know.” If he’d known, he’d have told Myka to take him to Jyran instead. He clapped Farris’ shoulder. “I’ll go clean up the perfume.”
“No, stay here. My nose is already fucked, better we keep yours working. I’ll clean it up and open the windows. Maybe I can enter the cabin without dying when we get back.”
“You can crash at my place.”
Farris grunted, but Konrad got the feeling he wanted some time alone in his own home. He didn’t blame him.
* * * *
Dahy was exhausted. He’d stopped to rest in a fork of a massive beech tree, but he didn’t dare sleep. If he nodded off and a pack of wolves came after him, he was screwed. He’d rolled around in frosty leaves in an attempt to disguise his scent, but he needed a proper bath.
Listening to the forest, he tried to determine in which direction to go. He’d run off without much thought of where he was heading. He didn’t hear any snarls or growls, but it didn’t mean there weren’t wolves tracking him. He had to find a stream. If he dared to, he’d cross it, but squirrels weren’t great swimmers.
His limbs protested as he increased the speed and jumped between branches. He chose a direction and ran. One tree after the other. He appreciated what little moonlight there was but feared for predators. Squirrels were meant to sleep at night, and owls were nasty creatures. Soundless when they flew, so you didn’t stand much chance.
He ran and ran, and when he reached a tree he was pretty sure he’d already been in once, he made a frustrated sound. Keeping close to the trunk of the tree he was in, he looked around. Had he been here before? He recognized the hazel tree. Everything smelled of perfume, and he believed he smelled less now, so maybe it was his scent from before. Did it mean he was close to the cabin he was trying to get away from? Fuck.
Turning, he took aim in a different direction and ran. After a few minutes, he heard what he was pretty sure was rippling water. He did not feel like washing off in an icy stream, but he didn’t think he had any options. Moving toward the sound, he soon found the source.
The water was as frigid as he’d feared, but he washed his fur with shaking paws, dipped his tail, and scrubbed his face. He kept his mouth shut despite wanting to voice his displeasure.
Once he believed he smelled a little better, he moved away from the water. He had to find Myka to say goodbye, if nothing else. She’d helped him, and he didn’t want to disappear without her knowing he was okay. If he’d be okay. The wolves would most likely get to him at some point—they were many, and he was only one small squirrel. Not much of a match.
He tried to piece together what he knew about where Myka lived. Without his phone, he couldn’t look her up online, but he could always go to the coffee shop. She’d most likely have wolves around her, but if he stayed in the trees, he might be able to get her alone when she arrived or left for the day. Maybe not today, but sooner or later, they’d ease up on the guarding. Maybe. Unless the predatory man had been there for her and not him. But why would he? On the other hand, did anyone know he was here? Or now there were several who did, but back then, he believed Myka was the only one.
He had to find his way back into Doson and find a good hiding spot near the coffee shop. All he had to do was stick to the trees, hope no wolf would decide to hunt in suburbia, and watch. He’d find her. But first he had to figure out in which direction to go.
His head was a little clearer after the freezing bath, and he had to move unless he wanted to turn into an ice sculpture of a squirrel. He took to the trees again and followed the stream. He ran along it for a long time, crossed it when the branches allowed it simply to annoy anyone following him. Not once did he come across a tree he’d already been in, so that was good.
After an eternity, he heard traffic. Hope soared in his chest, and he abandoned the stream in favor of moving toward the sound. Before long, he found himself on a highway. He hesitated. Which way should he go? Which direction led to Doson?
Since there were no cars coming, he crossed the lanes. There were trees close to the road, and he climbed into one. Maybe it was stupid to keep close to the road. Birds of prey often patrolled them for easy meals. He moved farther into the woods, but kept close enough to be able to glimpse the highway now and then.
His body was turning sluggish. He’d been running for a long time, shifted several times, and he needed to rest, but this was not the time.
When the highway turned, he spotted lights. Several tiny lights in the distance, and had he been in human form, he might have cried. Civilization.
Chapter 10
Konrad stepped over a fallen trunk and sniffed the air. There was a faint trace of perfume. Dahy had been here. He looked around the tree crowns, trying to spot a squirrel.
“We should shift and hunt him down.” Farris had grown grumpier and grumpier the more time they spent in the forest.
“I don’t think it would make it easier to find him, and this way he can see it’s me, and not some random wolf.”
“And you think that will make him come willingly?” Farris snorted. “He knows you’re the alpha, right?”
Konrad winced. He wanted Dahy to come to him, but Farris was right, he most likely knew he was the alpha. Myka would have told him.
“We’ve talked once without me attacking him.” He never would. He wanted Dahy to…he didn’t know what. Trust him? Yeah, it wasn’t likely to happen. Sighing, he looked around the branches. “He’s been here, but I think he’s moved on.”