Page 7 of Planet Wolf

I still didn’t understand the bird attack in the first place, if I was being honest. Were they just aggressive birds? What would we do, since they defeated them? I pointed at the birds and then pantomimed eating them. Were they edible? Hunter made a face and shook his head while Doctor pretended to hit the ground like he’d died. I guessed the birds were poisonous—or at the very least, they would taste really, really bad.

In fact, when I almost stepped on one of the talons, Doctor hauled me into his arms so I wouldn’t. The two currently naked men—wow, I was just going to have to adjust—clothed their bottom halves and we set out to walk again. Eventually, Doctor let me walk for myself, and I tried not to grumble about being hauled around. It was a warmer day, and I had slept really well considering things.

Leader put his arm around me and passed me some leftovers from the night before. It was still delicious even though it was cold. Actually, I could eat their food every day, all day, for the rest of my life if someone wanted to package some up for me.

When I had to pee, we stopped, and after an embarrassing game of explaining with gestures, I hid to relieve myself. The whole act made me grin.Look at me,Esther, the outdoor person.I would’ve never thought it possible.

My hair was a mess, and my clothes stank from the explosion and the bodily fluids I’d expelled. But I was happy. It was strange to realize that. Could I remember, really, the last time I had been truly happy?

Why did I suddenly feel joyful on a strange shifter planet with three strangers in a place where I could get into serious trouble if I was caught by the wrong people? Maybe it was that, for the first time in forever, I was really alive.

Not just waiting to die.

Hunter turned around with a smile on his face. He stopped and touched the tree then he said something. I couldn’t understand any of the syllables, nor make any kind of sense of it. Even some of the sounds, I wasn’t sure I heard them right.

Then he pointed at me. I stared back at him. What did he want me to do with the tree?

He made his strange sounds again, and at least I could make out that they were the same noises. Then he touched the tree again and pointed at me.

Oh!Like a light turning on, I finally understood him. He wanted me to say the word. “Tree.”

Next to me, Leader smiled, and behind me, Doctor clapped his hands.Oh, they liked that. Sure. It was a little bit like talking. Like, we were actually verbally communicating with one another for the first time and not just flailing. Hunter pointed to the tree, and then he tried it. “T…” I couldn’t make out what came after the t sound, but he’d gotten that right.

I grinned at him. “Closer than I would get.”

He pointed at the ground. This time it was an R sound. Sort of like Ruff. I tried repeating it, and then braced for his laughter, but Leader just nodded and tugged me closer while Hunter’s grin increased. He did it again, this time indicating he wanted me to do it.

“Ground.” I hoped that was the right word. They could have meant they wanted me to saydirt. But I was going withground. Why not? I didn’t think there was going to be a test when we were done. It would probably be easier if therewerea test, since I did great at tests. My body often failed me but never my brain.

Hunter tried to say it. The sound he made wasn’t as clear, but he nearly got the first letter right. Doctor was closer, Leader, not at all.

Hunter put his hands on his chest. “C…” I definitely heard thecletter in there. Of course, it could have been ak, but it was that sound, the hardcahsound that made those noises. That was really exciting. That was his name, unless he was sayingchest. There was only one way to know. I pointed at Leader.

He lifted an eyebrow before he touched his chest the way Hunter had done. This time it was aJsound, likejay, before I couldn’t understand the rest of it. Okay. They were telling me their names. Now, it was my turn to grin. I spun around and Doctor put his hand on his chest. It was anahhsound. So I hadC,J, andA. That was great, in some ways easier than thinking Tall One or Doctor. There was at least a sound to go with those names.

Hunter pointed at me. Yes, they wanted my name. “Esther.”

He furrowed his brow. It had to be hard to say and hear. Thesthsounds together would be confusing, hard for the ear. I said it again. “Esther.”

It was okay if they didn’t get it. Finally, it was Leader—J—who spoke. “Est.” He got that part, and I nodded. It was so close. We were one step further along in this strange trip we were taking together.

That was, of course, when the snow started.

I gasped. It had felt warmer, but it was like the snow brought the cold with it. Rain had been hard enough, but snow seemed brutally unfair. I shivered. I should have known; the day was going too well. The universe was all about balance, so it made sense that I was due for bad.

I wasn’t going to make it to the mountain. Leader shouted out something to the other two, and Hunter ran ahead of us toward wherever they were going. Doctor’s face told me I was right—that this was very bad. For just a second, I saw pure dread cross his gaze before he hid it. I recognized it, since I saw the expression on the faces of medical professionals a lot. Sure, they’d tell you to be hopeful, but there was usually that one moment before they hid from you what they really thought behind their training and distance.

Snow could be fatal, especially if you were exposed and without any kind of shelter—particularly if you weren’t dressed for it, and you weren’t prepared.

Leader handed me the bag with their extra pants. I nodded. Sure, I’d carry it for a little while. He stepped back, shifting into the beautiful gray Wolf I’d come to recognize as him, and ran off in the direction where Hunter had vanished.

They could shift into Wolves to be fur covered and warm, but I had no Wolf of my own. All three of them could make themselves warmer, but I only had my human skin.

Doctor put out his hand, and I took it. His name started with A, that was something else to think about. His skin was warm to the touch when he drew me toward his bare chest. They must run hotter than I did, just as a rule.

So, of course—because why not make everything harder?—I fainted.

I didn’t even get the warning I sometimes got before it happened. My hands didn’t tingle. Everything just went black.