Feral Awakening (The Feral Series-Book 2) (4 page)

 She had brought him
some food tonight thinking she might see him. She had this thing about feeding
strays. No one should go hungry in this day and age. Reaching into the cab of
her truck she took the lid off the small cooler and pulled out the sandwiches
she had brought for him.

 Squaring her shoulders
she turned and walked deliberately over to the huge lump of a man sitting in
the shadows. Her little cork heels clacked on the cobblestone as she drew
closer to him. Stopping a few feet in front of the imposing man she stood
nervously for a minute. She knew he saw her but he refused to raise his eyes to
hers. “Um, Hi. I thought you might be hungry… so… here. I brought this for
you.” Placing the bag in front of him she hesitated and then backed away. The
man didn’t move a muscle as she cautiously backed away from him and then turned
back towards her truck.

 Kat wasn’t offended by
his behavior. She had brought him food before with the same results. She never
saw him take the food but it was always gone when he left. He never spoke to
her or even raised his head when she was that close to him. She wouldn’t be
around for a few days and she really hoped Patrick didn’t call the cops and
chase the poor guy off or worse get him arrested. He really wasn’t hurting
anything.

 Kat went back to
securing her boxes in the back of her truck so they wouldn’t slide from side to
side, breaking everything. With a final check of her tie down rope, she slammed
the heavy tailgate shut and knocked the dust from her hands. Turning away from
the truck she groaned to see Eric’s shiny white Escalade pull into the spot
directly in front of her. The shine coming off of his chrome wheels made her
poor little old truck look all the more out of place here.  

 Eric’s blond head
emerged from the interior as he opened the door of his SUV. With a snort and an
eye roll, Kat figured the enormous truck was surely male compensation for
something else that was entirely too small. Quickly concealing his distaste as
he glanced towards her poor old truck, he walked up to her with the grin on his
face that she had come to dread.

 “Looks like my timing
is perfect. Is Patrick closing tonight?”

 “Yes. He’s sending me
home early tonight and said he would stay to close.”

 “Lucky me.”

 “What?” Kat looked at
him in confusion barely concealing her aggravation.

 Eric leaned his arm on
the bed of her truck and struck a very GQ pose, running his hand through his
expertly styled locks in a move that she was sure was meant to show off the
flexing bicep in his muscular arm. Kat barley stifled a very unladylike snort. She
was not impressed. The man reminded her of a Ken doll.

 “Well, that means you
are free for the evening.”

 
Oh, dam. Here we
go.
I am so not in the mood for this.
“Eric I…”

 “Now Kat. I told you I
won’t take no for an answer again.” Kat began to fume as his gaze traveled down
her body suggestively, lingering on her breasts.

 For a brief moment she
considered telling him she was gay. He might believe that, her partner was gay
after all. Nah. The hell with playing nice, it was time to be blunt. “Eric, I
have to be honest here. I’m just not interested.”

 “Come on Kat. I see
the way you look at me. Don’t try to deny that you want this as much as I do.” A
look of determination entered his eyes as he closed the distance between them.

 “What!” Kat looked at
him incredulously, and people thought that she was crazy these days. Not only
was this guy an arrogant jerk he was clearly delusional too.

 Suddenly Kat found
herself pinned against the door of her truck by Eric’s overly cologned body. Kat
only got out half of an outraged shriek out before his lips were crushing her
tender mouth. Kat shoved at his chest and gathered herself to land a crushing
blow to his jewels when suddenly, he wasn’t there anymore.

 Gasping she looked up
in time to see the back of one large hairy man throwing Eric like he weighed no
more than a child. Eric landed on his back in a tangle of arms and legs and proceeded
to summersault over the curb and down into the ditch.

 Kat gaped at the back
of the large man standing before her. Sensing her eyes on him he slowly tuned
around to look at her. Kat could just barely make out two golden eyes peering
at her from under several hunks of long dirty hair. “Benji.” Kat gasped in
shock. They stood and stared at each other for several moments before he turned
and began to walk away from her.

 A groan came from the
ditch in front of her and Kat could see Eric beginning to rise up on his hands
and knees while he spit out bits of dirt and grass from his mouth.

 Turning back to where
Benji had been Kat was surprised when she couldn’t find him. It was as though
he had faded back into the shadows again.

 “How does he do that?”
She had been so shocked she hadn’t even thanked him. Deciding to leave before
Eric regained his feet she opened her truck door and hopped into the cab. Flipping
down the visor she caught her keys and started the truck up with a noisy
rumble, pulling out past Eric’s Escalade. Pulling up next to where he now stood
in the ditch, she leaned across the seat and cranked down the old window.

 “Have a nice night ass
hole!” Patrick was right, it was always a good idea to be polite to the
neighbors.

 Kat revved her noisy
engine as she hit the gas and left him choking on her exhaust fumes.

 “What a jerk.” With a
sigh she pulled out onto the cobblestone road with a smile on her lips. The
memory of him spitting grass out from between his perfect white teeth had her
laughing out loud. Next time she was bringing Benji steak instead of ham
sandwiches.

The next morning Kat
sat at her kitchen table sipping her coffee and munching on a piece of peanut
butter toast. She could really use the protein today and would have preferred
eggs for what she had planned but couldn’t bring herself to eat them. She
planned on getting some more chickens from one of the neighbors but didn’t want
to do it until she figured out what had attacked her girls. She had ordered
some digital game cameras on the internet and they would be here in a week or
so.

 Even though it was her
day off she was up a little before dawn so she could get ready for her hike. She
planned on hiking up to the bluff today to take some pictures from the top of
the ridge. The view down into the valley below was spectacular this time of
year. She wasn’t a professional photographer by any means but it was a hobby
that she enjoyed. She had taken some really great shots of some of the wildlife
in the area and had even framed a few of them for her house.

 She seemed to have a
knack for moving through the woods quietly enough not to disturb the animals. She
had a really great shot of a fawn with his mother that she was proud of.

 The hike up to the
ridge and back would take all day so she needed to get an early start to make
the most of the daylight. Clearing her dishes she double checked the supplies
in her backpack and then double checked the case that her camera was in. Everything
was packed, she just needed one last thing.

 Going to the top drawer
of her night stand she pulled out the 9mm Glock that she had bought a few years
ago. She was an adventurous and independent woman but she was no fool. Bad
things could happen to a woman out on her own and she was nothing if not
cautious.

 She always kept her
doors and windows locked and not only did she own a hand gun but she knew how
to use it and practiced regularly. Safely stowing the hand gun in the front
pouch of her backpack she adjusted the laces of her hiking boots and slid her
fleece pullover over her head.

 With a sigh she
glanced over to the corner where her dog Foster had once laid. In his younger
years, her Australian Shepherd Foster used to go on these hikes with her but he
hadn’t been able to for the last two years since his hips had gotten so bad. She
had been forced to put him down a couple of months ago. She wasn’t quite ready
to get another dog just yet. Besides she rarely had to go looking for pets. They
always had a way of finding her. Ava was right, she had a knack for attracting
strays. With a snort she thought of bringing Benji home with her. Nah, he was
too big to fit in Foster’s old bed anyway Kat thought with a grin. Kat smiled
at the image of the enormous man scrunched into the dogs bed and felt her mood
lifting for the first time in days.

 Sliding her arms into
the backpack she headed out the door, eager to be on her way. Kat climbed the
trail leading up to the ridge aggressively. She wanted to make it to the bluff as
quickly as she could so she could take her time snapping pictures. She knew
that she needed to head back down the trail by two if she wanted to make it
back home again before it got dark.

 Several hours clicked
past and before she knew it Kat had made it to the bluff in record time. She
was hardly even winded today. It had turned out to be a beautiful day, just a
little on the chilly side but she didn’t feel it since she had been hiking. If
anything, she had gotten a little warm since she had been pushing so hard. Sliding
off her backpack she took off her pullover and tied it around her waist.

 Careful not to get too
close to the edge she looked out from her position on the bluff. The trees of
the valley were painted in the reds and oranges of fall. Kat took a deep breath
and smiled. Here she was at peace. It was like looking at God’s canvas. It was
times like this that seemed to move straight through her soul. For her, this
was her church and being a part of nature like this was a very spiritual
experience.

 Picking up her camera
she began snapping pictures. After a few minutes she sat down with her legs
crossed and laid her camera in her lap. Pulling out her lunch she ate quietly
and sipped her bottle of water.

 She sat contentedly
like that for about an hour until something caught her attention. Kat squint
her eyes and looked closely at the valley below her. Something was moving down
there. Something big.

 Suddenly excited she
picked up her camera and tried to zoom in on the movement. The trees swam
before her lens as she struggled to get the animal in her site. What the heck
was it? It seemed big and dark like a bear but the way it moved didn’t seem
right. It moved more like a man would. Weird. Just as she was about to get her
camera focused on the beast it disappeared into the trees.

 She sat for several
minutes trying to get another glimpse of it but it was gone. “Dam. I’m pretty
sure I just missed getting a shot of big foot.” Kat laughed at her own joke. “God,
I crack myself up. Okay, I’m starting to talk to myself and laughing at my own
jokes. That’s usually a sign it’s time to head towards home.”

 Putting her things
away she slid her arms back into her pack but kept the camera handy. Turning
back the way she came she began working her way down the ridge. She was a
little disappointed she really hadn’t seen any wildlife to photograph. Her
pictures from the ridge were great but she usually got a couple wildlife shots
during the hike.

 The forest had been eerily
quiet today. Almost like it knew something she didn’t. What was she missing? Climbing
over a large fallen tree, Kat suddenly screamed and struggled to get her
balance while changing direction in mid-air. Landing on top of the log she
barely missed stumbling right on top of a large dead animal. It lay right up
against the fallen tree so she hadn’t seen it until she was literally stepping
over the log and practically on top of it.

 “Oh my god!” Kat
looked in shock at the fallen animal. It looked to be a deer. What was left of
a deer that is. Its head was missing. Just like her chickens. “What the hell!?”
Kat’s brain scrambled to process what she was seeing. She had been on this
section of the trail about two hours ago and the animal hadn’t been here. This
was a recent kill.

 Something was very
wrong. Chills ran down her spine and the hairs on the back of her neck began to
stand up. Most predators killed to eat. They didn’t take the heads off their
prey just for fun. “Oh god.” Whatever did this could still be close.

 Kat held very still
and quietly scanned the forest around her. Quieting her rapid breathing she listened
to the woods but heard nothing. Scooting down the log a bit she stepped over
the tree and around the fallen deer.

 “Okay girl. Get
yourself together now.” Looking around the animal Kat searched for any tracks
the predator may have left. Just as before she couldn’t find any tracks
probably due to all the fallen leaves. Daring to look closer at the deer she
could see massive claw marks on its sides.

 
What could do this?
A bear? A mountain lion? What?
Whatever it was it clearly wasn’t right in
the head. Maybe it was rabid. Whatever it was, she wasn’t sticking around to
find out.

 Kat moved down the
trail cautiously. Her first instinct had been to start running but she didn’t
want to go crashing through the woods. She could easily end up running blindly
into whatever had attacked the deer. Instead she moved carefully, scanning the
woods around her and listening for sounds of movement in the forest. Dam, she
hated that she was still so far from home. She hadn’t even brought her phone
with her since there was no signal up here. She barely even got a signal at her
house. As soon as she got back home she was going to call the sheriff from her
land line. There was clearly a dangerous animal at large and they needed to get
some conservation agents or someone to investigate.