They'd had a late lunch. It hadn't been more than a few hours ago that he'd finished off a second order of that stew, and okay, he had trained between now and then, but it hadn't been a particularly hard workout. He and Hunter had mostly been feeling each other out, checking for new strengths and weaknesses in the wolf--and in Hunter's reaction to it.

He shouldn't be starving right now. His stomach was so empty it hurt. Hunter didn't say a word when they pulled into yet another fast food place. It seemed like he hadn't been able to go a day without greasy burgers since this whole thing began.

The community center would still be open, Cam thought with a sigh. He was starting to understand why it was such a popular hangout. They knew what wolves ate, there, and no one looked at him strangely for not caring about bread and vegetables. But they had just been there last night, and he figured Hunter had already been subjected to enough of his life's weirdness for the entire weekend.

So they tried to avoid the pack, but the pack didn't make any effort to return the favor. Hunter wanted to get back and meet up with his brother, so they only stayed out long enough to get food. It was enough to take the edge off of his hunger, anyway. They turned back toward the foothills, and that was when they ran into the Wolf Blade.

With his window partly down, Cam could hear the screams over the sound of speed and rushing air. "Hunter, stop," he snapped, hand on the door before he'd even thought about what was happening.

Hunter didn't fool around. Cam's seatbelt dug into his shoulder and stomach as the truck slammed to a halt and he was already fumbling to get them loose. The sounds were coming from one of the tourist trails that followed the river, winding along the road here for several miles, and he was out of the truck and into the woods without even remembering to tell Hunter what was going on.

As much experience as he had running in the forest, Cam shifted almost instantly to his wolf form. Four legs were better than two, and his erratic sprint stabilized into an easy lope the moment he changed. He couldn't hear screaming anymore, but the voices were right there and he homed in on the overlapping babble easily. He already had an audible picture of the scene when he burst through the undergrowth and barreled into Shimazu's ancient fairy tale.

They were just a couple of hikers, out at the wrong time and on the wrong trail. One of them actually had a cell phone to her ear, calling frantically for help while the other tried to placate the giant wolf-like beast. The Wolf Blade's roar as Cam slammed into it drowned out their voices momentarily, but he heard one of them repeating "oh my god, oh my god" over and over again as he struggled to hang on.

Then there was a screech that made his entire body spasm with anger and surprise and something else that was buried under the adrenaline. He knew that sound. The Wolf Blade managed to knock him loose and he loved being a wolf, he really loved it because he was on his feet almost before he'd hit the ground and it was so easy to lunge right back in the monster's face. It couldn't even get in a solid hit when he sank his teeth into it and pounded it with all the strength he had held back for Hunter that afternoon.

The screech came again and there was another wolf attacking the creature from behind and Cam knew exactly what they had to do. Working with a stranger had never been so instinctive, so easy, and it wasn't really a stranger after all because this wolf was like him. He could see it in the flash of gold eyes as the Wolf Blade went down and the swiftly savage whirl that was completely controlled. He and the other wolf crouched on opposite sides, searching for signs of survival.

Cam's ears flicked back at the sound of someone crashing through the woods, and the other wolf's head lifted in angry defiance. Cam didn't move, recognizing Hunter's presence without even turning, and his calm obviously conveyed itself to his partner. The other wolf gave him a suspicious look.

The question was obvious in the wolf's posture. You know him?

Cam chanced a look away from the unmoving Wolf Blade. Hunter had clearly sized up the situation in a matter of seconds, and he was now carefully herding the hikers away. They were babbling at him, at each other, clutching backpacks and phone and a walking stick that they had conceivably meant to use as a weapon. Hunter didn't look back.

Glancing back at the wolf, he realized the question had already been answered. The other wolf was staring after the hikers and Hunter, eyes narrowed. His suspicion was still there. Not one of us.

Cam wasn't sure how he could tell, but he lowered his head in acknowledgement. His ears twitched, still following the sound of Hunter's voice, and his interest probably said as much as any words could. Mine.

The other wolf seemed to accept that. At least inasmuch as his attention to the Wolf Blade meant that he didn't consider Hunter a threat anymore. He nosed the creature with evident distaste, and this time a more restrained and vaguely melodic call echoed over the trees. Cam looked up as a familiar bird shape dove toward the river and turned sharply, backwinging hard to land on the banking between water and trail.

The very familiar bird shape, he realized, as it sparkled away to reveal Akeelah glaring at the scene. "That shouldn't be here," she said. "Too early. Too close to the road. Too easy to take down."

"Too young," the woman on the other side of the Wolf Blade said.

Cam blinked. The other wolf was gone. The other wolf was a woman. And he was the only one still in animal form.

"What do you mean?" Cam demanded, putting a hand on the ground to balance himself as he shifted back. He was hungry again, distractingly so. "Too young?"

"Not old enough to be one of Shimazu's," the woman elaborated. "They're making new ones somehow."

"New, bold ones," Akeelah muttered. Then her attention settled on Cam. "What are you doing out here?"

He set his jaw. "I could ask you the same thing."

"Patrolling." The wolf woman jumped in before Akeelah could answer, and to Cam's surprise, she smiled at him. "Akeelah's not actually assigned to guard duty, but she helps us out sometimes."

"I help you out." Akeelah was still staring at him, but it was clear she wasn't talking to him until she repeated, "And you?"

Cam shrugged. "We were driving by and we heard screaming."

"We?" Akeelah's pretty face grimaced, and she shook her head. "I thought I saw your boy toy's blonde head from the air. I hoped maybe I was wrong."

"Akeelah!" The wolf woman looked genuinely surprised by her attitude. Turning an apologetic look on Cam, she pushed herself to her feet and walked around the fallen Wolf Blade, holding out her hand to him. "I'm Kathy. It's nice to meet you."

He stood up quickly, taken aback by her friendliness. "I'm, uh... I'm Cam." He shook her hand briefly. "Thanks for the help with--" He jerked his head at the Wolf Blade, and she gave it a token glance.

"I should be thanking you," she countered. "I got lazy. I didn't expect any of them to get this close to civilization before full dark. I'm glad you got to it before it got to anyone else."

"You weren't lazy," Akeelah interjected. "You were just being practical. We would have gotten to it in plenty of time."

Kathy gave Akeelah a look of disbelief before throwing a baffled smile back in Cam's direction. "She's really quite charming, most of the time. But I guess you two already know each other...?"

"We've met," Cam said shortly. His stomach was starting to hurt, and what was wrong with him, anyway? He shouldn't have to eat six times a day.

"He's the one who interrupted my last assignment," Akeelah muttered.

Kathy frowned, then tilted her head to one side. It was an oddly wolfish look, Cam thought. He wondered suddenly if he did that too.

"The one that got away?" She sounded sharply curious and more than a little amused.

"His SO." Akeelah gave him a dark look. "And it doesn't really count, anyway. Everyone behaves differently with their SO standing over their shoulder. If I'd had him alone it would have been totally different."

"Akeelah, you said the man was gay," Kathy reminded her. Amusement had completely won over curiosity in her tone, and she sounded like she was on the verge of laughter. "Even you can't change someone's orientation."

"I'd appreciate it if you'd stop trying," Cam snapped. He didn't find the situation at all entertaining. "He said no. Leave him alone."

"He didn't say no to me," Akeelah said sullenly. "He said yes to you. That's not exactly the same thing."

His fists clenched, and he saw Kathy notice. He saw Akeelah ignore it. He struggled to keep his mouth shut, knowing his hunger was making him more than irritable. He was angry, unreasonably so, and he hurt, and this was a bad situation all around.

"Look, he's not even here," Kathy said quickly. "There's no reason to fight over him. We'd better get rid of this thing," she added, kicking the Wolf Blade with a carelessness that spoke of experience.

Where was Hunter, anyway? Had he just been getting the hikers moving in the right direction up the trail? Had he escorted them all the way back to the road? And if so, where were they supposed to go from there? And why hadn't Cam insisted on a bigger dinner before they started back?

He winced as his stomach growled, and it was Akeelah who noticed. "Are you all right?" she asked, wary but not as standoffish as before. "Cam?"

"I'm fine." He flexed his fingers this time, trying to distract himself from the hunger pangs. "What do you do with these, anyway?"

"Depends where we find them," Kathy answered. She knelt by the creature again, studying it for a moment before spreading her hands and giving it a shove. It didn't move. "Help me turn it over?"

Cam got down beside her, and to his surprise, Akeelah came over too. The three of them managed to roll the thing over. "The magic that animates them dissipates pretty quickly and they just sort of... dissolve," Kathy said with a grimace. "We usually haul them off somewhere inconspicuous so they're hidden until it happens."

"I'll take it," Akeelah said, standing up again. "You'll have to back up."

It took Cam a moment to get it. "You can carry something that size?"

She smiled at him, and for the first time it was a smile without any malice behind it. "I'm stronger as a siren," she told him.

They got out of her way, and oddly, she ran for the river. Leaping off the bank, she shifted into her winged form and started to climb. Cam exchanged glances with Kathy, who looked enthralled by the display of power. "Amazing, isn't it?" she murmured.

"Yeah," Cam said under his breath. "Where's she going?"

"She's picking up speed for the snatch and grab," Kathy answered, pointing. Even as she raised her hand, Akeelah started to circle around, and as she dove toward them again Cam understood. Of course. Her talons were made to catch and lift. She probably couldn't get airborne from a standstill with something as big as a Wolf Blade.

The massive bird of prey sank its claws into the creature's back and kept on going, lifting more slowly this time, using the channel cut by the river to get aloft. "Why did we turn it over?" Cam asked, watching it go.

Kathy made a face. "I don't like seeing things hang upside down when she's carrying them," she confessed. "Personal quirk. Coming?"

Cam blinked. "What, you mean, follow her?"

Kathy was a wolf before he finished asking the question, and she looked up at him like that was all the answer he needed. Then she took off along the river without waiting to see if he would follow. Yes, apparently. That was exactly what she'd meant.

Cam hesitated. Wherever Hunter had gone, he wouldn't be able to find them if he came back here and they were gone. On the other hand, he must have taken the hikers out to the road, or he'd be back by now. And if he'd gone that far, he was probably giving them a ride back to their own car. Which meant it could be quite a while before he returned, and Cam didn't really feel like waiting.

He felt like eating. He felt like hunting. He felt like chasing something, and he let his wolf form take over with a sort of resigned ferocity. He didn't know what he needed, but running seemed more right than anything else right now.

He didn't have any trouble following Kathy, and later he would wonder about that. For now, though, he had her trail easily and somehow he could tell he was closing the distance between them. He caught up just after she'd reached the place Akeelah had dropped the Wolf Blade, and it wasn't until he looked around for the siren that he realized why Kathy had been moving more slowly than he had.

Looking up was hard. He swiveled his head around experimentally, but his eyes were definitely not made to watch the sky. Not while he was standing, anyway. Probably especially not while he was running.

A sharp growl got his attention, and he glanced at Kathy. She tilted her head at him exactly the same way she had when she was a human. Not annoyed, just questioning. Fine?

He wasn't sure whether she meant the Wolf Blade, or his odd head movements. But neither was an issue for him, so he nodded. Or he thought of it as nodding, after he did it. He drew his head back and his ears relaxed, and she seemed to get the message.

Then he glanced up again, shooting her an inquisitive look that he thought she'd probably understand just as easily. Where's Akeelah?

She lowered her nose to the ground in a gesture he took as a shrug, then sat back on her haunches and lifted her nose to the sky. The gentle howl that drifted from her took him by surprise. He couldn't decide whether the sound was strange or pretty, but he sat back and followed her gaze and a moment later he saw Akeelah drift by overhead.

She couldn't land here, he realized suddenly. The trees were too close together--she might be able to get down, but she wouldn't be able to get aloft again. At least, probably not. He hadn't forgotten her leaping into the air in Hunter's apartment. This wasn't that much more restrictive than that had been.

A snuffing sound from Kathy got his attention, and she stood up when he looked at her. Turning in a circle, she looked back over her shoulder at him, then at the Wolf Blade. A quiet growl put him on alert, and he watched as she padded off into the trees.

Make sure it's alone, she meant. Or maybe "hidden." Make sure it's hidden. That seemed right.

Cam got up and made a half-hearted attempt at following her instructions. He got distracted by a flicker of movement, though, and he froze before he realized why. Prey. He shook his head, a human gesture in wolf form, and he growled softly.

Not prey. He was human. He didn't eat little woodland creatures.

A flash of white behind him and he spun, starving, ready to leap on anything that dared to cross his path. The flash ran for it and he tore after it, intent only on capturing it. The chase was more important than the reason. Prey.

The white thing disappeared into the ground and he pawed at its burrow, yipping in frustration, feeling cheated and mean and hungry.

Hungry. Cam froze, then fell back, horrified. He was doing it again. He was hunting. What was wrong with him?

He spun away, racing for the river, racing up the river, back toward the place where he'd first encountered the Wolf Blade. Where Hunter had left him. The place where Hunter would be looking for him, where he had last been human, where he could walk back to Hunter's truck and go to a drive-thru like any normal person.

It was easy to find and utterly empty. Hunter hadn't been here since he'd left with the hikers. Cam could tell, and he couldn't change it, and he needed something to eat now. He wouldn't hunt. He couldn't.

He thought it would be easier as a human, but the second he changed the ache in his stomach intensified unbearably. He gritted his teeth, doubling over, and caught himself just before he would have gone to the ground. He was hungry, not dying.

He stumbled over to a tree and sat, pulling his knees up in a futile effort to calm his stomach. It was fine, he was fine. People got hungry all the time. People didn't eat for days, for weeks, and they survived. He could wait for Hunter to get back.

He barely heard Kathy coming, but he saw her flow out of the trees a moment later. She fixed on him instantly, running toward him, worrying him with her head-on rush but he was in too much pain to do anything about it. He was shaking all over and he was only vaguely relieved when she stopped beside him and transformed into a human on her hands and knees beside him with a grace that was disturbing.

"Cam?" She didn't reach for him, but her tone made it obvious that she wanted to. "Are you all right? What's wrong? Why did you run? Are you okay?"

He clenched his hands on his shins, trying to sound reasonable instead of whiny. "I'm hungry," he whispered. It wasn't enough. "I'm so hungry."

"There's plenty of game around here." She sounded honestly confused. "Don't you hunt?"

"No," he gasped, trying to put his head down but realizing almost immediately that it only made his stomach feel worse. He tipped it back and rested it against the tree instead, trying to make his breathing seem more important than the pain.

"Oh." She sounded like she wanted to ask, but instead she said, "You'll eat raw meat, though, right? If we get you something?"

"We?" Akeelah's voice echoed. Cam hadn't seen her arrive.

"Akeelah, he needs food." Kathy sounded worried. "I don't have anything with me, and if he won't hunt for himself--"

"I don't hunt at night," Akeelah said crossly.

"You do for me." Kathy was touching him now, putting a hand on his forehead and then on his shoulder, rubbing comforting circles through his shirt. "Please, Akeelah."

There was no answer, and Cam didn't know whether that was a bad sign or a good one. His eyes were closed and he didn't dare ask. He was trying to code backwards in his head, a minimally successful strategy in times of serious trouble, but better than nothing.

"Cam?" Kathy was asking. "Are you okay if I go too, or do you want someone to stay with you?"

Like there was anything she could do. "I'm fine," he ground out, refusing to open his eyes.

"Okay." She didn't seem to take offense at his tone, squeezing his shoulder before he felt the soft brush of fur that meant she was a wolf again. Then he was alone.

He wasn't sure how long he was there. He really didn't want to know. He was sure it was no time at all compared to the time that passed in his head, he was sure of that intellectually, but it wasn't enough to speed up his actual perception.

Not until he smelled something that was very bad and very, very good, and he didn't know what to do about this because that was blood in the air and he was not going to open his eyes. He wasn't. He didn't want to know.

"Hey." It was such a gentle sound that he didn't even recognize it, and he opened his eyes without consciously deciding to do it. "Cam."

Akeelah hovered over him--not literally, because she was human again--and the concern in her voice startled him as much as the bloody carcass lying casually on the ground beside her. "I don't hunt for just anyone, you know," she said, smiling at him with some of the charm that Kathy had claimed on her behalf earlier. "Come on, change. You can't eat like that."

"Like what?" he managed, trying not to look at the thing on the ground.

"Human," she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm not skinning it for you, and you need real teeth for that."

When he didn't answer, she settled down next to him and he caught a faint whiff of perfume. "Don't you want your dinner?" she asked, her tone softening further as a hint of amusement entered her voice. "It's delivery."

He shook his head, unable to form the words.

"Delivery is good," she coaxed, reaching out to touch his face. "The wolf wants it. Come on, Cam. Don't make him starve."

"I'm human," he whispered, wanting to pull away, wanting to not have to. "Not a wolf."

"You're both," she told him. Her fingers rested on his cheek and her thumb brushed against his mouth, making his lips part and his hunger rise and he needed food yesterday. "There's nothing wrong with that."

When she said it, he could almost believe it. And that seemed wrong, somehow, that he would trust her like that, and Hunter was going to be mad at him but Hunter wasn't here and he had to eat. He had to get away from Akeelah, he had to be in control of himself again, and it wasn't going to happen while he was still hungry.

He shifted into his wolf form and had to scramble a little when the strange position didn't quite work with wolf limbs. Then the blood hit his nose and nothing else mattered because there was food and it was right there and he had never been so hungry in his life. He didn't care what it was or where it had come from or how it had gotten there. He tore into it without hesitation.

Some time later, he realized that there was more than one fresh kill in front of him. He also noticed that the second one was much more tasty. He went for that one instead and heard a laugh as he settled down to work more diligently at the business of eating. There was plenty of food, after all. It wasn't going anywhere.

Not anymore, he thought, and he was vaguely amused by the idea.

At least, he was until Hunter's voice cut through the fog of contentment with a tone that made him sink his teeth into the meat in front of him and growl a warning. No one was taking this from him. A hand patted his shoulder comfortingly, and he started shredding again, gulping the pieces with renewed worry.

Mine, he told himself.

But Hunter didn't think so, and the anger radiating off of him made Cam cringe. "What the hell is this?" Hunter demanded. "You all decide to have a party without me?"

"He was hungry." Kathy's voice was meaner than Cam had heard it. "What kind of a guy are you that you just let him starve like this? He was practically hysterical, out of control--he almost keeled over before we even figured out what was wrong!"

"Yeah, and who the fuck are you?" Hunter snapped. "You don't know anything about him! He just ate half an hour ago, and I told you to stay away from him--" He had to be talking about Akeelah-- "so why don't you both just back off!"

"Why don't you stop endangering his life by pretending to know what he needs!" Kathy shouted. She didn't move from his side, hand still on his shoulder, crouched down on the ground and glaring up at Hunter with eyes that glowed bright yellow in the fading light.

Hunter towered over her and Akeelah was on her feet, standing between him and Kathy as he glared right back at the wolf woman. "Get the fuck away from my boyfriend," Hunter snarled.

Akeelah took a step forward, toe to toe with him if several inches shorter, in his face until he was forced to look at her or step back. "Touch my girlfriend," she said, with a terrible pleasantness that made her seductive tone sound sinister, "and you'll never love a man again."

Cam could only stare at the scene playing out in front of him, food somehow forgotten, perfume tickling his nose and an inexplicable restlessness that had nothing to do with hunger stirring deep in his chest. He growled suddenly, felt Kathy's fingers press reassuringly between his shoulderblades. That wasn't it. He shrugged her hand off, glaring up at Hunter and Akeelah. They shouldn't be standing there like that.

"What, Cam," Hunter snapped. He didn't move.

Cam shook off the wolf, and the clarity his human form brought was disturbing. "Back off," he ordered, lifting a hand to wipe his mouth and flinching when it came away bloody. "Both of you, just... step back."

Raw meat. He'd just eaten raw meat off of a still warm animal. Hunter had every right to be upset. He was just this side of insanely freaked out himself. And he wasn't looking at those carcasses. He wouldn't do it.

He got to his feet when neither Hunter nor Akeelah moved and pushed them apart himself. He stood between them to prevent them from gravitating toward each other again, and he frowned as the perfume finally registered. "Do you have to do that?" he demanded, staring at Akeelah.

She shrugged. "Habit," she told him. "At low levels, it has a calming influence."

"Yeah, well, surprisingly I'm not feeling very calm right now," Hunter growled.

"Hunter, I'm sorry," Cam began, and that was all it took to bring Kathy to her feet.

"You didn't do anything wrong!" she exclaimed. "Why don't you hunt? Who told you it was a terrible thing to do? Who told you to apologize for being what you are?"

"No one told me I shouldn't hunt," he said testily. "I haven't had the time or motivation to learn. I'm perfectly capable of buying food that's been humanely grown and slaughtered--because frankly, I have an aversion to killing my dinner myself. Call it a personal quirk," he added.

"Doesn't look like much of an aversion to me," Hunter muttered. His eyes were fixed on the half-devoured animals on the ground, and Cam couldn't help following his gaze.

Okay. Mostly devoured. He didn't know how long he'd been at it, but hunger wasn't eating him from the inside out, so it must have been long enough for the food to reach his stomach. He didn't know how his digestive system could even handle that much raw meat, but he wasn't throwing up, so obviously more than his eyesight had changed when Lothor did--whatever he did.

"You're a carnivore," Kathy was saying. "You're supposed to eat meat. Cooking it does something to it, makes it less good. I don't know what, but it doesn't keep you full as long as raw meat will."

"You can freeze it," Akeelah offered unexpectedly. "It doesn't taste as good, but not everyone has time to hunt everyday. Or shop," she added, "if you really can't bring yourself to hunt. There's a butcher in Killington who caters to human wolves."

"I can't live on a diet of raw meat," Cam said sharply. "That's ridiculous." But it had tasted good, a traitorous voice in his head reminded him.

"What's ridiculous is the amount of other stuff you'll have to eat if you don't." Akeelah didn't sound confrontational. She sounded almost... was that sympathy in her voice? "And the more often you change, the bigger your appetite, so watch out for that."

"Oh," he said softly, involuntarily. The training session. That would explain a few things.

He could feel Hunter's eyes on him again, and he didn't dare look up. Wolves, sirens, aliens... now raw meat? He didn't really want to know what Hunter's expression looked like right now. There was only so much a person could take, after all.

"Stay and patrol with me," Kathy said suddenly. "With us. I know a lot about the diet, and I'm pretty good at the hunt if you want some pointers."

Cam actually hesitated, because yeah, he wouldn't mind getting some answers to questions he hadn't even thought of yet. But when she said "us" she'd basically made the decision for him, because no way would he let Hunter stay in Akeelah's company without him and he was pretty sure it went both ways. "Thanks," he said with a sigh. "But we have to go. Hunter has someone waiting for him."

"Someone else?" Akeelah asked, and the way she said it made it clear she was thinking harem. She sounded curious and, annoyingly enough, impressed.

"I'm meeting my brother," Hunter informed her. He sounded as irritable about the implication as Cam felt, but that wasn't exactly definitive. Hunter had plenty to be upset about without Akeelah's innuendo adding to it.

"You could stay," Kathy said, lifting her chin. Her eyes met Cam's defiantly, and he caught the quick look Akeelah sent her way. That was enough to convince him that she was really doing what he thought she was doing.

"I go where Hunter goes," he said quietly. For as long as it lasted, he would follow Hunter, and if it was over tonight, well. Maybe he had told Lothor the truth after all. Maybe he really didn't need anyone telling him what to do.

But he would miss it when it was gone.

Kathy sighed. "If you say so." She sounded doubtful, and peripherally, he could feel Hunter bristle at the insult. "Just don't forget, you're not alone, okay? Other people deal with the same stuff every day."

Not Hunter, her voice said, even if her words didn't. Not explicitly.

"Thanks," Cam told her. "And thanks for..." He included Akeelah in his glance, but he stumbled over the words. "Uh, dinner."

Kathy gave him a genuine smile. "Our pleasure. We'll clean this up," she added. "Don't worry."

"We?" Akeelah repeated. This time, though, there was a hint of amusement in her voice. Amusement, or fondness. Maybe both. No trace of resentment, though, and indeed, Kathy paid no attention to her pretended complaint.

"Thank you," Cam said again.

Hunter did nothing but glare at both of them until he and Cam were shoulder to shoulder and heading back toward the road. Then he glared at the ground in front of them, the trees around them, and pretty much everything else except the person next to him. He didn't say a word. He didn't have to.

"Were those hikers all right?" Cam asked at last, the words awkward in the lengthening silence. He felt strange even asking, as though it had happened another night and they were only now getting a chance to share the information. As though it didn't really matter anymore.

"Yeah," Hunter muttered. He sounded just as odd, and Cam couldn't decide whether that was reassuring or not. "I gave them a lift back to their car."

Cam nodded once. "I thought you must have," he said, almost to himself.

"Were you hungry?" Hunter blurted out, still concentrating more on their surroundings than on Cam. Pushing through brush, ducking branches, stepping around rocks and roots and all the while avoiding Cam's gaze. "After we ate, I mean?"

Cam wasn't sure how to answer that. "I shouldn't have been," he told the trees.

"Were you?" Hunter insisted. He would push until he got what he was looking for; Cam didn't doubt that. What it was he was looking for, though. That was the question.

"Yes," Cam admitted, frowning. "I've been hungry all day. I've been hungry all week," he amended, his frown deepening. "I guess... I guess I keep waiting for the meat craving to go away, so I can eat what I want to eat again."

"It's not going away," Hunter said from just ahead of him. Cam couldn't see his face.

"No." And that was hard to think about, hard to deal with, almost impossible to imagine it going on forever. Raw meat being better than cooked meat. But he could freeze it, if he wanted to. In the name of convenience.

He swallowed a crazy laugh. He could freeze his fresh game to snack on later. "I didn't--kill those things, Hunter."

"Yeah," Hunter said briefly. "I figured."

It wasn't what he wanted to hear. Or it wasn't how he wanted to hear it. He couldn't tell. He just knew that he needed something from Hunter that he wasn't getting, and he didn't even know what to ask for. Sympathy? Understanding? Acceptance?

Something other than disgust?

"Hunter," he said.

Hunter didn't stop. "Yeah," he said over his shoulder.

Cam came to a halt. They were within easy sight of the road, and one of them had miscalculated because the truck was a little further up than the point where they were going to emerge from the trees. It didn't matter. It was faster to walk along the road than through the woods anyway.

"Hunter," he said again, not sure the other Ranger was even listening.

Hunter glanced back, realized he wasn't moving, and did an about face. "What?" he asked. He was already coming back, casting a wary eye around them as though Cam had seen something and he was trying to figure out what it was.

"I don't know," Cam said quietly. He didn't even know why he'd stopped Hunter, except that he seemed to be getting farther away the longer they walked. Now Hunter was at least paying attention again.

"Something you heard?" Hunter wanted to know. He was still scanning their surroundings. "Or something you saw?"

"No--" Not paying attention to the right thing, unfortunately. "That's not what I meant. I just..."

Hunter was looking at him, looking right at him and waiting, maybe for the first time since he'd come back from taking the hikers wherever he'd taken them. It wasn't enough, but it was better.

"I don't want you to treat me like I don't exist," Cam said at last. "Just because I'm a freak doesn't mean I'm not here."

"Freak?" Hunter repeated, eyeing him. He actually sounded confused. "Where'd that come from?"

He couldn't answer. Where didn't it come from?

"Look." Hunter was frowning. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do here. I don't know what you need, I don't even know what you want, and I don't know there's anything wrong if you don't tell me. So what am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know," Cam said softly. He really didn't. "But I need you to keep trying."

"To do what?" Hunter exclaimed, obviously frustrated. "What do I try and do, Cam! Tell me!"

"Try to like me!" Cam shouted back.

Hunter stared at him, but Cam didn't back down. He hadn't meant to say that and he didn't even care. He was beyond embarrassment by now. He had begged Hunter to sleep with him; there couldn't be anything left that he couldn't say.

"What the fuck makes you think I don't like you?" Hunter demanded at last. "That's the craziest thing I ever heard."

"The way you look at me!" Cam exclaimed, then shook his head and amended, "The way you don't look at me, sometimes. I didn't ask to be a wolf, Hunter. But there are things about it that I don't want to give up, and I'm trying not to let the rest of it... I'm just trying not to let it--win."

"Hey." Hunter's hands were on his shoulders again. He'd been doing that more and more lately. Well, more than before, which had been never. "You're not a freak, Cam. Cut it out."

"Don't walk away from me," Cam told him. Half command, half plea. He didn't know how else to say it.

Hunter didn't answer. The look in those blue eyes was unmistakable, and the tang of iron was bitter on his tongue as he turned his head away. Hunter couldn't kiss him right now. There were limits, and just because Hunter forgot didn't mean it was all right.

"Hey, what," Hunter muttered, not pulling away. He was waiting, but he wasn't giving up. It still wasn't enough.

"I should wash my mouth out," Cam said quietly.

To his surprise, Hunter let out a huff of amusement, and then his hand was on Cam's face as he guided him back into kissing range. "News flash," Hunter told him, his gaze wandering a little as he leaned in. "It's not just your mouth."

Which Hunter's mouth didn't seem to mind at all. Cam gave in, because he'd done weirder things, right? He couldn't think of any of them right now, but Hunter probably could. And they probably involved Cam.

Hunter's kiss was gentle, biting his lip carefully, nuzzling the corner of his mouth. It was warm and sweet and Cam couldn't help thinking that Hunter wasn't as confident as he pretended. He didn't want to get too close to someone who had just--

Then Hunter's tongue traced his lower lip, and Cam almost laughed as he realized what he was doing. He lowered his head, breath escaping through a grin he couldn't suppress, and he shook his head. "That can't be good for you," he murmured.

Hunter kissed his cheek, his tongue a soft but insistent presence as he licked away another spot of blood. It was an oddly wolfish thing to do, and Cam could feel himself reacting to it. It was a gesture of affection, of trust... of dependence. Maybe Hunter just thought it was cute; he couldn't tell and he didn't dare ask. But it felt like family.

"Yeah, well," Hunter muttered, breathing on his skin when Cam didn't move. "I'll get a rabies shot."

This time Cam did laugh, finally letting himself forget what he looked like as he lifted his face to kiss Hunter in return. There really wasn't anything that could intimidate him, was there. He wondered how long Hunter would keep surprising him.

Hunter pulled away a moment later, eyeing him. "You should get a rabies shot."

Cam frowned, trying to figure out where that had come from.

Hunter brought a hand up between them, licked his thumb, and rubbed at Cam's other cheek gently. He raised his eyebrows, holding up his thumb for Cam to see. It was red.

Cam swallowed, self-conscious all over again. "Rabies is passed through saliva," he sad defensively. "Not blood."

A slow smile spread across Hunter's face, and he leaned in before Cam could say anything. His kiss was thorough and deep, easy and unhurried but overwhelming in its refusal to yield. He went everywhere and Cam let him, somehow sensing that this wasn't a contest but a demonstration.

"So," Hunter said, his voice rough when he finally let up, watching Cam with a sort of smug desperation. He was nothing if not a walking contradiction, Cam though distantly. "We should both get rabies shots."

Now it was a contest, and Cam was going to win. He slid a hand behind Hunter's neck and pulled him closer, warm and sure and maybe a little bit sloppy but only because Hunter had started it. He wasn't used to having people lick his face clean, and wolf or not, a good idea deserved reciprocation.

He could feel Hunter's hands, resting awkwardly on his hips like he wasn't quite sure what to do with them. It wasn't discomfort, Cam realized suddenly. Hunter wasn't trying to push him away. He just didn't know how to get any closer.

"Hey," Hunter said, and he sounded a little breathless. Not like someone who didn't appreciate where he was. More like someone who didn't know how to stay there. I've never done it with a guy before.

Hunter wasn't reserved, Cam thought, he was nervous. And right now he was doing his best to hide it. Insecurity was a weakness the Crimson Thunder Ranger would never own.

"Can you do me a favor while you're at it?" Hunter was asking. "I could really use a dog license at some point."

Cam knew it was an evasion technique, he'd seen it coming the moment Hunter opened his mouth, and he still drew back in surprise. "What do you need a dog license for?" he demanded.

"It was my name in the paper," Hunter reminded him. "All it takes is one person who gets curious, calls the city clerk, and asks them what kind of 'dog' that was. And what does the guy say? 'Hunter Bradley isn't licensed to have a dog.'

"Then I get fined," Hunter continued, clearly warming to the subject. "And next April, I'll probably get hit with some kind of dog tax or something--"

"There's no dog tax," Cam interrupted, but it didn't deter Hunter.

"How do you know there's no dog tax?" he wanted to know. "Do you have a dog tax consultant? You're not even licensed!"

"Okay, okay," Cam said quickly. If this was how Hunter freaked out, he'd take complaints about licensing over issues with raw meat any day. "Dog license. I'll get you one. You'll need a rabies certificate first," he added.

"No, you need a rabies certificate," Hunter countered. "I wasn't kidding about that. If you're going to run around letting wild animals bite you, you should get a rabies shot."

"So far, you're the only one who's been bitten by a wild animal," Cam pointed out dryly.

"Well, consider yourself under observation," Hunter shot back. "You start being all rabid and then I'll worry."

Cam smiled to himself. "I'll get you a dog license," he promised. "Give me a couple of days."

"Fine," Hunter muttered, shooting him a dark look. "That'll give me time to find a collar."

Cam decided that kissing was better than arguing, and that showing was faster than explaining. So he let that comment slide in favor of a demonstration. Hunter was still here with him, despite blood and weirdness and personal injury, and if he wanted to do a little displaced venting then surely he'd earned the right.

After all, Cam thought ruefully, it wasn't like he needed a collar.