I woke up from the sound of Buck and Jared arriving at the camp with a large bundle of brown fur, that they dropped to the ground next to the bonfire. I noticed the fire still burned vigorously, so I knew I hadn't slept too long. Still, it felt like I had been sleeping for hours, and the dream I had felt so real that I actually had to pinch my arm to check if I really was awake.

Keesha! She was my best friend. Oh, my God. How could I forget her? My funny, crazy, and always so supportive friend that made me smile even on my worst days. And now I missed her more than anything.

"Someone's lookin' better," Buck said with a smirk and let his eyes shamelessly roam up and down my body, as if I wasn't wearing any clothes at all. I hated how vulnerable he made me feel, so I let my discomfort show by glaring back at him. That eventually made him retract his gaze.

"You really do," Jared said, but with a little more concern in his eyes as he walked up in front of me. For some reason I flinched and shied away when he raised his hand to my face, and I held up my own as protection. A sudden rush of panic surged through my body, and I didn't really understand why. I was still suspicious to him, but I didn't expect him to hit me. So why did I act so defensive?

"Relax. I was just going to examine your wounds, Skylar. I'm not gonna hurt you."

I heard Buck mumble something, and I slowly turned back to Jared.

"It's a lot easier to see without all the dried blood, so I want to check if you..."

"I'm okay!" I interrupted, quite a bit louder than I planned. "Just... Don't."

"But it doesn't look..."

"I said I'm fine, okay?" I yelled, and I was quite startled by my own reaction. Then I felt dumb when he kept studying me with a deep frown wedged between his eyes, clearly trying to figure me out. And quite frankly, I wanted to figure me out too.

"Okay," he said slowly. "I just wanted to help."

He took a couple of steps back, but he didn't stop looking at me. Not in the way that Buck did, but I still got a strange feeling.

"Are you hungry?" he asked eventually, and I was unbelievably grateful for the change of topic. My reply was a simple nod.

"Good. Because we got lucky today."

He pointed at a little pile of salmon next to Buck, who now was busy working on the bear fur. I couldn't quite understand why people found it nice to keep things like that in their homes, even if it was just a rug to walk on. Just the smell gave me horrible flashbacks from yesterday. I could still feel the teeth sink into my skin, quite literally trying to break my skull. I would have been dead if it wasn't for the intimidating man who was scraping its skin at this very moment. But why did he save me when it seemed like he didn't really want me here?

"I'm sorry," I said to Jared. "I don't know why I reacted that way."

He smiled at me, and I suddenly noticed how handsome he was. Maybe it was because the other man was the exact opposite, but there really was something special about Jared. Brown eyes were framed with dark eyelashes and bushy eyebrows. His jaw was strong and squared, and he had one cute dimple that only was visible when he smiled at his widest. The wild, half-long hair looked surprisingly good on him too, and it seemed soft despite the straight structure. His tall, lean figure was well hidden under layers of clothes, but I could easily imagine well sculpted muscles and a nice six pack.

Focus Skylar!

"It's okay. Don't worry. But I would like to take a closer look at those wounds after we're done eating," he said and was dead serious. "I just want to make sure they don't get infected."

I blushed, but not from what he said. It was for my inappropriate thoughts.

"Yeah... I mean, no. It's okay. That would be good. Great, actually. Thank you."

So after we'd eaten, he did just that. He didn't have much of a first aid kit, but he had some disinfectant and a couple of bandages. He even used parts of a t-shirt to tear off small pieces to clean my wounds.

"This one is quite wide," he commented when he examined the wound on the back of my head. "But it looks like it's cleaned itself quite well by bleeding. Do you feel dizzy?"

"Yeah. Well, not right now. But I was yesterday," I answered, thinking about how woozy and weak I felt while climbing up the steep hill.

"That's because of blood loss. Did you hit your head badly?"

"I don't really know."

He cocked his head and looked at me when I shrugged.

"That bad, huh? You were unconscious?"

I nodded.

"For how long?"

"I don't know. I don't remember."

The brutal reality behind those words scared me more than ever, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell him exactly how bad my memory loss was.

"You probably have a concussion."

"Are you a doctor or something?" I asked and made him chuckle.

"No. But I've been living too many years in the wilderness not to know a little something about stuff like that. It can be dangerous out here, you know."

I heard Buck mumble something while he kept on fleshing and stretching the fur, and I saw Jared reacted to it with a small scoff. But he kept on examining me, especially the wound behind my ear.

"This one doesn't look very good."

He poured some disinfectant on a little cloth and cleaned where the bear's teeth had penetrated my skin, and I whimpered from the sharp pain. Tears welled up in my eyes and I tried my best to hide them, but to no avail.

"Hey, you," Jared said softly in an attempt to comfort me and pulled my chin up so he could see my eyes. Once again, I got this weird feeling when he looked at me. For several seconds, his eyes searched mine, until I managed to break the spell he had on me. Then he turned away too and cleared his voice.

"Did it..."

He cleared his voice once more.

"Did it hurt you elsewhere?" he finally managed to ask.

"Yeah..." I whispered because my voice suddenly failed. Then my eyes went large when it occurred to me exactly where my bruises were. "But it's nothing," I quickly added.

"No, let me check."

I got a minor panic attack when he sat back and waited for me to show him. It was just my ribs, I knew that. I didn't have to pull my sweater up that far, so it wasn't like he would see anything else. But the thought of having a man's hands on me that close to my breasts was honestly freaking me out. And the fact that my bra was hanging to dry on the line between two trees a bit to the left from Buck's tent...

"Come on," he encouraged calmly. And eventually I took a deep breath and grabbed the hem of my sweater and lifted it up. Jared's eyes widened when he realized what I was about to do. He even seemed to be holding his breath until I stopped when I thought I'd come far enough up.

"Damn. That's one of the nastiest bruises I've seen in a long time," he said and looked more concerned than I appreciated. I mean, it was a bit hard to see from my angle, but it couldn't be that bad, could it?

"Do you think they're broken?" I asked and tried not to feel too embarrassed. He was just checking my injuries. Not me. And certainly not that way. But then he locked his gaze with mine again, and my body reacted with a mind of its own. Warmth flushed through me and left a trail of tingling sensations that became visible as thousands of goosebumps on my skin. My eyes even fell to his lips for a brief moment before I managed to compose myself.

"That's not easy to say. Is it okay if I use my hand to feel how bad it is?"

Was it okay? I mean, he was a complete stranger. Then again, he did seem genuine with his concern. So when he slowly lifted his hand and let his fingers brush over my warm skin, I decided that I was fine with it. And when he examined each rib in turn, I was still fine with it, until his fingertips accidentally touched my breast. Then both of us froze.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, and his voice sounded foreign and a lot darker than before. Then, one by one, he increased the pressure on them, which made me moan from the sharp pain. It was just a low one that Buck didn't hear. But Jared did, and I was almost certain I heard a low growl from deep inside him. I'd never heard a man growl before. Not in that way, at least. So naturally I convinced myself that I'd imagined it.

"I don't think they're broken, but you'll definitely feel sore for a couple of weeks."

His hand kept examining me in an almost caressing manner, and I silently gasped when his thumb grazed along the bottom of my breast again. I wasn't sure if I was bruised there as well, but this time he didn't touch me there by accident. And I saw it had effect on him too, because of the way he leaned closer and clenched his jaw.

Now I could clearly smell his distinct odor. He really did smell like a wet dog, and the thought made a vague smile play upon my lips, which didn't go unnoticed by Jared who returned it. His hand kept caressing my body and for some reason it didn't feel awkward. There were no creepy signals. No intimidating stare. Just a strange kind of adoration that made me relax. But since Buck kept an eye on us, I eventually moved and gave Jared a look that told him to back off a bit. He swallowed hard and blinked a couple of times before he did exactly that.

"I recommend you stay a few days," he said, and his voice was still raw and loaded with something I didn't quite understand. "Because of your concussion, I mean. You need to relax and let your body heal."

Then he thought for a little moment.

"Where are you heading, anyway?"

"I..."

What should I answer? I didn't know where I was going. Heck, I wouldn't even know in which part of the world I was, if it wasn't for Buck and Jared.

"Shortest way back to civilization," I muttered at last. That made Jared chuckle, and the strange tension between us was gone.

"Yeah, I would guess so."

I pouted a little to make him laugh longer, simply because I liked how his laughter sounded. Then I needed to ask.

"Which is the shortest way?"

"That would be West, towards Willow Creek," he explained and automatically pointed out the direction. I nodded with a smile. I sounded like a couple of hours hike when he said it, but my gut-feeling told me that it was way further than that.

"And how long does it take to get there?"

He looked at me.

"With the short days and the risk for bad weather at this time of year, I think you'll need at least five days."

"F-five days?" I exclaimed in disbelief. Every trace of bravery and hope vanished like if someone had turned a switch.

"Yeah. But don't worry about that for now. Focus on getting better and regaining your strength. You're gonna need that."

When he said those last four words, his face got a different expression than before. I couldn't quite define it, but there was a feral glimpse in his eyes before it changed into sadness. He tried to hide it by turning away from me, pretending to be busy with gathering the things he'd used to clean my wounds, but I saw it. And an alarming feeling tied a knot in my stomach. I didn't really understand why, though. But after a while I managed to shake off the eerie feeling and leaned back to stare at the bonfire, that eagerly let its long fiery tentacles wave towards the sky. The white condensation from my breath fighting the cold air made me pick up the blanket from last night and wrap it around my shoulders, while I admired the pale light from the half moon. It was bigger than yesterday, so I reckoned that it would be full in a week or so. By that time, I hoped I already was back home.

Wherever that was...

Until then, I remained in the safety of the bonfire.