Love Of A Werewolf - Forest Ostrander (top 20 books to read txt) 📗

too long, I'll come when needed but like I said, I need a much greater hunting area which on some days will take me farther away from the camp. There will be times when I won't hear you calling for me and winter will be a tough time on our bond."

"What do you mean?" He asked and I had forgotten that he still didn't know much about mate bonds.

"You see, because you are not a werewolf you wouldn't survive out in the wild for too long, and when mates are apart from each other for too long the pull is tuged on to the point where its unbarable. Lucky for us, we hadn't fully completed the bond yet so it won't be too strong."

"What do you mean by not having completed the bond yet?" He asked and I looked away embarassed.

"What?" He pushed.

"It means we havn't mated yet," I said and left it at that, I knew from the silence on his end he had caught on to what it meant and I dared a look in his direction. I was shocked to see he was grinning from ear to ear with a mischivouse look in his eye.

"Don't even think about it James, nothing is going to happen any time." Jame's face fell in dissapointment and I laughed.

"Don't look so gloom, it will happen eventually but not now. When the time is right perhaps we can have a go at it," I said.

"When is that?" He asked a little too hopeful.

"You'll know when that is, trust me. You'll feel it through the bond."

"What did I miss?" A sleepy voice spoke. We turned to see Luna coming out of her bedroom, her mossy brown hair was messy and she was rubbing the sleepies out of her eyes.

"Nothing much, just talking. Luna, James will be watching over you this winter ok?"

"Ah, sure I guess. Why? Where will you be?" She asked then she slapped her hand to her forehead.

"Oh right, you're going to do your annual winter hunting session huh." I nodded and she clapped her hands together.

"All right then, James, looks like you get to be my baby sitter while Forest is away."

"But she said you would be ok," James said.

"I will but you see? Forest doesn't want to take any chances. Now that the scientists know Forest is not human they will surly be out to find her, and what do you think will happen when they see a bear sleeping in a human girls bed?" I could tell James didn't bother with coming up with anything and I smiled.

"See? Not only will my departure be good for me to hunt but it will also keep you guys safe, especially Luna. She may be a werebear but even she has no fight in her come winter. A sleeping bear is an easy target for someone to take advantage of."

"Fine, I'll do it. But you will come when I call if anything happens right?" James asked turning to me.

"I'll come only if I am in hearing distance of you, if not your on your own so I would suggest learning how to use a gun."

"You don't think I will have to shoot anyone do you?" He asked.

"Who knows? But if anyone shows any sign of going to hurt Luna, it would be wise to know how to use a weapon as effective as a gun, unless your skilled in archery." James' head bowed.

"Saddly I am not good at a bow and arrow."

"See? Another thing to add to your to-do list of things to learn. I would suggest starting out with archery first, not only is it quieter but you don't have to take forever with loading up bullets, just draw an arrow and shoot. Much more quicker and efficient in certian cases." I said, I for one am top notch in the archery program. My pack made it an annual thing to have archery contests and I always participated in them and always won. I was so good that I had the roll of teaching the new recruits on how to properly and efficinetly shoot an arrow and make a direct bullseye.

"Is it hard?" James asked and I could hear the hesitation in his voice.

"Not if you know what you are doing. Just don't shake and don't shoot yourself in the foot, that will hurt more than words can ever describe." Luna said once more plowing through a box of chocolate chip cookies with a plate of cooked chicken wings next to her and a cup of milk.

"Damn, I keep forgetting how much you eat a day," I said. She was already packing on the pounds and was already filling out to a healthy size for a bear.

"Ya, but I'm not at the right amount yet, in two more days I should be."

"Still have Salmon in your freezer?" I asked.

"No, I ran out yeasterday. I was going to go get some more but I just felt too tired to bother with it."

"Then I'll go for you, you just focus on packing on the pounds." I said shifting into my wolf, I was better insulated in my wolf form then I was in human form, plus hunting fish was much more easier for me this way too.

"You coming James?" I asked, I would need the extra hands if I was to cary back more fish than what my muzzle could carry.

"Ya, I guess. This would be the perfect time to perfect my fishing skills," he said putting on his coat and gloves.

"See you guys when you get back. Bring lots of fish and we will have them for dinner tonight. Feel free to stay over for dinner if you want James." Luna said and it felt like she was the mother of the household which if you though about it, she kind of is.

"I'll think about it," James said and we left for the river.

When James and I reached the river, I broke a spot through the ice covered edges so I could get to the fish swiming under the surface better, the nights were getting cold enough that any water that wasn't moving was already covering over with ice, the air was no better, already birds had headed to the south and the ones that didn't were hunkering down for the winter months ahead. Squirrles spent more time in their nests while chipmunks tried to gather enough nuts and berries they could get for their winter burrows. Rabbits spent less and less time above ground these days since the days grew shorter and the nights longer.

"Winter sure is quiet isn't it," James said looking around, his breath billowing out in the air as a fog.

"Ya," I said. "Winter is a time of renewal, when mother nature slows the clocks down and allows new life to take hold by getting rid of the old."

"What do you mean by that one? Are you saying that winter is killing off things?"

"Yes. Sometimes you need death for new life to grow. Those that do not survive this winter will pave a new path for those that do, the younger, fitter generation will take over where the older generation had fallen and pave a path of their own in the circle of life. It's how mother nature controls the order of the world, winter is just another stopper in the overproduction of things and allows nature to once more get back on course."

"Wow, I had never thought of it that way before. What are wolves doing at this time of the year?" He asked.

"Well, some will be hunting while others will be breeding. Winter is the time for wolves to mate...that is if you were a normal wolf. Werewolves are much more different, we don't have a specific time to breed, we can whenever we want to. Sometimes though during the winter time we choose not to since its hard enough as is for us to survive."

"Ah, so basically all you do is hunt?" He asked.

"Not just hunt, we travel. Spring time is the only time when wolves settle down in one place, and that's only because the females are welping. A pack can't risk traveling with young pups in their midsts, the journey will be too much on them."

"What's welping?"

"It's when a female wolf or a female dog gives birth to puppies." I then hushed him when I spotted Salmon not too far away, quickly diving my muzzle in, I managed to catch a really big one in my jaws and dragged the flailing fish up on the shore quickly dispatching it with a bite to the head.

"You know, its still slightly disturbing watching you kill," James said.

"Then don't watch, its life James. With death comes life, this meat will provide the energy and the last bits of fat Luna needs to survive the winter. If this winter lasts longer than three months you will need to fish often to proivde her with food. Careful with waking her up though, so long as you keep providing her food during the winter months she will make it just fine. That's another thing why you have to watch over her, if you weren't there to make sure she had enough to eat she will starve to death."

"How do you wake a sleeping bear without being killed?" James asked.

"Leave the meat in front of her nose, the smell will wake her up long enough for her to eat then she will go back to sleep. Don't get too close to her though, during winter she lets the bear take over so if you are near with the food the bear will think of you as a threat and will fight you."

"Has it ever mistaken you for a threat before?" James asked.

"Once, but I was able to calm her down enough for her to recognize me," I said scooping out another fish.

The rest of the day passed in silence with me catching as much Salmon as I could until Jame's arms were full with fish and my mouth ached with the weight of the Salmon. We had enough here to start a feast fit for a kind but I knew a good portion of this would be gone within minutes of it hitting the table if it ever got to reach that far in the first place. When we walked in through the door Luna was there greeting us with drool coming out of her mouth and her eyes widening in hunger.

"Easy there Luna," I said after placing the Salmon on the counter.

"Oh wow, you caught a lot there, we should have enough for a while."

"I intended for that to happen. James here will be providing it to your during the winter if it goes any longer."

"Really? You warned him about what happens during the winter months right?" She asked and I nodded. I didn't bother chopping up mine or Luna's fish since eating it whole was no big deal to us but James needed his chopped up so his human throat could swallow it better.

"You know, I've always wondered how you guys don't ever choke on meat," James said as we were eating.

"Its simple, our throats are designed to swallow meat whole since when we are changed we don't have cheeks to hold the food in while we chew so our bodies had to develop and evolve to allow us to eat without choking," I said ripping off a chunk of Salmon and swallowing it.

"Ya, where you guys have small throats we have large. It also makes swallowing bone much easier as well since it won't get lodged in our throats as easily as it would yours," Luna said already on her 100th Salmon.

"You guys eat bone? Isn't that hard to digest?" James asked.

"We don't eat the bone itself, only the bone marrow inside, that's the nutritiouse part and is what gives our bones the vital nutriants they need to remain strong. The circle of life has a very funny way of keeping thinks in tact," I said now fully