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I FOLLOWED REYFYRE AND my judgment of him softened as the brutal wind tore through the mountain pass. The coat he fitted me in made the trek much less daunting. Neither one of us had chattering teeth or shakes that made it difficult to take each step, and I couldn’t fault him for outfitting us to better endure this journey.
We rounded a bend, and Reyfyre stopped short. I nearly walked into his backpack. The wind that had been in our face shifted for a moment, and Reyfyre slid the rifle off his pack. I glanced over his shoulder at what had spooked him.
A bear and her cubs stood still, peering our way with wide eyes. They looked just as shocked as I felt. I had seen these creatures enough in the cave to know that they were predators.
The wind shifted again, blowing strands of loose hair out of my face, taking our scent away with it. But the damage had been done. The bears knew we were here, invading their territory.
“Back away slowly,” Reyfyre whispered as he shifted the gun.
“You are not going to shoot her.” I bristled at the idea. Instead of backing away like he expected, I moved in front of Reyfyre, blocking any chance of him shooting the mother bear in front of her cubs.
“Are you insane?” he hissed from behind me.
The mother roared at me and stood on her hind legs, towering over our heads. The claws on her front legs were long enough to do serious damage.
My chest squeezed, and I gulped down the burn. Fear would do me no good. I had to make the mother feel as if she and her cubs were not in danger and Reyfyre waving the rifle around certainly wasn’t conveying the feeling of warm fuzzies.
“Move.”
I ignored Reyfyre’s order and splayed my fingers out at my sides. “We don’t want to hurt you. We just want to pass.” I nodded at the other side of the small opening where her cubs had been playing, hoping my calm voice would take the fight right out of her.
“Why are you reasoning with an animal?”
“Because I want her to know we do not intend to harm her children. That’s why she’s so upset.” I waved my fingers toward the bear without moving my arms an inch. Movement would set the bear off, and I quite liked my head attached to my shoulders.
“Idiot,” he muttered under his breath, loud enough for me to catch.
Reyfyre’s hissed words must have irritated the bear even further, and it lifted its paw, flexing until the claws were out for maximum damage. If that thing hit me, I’d be shredded, if not decapitated. And her paw was coming down fast.
I stepped into her personal space and shot my hand out, catching her at the joint just before her paw and the deadly shards sticking out of it. My arm shuddered with the impact, but I ignored my screaming muscles.
She thundered at me, close enough to actually bite my face off.
Before my brain could freak out, my free hand slid up beneath her chin and I scratched lightly. “I don’t wish to harm you or your cubs.” My voice rang calm and clear, and I inhaled, letting my shock and fear go. It would not help me in this precarious position.
Her growl faded, and she glanced down at me, meeting my open gaze.
“We just wish to pass.” I continued to scratch under her chin like I would a cat or dog. They liked this on Asgard. Even the most vicious of animals became docile with a sincere chin or ear scratch.
This bear was no different. She lowered herself, and I let go of her paw but continued to scratch under her chin until she tilted her head, moving my scratching to the side of her face. I moved my fingers up to the spot behind her ears, and her eyes closed as she leaned into my hand.
Her cubs came closer, curious as to what was happening, and I waved for Reyfyre to go by while I had the mother’s full attention.
Reyfyre moved by me nearly soundlessly with the gun still clasped in his hands. But at least the barrel was pointing toward the sky and not at the bear, who I seemed to be thoroughly charming. We locked gazes for a moment, and I swore I saw some awe there, but the irritation was very clear. He was going to have some unpleasant words for me if we got out of this unharmed.
I moved my free hand to the bear’s other ear and scratched with the same soothing motions and the mama bear’s eyes opened. I smiled down at her. “You like this?”
She moved closer, nudging me as I continued with my scratching. I kept Reyfyre in my peripheral vision and when he stepped out of the opening and behind the safety of a mountain of snow, I pulled my hands away, skirting to the side.
“I need to go.”
But she wasn’t having it. She wanted more pampering. I ran my fingers between her ears and then behind the ear closest to the wall that Reyfyre had slid against. I pulled my hand away and nodded toward the cubs.
“You need to take care of them.” I raised an eyebrow as I spoke.
She glanced in the direction of her cubs and then at me, as if torn by my scratches and her children.
I scratched once more. “Be safe,” I whispered, and this time she didn’t stop me when I stepped away. I continued to walk in the direction of the opening where Reyfyre stood just outside of the bear’s view. The barrel of the gun was still pointed at the bear behind me as I crossed the distance.
The minute I stepped out of the opening and into his direct line of sight, I rolled my eyes at him.
“You could have been killed,” he hissed.
“The bear is smaller than most of our Asgardian wolves. I could calm them within seconds, too.” I pointed at the gun. “Put that away. Bears aren’t food.”
The snap in my voice made Reyfyre growl, and he sounded even more feral than the bear had. His glare persisted, nevertheless, he stowed the rifle back into the holder on the side of his backpack.
He marched on in front of me, his stomping footfalls leaving thicker indentations in the snow.
I suppressed a smile at his utter annoyance. “Killing isn’t always the answer.”
He slowed to a stop as he surveyed the mountainous landscape surrounding us. “Putting yourself in unnecessary risk isn’t an answer, either.” His gaze slashed to mine. “If you die from doing something idiotic, the world will continue to suffer, so things like that”—he pointed back the way we had come—“are not tolerated.”
I blinked at the burn his words caused and opened my mouth in rebuttal.
His hand came up. “I do not want to hear your excuses. You put our mission in danger. You put my world in danger.” He huffed and started to walk again, but this time, his footsteps were normal and not like that of an angry child. His head still swung from side to side as if he were still reprimanding me in his head.
I followed him as the words seeped deep inside me. I glanced back the way we had come and sighed. Maybe Reyfyre was right. I did not think before I acted and that could have ended me. It was a risk, but I couldn’t let him kill the mother bear in front of her children.
My heart wouldn’t allow it.
And I knew deep down that my heart would be the death of me.