Chapter 495 Chapter 495
Tripp sat up and then froze, listening. He blinked to focus, then remembered he was in a tent on top of a mountain with the unpredictable daughter of a man he hated. Not the wake-up recollection he would have preferred. Stretching the stiffness out of his neck, he flipped the sleeping bag off. Taking his turn after she’d been in the bed, meant he’d got to smell the pungent scent of gasoline the whole time. His cat was tripping on something he decided, with the inclination to roll around on it like it was a sweet-smelling chunk of grass or something. If his animal had a penchant for the smell of fuel, this was the first he’d known about it.
Getting to his knees, he grabbed his boots and shirt. At least his animal had cranked up the heat and kept him warm enough that he hadn’t needed to sleep fully clothed. Pulling on his boots, he unzipped the door and looked outside. The snow had stopped, so that was a huge plus. Inhaling, the scent of cooking meat filled him. Grabbing his shirt and the borrowed jacket, he scrambled out of the too-small door and stood there like he was expecting a disaster to be in front of him.
Amari turned from where she was squatted down in the door of the tent their guest was in. Tripp went over so he could see if the man inside was still breathing. He was chewing. Tucking the jacket under his arm, he turned his shirt so he could pull it on. “You left him and went hunting?” Was she that naïve?
The look she gave him resembled someone asking if he’d fallen and hit his head. She glanced over to where they’d covered the bodies. Tripp’s stomach clenched. She wouldn’t…
“I dragged one of the main entrees into the trees and set some snares.” She stood up and then pointed to the fire.
Tripp yanked the shirt over his head and turned around. Beside the fire looked like the remaining parts of a small wolf. She’d used a dead body to lure a wolf into a snare—and then killed, cleaned and it cooked. Damn. He was starting to see why his animal was so intrigued with this she-cat. Coffee, he needed coffee, ASAP—
“The coffee’s fresh.”
Tripp blinked, was she reading his mind or some shit? Shaking his head, he jammed his arms into the jacket and then went over to the fire pit. He kept his head down and his mouth shut as he tapped the snow out of one of the metal cups and then picked up the coffee pot. At this point, he didn’t care if the cold cup chilled the liquid or not. Caffeine was caffeine regardless of temperature.
“I thought we should fill him up before we head out.” She came over and sat on the log across from where he was standing. “We don’t know how busy the teams are right now.”
Tripp glared into the cup; he was annoyed she was coming up with all the right plans—plans he’d already thought. Taking a sip, he turned and looked to see the guy in the tent wasn’t any worse for wear. “Yeah.” Was the best he could come up with right now. When he’d finally admitted he needed a short rest and gone in the tent, he’d laid there for what felt like forever, just listening. None of what he’d been afraid of happening had. He cleared his throat, “I’ll take our guest for a bathroom break, just before we leave,” she quirked an eyebrow at him, causing him to stop speaking.
“I fed him, so he didn’t die, I don’t care if he’s comfortable.” She gave a little chuckle, “at all.” Getting up, she went over to the tent their gear was in. “I think I have some bags in my pack, we could take some of this meat with us,” she glanced back to him, “so the animals don’t come looking.”
Tripp glanced to the tarped body, “where’s the other one?”
She stuck her head back out and looked at him, then pointed to the third tent, “we’ll have to move the big one there too. The tent material won’t stop the animals, but I have an idea for that.”
Tripp looked at the flimsy tent, “you have some kind of magic that will deter wild animals from a rotting corpse?”
When she stepped out, she smiled at him, and he had a flash of the sexy woman in the picture with her father. Father. He frowned; how could he forget who she was?
“This,” she held up a tube of something.
Now he was curious and took the tube from her when she offered it to him. He read the label. Liniment was going to deter animals? Opening it, he started to raise it to smell it and then straightened his arm as far from his body as he could possibly get it. The stench of it made his eyes water. “Where the hell did you learn something like this?” Capping it, he handed it to her like it was going to burn through his hand. It was a brilliant idea, that would deter anything with a nose. She smiled again and he looked away so his cat wouldn’t get stupid ideas about that sexy grin of hers.
“Blair’s mate has these cheats for tracking and covering scent.”
Tripp stood up and took another drink. “I heard she bested Calum tracking a pelt.”
Amari nodded, looking proud. “Yes.” She shrugged, “I think it’s sweet justice that the first to beat him was a woman.”
Tripp cringed. “What do you have against Calum?”
“Nothing,” she went over to the tent the body was in and opened the tube, then putting her other hand over her face, she rubbed the tube along the material. When she straightened up again, she moved her hand, “I just think we need some good female leaders,” she glanced over at him, “I mean it is about time, right?”
Tripp took a big drink of the coffee, needing to feel the burn on his tongue so his mouth didn’t get him in trouble. Lowering the cup, he leveled her with a look, he hoped conveyed anything but him wanting to roll his eyes at her. “Have you met Wynter?” He shrugged, “she’s the team leader of the incursion team.”
She nodded and went to the tent the man sat in. He was intently watching the two of them, “I have. She’s great, but one female leader out of how many?” She opened the tube again and held it away from her face, “we could use more.”
Tripp looked at the man in the tent as she went around it, the smell of the ointment was getting to him, no question about it by the grimace on his face. He needed to pack up his gear and put the fire out, but instead, his mouth started flapping, “what do you have against males?” Even the guy in the tent looked at him with a look that said, ‘are you dumb?’
Amari stepped from behind the tent and put the cap on the tube and then pulled a plastic bag out of her pocket and sealed it in it. “Nothing.” Stuffing it in her pocket, she went over to the tarped body and flipped the tarp back, “I’m just tired of competing with penis’.”
“Hey, let’s not bring body parts into it.” Tripp lifted his hands to show he was trying not to offend, “it’s based on skill and…”
“Skill?” She dropped the tarp and came toward him.