I've been jogging for maybe fifteen minutes when I stop and tilt my head at what I'm almost positive is the sound of a woman giggling.
It strikes me as strange because I'm deep in the rural wilderness. I've been moving quickly and spotted no other cabins, no trash, or any other signs anyone has been here recently. Mostly, I hear small animals scurrying about, but they move away as I approach. To them, I will always smell of wolf and, therefore, predator, even though I'm in my very human naked skin.
Even though I know I'm probably hearing things, maybe it's hunger or shock setting in, I decide to follow the sound before I turn back.
A few minutes later, I hunch down behind a tree at the sight of a guy who looks in his twenties kissing a woman with a bright red rucksack just outside of a cabin. Both are in khaki jackets with blue jeans and black hiking boots.
While everything in me would love nothing more than to run out and beg for help, I know I can't do that. Not only would I have to field questions about what I'm doing running around naked the forests, but also, who I am and risk this couple calling the cops.
If there's one thing Dayne has repeatedly told us since he became alpha, was never to do anything or behave in any way that would make the people of Hardin suspicious about us and what we are.
All it takes is one person to see something, and then whisper it, and whispers spread. History is filled with packs who've been forced to leave their homes and struggle to find a new one because they attracted too much attention.
Anyway, it's not their help I need as much as what I hope to find in their cabin: a way for me to help Marshall. A cabin means food and a first aid kit, and other things that will help me keep Marshall alive.
I observe them kissing for another minute before the guy grabs the girl's hand and they wander away from the cabin and into the forest.
After waiting for about five minutes, just in case they realize they've forgotten something and come back, when they don't, I rise from my crouch and creep toward the cabin.
Just outside, with my hand on the door, I wait a little longer, listening with my whole body. But all I hear are footsteps heading away from me, which means I'm free to ruin this nice couple's holiday.
I push the door open and quickly enter, closing it behind me. Immediately, I set to work scanning the cabin with an identical layout to the one I left Marshall behind.
From the location of the kitchen to the small square table with two wooden chairs, and even the bed in the same corner, it's so similar that whoever abandoned the other must've built or bought this one.
I start for the kitchen and the open shelving lined with tins of beans and other food, but then I stop. I have no way to carry anything, so I need a bag, or… my eyes go to the large wooden storage chest set at the bottom of the bed. Unlike the other cabin, this bed is larger, more of a double than a single, and covered with sheets and a comforter.
In a second, I'm across the room and tearing open the hamper. Inside, I find replacement sheets, a blanket, and guest towels. Even better, shoved beneath the bed, I spot a large black hiking bag.
I feel bad about taking it, I really do, but I need some way of carrying all the items I'm about to deprive this poor couple of, and this will do the job.
After my guilt leaves me hesitating another moment, I grab the bag and get to work stuffing a couple of sheets, a blanket, and several towel inside, then I'm back across the cabin and in the kitchen to snatch cans from the open shelving.
A tin opener goes in next, as does a box of matches, a metal pot, an emergency first aid kit, and a metal cup and plate with utensils. I try to only take one of everything, so I'm not taking everything. I feel bad enough that the last thing I want is to leave this couple with nothing.
Finally, with the large bag mostly full, I turn to leave, but then I stop. Clothes. I'm going to need at least some clothes. I grab a pair of blue jeans I think might fit Marshall and a khaki t-shirt that I slip on over my head.
Conscious I've been in the cabin for far longer than I intended, I don't go looking for anything else. I could do with more clothes, at least if I bump into anyone, I won't look so strange, but the t-shirt will have to do and I need to get back to Marshall.
Before I head back, I leave the cabin in search of something I know can't be far if this is a cabin set aside for tourists.
I have to walk for another couple of minutes, but I find a small cabin which is little more than a storage shed. In it is a mountain of cut wood, which the owner of the cabin must cut and leave for tourists, so they don't have to cut their own wood.
Relieved now that I didn't fill the bag up too much, I remove the pot and shove as much of the wood as I can fit in the bag. Now it's time to use my nose and go hunting for a lake or a stream because the last thing I need is water.