Chapter 48

 

Stumbling into her, Rayne swore softly. “Sorry, I’m a little shaky after shifting.”

Kelsey turned and put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay.” Taking a deep breath, she looked around, nothing but trees, no matter where she looked. “I wish I could see more, maybe then I could figure out where we are.”

Rayne bent over, resting her hands on her knees and took a few breaths. “Where we are, is the middle of an endless forest.” Lifting her head, she gave her a lopsided smile. “I loved the trees. When I first arrived at Devin’s they were so peaceful.” Standing, she sighed, “trees even saved me when I was stranded in a storm,” she shook her head when Kelsey gave her a curious look. “A long story that I don’t have the energy to tell right now.” Groaning, she bent over and lifted one of her feet. “You know the next time we’re going to be kidnapped, remind me to put shoes on first.”

“I’ll make a note of that.” Kelsey looked up at the tops of the trees. It would be easier to travel on the road, but they had agreed that it would be a really great way for the tall partner to find them when he returned to the pit. Using the trees as cover had seemed like a great idea. “I completely suck at climbing trees, or I’d shimmy my way up and see if I could find us a landmark.” If she’d been wearing jeans, she might attempt it, but in shorts and bare feet, not a chance.

Rayne chuckled. “Shimmy is a dance to me, so I’m afraid I’m less than helpful there too.” She frowned at Kelsey. “I’m feeling very inadequate today.”

Shaking her head, Kelsey grinned. “Well, your wolf was more than helpful, so you’re forgiven.” She looked up at the tree tops again. “Rayne?”

“Hmm?”

She looked over to see Rayne turning and looking through the bush. “Could you talk me through a shift?”

Rayne gave her a look full of doubt. “I don’t know. I’ve only been on the receiving end myself, until I went all wolfie on that guy back there.”

Pulling her shirt over her head, she dropped it on the ground. “Gage is going to kill me, he told me to stay out of the trees.”

Rayne picked up her shirt and then held her hand out for her shorts. “I’m sure he’ll be very forgiving in this instance.”

Kelsey rolled her eyes at her. “You don’t know Gage.”

“No, but I know men, and I know my own mate isn’t going to let me out of his sight, or possibly his arms for the next year or so after this. So, the sooner we find our way back to them, the shorter the trail of dead bodies is going to be.”

Shooting her a shocked look, them thinking a few seconds more, Kelsey nodded. “Good point.” Exhaling, she got down on her knees in the pine needles. “Let’s do this.” Closing her eyes, she reached for her cat, hoping they could do this. With a prickle of familiarity, she realized her cat was right there with her, moving against her, ready. “Okay,” she whispered and put her hands on the ground. “Let’s do this.”

She focused on the cat that felt like it was prowling along the inside of her body, Rayne’s voice was a soothing melody to her ears as she told her to relax and let it happen. This time she expected the snapping bones, and they shifted, but she still gasped each time it happened. Her body felt like a puzzle that was shifting into place. It wasn’t painful, but it was such a weird feeling that it still freaked her out.

Blinking, she looked down and realized she was seeing the world through feline eyes. Everything was so different, more detailed and vibrant. Stretching, she looked up at Rayne.

“Well, you are positively gorgeous,” she frowned, “and huge.” Sighing, she tilted her head. “I’m really feeling insignificant right now.”

Shaking her large head, Kelsey moved over and rubbed against her. Rayne laughed and ran a hand over her shoulder.

“Go get to shimmying and find out where we are.” She backed up and then sat down.

Kelsey sniffed and could smell Rayne’s exhaustion now that she had shifted. They had to get out of this bush. Turning, she walked towards the trees, sizing them up. She needed one that was tall enough that the branches would support her as she climbed higher.

Moving over, she walked under the low branches of some pine trees. She wasn’t a tree expert by any means, but was pretty sure these were white pines, taller than most trees she’d seen. Then again, she was standing at the bottom looking up. With a quick glance behind her to see Rayne sitting there watching, she crouched down and prepared to jump.

The first few leaps were easy, there were plenty of branches to choose from, but the further up she went they started to thin out. Fortunately the trees were close enough that branches from multiple trees overlapped and were entwined with the one she climbed. Digging her claws in, she aimed for a group of large branches on the tree next to her. As she neared her target, she extended her claws and hoped for the best.

If Gage were here now, she would be in so much trouble, she’d be lucky if he didn’t take away her shifting privileges, or whatever the equivalent of bad kitty punishment was. When the tree began to sway with each jump, her heartbeat picked up and she slowed down, worrying how much higher she should aim for. Looking down was a huge mistake. She was at least a hundred feet in the air, or it looked that far down. Getting down was going to be a whole new nightmare.

Panting, she licked across her sharp teeth. She could taste pine in her mouth. Bracing her body to adjust for the movement of the swaying tree, she stretched up and looked around. There were no roads that she could see, and only a few paths free of what would possibly be trees. She did see a few cleared areas that contained buildings. Looking the other way, she tried to find some landmark that would be familiar. Off to left, there was a large rockface. There was something familiar about it, but she couldn’t be sure.

How long would it take them to get there? Slowly moving back to consider, she looked through the growth at Rayne. Could Rayne shift again? They’d probably make better time as animals, and that didn’t hurt the paws like traveling on bare feet did.

Gathering her nerve, she started making her way down the tree. With any luck, she could climb down much of the way instead of jumping. Jumping up onto a branch was way easier than free-falling down to one.

Stopping halfway down, she paused to regroup. The branches were getting too thick to climb through. She didn’t have a choice, she had to plan some jumping. Crouching down, she plotted her path through the dense needles and pushed off. As she landed, she had to scramble for a good hold or continue falling.

With twenty feet to go, she turned and aimed for a larger grouping of branches, hoping she didn’t over shoot the jump. Before she could dig in, her hip bounced off the side of the tree and her body was crashing through the limbs. When she hit the ground, she landed on her side and just laid there, panting and assessing any damage done. So much for cats landing on their feet.

Opening her eyes, she saw Rayne standing over her with her hand on her mouth. “Are you all right?”

Getting to her feet, she took her time and shook off the effects of the sudden stop. She wasn’t going to win the graceful kitty award, that was for sure. Nudging Rayne’s leg, she turned and starting heading through the trees in the direction of the rock formation. Even her cat instincts agreed with that decision; the familiarity meant something and that became her goal. Trees grew and changed, rocks did not, that they looked like somewhere she knew gave her some hope.

“Kelsey, wait,” Rayne called out behind her. “I’m on two legs, remember…”

Rayne cried out making Kelsey freeze and spin back to her. She was bent over, holding her foot. Moving back to her quickly, she stood there. Communicating in this form wasn’t going to work out. As Rayne continued to swear under her breath, something about sticking a pine cone up somewhere to the guys responsible for taking them, Kelsey moved to a shady spot and laid down.

Focusing on her breathing, she closed her eyes and tried to relax and let her body change back. The pops were quieter, closer together than earlier. As pine needles digging into her hip registered, she opened her eyes to see that her vision was normal again. “Toss me my clothes.” Her voice was a little rough.

Rayne glanced at her, and then threw her clothes to her. “Sorry about slowing us down,” she grimaced. “My tender feet are not used to this.”

Kelsey shook her head. “I don’t think anyone’s feet could get used to walking on all this.” Pulling on her shorts, she motioned with her head in the direction she’d been going. “I spotted a large rock formation that way. It looks familiar. If we can get there, we’ll at least be safe when it gets dark.” She pulled her shirt over her head, then had to bend forward and breathe deeply to wait out the dizziness.

“You’re going to be a bit light-headed until you eat.” Rayne limped over to stand beside her. “It doesn’t bother the guys as much to shift back and forth because of their body mass…” she shrugged, “or something like that.”

“Sucks to be small I guess.” Standing up, she paused to see if the dizziness had passed. “We better get moving, I have no idea what time it is, and I don’t want to be stuck out here if it gets dark.”

Rayne grinned. “We are the predators, remember.”

Laughing, Kelsey began to walk. “I forgot. I guess we are the big bad now.”

“Wolfed out or not, I don’t think I’d like to face a bear though.”

Glancing over her shoulder, Kelsey shook her head. “Yeah.”

Rayne kept pace with her. “We’re both going to have to eat soon.” She panted and brushed her long hair away from her face. “At least I am.”

Still feeling a little woozy, Kelsey nodded. “Me too.” She looked around, trying to decide if anything was edible. “What are we going to do?”

Rayne glanced at her sideways and slowed down. “How does rabbit stew sound…” she cringed, “minus the cooking and stew part?”

Swallowing, Kelsey put her hand on her arm to stop her. “You’re kidding, right?” The look on Rayne’s face gave her the answer. “Eww.” She shrugged. “Maybe my cat is a vegetarian.”

Rayne raised an eyebrow at her. “I am a vegetarian…”

“Fine, but let the record show that I am objecting to this, even if my cat isn’t.”

Rayne sighed and unbuttoned her capris. “Noted, and I agree, but if we’re going to make it, I don’t see we have a choice.”