HOTSHOT BROTHERS: Coyote Shifters

by Hunt, Sabrina

  “Oh, okay,” Kalin’s voice arrested me. I looked back at her and my shoulders slumped. Her eyes dimmed, her face becoming a mask. “That’s how it is. Oh, no, no, don’t bother. I get it, Wes. I won’t trouble you anymore. Let’s get going, so I can get out of your life as quickly as possible.”

  “Kalin,” I started to say, but she shook her head.

  Closing her eyes, she looked to the side. “Don’t. Please. Just walk. I won’t fall behind. And I won’t make a sound.”

  You can talk. I love your voice, your thoughts… bubbled to my lips, but I didn’t say it. Instead I nodded, turning to the north, and tried to convince myself that she’d forgive me.

  But as I walked, I kept seeing the look in Kalin’s eyes before she looked away from me, as though she couldn’t stand to see me. A look filled with heartbreak and ruin, all her sparkling light snuffed out.

  Chapter 9

  After my epic fight with Wes, my entire body seemed to shut down. I moved mechanically. Thought vanished. I stopped noticing the way the light hit the river, the cold wind tangling through my curls, and the shifting colors of the sky.

  I tried to stop noticing Wes. But it was almost impossible.

  However, it helped that I couldn’t even look at him.

  His words seared into me, replaying over and over in my brain. For the first few hours, I’d rode a wave of fury. Just underneath all that anger, though, lay agony. Bleeding, endless hurt. Along with a terrible sensation that something sharp and thorny had pierced straight through my heart.

  When the wave passed, I sunk into the depths and stayed there.

  Now it was night, and I was still there. I had a feeling I might never leave.

  Lying in the tent next to Wes, with barely an inch of fabric between us, I could hear the regularity of his breathing. Previously, it had been both a comforting and tantalizing sound. Now it tore me apart. Tears pushed into my eyes, making my mouth fill with saltiness, and I put a hand to my throat as pressure built. Dark waters had completely closed over my head.

  He’s right, I thought to myself, for the millionth time. If I’d just been a little more careful, a little less Kalin – I’d never have ended up in this mess.

  But then you wouldn’t know what happened to Trini. You’d still be searching for her.

  That was cold comfort, though. The more I thought about it, the more it became apparent that in the end, it was only the Hotshot Brothers who could have saved her anyway. I’d just happened to stumble along and get swept up for the ride.

  If I hadn’t been here, what would have changed?

  Nothing.

  Well except for the fact that Wes would be up north and Trini might already be safe.

  Rolling over, I pushed my face into my pillow and a few tears dribbled out. I prayed Wes was asleep, because I knew he had better hearing than anyone I’d ever met, and he wouldn’t be able to resist me crying. No matter how pissed at me he might be, he couldn’t resist a damsel in distress. Even one as irritating, reckless, and bratty as I was.

  I wish I wasn’t so impulsive, I thought. I wish I never went to River Hills. Some sister I am. I should never have tried to do this on my own.

  But then you would have never met Wes, came a silky, suggestive kind of thought.

  The pressure in my throat became blinding and the sense that something was lodged in my heart grew more acute. But I couldn’t cry. I knew if I did, I’d start weeping and I’d wake Wes. I’d already caused him enough grief for one day. I tossed and turned for the rest of the night.

  Come morning, I’d probably gotten a grand total of two hours of sleep combined. When the sun finally slipped up over the horizon, I stared at the wall of the tent, eyes burning with unshed tears. And exhaustion. I’d never been so tired in my life.

  Then I heard Wes stir next to me and I froze. He stretched, making a sleepy sound, then rustled around, as soundlessly as he could. For a big guy, he was an expert at being silent.

  The tent shook a little as he unzipped it and I heard his feet crunch away on the ground. Rolling over, I pulled my watch out from a pocket in the tent wall and stared at it. If Wes got up at this time every day, as I suspected he did, that meant he’d let me sleep for a good two to three hours extra every morning.

  What does he do? I wondered, sitting up, and rubbing my face. At first, I was tempted to go back to sleep. Just sitting up had taken an enormous amount of effort and my head lolled on my neck, eyes falling shut, but then I jerked back awake.

  No. I would get up and get dressed. In fact, I’d tell him to wake me up at this time every day. That way we could cover more ground and get there faster. I wouldn’t be a burden any longer.

  Hurrying into my clothes, I struggled more than usual to get everything in the right place. My muscles were so sluggish, it was like swimming through sludge to pull my shirt on

  As I stood up, fatigue dragged at me, and my body wilted towards the earth. Then, shaking my head, I got my shoes and stepped outside. After tugging on my boots for a good minute, I was about to announce to Wes that I was awake when I realized he wasn’t around.

  Smoke swirled up from a crackling campfire, his bag was leaning against a rock, and there was another, smaller bag on top of it. Turning a full three-sixty, I looked for him but didn't see him anywhere. Wandering toward the fire, I wondered if I should just go back to sleep if he’d taken off.

  Then my eyes landed on the smaller bag on top of the rock. It was a waterproof black bag, bulging at the bottom. I hadn’t seen it before.

  Biting my lip, heart roaring in my ears, my shaking fingers were suddenly seizing it, and I pulled the zipper open. I knew I shouldn’t, but it was like I was possessed. Peering inside, I saw a series of sketchbooks in various sizes. The bulge in the bottom was due to a pencil bag.

  Intrigued, as well as a little bemused, I selected the sketchbook on top and flipped it open. My breath caught.

  I wasn’t sure what I had been expecting, but it wasn’t this. Topographical maps maybe, notes, or something scientific. Something more calculated.

  Instead, the pages were filled drawings. Each one was done by a delicate hand, capturing places, memories, and people in a poignant, unforgettable style. Most were just pencil sketches, but they were done in such a way that my eyes actually teared up. Landscapes, studies of life, his brothers, animals… It was mind-blowing.

  Wes possessed an uncommon eye and skill. One line suggested a whole world.

  Pushing that sketchbook back in, I selected another, and again my breath caught. These were places we’d just been. Wes had captured them all, dating them in the corner.

  “So this is what he does in the morning,” I murmured.

  I shook my head as I stared at one in particular – he’d captured the river with the sun coming over the mountains. I gazed at it in awe. I’d been to art school; I knew what kind of talent this was.

  Unteachable. Extraordinary. Rare.

  About to turn the page, noticing the next one had what seemed to be a portrait, a shadow fell across me. My head snapped up and a guilty, awkward smile spread across my face.

  “Seriously, Kalin?” Wes asked, sounding more weary than angry.

  Slapping it shut, I went to put the sketchbook back in the bag, but Wes tugged it away from me, shaking his head. He didn’t even have to say it; it was all over his face.

  You want me to trust you and I find you snooping through my stuff?

  Lips trembling, I muttered an apology I knew he didn’t want and went to go get my own bag. Guilt pooled into me as I started packing up the site, my body shaking with tiredness.

  “Here,” Wes interrupted, coming over with food. “Eat first. I’ll get that.”

  Barely glancing at him, I took the hot oatmeal. Somehow, I ate, even though each swallow felt like a chore and my stomach was unsettled.

  Suddenly the ground seemed to lurch under me. Then I realized I’d almost nodded off. Nervous, I looked up, but Wes was absorbed in taking down the tent.r />
  Once he was done, he came back over. “You didn’t have to get up so early, you know.”

  “Didn’t want to waste any more of your time,” I said before I could help myself.

  He let out a long sigh and sat down in front of me. “Kalin–”

  But suddenly I didn’t want to hear what he had to say. Standing up, I emptied out my bowl, and said, “Let’s get going.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his body curve in as he nodded. “Alright,” he said.

  That was all we said to each other for the next few hours. Drawing on willpower alone, I powered through the morning, fighting back the exhaustion with a fierceness I couldn’t quite understand. I had no idea where it was coming from, but I hoped it would last.

  Lunch was more of the same, except as we started walking again, Wes stopped, looked at me, and then did a double take. Peering at me, he frowned, and said, “Wow, Kalin, you’re pale as a fish belly. You feelin’ okay? Eat enough?” Then his frown deepened. “Sleep enough?”

  As he tried to get a better look, I swiveled my head away. “It’s probably just the light.” The day had clouded over, the sky darkening, and wind picking up.

  Wes let out a small, skeptical cough. “Or you’re exhausted. Do you want to stay here, set up for the night? It’s not a problem.”

  You say that, I thought sourly, but I’m sure it will become one since I’m the constant thorn in your side in need of saving.

  Out loud, all I said was a tart, “No.”

  Moving into my line of sight, Wes took me in, concern etching itself into his face. He looked grayer, more haggard today, and I wondered if all the hiking was finally catching up to him. “Are you sure?” he asked, his voice full of that gentleness I’d been swooning over less than twenty-four hours ago. “You’re a ghost today, kid. It’s worrying me.”

  “Don’t,” I said, shrugging, and stepped away. He sighed as he passed me.

  Overhead, as the afternoon wore on, the sky grew even darker. But in the west, the sunlight still escaped through gaps in the clouds, great bands like through slits between blinds. The temperature kept dipping lower and lower. Now I was dragging and my body, shaking with exertion and cold. Of course, on top of that, the walking was becoming more treacherous.

  We were skirting the bottom of a ragged mountain, the riverbank filled with loose rocks, which I kept slipping on. Suddenly I fell, hitting my knee hard. Pain lanced through my thigh in a jarring spike. I had to fight back the tears by biting my lip with savage pressure.

  “Kalin, whoa, you okay?” Wes called back and I scrambled to my feet, nodding.

  Push harder, Kalin. Don’t be a burden.

  He hesitated, but then kept moving. However, I was limping now, falling behind a little. The distant roar of rapids started to fill my ears and soon we were walking along a narrow gorge, the path dropping off in a straight line. Far below us, the river echoed in a clamor. It was crusted with ice in the shallows, but the rest of it roared south in a frenzy – foaming, hissing, and spitting up droplets. I almost couldn’t believe it was the same sluggish river from a few miles back.

  Ahead of me, I saw Wes pause and then go rigid as though he’d heard something. Suddenly he loped back to me, dropping the pack at my feet. “Stay here. I need to check something out.”

  With a tired sigh, I nodded and watched as he clambered up the mountainside with ease. How does he do that? I wondered once again.

  Adjusting my backpack, I shrugged off my camera bag, letting it fall next to Wes’s pack. Rubbing my arms, I wondered how long he would be, and whether I could sit for a minute. I wanted nothing more than to take a short break and rest my eyes.

  Only for a minute, though. We had to keep pushing on.

  I stumbled a little, almost losing my footing, and jerked upright.

  Suddenly my legs buckled as a wave of exhaustion came out of nowhere. My head fell forward. Without meaning to, my eyes closed, and a long sigh exuded from my lips.

  Only for a minute…

  In that moment, the rush of the river became peaceful, lulling me into darkness.

  Then louder, filled with a rushing kind of whine.

  I opened my eyes onto the heavy gray sky. For a split second I was confused, not sure what I was looking at. That’s when I realized I was falling.

  Falling off the ledge, hurtling through open air into the river.

  A scream began to straggle from my lips, but before it could get out, my back slammed into the freezing current. I went under, water pouring into my lungs and choking me. As I sank, stabbing cold hit me, which woke me up.

  I tried to claw my way to the surface, but the current was tumbling me over and over. My bag was dragging me down. The rapids bounced me off the rocks. Even though my lungs begged me to move, to get oxygen, my limbs became heavy, useless, and my eyes were falling shut…

  I’m not going to make it, came a stray thought, oddly calm. I’m going to drown.

  Trini’s face, along with my parents, appeared behind my eyes.

  I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Trini. I love you… But you’ll be okay. He’ll save you.

  Then I saw Wes.

  Wes, looking over at me and smiling. Or lost in thought, his gaze full of his characteristic seriousness. Then, laughing with his brothers in the diner. Sketching in the morning. Sitting with a bird on his shoulders. And finally, holding me in the tent as I fell asleep.

  Grief and guilt tore my heart to shreds as darkness hemmed my thoughts, my lungs now screaming in agony for air, all while I held onto those images of my family and Wes.

  Seeing them for the last time.

  Chapter 10

  I cannot leave this woman alone for a second!

  I’d come back just in time to see her sway, then fall. A shout had escaped me, but she’d plummeted like a graceful, dying bird into the river. And then she was gone.

  For a second, terror and disbelief had rooted me to the earth like a stone.

  This isn’t happening.

  Then I was ripping off my sweatshirt and plunging in.

  The water hit me like a series of cold knives, each one dragging over my skin with cruel precision, but I barely felt it. I was too focused on figuring out where the current had swept her.

  Plowing through the water, I called her name, my heart about to burst from my chest as I tried to spot her. But she was gone. Fuck it, I thought. I didn’t care about my secret anymore.

  Shifting, I dove under, my eyes peering through the gloom. While everything was still blurry, I could make out shapes better. Then I spotted her, just ahead of me, sinking further into the river. Her face was a ghostly smudge.

  I shot towards her, realizing no bubbles were escaping her mouth.

  Grasping the back of her sweatshirt in my jaw, I dragged her upwards, praying I wasn’t too late. My breath came in heavy rasps through my nose as I broke the surface. Immediately Kalin started coughing, hacking up water, and relief swamped me.

  Swimming to shore, I dragged her onto it, and then shifted back as she looked at me. I wasn’t sure if she’d seen me, as her eyes fell back shut and she coughed more. Crawling over to her, her eyes fluttered open, and she let out a shuddering breath. “Wes, how…?”

  “Fucking hell, Kalin,” I rasped out, my hands shaking so badly I pressed them into the ground on either side of her head to hide it. “I leave you for…” Then I bit off what I was going to say, shaking my head. This is my fault. In a soft voice, I asked, “Anything broken?”

  Kalin’s head swayed from side to side and a breathy “no” escaped her lips. Then her entire body shuddered and her eyes fell shut again, face slackening.

  “Do not fall asleep!” I snapped, pressing my palms on either side of her face. “Kalin! Do you hear me?” Her eyes opened again and I let out a gasp. “Say, ‘yes,’ say ‘Wes, I will not fall asleep.’”

  “Yes,” she managed to murmur, trying to sit up, but her shoulders slumped back. “Wes, I will not fall asleep. I will not fall asleep
…”

  “Good girl.” I said, swallowing hard. “I gotta get you somewhere…” I glanced around, feeling impossibly lonely and helpless. My fingers were trembling as I held her cold cheeks. “Okay, um…”

  Plunging my senses into the earth, I searched for something, anything close by that resembled shelter. Ahead, just under a half a mile away, locked within the mountain top, was a shallow indentation in the rocks that was almost a cave. It would have to do.

  Standing, I picked up Kalin, cradling her in my arms. A faint protest fell from her lips, which I silenced with a glare. Then I strode to get my sweatshirt and the other bags.

  Gripping her one handed, my left shoulder aching, I managed to get my backpack and her camera bag with the other hand. Then, fitting my arms more tightly around her, hoping that she would stay warm enough till we got up into the mountain, I ran up the trail.

  But she was shaking so badly in my arms, I thought her bones would pop out of her skin. Glancing down, I saw her fingers were clenched, an angry red, but red nonetheless. I exuded a sigh. At least that meant she probably didn’t have frostbite in her extremities. Yet.

  Turning, I began climbing into the mountain, weaving through a maze of rocks. The sky was nearly pitch-black now, even though sunset was well over an hour away. All the light was gone. Balancing Kalin, I slipped around a tall boulder, and then exhaled a sigh when I found it.

  It was barely a cave, it was so tiny and shallow. More like a crack in the earth. But it kept out the wind, and its walls were a nice dry, warm red sandstone. This would have to do.

  “This looks like the Grand Canyon,” Kalin said in a drowsy, dreamy voice. “Are we there?”