The Transfer
Chapter 23 - The Bear Hunt Pt. 3

When I woke the next morning, Ezra was already awake. I slipped out the tent without waking Lila, who rubbed her nose and stirred slightly when I crawled past her. She was honestly adorable.

My wolf already thought of her as our sister. We shared a bond with each other. It wasn't anything like the one I had with my real brothers or even Liam, but it was there and we could definitely both feel it.

I even felt a bond with Lucas and Leon. I figured that since we had only met a few days ago, that it wouldn't be as strong as the one I had with Lila. But I knew it would grow stronger with the more time I spent with them.

"Morning princess," Ezra greeted as I sat down next to him on the log. He spoke quietly as there were still a lot of people sleeping.

Most of the guys were huddled near the tents protectively. They had all slept in their fur, and I even noticed Alfie sleeping next to the tent I had slept in.

In fact, Lucas, Leon, Kade, Quo and Liam had all slept around my tent. I smiled warmly at the thought.

"You feeling okay? You were having nightmares last night,” Ezra asked me through our link. I looked over at him and sighed as I rested my head on his shoulder.

"Yeah. I get them almost every night. It's fine though. They're just nightmares,” I replied as I rubbed my tired eyes. My beast was still only just waking up.

"Alright. If you say so, princess," Ezra didn't argue with me and I was grateful. He knew that I would ask for help if I needed it.

I looked up as I noticed some of the wolves beginning to wake up. They stood and stretched, shaking out fur before most of them shifted back into their skin and slipped on clothes. They all began to lowly speak as they sat around the ashy fire pit.

"This waking up early shit is fucking pathetic,” I heard Lucas’ voice mutter from the tent as he pulled on a pair of shorts. I rolled my eyes at him as he bounded over and sat next to me on the log. He groaned and rubbed his face.

"It's not that bad, Lucas,” I told him. He scoffed at me and I rolled my eyes. Lucas was clearly not a morning person.

"Shut up, you goody two shoes. Bad boys don't get up early," Lucas scolded me. I couldn't help but lightly laugh at him. Lucas was not a bad boy, whatsoever.

"Bad boy? Get over yourself, loser," I said playfully as I shoved him. He groaned some more and rolled his eyes at me yet again. He was a funny guy, and he made me laugh.

He was comfortable to be around and I liked it. I really did.

"Move," I heard a low rumble before behind me. I turned around, watching a hand extend and shove Lucas hard off the log and onto the ground. Liam sat down next to me and shifted close to sit with our legs and arms touching.

My skin tingled from the touch and I felt myself grow hot. Liam was only wearing a pair of grey sweatpants. His torso was bare and exposed. He looked so good. He had a fair amount of scars across his whole torso and I noticed the number of them on his back also.

It was obvious that Liam was a fighter. A damn good one. I would hate to be the bear that he was going to take down.

Lucas groaned on the ground and thumped his head against the chair that was next him. I giggled softly at this and rolled my eyes. He was such an idiot.

"Morning, sugar,” Liam mumbled lowly as he turned his head and kissed my temple gently. My skin felt like it was on fire from his touch. It was wonderful.

I looked over at him. I wanted to talk to him, but I wasn't sure what I could start a conversation about. So I looked down at his hands and figured I'd ask about a scar that ran across the top of his hand.

"How'd you get that?" I asked, leaning over to point at the scar. Liam looked from me and then down the scar. He ran his thumb over it and smiled as he kicked Lucas.

"Dipshit over here pushed me down a hill when we were younger. A stick went straight through my hand on the way down," Liam explained to me. He held his hand towards me and showed me the scar on both sides of his hand.

I winced. Shit, that sounded painful. I bet that Lucas felt terrible afterwards.

"Don't worry, sugar. It didn't hurt. I was too busy beating Lucas" ass to care,” Liam quickly added as he saw the look on my face. I giggled as I looked down at Lucas who was drifting off to sleep again. He was still sprawled out on the ground, looking incredibly stupid and lazy.

But it was funny and cute. I let it slide.

"What about you? How'd you get that?" Liam asked me. I followed his gaze and looked down, noticing he was staring at the gigantic pinkish scar on my thigh.

I pulled my t-shirt dress down, my beast cowering inside my mind. She didn't like talking about that scar. Any other was fine.

"It doesn't matter how I got it," I mumbled as I tried to cover it up the best I could. I felt Liam tense from next to me and felt his confusion.

When I was assaulted by my Beta, he tore my leg open terribly. It was awful and it bled for hours. It took a whole week to heel and something it still throbbed when I thought about that night.

"Is that..." Ezra trailed off. I glanced sideways at him and saw the look on his eye. He knew what the scar was from. It was obvious. I nodded at him and he sighed softly.

"One of my brothers and I were sparring and he got me pretty bad," I lied to Liam. I felt bad about not answering. It wasn't the truth and he probably knew that but I felt bad for not saying anything at all.

Next to me, Liam tensed up some more as he gazed down at me. His eyes swirled and looked so pretty in the morning sun. He was pretty. Really darn pretty.

"Why are you lying to me?" Liam asked me. He didn't take his eyes off me and that made me feel even more intimidated.

Liam didn't know about what happened. I was sure that it was only the group of people that my brothers had told. I felt guilty about not telling Liam. I felt like he deserved to know about the reason why I was even in Takiani in the first place.

But I wasn't ready to share that story just yet.

"Because the real story kind of sucks," I replied as I looked away. I felt the heat rolling off him. I wasn't sure if he was getting angry or if he was getting upset and concerned.

Liam didn't say much as he reached across to me and slipped his hand into mine. He intertwined our fingers and let his hand rest in my lap. He was warm and comforting.

My wolf purred. She felt better already.

I could shake the feeling of shame. I knew that Liam deserved to know. A lot of people deserved to know the reason why I came to Takiani. They deserved to know that I was being sent away so my issues didn't have to be dealt with.

Especially Liam.

"You think you're going to kill a bear today?" Liam asked me, changing the subject quickly. My wolf yipped with excitement. She wanted to hurry up and get out hunting. We were both hungry with determination.

"Definitely. I'm really excited," I told Liam as I leaned towards him. It felt right so I let it happen. He squeezed my hand and nodded as he chuckled.

"You ever killed a bear before?" He asked me curiously. I shook my head at him and I felt his chest vibrate. I could already tell that he was worried about this.

My first time hunting something bigger than me was something huge. Hell, that bear could kill me if I didn't kill it.

"I can handle myself pretty well. Plus, if anything goes wrong, you'll be there, won't you?" I smiled assuringly at Liam. I wasn't at all nervous for anything to go wrong. But I could tell that he was.

It was the bond. It tugged and pulled at the two of us. It wrapped itself around us like a warm blanket and kept us together. Liam didn't want to risk me getting hurt, it was obvious.

"Of course I'll be there. That bear will want to crawl back to where it came from by the time I'm finished with it," Liam told me with a low growl. My body vibrated as his growl travelled from him to me. It sent shivers up my back.

"I think I'll be fine, Liam,” I told him honestly. I wasn't worried about getting hurt. A claw to the face or the back was something that could heal. Anything that happened to me would heal with time.

I was hungry and I wasn't going to let anything stop me.

I looked up as I noticed Lila slip out the tent. She yawned and tied her hair up into a ponytail before rubbing her eyes. Lila walked over to us and sat beside Ezra, glancing down at Lucas who was sleeping on the ground.

"He's not a morning person,” I told her. She giggled and nodded in agreement. Her eyes glanced down at my hand that was holding Liam's and she smiled in approval before looking away.

"We should get everyone up now. We should be getting going in at least half an hour,” Liam said. He leant towards me, kissing my temple again. His lips lingered a little longer than last time before he got up. I let go of his hand and felt the warmth fade away.

My wolf sighed. She really liked the company of this male. He made us happy and reminded us of why staying in Takiani was going to benefit us. Terialta was not our home anymore.

"Alright. Sounds good, Liam,” Ezra nodded as he stood. He neatened out his clothes and walked towards our tent to begin waking people up. I turned to Lucas and kicked his leg.

He jolted awake and sat upright fast. I giggled and he groaned. I patted the seat next to me and Lucas lifted himself off the dirt and sat next to me again. He slumped and fell against me.

"I want my bed," he sighed. I chuckled a little and Lila shifted closer to me.

"I heard that Veronica is getting two of her friends to help her with her bear. What a weak ass Alpha," Lila whispered to me. I giggled and nodded in agreement.

Any Alpha should be able to take down a bear on their own. I wasn't going to look for help. I had to do this on my own.

"Well, we'll be the ones who looked totally bad ass when we take down our own bears," I said to her quickly. She giggled and nodded before resting her head on my shoulder.

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