Greykin Mountain

| 16 | Hunger

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Something moved through the woods.

          Jackson watched as everyone abruptly turned their heads to face the same spot behind the trees. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and the unsettling feeling amongst the group grew thicker than the falling snow.

          Creaking branches, howling wind...and a sight that should relieve him, but seeing Damon run out of the forest with Aysel at his side only burdened Jackson with discontent.

          An ache lingered in his chest while he watched the reunited pack hug, kiss, and cry in relief with one another. He wished he had someone to miss him—someone to go out of their way to find him when he needed them. Maybe that was why he felt this strange, stupid need for Damon. That man had made it seem like he cared, and it had been so long since anyone had cared about him. He had no family or friends and being out here in the middle of nowhere was making him realize that more and more.

          Damon had given him an ultimatum: join the pack and give up on Wilson...or don't...and give up on Wilson anyway because he wasn't going to let him leave. Jackson wouldn't accept that, though. Wilson hadn't given up on him, even when Eric had been hellbent on erasing the fact Jackson and his mother were ever a part of his twisted family. All the arrests, false allegations, and lawyers—Wilson had helped him through that. And now, it was Jackson's turn to make sure he did everything he could for him. Except...zombie wolves and wolf walkers were a whole lot different from silver-tongued men in suits.

          But he was a wolf walker now. With a little training, he'd possess the skills to survive out here, and he couldn't lose focus of that. Tokala was back—Jackson located the orange-furred wolf among the pack and watched as he talked with Damon, Aysel, and Elias. Tokala had been very helpful so far and Jackson was sure that man would help him further.

          He didn't want to talk to him now, though. Damon had left him sitting there with a dismaying ache in his heart, and the half-eaten charred squirrel he held in his right hand failed to satisfy his hunger. He gnawed on it, tearing at its chewy flesh with his teeth. But when he swallowed it, the meat scraped at his throat and burned in his stomach. It was disgusting.

          It wasn't like there were any other options, though. He picked at the small prickly hairs on the squirrel's body, and when he took a bite, the sound of approaching footsteps snatched his attention. A part of him hoped it was either Damon or Tokala, but he also just wanted to be left alone.

          "You're still alive, I see," came Tokala's voice.

          Jackson glanced over at the man as he sat in the snow beside him.

          "Chief said you're getting the hang of controlling your wolf."

          "I guess."

          "We're setting up here until dusk tomorrow. Then, we'll be heading over," he said, glancing at the mountain.

          "Why not now? It's best to travel at night, right?"

          "It is, but we've all had a long day, and the majority of us voted to get some rest."

          Jackson nodded, looking down at what was left of his food.

          "Once we get situated over there, a few of us are going to head out for supplies. Chief says I should invite you along so you can learn a little about what we have to do out here. Think you'll be up for that?"