Free Mating Season by Allie Ritch Page B

jaw dropped. In fact, his mouth formed a perfect O that mimicked the opening of his hood. His reaction was so comical Shila released a loud snort that fogged the air in front of her face.
    Koll didn't offer any explanations. He kept his focus on her. “Track, but don't get close to them. Just find out which direction they went and whether they're at least a day away. No more. Understood?"
    She nodded, which was always a bit awkward in bear form. Since the Suinnak brothers had last been seen heading south, she walked that way first, drawing in great gulps of air as she went. She heard Gilby's exclamations and incessant questions behind her as she led the way.
    Had she been asked as a woman what her kind—what any individual—smelled like, she couldn't have described it. Her bear simply took in the scent and processed it automatically. One whiff and she could tell the sex, age, health, and diet of any creature with reasonable accuracy. And if she regarded Tartok's and Cikuq's scent as more of a stench? Well, that was the woman's mind adding the bad connotation. Her bear didn't like the odor any better, but the impressions were more simplistic: wrong, danger, stay away. These males had taken her unborn cubs from her, and they didn't follow the harmonic rhythms of nature. They were not suitable mates, and she wanted nothing to do with them.
    Both bear and woman knew how to track. She found where they'd left the southern end of the village and followed her nose. The pair had remained men for a long distance before stripping and going to four paws. Their footprints were largely obscured, but where she found them, she set her feet in exactly the same spots. The two had definitely gone this way last night.
    Occasionally checking to make sure she didn't run right into them, Shila stayed on their trail for over an hour. Then everything went wrong. Their tracks looped, intersecting the trail several times before coming to an abrupt end. Thinking she must have missed something, she covered a broader range, but it did no good. Had they double backed? Or had they shifted to men again and used the weather and the competing smells to camouflage their scent? Several sleds had obviously passed this way, adding layers of hound and man odor.
    Frustration made Shila want to roar. She barely choked back the sound, and only because she knew the noise might attract the brothers’ attention if they weren't too far away. More than anything, she wanted this over. She wanted those two out of her life.
    "They're smart.” Koll spoke softly, having obviously picked up on her loss of the trail and her surly mood.
    His praise of their adversaries didn't make her feel any better.
    Gilby eyed her warily. “It could be they're gone for good."
    Koll shook his head. “They're close. Not near enough to be spotted by our people, but somewhere close so they can watch for Shila. We'll have to work fast."
    They discussed nets and spears and strategy on the way back. Shila kept her ears pricked to listen, though she was still seething over her failure to track the males. Gilby returned to his house to gather supplies while she and Koll continued home to do the same. She didn't bother shifting again. It was so much easier to walk through the snow this way, and she didn't need any further irritation.
    Beside her, Koll didn't bother with words of comfort. He reached out to pet her head and massage one of her ears the way she liked. His touch had her blowing out her breath and leaning into him. Whether she was in woman form or walking as a bear, her mate knew how to distract her. She forgot all about her frustration.
    And she didn't notice Tartok and Cikuq at their door until she was almost on top of them.
    Shila froze. Her mind and muscles locked up so she just stood there staring. It didn't look as if the brothers expected them to approach from this direction, either, because they became motionless too.
    Koll was the first to move. He sprang into action with the