Lynx Northern Shifters 3

of collapsing though it was almost upon him. He stood there hissing as Trey inched closer and closer. And finally Jonah’s body gave him no choice. His legs crumpled under the strain of the run, after months of captivity, and he fell to the ground.
At that Trey rose, of course he did, and Jonah warned him away with a hiss. If he were human, he’d be saying, Get the fuck away from me.
Trey understood, because he didn’t come closer. Instead he barked once, a command to stay put, Jonah’s brain somehow dimly understood, before Trey disappeared.
The wolf had disappeared before, Jonah thought rather muzzily before he passed out.
Some time later he woke to the smell of fresh kill right in front of his nose, and he wasn’t going to think about how vulnerable he was that Trey had returned and he hadn’t been aware of it. His hunger roared awake and he tore into the flesh, gulping down what he needed till there was nothing left.
His body was still starving but now he could stand up again. He looked rather disdainfully at Trey and turned to stalk away.
The damned wolf followed him to the creek where he drank. Followed him as he continued on his way home. Brought him more food that Jonah could not resist eating. He was becoming increasingly aware that he’d never before been this thin, and he wondered how close to the line of starvation he’d been walking before Trey started feeding him.
And so the trek back home continued. A few times Trey tried to talk to him. He would shift to human but Jonah continued to ignore him, except when there was food. His body couldn’t resist fresh food. By the end of the journey, though, Jonah was hunting on his own and he thought then Trey would leave, since it seemed clear to both of them he was going to survive. Starvation had been avoided.
But no, the wolf insisted on shadowing him the entire time, catching up after Jonah’s two attempts to elude him.
A week and a half later, Jonah reached home. There was no lifting of his heart, no joy. It was simply the end of a grueling trek. He wanted to be here, yes, but his weariness muted his reaction, and the most he felt was irritation with Trey who would not leave him alone in his exhaustion.
Ignoring the wolf, Jonah walked into the cave, placed his paw on the lever handle and shouldered his door open.
It had been years and little had changed. What surprised Jonah was the scent of Trey. Not immediate, but older, suggesting Trey had been here during Jonah’s absence.
Something in Jonah softened at that. Trey had sought him out, had kept a promise—too late but still Jonah had not been entirely forgotten. It wouldn’t fix the broken parts inside Jonah, but he felt less betrayed knowing Trey had eventually returned. Jonah prowled around the corners of the house, reacquainting himself, and finding Trey’s smell in the food supplies and especially in the cot, where they’d shared each other.
Jonah didn’t think he could forgive the wolf, no matter what had kept Trey away. But it felt better to know that Trey had made some effort.
Exhaustion pulled at Jonah and he crawled up into the cot. Yes, he was weak, because he breathed in Trey’s scent, old and new, as he closed his eyes and simply slept.

Chapter Sixteen
    Trey spent his days hunting, cooking and chopping wood. He took the time to go into town for food supplies, though he didn’t like to be away from Jonah those few days. But winter was approaching and Trey wanted Jonah to have everything he would need for the season. Because Trey couldn’t stay here indefinitely. He still had responsibilities to his extended family and felt obligated to check up on them.
    Somehow in the past couple of years, after meeting Jonah, Trey was no longer estranged from his daughter, his nephew, his niece. He sometimes thought his meeting Jonah had cracked something open in him, allowing him to reconnect with these people who seemed to care for him, as he did them. Though not with the same strength of feeling he had for Jonah.
    He didn’t want to leave the lynx, but there was little point in saying that right now, because whenever he talked to Jonah there was no response, and sometimes, it appeared, no understanding. For Jonah stubbornly remained in cat form.
    Or perhaps he needed to stay lynx. Perhaps he had been human too long. Trey had so much to ask him and Jonah apparently had so much he didn’t want to answer—or no interest in doing so. Nevertheless Trey prepared for winter, in the hopes