Are you okay? Bryn's plaintive question only made fear bite harder into my trembling muscles. In the next moment she ran beside me. I told you to leave.  I bared my teeth but couldn't deny my sudden relief at her presence.

I could never abandon you. Bryn kept pace easily. And you know I'll never betray you. I picked up speed, darting through the deepening shadows of the forest. I abandoned my attempt to outrun fear, shifted and stumbled forward until I found the solid pressure of a tree trunk. The scratch of the bark on my skin failed to repel the gnat-like nerves that swarmed in my head.  

" Why did you save him?" She asked. "Humans mean nothing to us."

I kept my arms around the tree but turned my my cheek to the side so I look at bryn. No longer in her wolf form, the short, wiry girl's hand's rested on her hips. Her eyes narrowed as she waited for an answer.

I blinked, but I couldn't halt the burning sensation.  A pair of tears, hot and unwanted, slid down my cheeks.

Bryn's eyes widened. I never cried. Not when anyone could  witness it. 

I turned my face away, but I could sense her watching me silently, without judgement. I had no answers for bryn. Or my self.