Page 4

Chapter 4

Caleb

T he salmon weren’t exactly jumping yet, but there were enough for Caleb to catch a dozen easily. It took him most of the day, but at least if he caught fish, he didn’t have to go into town and go to the grocery store.

He probably should anyway. He wasn’t an actual bear, after all. Nuts and berries and salmon were all well and good, but a man needed hot chocolate to live. Some eggs would be good, too, and he didn’t keep chickens. He wouldn’t have a clue where to start, and his bearish nature would probably scare the things to death anyway.

Line of fish hung over one shoulder, he turned back toward his cabin. The path back was circuitous. He didn’t want to wander straight through the lair of the local corrupted forest spirit, but it was still only a few miles.

The salmon were sign enough, he supposed, that it was spring. Even if his heart didn’t feel like spring, it had arrived. Grasses were growing, leaves were unfurling on the deciduous trees, and flowers were blooming.

Also, it was newbie hiker season. They wandered off the trails, up into the woods, got lost, and sometimes died of exposure or starvation.

Or sometimes, as in the case of the body Caleb almost tripped over, the damned ignorant walnuts ate poisonous flowers. Like the bright yellow color had been a lure and not a deterrent, the man still had one clutched in his hand.

Caleb rolled his eyes and pulled his phone out of his pocket to see if he could get a signal for a ranger to come pick up the body, but then the guy pulled in a deep wheezing breath, and Caleb almost dropped his phone.

He fell to his knees next to the man, fish forgotten, and checked his pulse. High and thready, but still there. He must be a supernatural creature of some kind, to have survived eating one at all.

Well, that changed things. Caleb piled his line of fish on the guy’s chest—What? He wasn’t going to leave them there; he’d worked hard for those—and picked the man up in a princess carry.

Back at his cabin, he dropped the fish on the kitchen counter for cleaning, and took the guy into the bedroom. Not that there was really a bedroom, it was more one big open area, and Caleb thought of the part with the giant bed and the sheepskin rug as his bedroom.

He took off the guy’s fishy shirt, tossed it into the wash, and set the man on his bed. Also, he wasn’t going to have anyone get dirt in his bed, so he pulled off his shoes and socks. Brand new hiking boots. Frack, the guy had blisters on his heels. Had he even been hiking before today? Stripped down to his fashionable ripped blue jeans, the guy looked more like the victim of a night of debauchery than of self-poisoning.

He was absolutely beautiful too. Long golden-blond hair, fine-boned features that looked almost fae, and an impressive set of abs. Probably spent half his time lifting weights.

After checking again to make sure the man was breathing, Caleb sighed bitterly and turned to his cupboard. He finally got a beautiful man into his bed, and of course, it was just because he’d been poisoned.

Sure, Caleb didn’t exactly spend a lot of time seeking out bed partners, but that was just depressing. Just like most things lately, he supposed.

He scavenged his cupboards and found what he needed for a simple remedy. Unless the guy was a vampire, Caleb could have the poison cured soon enough. And if he were a vampire, he’d already be dead, what with wandering out in the sun.

Throwing all the right herbs in the pot with water, he covered it and let it simmer while he went to clean the fish. The guy was going to need some food when he came around, after all. Even if he lived through it, poisoning was hard on a body.

It didn’t take long to clean and prepare the fish and then throw together a pot of chowder. By the time he was done, the remedy was ready. He strained the woody bits out, and, glancing over at the unconscious man, threw in some sugar syrup.

It didn’t exactly taste bad, but... Okay, no, it tasted terrible, and a man who wore brand new hiking boots, got blisters, and proceeded to eat one of the only poisonous varieties of plant in the local forest didn’t seem like the kind of man who would do well with that. It had nothing to do with him being beautiful. Or with Caleb being worried about the kind of man who would do a thing like that.

After all, there was always the chance it hadn’t been an accident.

It would be a strange way to kill oneself, but not unheard of. He hoped the cute little twink wasn’t trying to kill himself. Sure, Caleb was basing his opinion off looks, but it was all he had to go by. The guy was cute, and he didn’t immediately seem like an asshole. At least he’d bought the boots and not tried to go hiking in loafers or something like that.

And, of course, Caleb was lonely. He hated himself for it a little, but he wanted the guy to be someone nice.

Not that he wouldn’t have saved an asshole. Probably.

He sat down on his bed and shifted the guy half into his lap, angling him up a bit so he could pour the remedy down his throat. It took some effort, and he could only get one mouthful down at a time, but slowly, as he worked, color came back into the twink’s adorable rosy cheeks, and his breathing and heart rate steadied.

When his beautiful blue-gray eyes fluttered open, Caleb sighed in relief, and not at all in wistful longing. He wasn’t that pathetic, no matter what Poppy said.