Bear in the Rough: Bear Shifter Romance (Broken Hill Bears Book 1) by Ariana Hawkes

two shook their heads, not wanting to tell her there was worse to come.
    “How about we chill here for a while, until you’ve got your breath back? There’s plenty of daylight left.” Marin said.
    “Okay,” Eloise agreed immediately, and flopped down next to them. Freya glanced at her, noticing that her eyes were wide, as if she’d had a shock.
    “Are you okay?”
    “Yeah, fine. Just a little pooped.” She laid her head back against a rock and closed her eyes.
    “Aren’t you thirsty?” Freya said, noticing that she hadn’t drunk any water since she’d arrived.
    “No, I’m good. I had some water back there,” she said.
     
    When Eloise’s face was less pink, they continued. The ridge was hard, but a light breeze took the edge off the heat. The descent down to the valley wasn’t much better. The girls were learning that rocky terrain downhill was even worse than up, because gravity made their steps heavier and the small stones underfoot could be very unstable.
    When they arrived in the valley, Eloise’s face was redder than ever. She dropped her pack and crumpled onto the ground, head in hands.
    “Eloise, have some water,” Freya said.
    “Uh, it’s gone,” she said, shaking her empty bottle.
    “And your other one?” Eloise stared at her, biting her lower lip.
    “I lost it,” she said in a small voice. Freya reached for her own bottle and passed it to her. Eloise gulped every last drop. Marin ran to the small stream in the middle of the camping area and came back with a sock soaked in cold water which she pressed to Eloise’s forehead. Then she and Freya squatted in front of her.
    “When?” Freya said.
    “Back when you were waiting for me. I sat down for a minute, put the bottle down. Then when I was half way up the hill, I remembered,” she said miserably.
    “Eloise!” Marin exploded. “Why the hell didn’t you tell us? We could’ve gone back for it.”
    “Because you’d already been waiting for me for ages. I didn’t want to be the weakest link again.”
    “But… but… you now have only one water bottle, and tomorrow there are going to be no water sources AT ALL until we get to the next camp site!” Marin yelled. Freya laid a warning hand on her arm.
    “What’s done is done. Our priority right now is getting Eloise rehydrated,” she said. “Eloise come on, you can use my pen at the water’s edge.” She led her over to the stream and helped her to lie down on the bank and dip the pen in the water. It was a high-tech filter that you could use to drink directly from any water source and it instantly removed all contaminants.
    Eloise lay down drinking, while Freya splashed cold water on her forehead, then she stripped down to her underwear and climbed right in. The other two followed her, gasping at the coldness.
    “Feel better now?” Marin said some minutes later. Eloise nodded.
    “Yes, much. Thanks, guys. I’m sorry for being such an idiot.”
    “That’s okay,” Freya said. “I know the heat was making it hard for me to think straight.”
    “Yeah, that was it. I know I wouldn’t make that dumb decision now,” Eloise said.
     
    While they had a dinner of jerky and rehydrated beans, they scrutinized the maps again.
    “We can’t do the planned stretch tomorrow with Eloise down to one water bottle,” Freya said. “It’s dangerous. There’s not a single drop of water the entire way.”
    “Agreed,” Marin said. “But what if we do this side trail here? It’s ten miles longer than the main trail, but it passes fairly close to the town of – uh – Fairbank, and apparently there’s a reliable water cache, left by trail angels.” They all shuffled closer to look where Marin was pointing on the map.
    “Okay, and we can also camp along the way if we don’t make it back to the main trail by nightfall,” Freya said. “Let’s do it.”
    “Let’s,” Marin agreed.
    “Guys, I feel terrible,” Eloise said, breaking out from a guilty silence. “Because of me,