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

we’ll have to leave the trail. This really sucks.” 
    “It’s fine,” Freya said, surprising herself at how agreeable she was being. “As long as we’re not missing any of the distance, it still counts as the trail.”
    “Are you sure?” Freya and Marin both nodded.
    “It’s lower altitude as well, which is always good with me,” Marin added.
     
    They went to bed soon after, and Freya slept even more heavily than usual. Every night on the trail, she’d had very deep, dreamless sleeps, waking in the mornings feeling like she was coming out of a deep unconsciousness. She was the first up, followed by Marin.
    “Shall we wake Eloise?” Marin said.
    “Let’s give her another half hour,” Freya replied. “Her body probably needs more time to recover from the heat yesterday.”
    They woke her 45 minutes later. She was groggy and slow to open her tent.
    “How’s your head?” Freya said, squatting down and looking at her closely.
    “Kinda thick,” she said with a dry laugh.
    “Are you okay to hike today?” There was a flicker of something in Eloise’s eyes.
    “I guess,” she murmured.
    “We’ll go slow, drink lots of water before we start, and we’ll be in Fairbank before we know it.”
    “Okay,” Eloise said, without enthusiasm.
     
    Even at the girls’ slowest pace, they were still having to stop and wait for Eloise frequently. She looked beat, as if she’d lost her determination. By lunchtime, they were only half way to Fairbank, and Eloise’s water was running low again. 
    “I’m sorry,” she said miserably, collapsing onto the ground and breathing heavily.
    “It’s okay.” Freya passed her her water bottle and she took a polite sip. “We should be in the shade in the afternoon and it’ll be the downhill section of the side trail, so we’re already over the worst of it.”
     
    Freya was right. The afternoon was easier, as they walked partially in the shade, along a long-dry riverbed. Eloise’s spirits seemed to recover a little, and she cracked a few jokes along the way, commenting on the other hikers they’d met on the trail. They’d spoken to a lot of nice guys, but none of them had been hot, and all of them were grateful for that. Their no-men pact was holding strong.
    They yelled for joy as they arrived at the spot where the water was supposed to be, and saw that there was a giant cache of water bottles. Eloise gulped half a big bottle straight down and poured some over her head.
    “Whew!” she exclaimed.
    They threw their packs off and settled down under the shade of a big tree with thick, gnarled branches that spread far from its trunk. There was a late afternoon breeze, promising a cool night.
    “What’s the plan?” Marin asked, after they’d sat in quiet contentment for some minutes.
    “I think we should call it a day and camp close by,” Freya said.
    “But you were saying that there’s a town not far away?” Eloise said.
    “Yeah, but it’s a detour. There’s no point heading over there. It’s at least two more miles, and we don’t need to pick up any more supplies.” Eloise let out an audible breath.
    “Is there a problem?” Freya said, more sharply than she’d meant to.
    “Oh, no. Not at all. It’s just when you said ‘town’, I jumped to the conclusion that we’d be staying there. But it’s fine, really.”
    “Sorry, I didn’t mean to confuse you. It’s just more effort than I’ve got the energy for today. And my budget doesn’t stretch to such regular motel stays.”
    “It’s cool. I understand, Freya,” Eloise said, and started rummaging in her backpack to allow them to change the subject.
    “I think I might take a nap before dinner,” Marin said, getting to her feet and stretching expansively.
    “Good idea,” Freya said, getting up too.
     
    Freya awoke in pitch darkness, disoriented. Then she heard voices and got up. She was pleased to see that Marin was lighting a fire, while Eloise was sitting outside her tent, hunched