It had been a few days since our expedition. Luckily Scott and Conner had found some berry bushes across the river. They managed to keep us fed for a few more days, but we were running low on food again. Dylan, Patric and Conner we're going across the river again to look for another food source. Scott had insisted on staying with me and Alfred for some reason.

I hadn't left Alfred's side since we found him in that clearing. Scott had complained about an extra mouth to feed, but a glare from Dylan and I shut him up quickly. Dylan had estimated that he was a year old. To my amusement Al seemed to hate Dylan and Conner. He absolutely refused to be held by them and screamed the entire time. The kid had some impressive lungs. Patric and Scott hadn't dared hold him. Right now he was curled up on my chest fast asleep. In such a short amount of time I'd grown extremely attached to the kid. In fact if his mom came back from the dead and tried to take him back I'd probably claw her eyes out.

Scott had been quiet ever since the others left. It was beginning to freak me out. He appeared to be deep in thought. Every now and then he'd glance my way. I responded with glares. I had a feeling he was planning something.

A movement from Al drew my attention. I glanced down and found big blue eyes staring at me. I wiggled my nose at him and he gave me a delighted giggle. I looked up to find Scott staring at me. His expression was unreadable. A blush began rising to my face when he didn't look away. I heard him get up and walk towards me. He stopped and crouched down in front of me. I ignored him in favor of watching Al's smiling face.

"I'm sorry." Scott said abruptly.

That startled me into looking up. I was surprised to find his eyes were serious.

"F-For what?" I managed to ask.

"For teasing you mostly and making you hate me, but also for you having to go through this mess." He sighed looking a bit embarrassed and continued. "I swear on my life I won't let anyone or anything hurt you. I'll take on that entire village if I have to...so please...forgive me."

I sat there stunned as he stood and walked away not bothering to wait for my answer.

It had been hours since the others had left and the sun was beginning to set. They should have been back long ago. I was trying to stay calm but I couldn't stop my hands from shaking. I couldn't lose anyone else.

Alfred was beginning to fuss, but I kept thinking about all the things that could've happened to them. What if they were out there dying like the woman from the clearing? I felt sick. My breath came out in short bursts as I began to hyperventilate. All of a sudden I felt Scott's hands grasp my shoulders and draw me and Al close. I stiffened a bit, not used to being in such close proximity to him, before slowly beginning to relax. He seemed just as awkward as me as he began to slowly rub the back of my neck in a soothing manner. The last thing I remember was him stroking my hair.

The next morning they were still missing and I hadn't moved from my spot in Scott's arms. I shook him awake.

"They're still missing."

"I'll go look for the—" He was interrupted by a noise from the cave entrance. He immediately moved to stand between us and the entrance.

Just then an exhausted looking Patric and Dylan came into view. Between them they carried a limp Conner. With horror I noticed the left leg of his pants was soaked in blood. I set the sleeping baby down on some blankets and raced to help Scott wasn't far behind. They passed him into our arms and collapsed to catch their breath. Scott and I carried Conner into the back and set him down gently on a blanket.

He was flushed and breathing shallowly. He also had a lot of shallow cuts on him. I pulled up his pants leg to survey the damage. Stretching vertically along the length of his calf was a bone deep gash. The skin around it was red and inflamed. My heart dropped. I wasn't a doctor but I could recognize the signs of a infection. Without the proper care it would get worse and worse until it killed him. I took a deep breath to calm myself. If I didn't bandage his wound he would die of blood loss, not infection; it really needed stitches but we didn't have a needle.

Minutes later I finished bandaging his wound. Not sure what else to do, I left to talk to Dylan and Patric. Scott had beat me to it and was already talking to them. I noticed Patric's skin was a bit flushed like he was running a fever.

"What happened?" I blurted out.

"We were walking through some tall grass. We didn't notice the drop till it was too late." Dylan answered. "Conner and Pat fell. Conner's leg got cut on the edge of a sharp rock."

"How is he?" Dylan asked.

"I think he's developing an infection but you should check yourself."

He took my advice and went to check Conner's wound. Scott grabbed Patric's arm. I noticed he had cuts on his arm identical to the ones on Conner.

"What are all these cuts on your arm from?" Scott asked.

"There were a bunch of strange plants we landed on. They had spikes." Patric answered. "Stop worrying I'm fine."

"Is this one of the spikes? Scott asked and yanked it out of his arm.

"Ow! What the hell! Warn me next time!"

Scott had pulled out a thin needle like spike. I was all black and about an inch long.

"Yeah, that's it." Patric said glaring at Scott.

Luckily Dylan returned before things got out of hand. Unfortunately, I'd been right about the infection.

"I came across some witch hazel yesterday before the incident. It's a natural antibiotic. It should get rid of the infection." Dylan said. "If we leave now we can get some and be back before dark."

"I'll go with you." Scott said.

They'd already been gone for an hour. Al was still asleep. Patric was acting...strange. Not long after the others left he'd begun fidgeting and acting increasingly irritated. He was still flushed and a sheen of sweat was on his skin. I tried asking him what was wrong but he just brushed me off. Irritated I went to check on Conner.

He didn't look any better than Patric. His skin was flushed and sweaty. He was still passed out but he was fidgeting like he was uncomfortable. Kneeling next to him I stroked his hair. I frowned, he was burning up! No wonder he was fidgety!

I hesitated for a moment before making up my mind. I began unbuttoning his shirt to cool him off. I couldn't help but blush as more of his skin was revealed. Sports had done him well. I was on the last button when he stirred. I looked up and found half lidded eyes watching me. His pupils were so dilated that his eyes seemed black. I couldn't look away.

"Y-you were burning up." I stuttered feeling a need to explain.

Embarrassed I stood to leave but his hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me on top of him. Paying no attention to his injury he rolled over swapping our places. His body was pressed up against mine locking me in place and his scent was heavy with arousal. I felt his growing erection pressings against my inner thigh. I nearly whimpered in submission as he let loose a husky growl.

I could feel a familiar heat developing in the pit of my stomach as he studied my face intently. A whimper escaped my throat and next thing I knew he was kissing me. I was so shocked I froze. He nipped my lips and I gasped allowing his tongue to invade my mouth. His hands gripped my hips in a bruising grip, as he dominated my mouth. He pulled away just as I began to feel dizzy from a lack of air. I let out an embarrassing whine as his mouth separated from mine with a wet "pop."

I gasped and arched my back as he rutted against me roughly. I threw my hair back baring my neck in the process. He attack it immediately nipping and sucking harshly. He rubbed his scent glands against my cheek, marking me with his scent. I'd managed to keep my moans quiet so far but Conner choose that moment to bite down on my scent gland and I lost all control. I moaned...loudly.

Continued rutting against me for a few more seconds before he was interrupted by a furious snarl. Suddenly he was pulled off of me. I blinked trying to process what just happened. I heard another snarl and turned to look. It was Patric and he was pissed. His teeth were bared and he'd moved between me and Conner. Conner had stumbled to his feet and was baring his teeth at Patric.

"Get out." Patric snarled at Conner.

Conner bristled at the order and stepped closer instead. That was the last straw for Patric. He attacked Conner who fought back. To my embarrassment I found myself becoming harder as I watched them fight with wide eyes. Conner held his own but his leg slowed him down and Patric managed to force him out of the room.

Conner hovered in the entrance for a while before accepting defeat and limping back into the main area. Patric was on me in seconds. He nipped at my neck gently, growling when he smelled Conner's scent mark on me. He furiously rubbed his own scent gland over the area as if trying to erase Conner's scent.

My brain tried to rationalize that we were making a mistake and that this wasn't normal behavior, but then Patric simultaneously bit my scent gland and thrusted against me. All my rational thoughts flew out the window. Moans and gasps escaped my mouth at every thrust. My hips bucked against his desperate for release. I was so close.

Suddenly there was a noise from the main cave.

"What the fuck is going on?!" Scott's voice yelled.

Shit, they were back.