CHAPTER TWENTY:

Prologue to a Hunt

It was three (3) hours till they reached the woods where Sabretooth hunted, breaking all kinds of speed limits. Logan suspected they were lucky that no cops had been around to catch them…..because the police most likely would have become the ones being "caught". Logan didn't WANT to imagine what the Sabretooth would have done to a couple of cops who would attempt to waylay them or—heaven forbid—even write them a speeding ticket.

Finally, Sabretooth had signaled for them to pull over, stopping their bikes.

Logan quickly dismounted, wheeling his bike into the foliage so that it wouldn't be easy game for some driver and scenting the air. He turned to see the Sabretooth take the young woman by the waist and lift her gently, sitting her down just as carefully on the cement and unhooking her helmet, holding the motorcycle up with one meaty leg.

It was absolutely mind-boggling to see the terrible Sabretooth handling a young woman as if she were made of glass. The Wolverine glanced upward to see if he could spot any flying pigs…..

…..Nope…..

Well, the little oinkers had to be in the air somewhere.

He looked over his shoulder at the couple; "Are we hunting or what!?" he called back.

Sabretooth growled at him in annoyance. "Keep your pants on, runt!" he strapped the helmet to one handle of the bike he had used and began to push it towards the woods, like Logan had. Then, smirking, he simply hiked the whole machine up and balanced it on one shoulder, carrying it to the side, pleased when his mates jaw dropped.

Logan rolled his eyes. "Show-off." He mumbled under his breath

The Sabretooth chuckled low and throaty. "Just showin' the frail what I can do, Jimmy-boy."

"It's Logan." The Wolverine said, but without any heat, automatically switching his temperament to hunting; quiet…..deadly…..

The Sabretooth came up beside him, his voice lowering as well. "We gotta stash the frail someplace safe while we do this."

Logan rolled his eyes, even though he privately agreed. "You're the one who wanted her to come along in the first place, whaddya want her to do? Climb a tree?"

The feral shook his head, taking his little brother seriously. "Have you even been watching the frail? She can't walk in a straight line without tripp'n over somethin'"

Logan snorted, unable to stop the chuckle that followed. "Well, yeah, you're right about that."

The 'Der Schlachter' crossed his meaty arms over his chest, still speaking lowly. "I still say I take her to the cabin. She'll be safe there."

"You mean terrified." Logan countered.

Cassie raised a hand again from where she had been standing on the side of the road, trying to stop her head from spinning. "How about I just side here on the sidelines and wait for you two to come back?"

Sabretooth turned and gave her a dominating growl. "Hell, no, frail. What if someone drives by and decides to kidnap ya?"

Her eyes widened (they seemed to be doing that a lot around him) and she shook her head a little. "You're a complete Mother-Hen! And a total hypocrite! YOU'VE already KIDNAPPED ME!"

Loan couldn't help but laugh at that point. "She's got you there, Tooth."

"Shut up, Runt." Sabretooth growled, then marched over to where his complaining mate stood, sweeping her off her feet and swinging her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes (not the first time she had been carried that way.) She eeped in disapproval and the Sabretooth simply barged into the woods, still managing to be scarily quiet. He looked over his unoccupied shoulder to a wide-eyed Wolverine. "Come on, runt, we've got cubs and frails to feed."

Chuckling and shaking his head, the Wolverine followed.

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It didn't take long for the two brothers to find someplace to "drop" her. Sabretooth had, surprisingly, sat her down gingerly on the ground beside two huge rocks then dug out a long lengthwise hole (freakily coffin-sized) in the ground, about three feet deep. Then he charged his amnesiac brother to help him gather pine-needles and leaves.

"What the hell are we doin?" the Wolverine asked as he gathered fragrant pine boughs in his hands.

"Doesn't this remind you of anything, Jimmy boy?" Victor grinned as he quickly uprooted a small pine (making Cassie eep in surprise) then held it over the long hole, shucking the needles off of the tree with his claws and into the hole like chaff off of grain. "I used to do this for you when you were younger."

The Wolverine rolled his eyes in annoyance. "You didn't know me when I was younger."

"You keep tell'in yerself that….." Victor growled. "…..but at some point of time, you WILL remember. Then I'll be accept'n yer apologies."

Logan snorted. "Dream on, pal."

Victor tossed the now-shucked pine-tree like a javelin about fifty feet into the woods, making his mates jaw drop for maybe the fifth time that day. He then turned to his clumsy, fragile and—dagnabit—SLEEPY mate, motioning for her to come forward. "Come 'ere, frail."

When she hesitated, he started up that warm, rumbling purr and she visibly relaxed, walking up towards him.

Logan eyed her befuddled state with suspicion. "That looks suspiciously like mind-control, 'Tooth."

"I told'ya, Runt, it's pheromones." Victor corrected, leaning down and nuzzling the top of his mates head like a cat, rubbing his scent onto her (not that she wasn't already covered with it.) "And how else am I supposed to keep her calm when she's determined to freak out every five seconds."

"If I was a gal with you, I'd freak out EVERY second." Logan growled, still eyeing the sleepy looking Cassie with disapproval.

"Lye down and get some rest, mate." Sabretooth purred gently, leaning down so that he could rub his cheek right up against hers, making her giggle at the feel of his side-burns. "I'll know if ya need me, but holler if there's trouble."

She seemed to blink out of the hypnotic state that the Sabretooths purr put her in. "Yeah, right, okay. Yelling." Then she let out her own growl at him, pointing a finger at him accusingly. "And you have GOT to stop with that purring thing, already!"

The Sabretooth snorted. Like hell that was happening.

"Don't go gettin' any ideas, darlin." Logan cautioned her as well. "We're a ways out from civilization. The fleabag and I are just going to do some hunting, then we'll call in the Blackbird to come pick up what we've caught."

She frowned. "I thought you guys said that a plane couldn't land here."

Logan blinked at her in surprise. She remembered that!?

"We're gonna use a rope and pulley to get the game into the plane." Victor explained briefly, gently pushing on her shoulders till she sat down in the soft bed of fragrant pine-needles. Then he growled domineeringly. "Stay HERE, frail."

She let out a breath. "Yeah, stay here, fine. Got it." This kind of felt like deja-vu, only there was no cabin.

Apparently, Sabretooth was reminded as well, for his growl grew in volume. "I'm serious, frail. STAY HERE!"

"Okay, okay, staying here!"

The huge feral seemed to pause for a few seconds before he added some stipulations. "Stay HERE in THIS SPOT until we get back."

She winced. Dang, the guy was learning fast to close the loop-holes.

"Stay here until you're back. Got it."

"Come on, runt." The Sabretooth growled, turning his back on his frail reluctantly. "It's time to get some game."

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VOCABULARY:

FRAGRANT: Nice-smelling

stip·u·la·tion noun 1.a condition, demand, or promise in an agreement or contract. 2. the act of stipulating.

CITATIONS:

"stipulation." Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 23 May. 2013. browse/stipulation.