now. He felt a surge of adrenaline reinvigorate his system and tried to listen more closely to the sounds around him. He considered that he needed to keep more to the trees so she wouldn’t easily see him and focused on trying to move more stealthily. Still, there’s a lot of territory for her to cover, and she may be miles away from me right now.
After no more than half an hour of quietly maneuvering between pine trees and listening for unusual noises, Caleb settled down a few feet into the trees from a nearby hiking trail and laid out his sleeping bag to try to rest up a little. The cool winter air penetrated his jacket, and he activated another hand warmer, slipping the spent one he replaced into his pack. He absently placed his backpack against the trunk of a large pine tree. He unwound his sleeping bag, slipped into it, and sat up with his back against the same tree. Zipping the sleeping bag closed, he was able to hide most of his face inside the enclosure for warmth.
As he listened closely to the natural sounds around him, he failed to notice when he was lulled asleep.
“Well, what have we here?” a deep voice resonated as he lurched awake.
Caleb squinted into the darkness to see a large man towering above him. His heart rate soared instantly, as he was completely surprised that anyone else besides him or Katrina might be trudging around the preserve in the middle of a cold January night.
Maybe a park ranger, he wondered.
“I didn’t expect campers out here during winter,” the baritone voice observed. “But then, I haven’t been hunting around here for very long, either.”
A hunter then, Caleb mused. “You startled me,” he said as he unzipped his sleeping bag. “I was just resting, but I’ll be on my way now.”
The tall man chuckled. “No need to leave on my account.”
Caleb tried to focus on the man before him. Although it was dark, he distinguished blue jeans and a dark-colored sweater, though he wasn’t wearing a winter coat or gloves. He appeared to be sturdy-framed, broad-shouldered, and African-American by his dark skin tone. A final quality sent a shiver through Caleb’s body: the man had glowing violet eyes.
A vampire, he gasped with realization. What are the odds?
The vampire emitted another deep chuckle, and a scowl showed on his face as he perched his large hands atop his hips, glowering at Caleb from above.
“You’re a vampire,” Caleb muttered with as much reassurance in his voice as he could muster, fully realizing his revelation wasn’t a positive one.
The vampire’s scowl faded abruptly, and his arms went out to his sides in an aggressive posture as he demanded, “How so?”
“Your eyes,” Caleb said as he slipped his hands from his gloves and grasped a small can of pepper spray in his jacket pocket. “The glowing eyes are a dead giveaway.”
“Just how do you know so much about vampires?” the figure demanded.
Caleb turned on a small flashlight with his left hand and saw that the vampire’s expression appeared unsettled. “I’m a vampire’s mate,” he announced boldly.
“Oh, really?” he asked with a white-toothed smile, revealing pronounced fangs. “And just who might that be?”
“Katrina Rawlings,” he stated calmly despite his turbulent emotions.
The tall figure frowned, and his violet eyes narrowed slightly. “Seems like I’ve heard that name somewhere,” he growled.
“My name’s Caleb. Caleb Taylor.”
The vampire squatted down to look him in the eye. “Devon Archibald, although it’s not really going to matter much in a few more minutes.”
Caleb’s eyes widened, and he pressed, “Wait! I already told you I’m a vampire’s mate.”
Devon smirked and made an elaborate gesture of looking to his left and then to his right. “Well, where is she? I don’t see, or sense, any other vampires besides me,” he challenged. “I’ve been here since just after sundown looking for wild game and haven’t seen anyone else but you.”
“She’s here somewhere,” Caleb promised. “We’re just playing a hunting game.”
Devon grinned. “It looks like I won. Well, small game is better than no game.”
Caleb’s heart nearly stopped, and he immediately made an effort to glance past the man’s shoulder as if recognizing someone. The hulking vampire frowned and glanced over his shoulder for just a second, giving him the time he needed to withdraw the pepper spray from his pocket. As Devon turned back to him with a frown, Caleb activated the dispenser, spraying the vampire’s face.
Devon growled angrily, and his hands went to his eyes