Watching the wolf launch itself into the waves from a distance, Hunter could only shake his head in wonder. The wolf braced itself in the wake of the water and shook violently, then wheeled and bounded away as another wave rolled in. Water splashed in every direction as the drenched and exuberant figure continued to frolic along the shore.

It made a startling contrast to the dark young man who could sit quietly in front of the mainframe for hours at a time, with only the twitch of his fingers and the flicker of his gaze to prove that he was aware of anything at all.

It was almost as though, Hunter thought idly, all the energy that Cam usually channeled into his computer, the zords, the myriad things he kept running at Ninja Ops and everything he had going on the side no longer had any quiet outlet. It wasn't so much that he was reserved as it was that all his intensity was directed inward, into mental exercises and an electronic reality slightly out of sync with their own. Now that intensity was unfocused, spilling out into whatever fleeting experience caught his attention.

The wolf threw itself down on the wet sand and wriggled around on its back, legs pawing the air as it found a way to make itself even wetter and dirtier than it had already been. It hadn't quite cleared the tide line and another wave was racing in. It faded away to nothing just as it reached the furry body, but the briefest touch of water was enough to send the wolf shooting to its feet and it took off down the beach like it was being chased.

Hunter just watched it go, confident that it would be back. Cam had wanted to run, and he was running. This was the third time the wolf had turned into a streak of flattened ears and churning legs as it raced away, only to send up an impressive spray of sand as it made a wide half-circle at the other end of the beach and came flying back.

Sure enough, the wolf was turning now, arrowing straight for him as it sped along the shore. He stood his ground as the grey-brown shape charged him, veering off at the last second with a graceful ease that seemed somehow out of place. The wolf barely seemed to slow down.

Back to the water. He wasn't kidding about the running.

"He's sure got a lot of energy," a voice called, loud enough to be heard over the waves but far enough a way that Hunter hadn't even noticed someone sneaking up on him.

He turned around, but the beach was empty. The voice came from the direction of the road--a man standing at the top of the seawall, one foot braced against a rock and a hand shading his eyes as he watched the wolf run. "Wish I had half that," he said, nodding to the animal that was flirting with the waves again.

"Yeah," Hunter said, following his gaze. What else could he say? He wished he had all of that, but luckily no one could hear his thoughts. "I know what you mean."

"Had a dog like that once," the man remarked. He sounded like it had been a long time ago. "Malamute, right? Good dogs."

"Yeah," Hunter repeated. He had no idea what a malamute was. Whatever it was, apparently it looked like a wolf. At least at a distance. Grudgingly, and only because the guy didn't look like he was gonna go away on his own, he decided he might as well find out. "You had one?"

"Lost her, oh... almost ten years ago, now." The man didn't lower his hand, still shading his eyes from the sun, but he looked down at Hunter when he spoke. "Never had the heart to get another one."

The words were matter-of-fact, but the chilling implication that went with them was one Hunter hadn't even considered. There's some overlap, Cam said. Both human and wolf shared some characteristics that didn't seem to fade no matter how long he spent as one or the other. What about lifespan?

Wolves didn't live as long as humans. And Hunter hadn't known any of the human wolves at the community center long enough to guess how they aged. He looked back at the ocean and saw the wolf looking back, watching him from all the way down the beach while the waves washed over his paws and his tail curved stiffly over his back.

There was no way he could hear them talking from there. But he could see the stranger, obviously. And he didn't look too happy about it.

Hunter glanced back at the seawall to see the man making his way over the rocks, between them, and down, ignoring the cement stairs just a short way up the beach. Pretty spry for an old guy, Hunter decided, watching him climb. Too bad he had to be demonstrating it on their stretch of beach.

The wolf was trotting over now too, though what he intended to do Hunter had no idea. People were allowed to walk on the beach. Strangers were allowed to chat him up just because they felt like it. Sure, he wasn't thrilled about it either, but the less attention Cam drew to himself, the better.

"Protective, huh?" The man stood just a few feet away now, watching the wolf's approach. "He keeps an eye on you."

"Yeah," Hunter muttered. He was keeping an eye on the wolf in return, because he hadn't forgotten Cam's fury when the pack at the community center challenged Hunter. All it had taken was a hand on his shirt and Cam had been at the guy's throat. "He does that."

"Trained as a guard dog?" the man asked. "He's got the look. Will he come over if I call him?"

Hunter shrugged, watching the wolf warily. "Might."

The wolf had stopped a little way off, ears up, head tilted slightly to one side. The curious look did little to mitigate his wild appearance, but the man didn't seem worried. Maybe malamutes really did look like wolves. He'd have to remember that.

"Here boy," the man called. He patted his leg, then held out his empty hand with his fingers together like he was holding something. "Come on boy. Come on over here."

The wolf's head tilted further, eyes flicking to the man's hand before lifting to study his face again. He looked as though he was trying to memorize this particular person, so that if he ever saw him again he would know to go the other way. After a moment he sat down where he was, making his feelings about being summoned very clear.

"Smart dog," the man said wryly. "Knows perfectly well I don't have anything for him. Haven't carried dog biscuits since I lost my Trudy."

Dog biscuits. Hunter's lips twitched as he tried to imagine the wolf's reaction. That, he suspected, would go over very badly. So badly that it might actually be worth it, if only to piss Cam off.

The crackle of electricity was his only warning before a swarm of kelzaks descended on the beach. That he and Cam were the intended targets was obvious. Less clear was what they were going to do about it, with a civilian onlooker and potential victim standing right beside them.

"What the--" The man was either slow or particularly entitled, Hunter thought grimly, if he thought that voicing some kind of objection would get him somewhere. He snapped into a guard position, and two things were immediately evident.

First, lacerated muscles burned the moment he lifted his arms, sending a sharp ache deep into his chest. Second, there was no glint of metal from his left wrist when he extended it defensively in front of him. Shit. His morpher was still somewhere in Ninja Ops. Where, exactly, only Cam knew.

There was a split second between that realization and the kelzaks' attack, and somehow his gaze found the wolf's. The wolf, who didn't wear an amulet. Hunter had no idea why not--where did Cam's clothes go when he changed?--but in that brief moment he understood just how screwed they were.

Then he was blocking a wild swing from one of Lothor's minions, the man who knew malamutes was shouting, and his world was full of raining blows and a painful dance that should have been so much easier. His arms didn't move quite as quickly as he needed them to, his shoulders didn't turn as far as they had to--he was open. Unguarded.

A kelzak fist slammed into his chest.

No, he thought distantly, mind oddly removed from the blackness in front of his eyes and the shooting pain that tore through his body. He was stumbling, falling, unable to draw in a breath... and all he could think was, no, this was the moment when he understood how screwed they were.

He really couldn't see. It was the strangest thing, but he was just lying there, staring up at the sky as it exploded into little fireworks in front of him, and there was nothing else there. Blackness around the edges, stars in the middle, and a raw searing pain that felt like someone had yanked off his skin.

Growling, teeth snapping, and more shouting penetrated through the roaring in his ears as he tried to convince his body to do something, anything that wasn't lying helplessly on the ground. At least, he thought he was on the ground. He could hear girls' voices, weirdly, and he thought maybe he was hallucinating.

Then he really was hallucinating, because the Power Rangers were there and he was watching them and damn, why hadn't he ever realized how weird they looked? Geez... he lifted a hand to his head, and only then did it occur to him that he was sitting up. Okay. That was good. He was good. He was fine.

He was so not gonna be standing up right away.

The wolf had parked himself in the sand between Hunter and the rest of the fight, which now seemed to consist of kelzacs, Wind Rangers, Blake, and Marah and Kapri. The malamute guy was backing up beside him, ignoring the wolf and being ignored in turn until he crouched down and asked, "You okay there?"

That got the wolf's attention, and in seconds Hunter had an armful of fur and paws and a long muzzle poking his chest in between attempts to lick his face. "Yeah, okay, ow," he wheezed, trying to push the wolf off. "Cut it out!"

The wolf sat back on his haunches, looking contrite. "It's okay," Hunter gasped, feeling guilt already for putting that look on his face--and that wasn't even fair, because what the hell was Cam doing, climbing all over him like that?

"Fine--" He couldn't draw a decent breath, but it occurred to him that he'd better have a good story or he was about five minutes and an ambulance ride away from having to explain the bandages under his shirt. "I'm fine," he managed, shooting a sideways look at malamute guy. "Just got the wind knocked out of me... that's all."

The wolf snorted. Hunter glared at him, because didn't he get it? Any EMT would take one look at his chest, another look at his "dog," and Cam would have animal control after him so fast he wouldn't have time to change.

"Good thing the Power Rangers showed up," the other man was saying. "Can you believe this? I've never seen them in person before."

Yeah, Hunter wanted to say, you probably have.

"No," he lied aloud. "Me neither. What's--" He winced as he tried to change his position and it felt like every muscle in his upper body protested. And on top of that, his shirt was damp from having a wet wolf throw itself at him. Great. "What's going on, anyway?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," the man told him. He seemed perfectly willing to believe that Hunter was all right, and was now watching the fight avidly. "Maybe they thought we were someone else."

Right, Hunter thought. Or maybe they thought me and Cam are exactly who we are, and you just got in the way. But it was as good an explanation as any, and he wasn't going to be the one to make the guy start looking for another one. He took another quick look at the fight--where Marah and Kapri were being their usual unhelpful selves while the Rangers finished off the last of the kelzaks--before glancing back to the wolf.

He was watching Hunter through narrowed eyes, as though he could assess his condition by staring alone. And hey, with eyes like that, maybe he could. It was a disturbingly knowing look, either way.

Hunter flashed him a covert thumbs-up, hoping to tell him not to worry, but it just made the wolf stand up and come over to him again. He sniffed Hunter's injuries carefully, more gentle this time as he avoided any actual contact. Then he lifted his gaze to Hunter's pointedly, holding it for a long moment before sitting down beside him with an audible sigh. Hunter was forced to move his arm as the wolf leaned up against him, like Hunter might fall over if there wasn't someone there to prop him up.

"That's some dog you've got there." The malamute man's voice interrupted their silent reassurances. "Jumped in to protect you the second you went down. Never seen anything like it."

"Yeah," Hunter croaked, resisting the urge to bury his face in the wolf's fur. Why did he have to be so damn big? He was taller than Hunter, sitting down, and wasn't that a weird feeling. "He's one of a kind, all right."

The other Rangers were heading straight for them. Having cleared the beach--although not without drawing a small crowd up on the road--they must be coming to check on the "civilians." Great. That would be fun.

Shane reached them first, but the others were right behind him. "Are you all right?" the Red Wind Ranger asked, and it was weird to hear Shane's too-polite tone directed at him. "Do you need someone to call an ambulance?"

Hunter barely kept himself from rolling his eyes at the other Ranger. "No, thanks," he said through clenched teeth. The malamute guy was offering him a hand, and he made himself take it. The grip steadied his balance just enough that he managed to stand on his own. The wolf was up before he was, standing alertly by his side.

"I'm fine," Hunter added, and this time malamute guy backed him up.

"We're all right," he said. "Thanks to you--and this dog here."

Shane took one look at the crowd clamoring for their attention on the road, then went down on one knee in front of the wolf. "You're a good dog," he said, patting him on the head. "Keep up the good work."

Then he stood up again, gave both of them a small salute, and turned away. The others fell in smartly behind him, except for Blake who turned and looked over his shoulder as they walked away. A moment later, though, all four of them were dark streaks that disappeared inland without another word.

Hunter glanced down. The wolf's ears were back, and not in a friendly way. He was staring in the direction those streaks had gone. There was a tiny ridge of fur running the length of his back, and Hunter really didn't want to be Shane the next time Cam saw him.

Most of the crowd up on the road seemed to be talking amongst themselves, or on cell phones, or just drifting back to their cars now that the excitement has passed. A couple climbed down over the seawall, though, and more were coming down the beach from the direction of the stairs. The woman with the notepad was in the second group.

"I'm Bill Hagner," the malamute guy was saying, and it took Hunter a moment to realize that the man was holding out his hand again. "Nice to meet you."

Was that what people did after random kelzak attacks, Hunter wondered? Introduced themselves to the other victims? He'd never had a reason to find out. Still, ignoring him now seemed rude. And he was really afraid that if he tried to leave, some of those people on the beach might follow him.

"Hunter Bradley," he said, shaking the guy's hand. He had to bite back the impulse to introduce Cam too. "Same here."

"Hello," the woman with the notepad interrupted. "Hi," she added, when they glanced at her. "I'm Cindy Lilisetti from the Harbor Herald, and I saw the Power Rangers as I was driving by... would you mind if I asked you a few questions?"

Hunter really wanted to tell her to get lost. He didn't like reporters, he didn't want to talk about the Power Rangers, and his chest felt like it had just been clawed open again except without the adrenaline to numb the pain. But again with the leaving thing. He wasn't sure it was possible to just walk away from something like this. He'd never needed to--he'd always been the one streaking off, leaving the civilians to deal with each other.

He was starting to feel a little more sympathy for them.

"Go right ahead," Bill Hagner was telling the woman. "We're happy to help."

"Did I hear you introducing yourselves just now?" Cindy asked. "Had you never met before today?"

"Sure enough. I saw Hunter's dog, here, and it reminded me so much of my own I just had to stop and chat for a little while. He was kind enough to oblige."

"Hunter Bradley?" Cindy asked, glancing at him before giving the wolf a nervous look.

He tried not to smile. He reminded himself that scaring a reporter would be a very bad thing. So to make up for it, he nodded as politely as he could and answered, "Yes, ma'am. We were out for a run when we met up with--" For one irritating moment, he couldn't come up with the man's name.

"Bill," he remembered, after a second's pause. "We were just talking about dogs when the kelzaks showed up."

"Bill Hagner, right?" Cindy was scribbling something down in her notebook. "Would you spell that for me, please?"

Bill did, and Hunter looked down as the wolf leaned a little harder against his leg. "It's all right, buddy," he said aloud. Deliberately scaring someone, no. But he didn't see anything wrong with conveying a little impatience. "We'll go in a minute."

"Buddy?" Cindy repeated, transferring her attention to him momentarily. "Is this Buddy?"

"Uh--" He couldn't very well give Cam's real name, could he. "Yeah."

"Well, Buddy," Cindy said, apparently talking to her notebook. "You might be the first dog to get a one-on-one audience with the Red Ranger. That's quite an honor."

Now Hunter really had to work at keeping a straight face. The Red Ranger. Yeah. He wondered what she'd say if she knew the Red Ranger was a skateboarder who didn't do his homework and had almost dropped out of ninja school. Cam's life was complete now that Shane had told him to "keep up the good work."

"Amazing dog," Bill was saying. "Smart. Wouldn't come near me when I called him, but he was in there swinging the second Hunter was in trouble."

"Is that right." Cindy was still writing in her notebook, but she looked over at the wolf again a second later. "And what kind of dog is Buddy? He's pretty intimidating looking. I can imagine he'd be handy in a fight."

"Oh, there's not a mean bone in his body," Bill assured her. "Malamutes are friendly dogs. People are scared of them 'cause they look so much like wolves, but they're bred to work with humans. Smart dogs. This one doesn't have any trouble telling the bad guys from the good ones."

"Did you say he was a malamute?" Cindy repeated. She was giving Hunter a doubtful look, so he nodded.

Then the wolf surprised him by getting up and pacing toward her, head low, ears down, tail hanging just above his heels as it waved gently back and forth. He looked about as unthreatening as a giant wolf could look. Cindy hesitated, but she put her pen in her other hand and offered her free hand to the wolf cautiously.

The wolf just lowered his head even further, sidling up to her and letting her pat him awkwardly on the head. He gazed up at her adoringly from under a very meek expression. He looked for all the world like he lived to have people pat him on the head. His tail continued to wag as she smiled a small but charmed smile down at him.

Good boy, Hunter thought fondly. Don't piss off the press. Cam wasn't stupid.

"Well, he certainly seems friendly," Cindy remarked. "And you say this dog attacked kelzaks?"

"Only after they'd knocked Hunter down," Bill put in. "Buddy got between them and kept 'em from getting any closer until the Power Rangers arrived."

"Were you hurt?" Cindy asked, her eyes still on the wolf. "Did the kelzaks try to grab you, or scare you off, or what? Any idea what they were after?"

"Nah," Hunter said, glancing at Bill. "Could've been anything. They just roughed us up a little, that's all. The Power Rangers showed up pretty fast."

"I've heard they have some kind of alert system," Bill remarked. "Lets 'em keep an eye on the whole city at once."

Cindy was writing again. The wolf got up when she stopped patting him and moved slowly in Bill's direction, tail wagging again. He put his head down, wearing a sort of sheepish expression when the man remarked on it. "Look at that," Bill said. "I guess I'm not so bad now, huh Buddy?"

He held out his hand, palm up, and the wolf sniffed it once. He came close enough to be patted, and Hunter noticed that Bill didn't reach for his head. His hand fell to the wolf's shoulder instead, scratching the shoulder and then climbing to the place just behind his ear when the wolf didn't object. The wolf tilted his head, leaning into the petting, and Hunter felt a flash of jealousy.

Yeah, that would be easy to explain, he thought darkly. Don't say anything. Don't say, Look, pal, that "dog" is the guy I've been pissing off for months, and if anyone gets to touch him it's me. Because that just wouldn't go over well. With any of them.

"Mommy, can I pat the dog?" The high-pitched voice came from a girl with messy pigtails, and no way, because this was ridiculous, but the wolf was just sitting there calmly like he'd had his own fan club since the day he was born.

At least the woman with the kid was a little smarter. "Sweetie, I don't think that's a good idea--" But kids never listened to their parents, kids had no fear, and this girl obviously didn't see a wolf, just a big stuffed animal that moved all by itself.

She was heading straight for them. The wolf just watched, dropping his head as she approached and wagging his tail against the hard packed sand politely. The girl patted him with little finesse and less concern, but the wolf didn't flinch. He just sat there patiently, even when she shrieked, "Ew! He's all wet!"

Hunter winced, but the girl kept right on patting. The wolf nosed her arm gently and twisted to lick her fingers when she giggled. "Nice doggie," she told him, making Hunter grit his teeth.

"Do you mind if I take a few pictures?" Cindy was asking. She'd produced a little digital camera from somewhere and the notebook was tucked into the top of her purse. "Bill? Hunter?"

"Fine with me," Bill agreed amiably.

Hunter hesitated, but what was he supposed to say? That the sensei of a local ninja academy didn't want to see his students' pictures in the paper again? That putting a picture of a wolf in the paper probably wasn't the best idea, no matter what kind of dog the reporter thought it was?

"I don't really like having my picture taken," he told her. "Not very photogenic. You understand."

"Oh, you're fine," Cindy promised, lifting the camera as she stepped back. "Stand a little closer together--there. That's good. Let's get one with Buddy too; maybe you could both kneel down next to him?"

"Come over here, sweetie," the woman with the little girl instructed. "They're trying to take a picture."

"But look, Mommy, he likes me!" the girl protested. She squatted down too, right in front of them as Cindy just kept pushing that little button on her camera. "See, he's really nice! I have a dog too," she confided to Hunter. "He's a dalmation."

"Oh yeah?" Hunter managed a half-smile because hey, she just wanted some attention. He couldn't really hold the "doggie" thing against her when she looked like she was barely in grade school. "Dalmations are nice dogs."

"His name is Sparky," the girl told him.

Yeah, that's original, he thought, before he remembered that she thought his dog's name was Buddy. "That's a good name," he said. The giant furry shape between them leaned into him, and he put a hand on the wolf's back to steady himself.

"Liney, come over here," the unidentified mother figure urged, and this time the little girl got to her feet and took a few reluctant steps back.

"My dog doesn't like to come to the beach," the girl explained. "He can't swim. He likes to ride in the car though. Once he rode all the way to Canada with us."

"That's a pretty long way," Hunter agreed, shifting in his crouch to get more comfortable. His arm slid around the wolf's back, which at least was drier than his paws. "How many pictures do you need, anyway?" he asked the reporter.

"Oh, I think that's enough," she said, not lowering her camera. "They probably won't even make it into the paper, but just in case. Liney, you'd better ask your mom if it's okay to print your picture."

The girl didn't seem surprised that Cindy had caught her name. "Is it, Mommy? Did you see, she took a picture of me!"

She'd taken a lot more than one, Hunter thought. He wondered what happened to the pictures that weren't used. He still wasn't thrilled about the idea of their picture being in the paper in the first place.

"It's all right with me," her mom answered. "Which paper are you with? And what did you say your name was?"

"Cindy Lilisetti." The reporter was scanning through her pictures now, but she took a moment to offer her hand to Liney's mom. Interesting, Hunter noted; she hadn't shaken his hand. "I'm with the Harbor Herald, and I just happened to be driving by. Can I get your daughter's name for the picture caption?"

"I'm Liney," the girl said proudly. She clearly sensed a new audience. "I'm six!"

Hunter took advantage of the distraction to stand up, thinking maybe they could make their escape. The wolf jumped up as soon as he moved, tail curved above his back, watching Hunter intently and doing a decent job of conveying his own impatience. Hunter wasn't the only one who saw it.

"Looks like he's ready to go," Bill remarked, taking a step back to give them some room. "That right, Buddy?"

The wolf glanced at him, then turned his stare back on Hunter. He didn't need any convincing. "Yeah, we'd better go. It's, uh..." He couldn't say "sorry" for the kelzak thing, or "thanks" for the malamute thing, because either one would be incriminating.

"It was good talking to you," he finished lamely. "Take care of yourself."

"Yeah." Bill seemed to think it a perfectly normal thing to say. He looked down at the wolf, still watching their conversation. "Nice to meet you, Buddy." The wolf stared back at him, not blinking, and Bill nodded.

"You got a good one there," he told Hunter. "Take care of him."

Hunter's mouth quirked inadvertently. "As much as he lets me," he replied. The wolf's head swung back to him, yellow eyes looking for his, but Bill just nodded again.

"All you can do," the man agreed. "See ya 'round, Buddy."

Cindy was still deep in conversation with Liney's mom, and Hunter knew better than to draw a reporter's attention on purpose. So he just gave Bill a half-wave and turned away, heading back up the beach toward where they'd left the truck. The wolf bounded up beside him a moment later.

There were still some rubberneckers on the beach, but most of them left him alone and Cindy didn't come running when she realized they were leaving, so that worked out okay. The wolf didn't leave his side again. Like Hunter, he seemed more interested in getting out of here than he was in the ocean.

Kinda too bad, Hunter thought, but only to himself.

They got up the stairs and back to the truck without getting into trouble, and maybe that surprised him a little. No matter what he'd said to Cam beforehand, he hadn't expected to see anyone else on this part of the beach. Or if he had, he'd thought they would be at a distance, too far away to think twice about the silhouettes of a guy and a "dog" down by the water.

He hadn't counted on people actually coming up to talk to him. He hadn't expected to draw a crowd for any reason. And he definitely hadn't seen that camera thing coming.

So much for his life getting back to normal. He held the door open for the wolf, who leapt into the cab with a fluid motion that Hunter didn't know whether to admire or resent. How the hell was he still in such good shape when Hunter couldn't do anything lately without getting mauled for his trouble?

As he settled into the driver's seat, though, he took it back. The wolf was trying to get comfortable and--as far as Hunter could tell--failing miserably. He actually squeezed down onto the floor of the cab for a moment, turning around and trying it out before jumping back up onto the seat. Finally he just sat down, shifting uncomfortably as he tried to brace his front paws against something.

"Hey, at least they won't bust you for not wearing a seatbelt," Hunter muttered, mindful of the open windows as he started the engine. "Just think how many laws don't apply to you right now."

The wolf glared at him, and Hunter smirked. It wasn't all bad, this mute-Cam situation. Yeah, it was seriously screwing with his social life, but on the other hand, he could snark about it all he wanted because what was Cam gonna do? Bite him? Again?

He saw two of the gawkers from the beach getting into their own vehicle a few cars down, and he sighed as he backed out onto the road. "Might want to stay like that for a few minutes," he said, under his breath. "Someone's following us."

Of course, the wolf's muzzle swung around so he could peer out the back. Hunter checked the rearview, then looked to his right. "Want that window open?" he asked.

The wolf seemed to consider that. Then, settling his head on the back of the passenger seat, he whined softly. It was probably more of a "yes" than a "no," since if he didn't want it open he didn't have to answer at all.

Hunter reached back and slid the window open for him.

The wolf lifted his head from the seat and leaned over to lick Hunter's cheek.

"See, that's just weird," Hunter complained. He kept his eyes on the road and his mind on anything else, because he had not just been kissed. Licking and kissing were not the same thing. And he really didn't want to be turned on by a wolf.

"I mean," he continued, "it's not like I don't get the difference. I get that you're..." He tried to figure out what he was saying for a long moment before he gave up.

"Okay, you know what?" he said. "No, I don't. I don't get it. You're all--" He took one hand off the steering wheel to gesture irritably. "Touchy-feely as a wolf, right? Then, when you're you..."

He trailed off, looking in the rearview mirror to check on the car behind them. Close enough that he didn't think they were trying to be inconspicuous. Maybe they really had just happened to leave the beach at the same time.

He couldn't help noticing that the wolf had shifted, muzzle still resting on the back of the seat but his head canted toward Hunter now. He was watching Hunter, staring at him in a way Cam just didn't. Or at least, in a way he hadn't, until very recently.

And that was it, wasn't it. Cam had been just as physical as a human, right up until this morning. "Okay, yeah," he said slowly. "You were like that when you were human, too. Until today."

He glanced over at the wolf again, then away. Watching Cam ignore him on the mats this morning been disturbing and hard and lonely. But he'd seen it coming, and he'd been able to walk away. Cam had reacted just the way he'd expected.

The wolf hadn't. The wolf hadn't changed. The wolf was all over him, and he didn't get it.

"Today you're acting like you again," he muttered. With a quick look at the animal beside him, he added, "The wolf isn't. It's, uh... kinda weird."

The understatement of the year, he thought grimly.

The wolf whined a little, turning around in the passenger seat, giving the back window a final disgusted glance. Hunter didn't miss the pathetic gaze that came to rest on him, and he shook his head as he stared through the windshield. "Yeah, I know. Shouldn't talk to you when you can't talk back."

The wolf shifted, trying to position his front paws between the two seats, and finally he just flopped down, curling a little awkwardly in the available space. He heaved a heavy sigh before lowering his head to rest his muzzle on Hunter's leg. Spacewise, maybe it even made sense, but this was still Cam, and no matter what he looked like he couldn't ignore the fact that it was really Cam's head on his thigh.

"Yeah, that," Hunter muttered, careful to keep his eyes on the road. "That's exactly what I'm talking about."

The weight on his leg vanished as the wolf lifted his head. He tried not to look down, but he couldn't help it. He caught the wolf's hurt expression, sad and confused and inquisitive all at once--or maybe Hunter just couldn't interpret it, he didn't know.

"Never mind," he said with a sigh. "Tell you later."

The wolf hesitated. Then, carefully, he laid his head alongside Hunter's leg. His muzzle was too close to the stick shift, though, and he seemed to realize it. He tried to squirm backwards, leaving room for his head on the seat, but his hind leg slipped on the edge of the seat. He scrambled up into a sitting position hastily, and Hunter felt like a bully.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said. "My bad. Just do whatever's comfortable, okay?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the wolf's head swing toward the back of the truck again. He checked the rearview automatically, but the car that had been behind them at the beach was gone. Unfortunately, there was someone else behind them, and there were plenty of cars passing in the other direction. They were skirting the edge of town on their way into the mountains, but there was enough traffic that having a shapeshifter in the front seat could still get them noticed.

Finally, the wolf settled down again. His head rested gingerly on Hunter's leg--closer to his knee than it had been before, Hunter noticed, and that pretty much answered his question. Yeah, Cam knew what he was doing. Whether it seemed more natural to the wolf or not, it wasn't like he didn't know.

The first time they turned a corner, Hunter realized he was going to have to rest his arm on the wolf's shoulders in order to shift. The wolf didn't move, though, and as the truck sped up again it didn't seem so strange to keep his hand where it was. So they drove like that for a while, with the wolf's head on his leg and his hand on the wolf's back.

Only when the truck turned off onto the logging roads did the wolf sit up, struggling a little to keep his balance on the bumpy trail. The logging roads were as much privacy as they'd get short of bushwhacking into the wilderness... and the whole not talking thing had to be getting old. Especially for someone who counted verbal sarcasm as his main mode of communication.

Between one breath and the next, the wolf was gone and Cam was sitting next to him in the passenger seat.

It was weirdly like a wall going up between them. No matter how much he reminded himself that the wolf was Cam, and Cam was the wolf, they were still different in his mind. One was weaker somehow, confused, stuck... in need of protection. The other was dangerous, unpredictable, and not someone he wanted to piss off.

Funny how Cam's ability to talk back made him the dangerous one in Hunter's mind. Maybe that said something about him, he didn't know. Or about Cam.

Cam was rubbing his hands together irritably. It seemed strange, but it wasn't until he lifted his hands to his head and started messing up his hair that Hunter dared to look over at him. Definitely not a typical Cam gesture. "What's wrong with you?" he asked gruffly.

"I'm covered with sand," Cam muttered. "It felt better as a wolf."

Before Hunter could process that, Cam turned a penetrating gaze on him. "Are you all right?" he demanded.

Hunter frowned, trying to keep his eyes on the road so he wouldn't have to look at Cam. He knew perfectly well that his stare was the same, wolf or not. "What are you talking about?"

He thought he could hear Cam roll his eyes. "I'm talking about the fact that you just suffered blunt trauma on top of serious lacerations and almost passed out afterwards. I don't know how you're even driving now."

"I didn't pass out," Hunter snapped. "So I dropped my guard. One punch isn't going to send me to the emergency room."

"You're bleeding again," Cam informed him. "I can tell. Even Shane was worried about you."

Hunter snorted. "Shane doesn't even know what happened. And since when do you care what Shane thinks, anyway? He called you a good dog!"

"He was playing a part," Cam said stiffly. "Just like we were."

Hunter banged his hand against the steering wheel in frustration. "I wasn't! You're not a dog, and I'm not gonna treat you like one! That's stupid!"

"I look like a wolf, Hunter! It was safer for them to think I'm a dog, and if that means I have to let women and small children fawn over me then that's what it means! If that means I have to let Shane pat me on the head--"

"Shane knows better!" Hunter shouted. "What the hell was he thinking!"

Cam didn't answer, folding his arms over his chest, and Hunter thought he saw him shake out of the corner of his eye. He frowned over at Cam before something occurred to him. "Are you wet?"

"Gee, let me think," Cam retorted. "I just jumped into the ocean. Why would I be wet?"

Hunter shook his head, reaching one hand back to fish around behind his seat. He couldn't find it without turning around, though, so he just jerked his thumb at the back. "I've got a sweatshirt back there, if you want it."

Cam didn't have to be told twice. He must be cold. He rummaged around in the back, unhindered by a seatbelt, and after a moment he came up with the crimson and grey pullover. He dropped it in his lap and wriggled out of his long-sleeved shirt, but Hunter was totally unprepared to see him go for the t-shirt he wore underneath and peel it off over his head. He kept his eyes on the road until Cam had pulled the sweatshirt on in its place.

"Thanks," Cam said with a sigh. He even sounded like he meant it. "It seemed like fun at the time. I didn't think about what it would mean when I changed back."

Hunter opened his mouth, but he wasn't sure he could ask without it sounding weird. Thinking of Cam's clothes made him think of the amulet, though, and that reminded him of something he really shouldn't have been without. "Hey, where's my morpher, anyway? Did you hide it somewhere?"

Cam shifted, trying to find something to do with his wet clothes that wasn't tossing them on the floor. "You couldn't have used it on the beach anyway," he muttered. "People were watching."

"Yeah, well, regardless," Hunter retorted. "I'm gonna need it eventually."

"It's in the lab." Cam gave up and threw his wet shirts in the back. "I'll get it for you when we get back."

No apology? No acknowledgement that hey, maybe he shouldn't have stolen Hunter's morpher in the first place? "Could you maybe pretend you're sorry about all this?" Hunter blurted out.

"What?" Cam was immediately defensive. "Being a wolf? There's not much I can do about it now."

"Not being a wolf," Hunter snapped. "Acting like one. Hiding my morpher, knocking me around, pretending to be all..." He gestured helplessly, groping for words. "Cute." That wasn't it. "Fawning." No. Cam's fault, for using the word before.

Don't say "sexy," he thought, half a second before he did. "Sexy. I mean--" He gripped the steering wheel tighter, wondering what the hell he was doing. "Geez. Never mind."

"I didn't hide your morpher," Cam said stiffly. "I forgot it, all right? It's been in the lab since Blake charged in there on Tuesday and dragged you off to bandage you up." He threw Hunter a sidelong glance as he said it, and Hunter's eyes flicked to his right wrist.

The thing about getting slashed across the chest, he thought, was that it made the gash Cam had put in his arm feel like nothing. He had a new wrap around his lower arm, leaving his hand and elbow free, and the bandage was invisible under his long sleeves. The way things were going, he might be wearing long sleeves for a while.

"Fine," Hunter said abruptly. "So my morpher's in the lab. Great."

Cam was staring out the window now. He didn't say anything, and Hunter wasn't even gonna try after the whole "sexy" thing. What was wrong with him, anyway? Wolves weren't sexy. If he really had a thing for Cam, which he was not in any way prepared to repeat aloud, he should've had a thing for him the way he was before. Normal. Human. Geeky. Dangerous.

Hot.

His hands clenched on the wheel again, because shit. Why couldn't he stop thinking that? He'd as much as admitted it last night, and he'd been kicking himself for it ever since. He'd put it down to the rush of the fight, the battle of wills, Cam's totally unexpected come-on... anything at all to avoid admitting that the desperation he felt wasn't totally about control.

"It's easier to talk to you when I'm a wolf," Cam muttered, still watching the trees bounce by through the open window.

Hunter shot him a resentful look. "You don't talk."

There was a brief pause, but all Cam said was, "You do."

Yeah. He talked a little too much. There was nothing wrong with him that shutting up wouldn't fix.

"What do you want me to say?" he asked aloud.

He'd never been very good at shutting up.

Cam was shaking his head. "I don't know," he muttered, drawing his arms across his chest again and making the sweatshirt fold around him in a particularly harmless looking way. For just a moment, he looked like the last person on the planet who would have anything to do with wolves, or evil ninjas, or guys who didn't know whether they wanted to kiss him or hit him.

"I don't get you," Hunter grumbled, fixing his attention on the dead-end turn-off coming up on their right. Tori's van was already parked there, taking up the good flat area beside the ruts. "If you want something from me, tell me what it is."

"I'm trying," Cam snapped. "I've been trying for days! How much more obvious do you want me to be?"

"Obvious enough that I know you want me, not the stupid alpha wolf!" Hunter exclaimed. "So you're hot! So what! You think I'm gonna take advantage of your damn wolf's dominance issues just to--to..."

His brain finally caught up with his mouth, and he slammed the gear shift into second before turning off the engine. Damn it. Did he have to say everything he thought?

"It's not about dominance," Cam said in the cab's sudden quiet. "I'm not--I'm not trying to win anything. I'm just trying to..."

"What?" Hunter demanded. He stared out the windshield at the forest, determinedly plotting the best course to avoid wear that would eventually form a path from this spot.

"I'm just trying to tell you how I feel," Cam said softly. There was a brief hesitation, and then, "I'm not very good at it."

Hunter closed his eyes. What the hell was he supposed to say to that? And really, which was worse: wanting something he couldn't have, or having something he shouldn't want? He didn't know. He was sure Cam didn't know. He wasn't even sure he wanted to know.

"Yeah, well," he said, after a long moment. He opened his eyes and reached for the keys, because of course he wanted to know. He just wasn't sure he'd like the answer. "Join the club."

His hand was on the door when he heard it. He paused, glancing back at Cam as he answered the summons from his morpher. What, were they not moving fast enough for Sensei?

It was Blake. And yeah, they definitely weren't.

"Where are you guys?" Blake demanded. "Are you all right?"

"We're fine," Cam said curtly. "We're in the mountains now, just parking the truck. We'll be there soon."

"You sure?" Blake insisted. "Hunter okay?"

Cam gave him a pointed look, and Hunter spoke up. "I'm cool, bro. Reporter showed up at the beach, gave us some trouble. That's all."

"A reporter?" Blake's voice repeated. "Should we turn on the news?"

"Nah." Hunter grimaced. "Wait till the paper comes out tomorrow."

"We're on our way," Cam said firmly. He dropped the amulet, which Hunter assumed meant Blake had just been cut off, and pushed his own door open. He did grab his shirts from the back before he got out, but he didn't say anything in the process.

Hunter raised an eyebrow. Blake and Cam had been pissy with each other the night before too, but he'd figured it was a wolf thing. Cam had always gotten along okay with Blake in the past. Last night he'd just seemed... jealous, suddenly. And Blake had picked up on it, subconsciously or not, and given him attitude right back.

Still, should've been over by today, right?

He must have hesitated too long, because Cam was at his door a moment later. "You okay?" he wanted to know. Just like Blake.

"Yeah," Hunter said impatiently, pushing the door open. "I said I'm fine." Cam backed up, but not very far, and he watched as Hunter climbed out. Stiffer than he should have been, even when he tried to move normally. Cam's critical gaze caught every wince.

Hunter sighed as he slammed the door shut behind him. He'd figured things would be different today. He hadn't realized how little it would matter once the damage had been done. Maybe Cam was right after all. Maybe dark ninja magic didn't just disappear.

Or maybe the things it revealed just couldn't be hidden again.