Love to Bear: A Werebear Shifter Romance (4 page)

I gathered up our plates and cleaned them. Sam lingered
at the table, humming nervously to herself and finishing her tea.

She looked at me with big scared eyes when I started to
get ready to go. Outside, the autumn light was fading fast, giving
way to nighttime's vast darkness.

“
Don't worry. I'll only be gone for a little
while. Stay here and wait for me. I'll come for you as soon as I know
the coast is clear.”

I rose, threw my leather vest on, and headed out into
the growing dusk.

“
Don? Is that you?” I heard her voice
seeping through the heavy door, gentle and scared.

“
It's me,” I said, pushing my way inside the
cabin. “Are you all ready to go?”

She looked out into the night and folded her arms. Her
backpack was slung over her shoulders, a piece of the human world
that had to return to it – just like Sam herself.

“
Yeah. We're really going to make it through all
the trees and hills out there?” My heightened hearing heard the
loud force of her swallow.

“
I'll be with you the whole time. Once we're
outside Horseshoe Creek, we can go at your pace. I'll take you all
the way to the nearest road, where cars and trucks pass by at night.
Won't let you out of my sight until we wave one down. A good one,
someone we can trust to carry you home.”

But nobody too handsome either. I'll be damned if I'm
giving you to anyone else.

She managed a smile, slightly comforted. I could do
better.

“
And here.” I walked over to her, took off
my vest jacket, and wrapped it around her shoulders. “You'll
need this more than I do. I've lived with this mountain wind all my
life. Grizzly Bone people are used to it.”

The meager smile blossomed into a grin. She tipped her
head, as if to say,
Thank you. I really mean it.

With Sam close behind me, I opened the door and we
headed out into the night. The distant bonfires and faint electric
lights shone in the windows of the surrounding cabins.

Most of my neighbors were home, enjoying the night's
solitude, or else turning in for a long rest after feasting on elk
and fish. We didn't hibernate like ordinary bears, but the cold made
us more lethargic, sapping our energy and leading the clan's chubbier
members to easily over-stuff their bellies.

“
It's just along this path. We're heading straight
for the ether.” Sam stepped up until she was at my side. I saw
lines of worry cross-crossing her beautiful face, deep cracks in
splendid alabaster.

“
You won't feel a thing. We pass through it all
the time without much more than a tickle..”

“
I don't know...it sounds pretty serious.”

I waited until we quickly walked several more steps
through the woods. Down the hill we descended, I caught my first
glimpse of it.

The otherworldly fog glowed below us. Its soft strands
leaped out like a gentle sea, glittering and tinted in its usual
light blue luminescence. If it were any other night, I would've
stopped and admired the beauty.

“
You see that?” I said, stopping and guiding
her eyes with my hand. “That's it. Think of it like a veil
between two rooms. It doesn't feel like anything but a pinprick of
ice.”

Sam stared into it before she spoke. “It's
beautiful. Like the northern lights. I've only seen them once, way up
in Canada on one of my Mom's business trips.”

I looked up into the wide, dark sky. It was a moonless
night, and cloud cover around the mountains made the stars sparse. I
shrugged, wondering what it would be like if the ether rose up into
the sky in slick bluish waves the way she described.

“
Now that you've seen it, you know we're almost
clear.”

Almost. Won't do any good to mention the possibility
of running into anyone out here. Or anything.

Real grizzly bears were a worry for us as well as
humans. The animals didn't take too kindly to our clan, regardless of
whether we were in human or bear form.

Like us, their senses were sharp. And they knew we
weren't like them, no matter how much we looked like it.

“
Okay. Let's keep moving.” Sam said it.

I sensed the energy rising in her and smiled. She wasn't
afraid anymore – not much, anyway. I reached out and grabbed
her hand, fanning the courage rising inside her.

The bluish haze moved closer and closer. I sucked in a
breath, preparing to pass through the icy mist, whispering to her to
do the same.

Then I got bowled over by what felt like a sack of
bricks. The darkness, the trees, the ether, Sam's beautiful body –
everything splintered in my vision.

It whirled and whirled like a puzzle busted up into
individual jigsaws. I fell to the ground and tried to breathe. But I
couldn't.

III: Fate Is a Harsh Warden
(Sam)

One minute, we were fine. With my cold hand wrapped in
Don's warmth, I was ready to pass through the rippling ether,
transfixed by its kaleidoscope of blue tints.

Then his hand was torn from mine. I started screaming
before I saw the two hulking bears on top of him, filling the forest
with their roars.

“
Don!” I screamed.

I couldn't do anything except watch the horror. My knees
gave out and I fell onto them, wincing at the sting of gravel.

It
took me more than a minute of bleary terror to wonder why they
weren't tearing into him. I realized there weren't two, but
three
roars, and three bears.

They were all rolling on the ground growling and
snapping their jaws. Rich, dark fur oscillated like an avalanche of
furry rugs. Eventually, the big bear underneath the other two that
had to be Don – or so I hoped – let out a hellish roar
that echoed through the trees.

I did the only thing a sane girl could. On the ground,
all my limbs paralyzed, I wrapped them snug around me in a ball.

Please. Don't let them hurt me. And don't let them
hurt Don either.

I'd never been very religious. Right now, that didn't
matter.

I tipped my head up to kiss the frigid mountain air,
sending my plea to the heavens, praying there was someone or
something up there to receive it.

The roaring stopped. I looked up, and Don was naked
again, bowed up and flexing all his gorgeous muscles. Two other men
with leaner bodies stood at his side, equally bare. All three had
small cuts and bruises peppering their smooth skin.

“
Rufus. Alex. Get back.” Don growled. His
voice rumbled like an earthquake centered in his throat.

I shuddered. He was in man form, but the noise sounded
more like it belonged to a fearsome grizzly.

“
What the hell were you doing out here? We almost
ripped you clean in two,” one of the nude men said, an older
man with sandy reddish hair.

“
You're not supposed to be watching this land
tonight. That's our job,” the younger man pipped up. “But
here you were, with this human.”

Human.
It sounded like a swear word in his arrogant voice. I wrinkled my
nose and struggled to stand.

“
Sam! Don't move,” Don ordered. The other
two shifters growled, animal-like, though not as fierce as Don's.

“
Just let her pass, Rufus. I was bringing her back
to her people.” Don stared at the older man, eyes glistening
with a darkness that matched the night.

“
Always thought there was something a little off
about you, Flood. Now, we know!” Rufus shook his head. “Imagine
that. Fraternizing with humans. Bringing them where no man – or
woman – is ever meant to tread. The Elders are gonna love to
hear about this...”

“
Emmerick's gonna tear him a new one.” The
younger one named Alex snickered.

“
Just let me go.” I stepped toward them,
trying my very best not to let my voice shake. I failed miserably.

The shifters who were dangerously close to Don looked
like at me the same way a man eyes a pesky fly on his sandwich.

“
We can't do that, female,” Rufus said.
“You'll have to come with us. There's no telling what you've
seen or done here.”

“
Yeah! It's not like Don's being very
forthcoming.” Alex stepped toward me and grabbed my arms before
I could do anything else.

I didn't struggle. I watched Don turn away from me,
holding in his fury.

He wanted to fight them. I just knew it. He wanted to
claw and bite and bury them in the earth. Probably not in one piece.
And he had the power to do it – but not without taking on a lot
of damage and endangering me in the process.

I just have to follow your lead. I still trust you,
Don. We'll figure something out.

My heart sighed as we began to move back the way we
came. I ignored the bristly nakedness of the other two men.

Instead, I just watched Don, his hard legs twisting in
the earth as he moved himself forward with Rufus at his side. My eyes
wandered up to his broad shoulders and back down his flanks, stopping
to admire the rock hard hills where his thighs split.

Under any other circumstances, it would've been a wild
treat to stare at his ass. I partly regretted not seeing it earlier
and sampling him to the fullest, if only my bad thoughts hadn't
intruded.

It was a long, dark walk back to Horseshoe Creek. We
passed several cabins, the only light glowing from the darkened
hills. New clouds swept in, blotting out the stars.

After passing the first window, I refused to let myself
look inside anymore. Shifter men and women inside held various forms,
at their tables and in their easy chairs, sometimes just staring out
into the lonely night.

I never imagined how unnerving it could be to see a bear
inside a house, staring through the dim lit windows, with eyes so
unnaturally human.

Jesus. Is this the way Don looks at me in his bear
form?

I didn't know, and I barely remembered what he'd looked
like during our first rough encounter. Part of me didn't want to
know.

We marched on, past the cabins. Our guards pointed us
toward a large brick building across a stone bridge.

Inside, through the window, I saw it. Don rolled his
shoulders, forcing back a shiver of rage.

I just trembled with fear, staring through the frosty
glass, eyeing the biggest bear silhouette I'd seen yet. It was
slumped against the wall, near a table, as if it had devoured a huge
meal and fallen asleep.

Before I knew it, we were across the bridge. Every step
toward the wide door became harder. My feet were like cement blocks.

“
Come on, female. Move it!” Alex barked.
“It's not like this is any more pleasant for us. Emmerick
doesn't like surprises. And you're the biggest one we've brought him
for years.”

My eyes met the shifter's glowing gaze. I felt like
hitting him with a quip or maybe spitting in his face.

If only I weren't so damned scared.

Don let out a low growl. Ignoring him, Rufus ran several
feet ahead, reached for the Medieval looking iron loops attached to
the door, and began to pull it open.

“
Hmm?” The huge bear against the wall
snorted and blinked, waking up from a long nap. Its raspy murmur
sounded weirdly human.

“
I'm very sorry to wake you, Elder. It's just
that...” Rufus paused, sifting through his words. “We
found this human in our borders. And Don Flood was with her.”

The bear snorted its heavy breath again. Slowly, it
ambled up and rounded the table, huge grizzly paws thudding on the
wooden floor.

And honestly, this place – headquarters? Town
hall? – was creepy enough without the biggest, fattest grizzly
I'd ever seen prowling around. Bones and skins from huge elks, bears,
and cougars lined the walls.

Behind the Elder bear, a row of pews and benches were
set up, like the kind in a courtroom. I swallowed hard. If this was a
court, then the justice was going to be
very
different from
anything the human world offered.

Emmerick came closer and closer. He made a straight line
for me. I dug my feet into the ground, too tired to shake.

I'm too exhausted to be afraid anymore. Let's just
get this over with.

I wasn't sure what came over me. Instead of trembling
and bawling helplessly like I did before, I stood a little
straighter, and folded my arms.

For a second, pride rippled through me. I felt strong
and ready. I felt it, but of course I wasn't.

The second the big bear pushed his muzzle toward my face
and oozed his stinking breath onto me, I lost it. I reared back,
blubbering like a baby. If Alex hadn't caught me, I would've run.

“
You see what we're talking about, Elder. The
female despises us. You can smell it on her. Doesn't explain why she
seems to like Don, but I'm sure we'll get to that soon.”