Bearly Camping

by Lynn Katzenmeyer

  ​When there was a break in the well-wishers, I ran from the pub. Finally out in the night air I could breathe again.

  ​“You okay?”

  ​“Oh Amber, thank god,” I turned and ran to my best friend, “Something terrible has happened, I need to find Ebsen. Do you know where he is?”

  ​“Whoa, breathe Souli, tell me what’s wrong?”

  ​I gave her a quick retelling of events. If I could trust anyone, it was Amber. I mean she took Ebsen shopping for plaid panties for heaven’s sake.

  ​Amber nodded and listened to my tale of woe and when I reached Sig’s proposal, her face hardened.

  ​“That son of a bitch,” she muttered.

  ​“Yeah, I know to just spring it on me in the middle of a crowded pub-“I agreed.

  ​Amber shook her head, “No, not him, I mean obviously him. But this is on Art. He had to have agreed for Sig to propose to you, or he wouldn’t have done it. You’re a part of WAZ neutral territory now, shifters from other packs can’t just come in and whisk you away. There are channels and approvals. Particularly because you’re human.”

  ​“Art... Art did this?”

  ​Amber wiped the tears off my face, “Let’s talk to Ethan, he knows everything that goes around here.”

  ​She looped her arm through mine and pulled me toward the AVC. The door to the pub opened when we were midway across the yard and the din of celebration echoed through the otherwise quiet night.

  ​“I think she’s out here!” Sig’s mom shouted.

  ​A moment later, Sig burst from the pub running over to me, a wide grin on his face, “You forgot your ring.”

  ​“Want me to tell him off?” Amber asked.

  ​“No, I got this.” I met Sig halfway.

  ​“Who’s your friend?” he asked. If he was worried about what was happening, his tone didn’t indicate it. He was casual, happy even.

  ​“Sig, I’m not going to marry you,” I said.

  ​He chuckled, “Just because I’m a shifter doesn’t mean we have to go whole hog into mating. I know your mom’s been angling for a winter wedding.”

  ​“I’m not mating you either.”

  ​“What? But… I don’t understand,” he said, his shoulders sagged, “We’re so good together. I love you. And now we can finally be together.”

  ​“You lied to me for five years.”

  ​“I had no choice,” he argued, “If I told you and you didn’t take it well, the councils would have killed you.”

  ​“So you thought I wouldn’t love you if I knew you were a bear?” I asked.

  ​“I didn’t know and-“

  ​“You didn’t want to risk it,” I finished for him, “So for five years you shared my home, my bed, and my life. I gave you everything and you hid from me. How do you expect me to ever trust you?”

  ​“Souli, it’s complicated.”

  ​“The past is complicated, our future isn’t,” I said, “We’re done, Sig. I’m sorry.”

  I hurried back to Amber who wrapped a supportive arm around my waist, “You did good Souli.”

  “How did my life get so complicated in such a short amount of time?” I asked her.

  “Life can’t be simple when people turn into animals,” she laughed. The clattering of pots and pans echoed through the empty dining room of the AVC. The kitchen crew was hard at work doing dishes and prepping for morning service.

  “Ethan! Jamie!” Amber hollered.

  A moment later, Ethan popped his head over the salad bar, “What’s up?”

  “You heard anything about Art approving a mating request?”

  “Oh, for Souli?” Ethan asked, “Yeah, apparently he got a complaint from a visitor about having an unclaimed human on staff.”

  “Why didn’t he tell me?” I asked.

  Ethan shrugged, “Probably figured you’d freak out if he did.”

  “Freak out? Of course, I’m going to freak out. He expects me to marry my ex-boyfriend and doesn’t even warn me?”

  ​“Well its that or die, so…” Ethan said.

  “Oh come on, you can’t just drop a bomb on her like that so casually,” Amber chided.

  “Don’t shoot the messenger,” he muttered, “You asked what I heard, I told you. Unless Souli mates someone from WAZ, ex-boyfriend is probably the best option.”

  “But why would they kill me? I don’t understand. I can work here just fine unmated.”

  “Old shifters are stuck in their ways, and they’re the ones with all the power,” Amber remarked, “You’re still going to the back country this weekend right?”

  I nodded.

  “Good, you do that, I’ll see what I can find out here,” she said, “Maybe we can figure out someone who’d be willing to mate you.”

  “I don’t want to force anyone into that,” I told her, “But thanks anyway.”

  ​“We’ll figure something out, Souli,” she promised, “Go camping, enjoy the woods, come back with a clear head. I’ll guard your escape so ex-bearfriend doesn’t follow you.”

  “Thanks, Amber,” I gave her a small hug, “If you see Ebsen, can you-“

  She nodded, “I’ll talk to him.”

  Chapter 13

  I bolted back to my cabin. I ran upstairs and grabbed my shower caddy and dirty laundry. I ran and showered first. For the first time since the new staffers arrived, it was empty. Thank the universe for small miracles. I washed my hair twice and used an entire bar of soap washing the rest of myself. I next ran to the laundry. I doubled the amount of detergent. I even washed Ebsen’s shirt, I didn’t want to take any risks.

  It was nearly 4am, the camp wasn’t quiet anymore. I passed a few of the kitchen crew as they went to prepare breakfast. Crap. I wasn’t supposed to be on campus when the families were here. I ran back to my cabin and packed my camping gear. I didn’t get to purchase a pop tent, but I could sleep outside for a few nights, right? I loaded up with snacks and bundled up. I set out and was on the trail toward the waterfalls.

  I passed Ebsen’s cabin and my heart ached. I walked up to the door and knocked. He wasn’t there. I let myself in. He hadn’t been back. My note was still on the table untouched. I laid down on his bed and fell asleep.

  I woke up late in the afternoon, Ebsen still had not returned. I returned his freshly washed shirt to his closet and stole one of the one’s I’d repaired. I put it on and replaced my pack. I was going to continue my hike.

  I couldn’t remember precisely the trails to get to the falls, but I had time. I was officially in the backcountry. None of the alphas had approved the children to go on those. I hiked for hours. The elevation burning my thighs and I relished in the heat. I was sure I was on the correct trail now. I missed Yuri and his fluffy butt.

  I heard the falls before I saw them. They weren’t as strong as they had been when I first saw them in April. The spring melt was done and there hadn’t been a good rain in weeks. I took off Ebsen’s shirt and sat down, basking in the late afternoon sun.

  I set up a tarp to block the wind and another tarp to set my sleeping bag on. Darkness fell and it was getting cold, early June was a fickle bitch in the Northwoods, it could be high 70s all day and drop into the 30s at night. I knew better than to be out here. I was hastily packed. But what other choice did I have?

  I bundled up in my warm clothes and put Ebsen’s shirt back on. I didn’t dare start a fire, I wasn’t given permission to camp, I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. So, I just shivered. God I was so stupid. I knew better than to camp like this. I could be in serious trouble. But it was several hour hike back to the nearest cabin. Unable to change my current predicament, I looked up at marveled at the sky. The solstice was just a few short weeks away. The sky would officially be summer, and I would be claimed or dead.

  Richie wouldn’t be so bad, I reasoned to myself, he was handsome, and kind from what I’ve seen. And my body reacted to him in unnatural ways. He was bossy though. And he had a life in Boston, he was impo
rtant, other people relied on him. I’d have to move to Boston. Sig wouldn’t be horrible either. I would just have to be firmer in my demands. I would have to take charge. I’d have to force him to move where I wanted to be. He’d have to move here.

  I started crying. I wish the world didn’t require sacrifice. Why couldn’t it be easy? Why couldn’t two people meet, be friends, fall in love, and just fit together.

  “I miss you Yuri,” I said to the black river, “This weekend sucked, and I missed you. I missed you so much.”

  I was shivering, “God Ebsen would be so mad at me right now. Freezing in the backcountry. No one knows I’m out here. God I’m stupid. So stupid.”

  I bundled into my sleeping bag and shivered. The wind was picking up, “Fuck Souli, you didn’t even check the forecast,” I mutter to myself. And it started to rain.

  I managed to fall asleep at some point in the night. At some point after a wall of warm fur covered me. I woke to a sky of tawny fur and the sound of a snorting grizzly.

  “Yuri?” I whisper carefully petting his chest, “Is it really you?”

  A large wet nose pressed to my neck and I smiled, “I missed you teddy bear.” I was still cold, I rolled over shivering. I fell asleep again.

  I woke up in a warm bed with heavy blankets on me. I groaned. My body ached.

  “Go back to sleep, Firebug,” warm breath said on my neck.

  “Ebsen?” I turned around; it was him. I wrapped my arms around him, “It’s really you. Oh, I missed you so much.”

  His body relaxed in my embrace. Had he been worried? I buried my face in his chest, “You ran out before I could explain I’m so sorry.”

  He wrapped one of his arms under me and wrapped the other one over my back and pulled me closer. I felt his chin on my crown and he sighed.

  “Why were you out in the back country without a tent in a rainstorm?” he asked. His voice was quiet, but there was an unfamiliar edge to it. “You weren’t supposed to head out there until tonight.”

  I sank into him, “Sig’s pack showed up early.”

  Ebsen stiffened, but I couldn’t stop from explaining the whole thing. There was so much that happened, and he hadn’t been there. “It’s a long story that culminated in him proposing, me running out of the AVC in tears and grabbing what I could as quickly as possible. Apparently, someone found out that I’m an unclaimed human on WAZ land and they’re trying to convince Art to send me away.”

  Ebsen growled.

  I started sobbing unable to control it, “The council or whatever they are, says I have to be claimed by the solstice. Sig’s alpha or whatever they’re called petitioned to have Sig has too. I... I ....Oh god.”

  Ebsen’s entire body was rumbling his skin was bubbling, “Eb- are you ok?” fur sprouted from every inch of him and he roared. Ebsen’s strong hands at my back turned to claws tearing my layers of clothes and digging into my skin. My vision blurred in pain as they raked away from me. I heard a bone rattling roar competing with my own wail of pain.

  My back hurt and I could feel blood leaking through the holes in my shirt. I wasn’t sure what exactly just happened. One-minute Ebsen was cuddling me in his tent. Then next he was shifting.

  “Yuri,” I croaked. The muzzle of my fuzzy bear friend appeared through the hole he tore in the tent, “I need to call someone.”

  The massive bear grunted and nudged my arm.

  “No, I need help. I’m bleeding,” I told him.

  My back burned and I could feel a chill. Ebsen had to have his radio somewhere. I slowly moved around the tent until I found his pack. I dug around pulling out all his gear before finding the radio on the bottom of the bag. Every movement opened the slices further. It felt like a big burning paper cut.

  “Ranger requested,” I said, trying my best to keep my voice even, “Channel four”

  “Channel four ten-four,” ranger Carlson’s voice came through. I felt a relief surge in me. Carlson was good; she wouldn’t judge me too harshly.

  I changed to channel four, “Channel four copy,” I heard Carlson say,

  “Souli Barre requesting medical assistance,” I said, having a hard time holding the weight of the radio

  “Souli?” Carlson asked confused, “What are you doing on Ebsen’s radio? Is he ok?”

  “It’s urgent,” I pleaded, “I’m in the backcountry, I don’t know where. Ebsen’s in bear form and won’t shift back. I’m injured and there’s blood everywhere.”

  “We’ll find you,” she vowed.

  I laid face down on the sleeping bag. I could feel the pool of blood seeping into the fabric around me. A moment later, Yuri laid next to me with a grunt.

  “If you let Ebsen come back, maybe he’d fix this,” I grumbled. The bear grunted and nuzzled my arm.

  “Please, I need Ebsen,” I begged the bear. I felt so ridiculous, but I was literally begging a bear to give me back my boyfriend? Fuck buddy? Whatever Ebsen was to me didn’t really matter right now, because I needed someone to look at my back.

  Yuri grunted and sniffed my hair again.

  “Damn it Yuri!” I cursed, “shift back, I need Ebsen.”

  The bear lifted his nose and sniffed. His ears twitched. Did that mean someone was coming? Did that mean help had arrived?

  When Carlson arrived, there was a blur of activity, she radioed for the doctor, Art, Linde, and if anyone had eyes on Ebsen.

  “What happened Souli?” she asked. I shook my head. I didn’t know how to explain it. Tears stained my cheeks. I pretended I was crying from the pain, but I was crying because Ebsen left, again.

  “I can’t explain it,” I said, my voice was hoarse. The doctor arrived and cut off my clothes. I didn’t care. I’d seen almost all of my coworkers naked at some point since I started.

  I was transported to the infirmary at some point during the commotion. I was dark outside. I didn’t know what day it was. I didn’t know anything anymore.

  Chapter 14

  The injuries looked worse than they were. The good doc cleaned them up and stitched me up. He put me on a rigorous course of antibiotics for the next week and would not be able to sit back in a chair or sleep on my back for at least three. The doctor said he’d probably take the stitches out after a month, but I was a notoriously slow healer. I doubted I’d get my stitches out by then. Art was insistent that no one outside the doctor, the rangers, and me would know about what happened until he had talked to the council.

  I didn’t make my Wednesday morning cocoa date with Clara. But she found me when I returned to my cabin on Thursday evening. The corner joints on the outside of my cabin were clawed exposing the yellow wood under the stain. My fingers traced the marks and tears welled up in my eyes. It had to have been Yuri. Maybe I would be better off elsewhere.

  “Souli Barre,” she scolded coming into my office, “What on earth happened to you?”

  I looked up from my stool, “Long story, it’s been a rough week. I’m sorry I missed our date yesterday.”

  She pulled out a picnic basket and pulled a thermos and two mugs out of it, “I don’t have any whipped cream or cinnamon, but it should be hot.”

  I smiled at her and motioned for her to sit on the chair across from me. She poured some cocoa into a mug and passed it over to me. I sipped it eagerly not minding that I burned my tongue, “Oh, that’s good.”

  Clara poured the thermos, filling her own mug, “Care to tell me why you smell of blood and disinfectant?”

  I took another sip of the cocoa, I desperately needed whatever psychosomatic confidence the concoction would bring me to have this conversation.

  “Sig proposed.”

  Clara’s eyes flew to my left hand, but she said nothing.

  “’m not supposed to be around cubs and had already planned on going camping this weekend. So, after that very public incident, I left for the backcountry a bit earlier than planned and had an accident. Been in the infirmary since late Monday night. Released this morning, here I am.”

 
Clara’s eyes widened, “Sounds like you had quite a weekend. Have you spoken to your family?”

  I shook my head, “My phone’s upstairs. I also don’t want to talk to them right now. They’d be furious with me if they heard I turned down a proposal from Sig. I haven’t even told them we broke up yet.”

  “Richard’s furious about that whole incident,” Clara said sipping her cocoa, “He’s been worried sick about you. I had to sneak down here to talk to you.”

  I managed to resist rolling my eyes. Sig claimed that it was Richard who wouldn’t let him tell me the truth about shifters. I didn’t know what to believe anymore.

  “Sig says you’re his mate,” she said with a smile, “It would make me so happy to have you back in Guardinnea. You’re practically family already.”

  ​​“I don’t know, Clara,” I said, “Maybe before all this I could have been happy in Guardinnea, but now...”

  “Oh, come now, we’ll get you a job at the mill. You and Sig can buy some land out of town,” Clara said interrupting me, “As a claimed mate, Sig will finally be allowed to take you to pack functions and-.”

  I rubbed my hands over my face, wincing when the stitches pulled, “I don’t think I want that, Clara.”

  “You’re young, you don’t know what you want,” Clara said with a raised eyebrow, “Honestly when you and Sig first came to Guardinnea I was surprised he hadn’t claimed you yet. And when I talked to him Saturday, he was certain it would happen this weekend.”

  “What does claiming entail?” I asked, “Obviously no one told me any of this stuff.”

  Clara looked over to Art’s office which was open, but he wasn’t in yet. She seemed to take his absence as permission to answer my question.

  “It’s not something I’m super familiar with, being a shifter myself. But Richard has overseen a few claimings in his time. Usually the official claiming happens before the human is allowed to be made aware of the shifter world.”

  “And that is....”