The sky cracked with lightning, a bright orange flash ripping through the air, right before the rain opened up, pouring down with the force of a thousand storms.
A few yards away, a small cutout in the hillside promised a tiny bit of shelter, so I ran over and huddled into the crevice, staring up at the sky.
“Dammit!” I cried, my words dying in the wet, windy rain. Thunder roared overhead, causing me to take another step into the tiny cave. I scanned the trees for any sight of Hawk, thankful I didn’t see him.
Kneeling down, I took a moment to catch my breath, the rush of adrenaline draining my energy. A slight movement to my left caught my attention and I turned to see the leaves of a nearby shrub rustling and parting as a black, baby bear poked his head out and strode over to me, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
I froze, afraid to make any sudden movements, as he sniffed my foot, then my knee, his muzzle only inches from my face as I knelt down. I didn’t breathe, I didn’t move, I would have stopped my blood from pumping, if I could have.
And then, just like that, he lost interest and strode right past me, disappearing into the cave behind me. Slowly, I let my breathe out, my shoulders relaxing.
Obviously, I’d chosen the wrong place to shelter from the rain.
“Fuck the rain,” I whispered to myself. “I gotta get home.”
I took a step away and then, even through the pounding rain, I heard the first growl.
Low, menacing and terrifying, it was dire warning that caused me to freeze in place. Standing in front of me was another bear, this one much, much larger than the friendly baby that was now directly behind me, safe in his cave.
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
SHADOW
“Evie!” I cried out, my voice sounding increasingly desperate.
“Aunt Evie! Aunt Evie!” Jeremiah shouted. “Come out, come out, where ever you are!”
We’d been repeating this chorus as we strode down trail after trail, with absolutely zero luck. When the rain started, it was light at first, but once the sky opened up, it was impossible to keep up the charade.
“Let’s go home, Shadow,” Jeremiah said.
“We have to find Aunt Evie,” I said.
“She’ll come back on her own now that’s its raining, won’t she?”
I kneeled down to look in his eyes.
“I’m not sure, buddy. I want to find her before we go back, okay? I know it’s raining hard and we’re going to get a little cold and wet, but I think we need to keep looking.” I lifted the hood of his coat over his head. “You with me?”
“Yeah, okay, let’s keep looking!” he agreed. My heart raced with fear. Why hadn’t we found her yet?
We kept running, the mud sloshing under our boots, the earth turning to soup in this relentless, pounding rain.
“What if we don’t find her?” Jeremiah said, stopping me, his hand pulling on mine.
“What?” I said. “That’s just not an option, bud.”
“Okay,” he nodded. “I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page.”
I looked at him, marveling at what a little Slade he was. Unstoppable and unflappable.
“We sure are,” I said. “Let’s keep going!”
We walked another five minutes before we rounded a bend and heard a growl. Immediately, I picked Jeremiah up in my arms, searching for the sound. I’d been so busy looking for Evie, I hadn’t even thought about wildlife.
And then I saw them. Both Evie and the wildlife.
I gasped as I saw the situation Evie was in, which was just about the worst thing I could think of at the moment.
Never get between a mama bear and her cubs…
I could only see the mama bear, but I suspected the cub was locked away in the tiny cave behind Evie.
She stood frozen in place, intense fear evident on her face.
“Evie,” I whispered, hoping she’d hear me. We were still a bit away and I needed a moment to figure out what to do. Jeremiah saw them, too, and he let out a little whimper. “Shhh, don’t make a sound, son,” I whispered, and he nodded solemnly.
I spotted a large rock a few yards to the left and I slowly walked over to it and placed Jeremiah high on the top of it. “Stay here, okay? Don’t move. No matter what.”
He nodded, his eyes glued to the bear blocking Evie in. I saw him begin to tremble, and I flashed him a reassuring smile. “It’s going to be okay, buddy.”
Now what? How in the hell is this going to be okay?
For the first time in my life, I wished I was Slade.
What would Slade do? I wondered.
The last thing I’d ever expected was that I’d have to deal with a fucking bear today, but here we are. I wasn’t sure which was worse, a bear or a ghost, but to be honest, I was kinda wishing for the ghost, at this point.
The chance of the bear being as harmless as a ghost was pretty fucking slim.
“Evie,” I whispered again, and she averted her eyes, her frightened eyes crashing into mine. I nodded, slowly, putting a finger over my lips. She shook her head, her eyes wide, as I moved closer, one small inch at a time. What I needed to do was distract the mama bear and give Evie a chance to run.
How hard could that be?
But exactly how do you distract a bear enough that she’ll abandon her baby?
Yeah, my chances for success were slim, too.
At this point, becoming a betting man was not wise. I needed to rely on what I knew best, the skills I possessed that I knew would never fail me.
That bear might be huge, but I was bigger.
Was I stronger? I guess we’d find out.
I walked off the trail, circling around to the side of the cave, several yards away from Evie. I hesitated at the idea of throwing a rock or something because the bear might just attack Evie.
I needed to give her a much more compelling reason to leave her guard.
Fuck, I whispered to myself, before putting two fingers to my lips and whistling loudly.
The bear turned towards me, her eyes locking with mine.
I held her gaze, daring her to come my way.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
HAWK
I felt her fear like it was a blanket suddenly thrown over my head.
Flying through the forest towards her, I froze when I saw Shadow in a stand-off with the bear.
What the hell was he thinking?
That bear would maul him to death. I’d seen her do it before, to other wildlife, but Shadow, as big as he might be, was still not a threat to her. Especially not with her cubs around.
My eyes flew to Evie, standing frozen in the entrance to the cave, the baby bear’s head poking out around her legs.
“Dear God,” I mumbled. Evie’s eyes flew over to me, a glimmer of hope in them for a split second.
Did she expect me to do something?
There was nothing I could do. Sure, I could move small things like twigs and rocks, but I couldn’t fight a bear.
Well, neither could Shadow, but from the looks of it, the fool was going to try. I shook my head, knowing this wasn’t going to end well. In fact, it was going to end very, very badly for Shadow.
Not that I cared about him, but the look on Evie’s face told me she did, deeply.
“C’mon! Come at me!” Shadow shouted suddenly, trying to lure the bear to him and away from Evie. It was heroic, I’ll admit that. Admirable, even.
But incredibly foolish.
He banged on his chest, like he was Tarzan or something, trying to lure her over.
The fool was giving up his life to save Evie and Jeremiah, but if they didn’t get away, he might not even do that.
I think we were all surprised when he shouted, including the bear, because our heads turned in surprise. And then, we just waited. The bear growled, a low, irritated growl, but she’d not expressed the savage rage I’d seen her exhibit before. At least not yet. She looked at Shadow with curiosity and then back at Evie.
Shadow p
icked up a rock and threw it at her, then threw his hands way up in the air to make himself look bigger. The bear wasn’t fazed.
Slowly, she walked over to him, after glancing one last measuring glance at Evie. Shadow, to his credit, stood his ground.
The bear stood in front of him, now growling, a long, vibrating warning of growing anger that pierced the air. I looked at the fool, his eyes practically daring the bear to do something.
“Shadow!” Evie called.
“Run, Evie, get Jeremiah and get out of here!”
“I’m not leaving you!” she cried.
Oh, for heaven’s sake, I thought. Love is blind, love is good and love is so damned foolish, I couldn’t quite believe it.
“Move!” I called out to Evie. She looked over towards me. “Get the boy!”
She snapped out of it, finally, and slowly started inching away from the cave, towards the rock that Jeremiah was standing on, now crying and trembling. The baby bear stayed in place, watching its mama with intense interest.
And then, just like that, as if she’d simply had had enough, the mama bear stood up on her hind legs in front of Shadow and with a ferocious, ground-thundering roar, slapped him as effortlessly as if she were shooing a fly away.
Shadow fell to the ground in a heap, his huge frame knocked off balance by the strength of her blow. To her, it was nothing. But to him, it was if he’d been hit by a truck. He shook his head, stunned, blood dripping from the claw marks she’d left on his face.
“Shadow!” Evie cried, shielding Jeremiah’s eyes.
I wanted to go to her, comfort her, throw my arms around her and protect her, but I could do none of that.
I’d never felt so weak and useless in my life.
Shadow scrambled to his knees, but the bear was on him in an instant. With wide eyes, I watched as they wrestled on the ground, wet leaves flying around as Shadow flailed under the assault of the bears claws and sharp teeth.
Lightning flashed over head, cracking through the forest and hitting a nearby tree. The ground shook again with the force of the tree hitting the earth, the rain pelting us forcefully as we watched the horror show in front of our faces play out.
He’s going to die, I thought. But despite my earlier plans to manufacture his demise, I felt no pleasure in this fact. In fact, I was devastated for Evie.
She’d never be the same after this…
It was too much. I couldn’t watch.
I had to let her go, Doc was right.
I turned and walked away, Shadow’s screams echoing through the forest, as the bear mauled him.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
EVIE
“Shadow, Shadow!” I shouted. She was killing him! I couldn’t take this, I couldn’t let this happen. I turned to Hawk and was stunned to see him walking away.
“Hawk! Help!” But he was gone. “Please, Hawk!”
My heart sank as I realized it was all up to me.
I spun around to Jeremiah, whom I’d shoved behind me when the bear jumped on top of Shadow.
“Stay here! Do you hear me? Don’t move! And cover your eyes!”
He was in shock, his little body frozen in fear.
I scrambled back down the rock, looking for anything I could pick up along the way. By the time I’d made it the few yards to where they were, my arms were filled with pieces of wood and rocks.
“Go away!” I shouted, throwing each item one at a time, as hard as I could. She was clawing at Shadow’s face, but he was punching her, fighting back like some fearless Viking, like it was an equal fight. The stones and timber hit the bear’s back, but she was unfazed. “Stop it! Stop!” I shouted.
I pummeled her with the rocks until I was sobbing with desperation.
They rolled around on the ground together like two opponents on a mat, Shadow giving her everything he had. But he was losing strength, his punches becoming weaker as my fear grew.
Thunder roared through the skies above.
Frantically, I looked around, searching for anything at all to help him.
The silent swoosh of strong wings whipped through the air and I cried out with joy when I saw Oliver and Olivia fly out of the trees and head straight for the bear. They landed on her, squawking loudly and angrily, their claws sinking into the bear’s fur, their sharp beaks biting into her and ripping her flesh.
She let go of Shadow and began lumbering around in circles, trying to swipe them off her but they were on her back, digging into the back of her head, and she couldn’t reach them.
She roared with anger, a loud rumbling thunderous sound that shook the trees, but still the owls held on, biting and clawing her relentlessly. Ribbons of bright red blood marked her onyx coat, her eyes wide with panic as she turned toward me.
Shadow lay behind her, and I stood frozen in place. Oliver let go of her first, flying away but hovering in the air behind her. She shook her entire body, and Olivia let go, too, following Oliver up into the trees.
She growled in the direction of her cub and ran off into the woods. Her baby followed, bouncing behind her as they both disappeared into the forest.
I ran to Shadow, gasping for breath, rain pouring over my face.
He was almost unrecognizable, his face shredded, along with the rest of him. But he was breathing.
Barely.
“Shadow! Shadow!” I cried, my heart breaking in two to see him like this.
His eyes fluttered open, and he smiled.
“Oh, my god! Shadow,” I cried, shaking my head, gathering him in my arms.
His smile faded as he looked up at me, his eyes closing again, as his body went limp in my arms.
“Shadow! No!” I cried, shaking him. “Please wake up! Shadow! Wake up!”
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
DOC
“I thought I told you to leave Evie alone,” I said, as I ran into Hawk after he walked away from the mess he’d made. “Now look what you’ve done.”
“Don’t,” he said, putting up a hand. “I already feel bad enough.”
“Well, you should,” I said. “It didn’t have to end this way. You’re lucky you’re already dead or the Gods would fucking kill you when they get back. Who knows if Shadow’s going to survive this? Fuck. Did you see his face?”
“I tried not to.”
“You’re a real coward, aren’t you?” I asked, my anger rising.
Fuck this guy. He’s been dead for a really long time and you’d think he’d have learned something. But no, he’s fucking up other people’s lives left and right because he’s still just as selfish in death that he was in life.
Look, being dead sucks. I get it. I’ve been gone long enough myself that I know there’s no fucking grass is greener on the other side bullshit that everyone is lied to about. It’s fucking lonely. And if you’re not careful, you can really screw with the people you left behind. You can’t just be showing yourself to people.
People get attached.
They want more than you can give.
And then, for fuck’s sake, there’s situations like this. Hawk can’t protect Evie. He sure as hell can’t protect Shadow from that fucking bear.
We have weaknesses. Weaknesses that we shouldn’t be projecting onto other people, living people.
Hell, I didn’t want to die.
Most of us don’t.
Well, not Hawk, that fucker killed himself, so of course, he’s miserable.
But still, just because we’re fucking doomed to eternal death, doesn’t mean we have the right to comfort ourselves with the living.
Leave the living to the ones who are alive.
When it’s time for them to die, then maybe you can help them.
“Yes, Doc, I’m a coward!” Hawk exploded. His eyes were raging with anger. “What do you want me to do, though? I can’t take this. It’s gone on and on and Evie was there and how was I not supposed to love her? And now, I’ve ruined her life. I’ve probably caused the death of Shadow and she’s going to die a little inside herself b
ecause of it. Maybe she’ll never get over it. But what can I do to help? How can I fix it? There’s nothing I can do to help and the best thing I can do to help is just leave her alone, like you said, once and for all.”
“Well, there is one thing you can do.”
“What? Tell me. Please, I’ll do anything.”
“Why don’t you fly over to the clubhouse and call that poor dude a fucking ambulance?”
EPILOGUE
Two Weeks Later
SLADE
I was getting very familiar with Room 311 at Providence Hospital. The Gods have been on a rotating schedule to make sure Shadow didn’t spend a minute alone for the last couple weeks, but I haven’t left at all.
Just like Evie, I wanted to be close by when and if Shadow ever woke up.
After sending Evie off to the hospital cafeteria half an hour ago, insisting she go eat dinner, I was settled into the recliner in the corner of the room.
Poor Evie is a wreck. I feel so bad for her. After she told me everything that had gone on, it was almost unbelievable. We still didn’t quite understand who the hell Hawk was, but even Jeremiah said he’d seen him. Evie was adamant that he was a ghost, but come the fuck on.
A ghost?
I haven’t come right out and told her I don’t believe her, but…well, that shit is sure hard to wrap my head around, you know?
But Shadow? Well, that big ass fuck is real as shit. My god, even with his body mangled and laid up in the hospital bed with IV tubes sticking out of his arm and wearing a fucking hospital gown, he still looks like the toughest motherfucker I’ve ever seen.
I have mad respect for him.
Fighting off a damned bear…
A bear, for fuck’s sake!
Damn, I like to fight, you know that. It’s my favorite fucking pastime and I can’t remember the last time, if ever, that I’ve passed up a fight. But you can bet your sweet ass I’d gladly pass up the chance to fight a fucking black bear.
Gods of Chaos MC Box Set 4 Page 43