by Terry Spear
“So we leave early.”
“If the news is posted. Otherwise, we’ll go about our business. I mean, what if the guys don’t even leave their camp for a couple of more days, so they don’t download the information until they return. They could be looking for the bears to get more shots of them and just wait to prove their case after they leave their camp.”
“True. It’s not like they’re staying at the chalet. They’re camping out.”
“Right.”
Robyn breathed in a sigh of relief. “Okay, I’ll stop panicking.”
“Well, it’s a good thing to be thinking ahead, just in case.”
“If we see any hint of news about us running in our bear coats, we head home.” That meant they had to really keep monitoring the situation too.
“Yep, that’s what we’ll do,” he said.
They finally reached the road and removed their snowshoes and put on their ski boots and skis. Then they skied toward the entrance of the park.
“Those men would have a time crossing that river,” Robyn said.
Edward chuckled. “You’re worried.”
“Sure I am. I don’t want to have to leave before we want to.”
“Hopefully, we’ll be long gone before anyone does anything with the pictures or video. Did you want to have room service when we get back in?”
“I’d say yes, but I need to pay the brothers for the sweaters and get them from them. So I figure we’ll have dinner and then maybe room service in the morning?”
“Okay.”
When they returned to the gate, there was no shuttle. “Should we just walk back, or wait and call the shuttle?” Edward asked her.
“Let’s work off the rest of our meal we had this morning so we can be ready for the next big meal.”
They removed their ski boots and skis and put on their boots, then began the walk back.
Once they returned to the chalet, they glanced at the local news on a big screen. No mention of polar bears sighted in Denali National Park. They went up to their room and removed their snow gear, then checked the TV again. While the TV was playing the news, they also checked their phones, just in case anyone put something up on YouTube or some other social media site.
“Nothing that I can locate,” Edward said, sounding relieved.
“Good. I don’t see anything either.” She knew they wouldn’t try shifting again if the news went out about them being in the area. Even if it didn’t, the men who had spied them could be on the lookout for them.
Their room phone rang and they both stared at it for a minute, as if they knew the caller was someone in Robyn’s family. Edward grabbed up the receiver. “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Josh.”
“Josh,” Edward told Robyn. “We’re coming down for dinner. If you have the sweaters, just bring them with you. We’ll give you a check for them. Okay, see you in a few.” Edward hung up the phone. “Are you ready to go downstairs and join them?”
“Should we tell them what happened to us?” She figured they should, but she wondered if Edward would rather keep it a secret. She’d been doing things for herself for so long, and making all her own decisions, it was going to take some getting used to having a mate to confer with.
“Yeah, just in case the brothers are monitoring the news and see something about it first.”
When they finally reached the restaurant, Jeremy and Josh had already gotten a table and waved to them. The bag from the boutique she’d sent them to was sitting on the floor next to Josh.
They joined them and she wrote a check for the sweaters. “Thanks so much.” She pulled each sweater out of its tissue paper and admired the soft cashmere and then put them back in the bag. "Beautiful. Thanks."
“You’re so welcome. No problem at all,” Jeremy said.
“We have to let you know about something that happened at the park while we were out there,” Edward said.
“Don’t tell me. A couple of polar bears were out for a run.” Josh smiled. “We knew you couldn’t resist, not when you're on your honeymoon.”
“Someone might have caught us on camera,” Robyn said, frowning.
“Oh.” Josh leaned back in his seat. He didn’t seem worried about the news, probably because they were sitting here, safe and sound, and about to have dinner with them.
“If my family sees it, they’ll be able to recognize it’s us,” Robyn added.
“Oh,” Josh said again, but this time he was sitting straighter and frowning.
“But the men were camping out there. They might search for our paw prints in the snow for some time and not even be leaving the area for another few days. It could be well after we’ve left. So we’ll just keep monitoring social networks and the news until we’re ready to leave.” At least Robyn was really hopeful that the men wouldn't post anything about them until much later.
“We’ll do the same,” Jeremy said, then chuckled. “Robyn probably doesn't know about the time we did that. Everyone was sure that a couple of male grizzlies woke up from a short winter’s nap and were roaming the area. We were way out too and hadn't expected to see any humans out there in the wintertime. But at least we ‘belong’ in the park, unlike you guys.”
“Right, and sometimes a grizzly will come out of hibernation for a short while in the dead of winter if they're disturbed, picked a bad location for a den, were hungry or sick, or sometimes are old and maybe get confused. But two male grizzlies running together?" Robyn smiled. "So what happened?”
The server brought them menus, and they all ordered hamburgers and fries.
When the server left, Josh said, “It was all over the news. We were here for a few days, but only the one time as grizzlies. We did get a kick out of all the media looking for them. Crazy bunch of people. If pure grizzlies had been roaming around out there, it could have gone badly for all the thrill seekers.”
“Did anyone in White Bear see any media about it?” Robyn asked, suspecting someone would have, especially since they were some of their own and would recognize them in their bear coats. In fact, any mention of bears being in the news would make other bear shifters take notice, checking to see if the bear was one of their own.
“Hell, yeah,” Edward said, answering for the brothers. “Everyone in White Bear of the shifter community, and those who weren’t, were talking about it.”
That's something Robyn wasn't used to either—that there were other kinds of shifters in the area. In Yellowknife, she knew only of the polar bears.
“Yeah. All it takes is for one person to see it on the news and all these scientists are on talk shows explaining why these two male grizzlies were running together in the dead of winter. Of course, we didn’t chance getting caught in our fur coats running again that winter in Denali, though it had been awfully tempting,” Josh said.
“Josh kept wanting to sit in the hot tub as a grizzly late one night after everyone was in bed though.”
“You didn’t, did you?” Robyn thought the smile Josh was wearing meant he had.
“For about twenty minutes. Maybe less time. We really prefer being in cold water when we’re wearing our fur coats,” Jeremy said.
“You both did it together?” Robyn laughed. She thought the guys were fun, though it could have ended badly for them. “Too bad we all couldn’t do that together one night. Two grizzlies and two polar bears having a nice soak in the tub. If anyone captured videos of it, it would go viral for sure. Wait, even if everyone was asleep, what about security footage? I would think they would have security cameras that would monitor the hot tubs. Video could have caught you in the tub.”
“If they had any footage of it, no one ever said anything. Maybe they were afraid people would be upset to learn grizzlies had used the hot tub, left fur behind, and who knows what else.” Josh smiled.
Robyn laughed.
The server delivered their hamburgers and fries. “Does anyone need anything else?” she asked.
“No, we’re good, thanks,” Edward said.<
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Everyone thanked her for their food, and she went to the next table.
“You two are crazy,” Robyn said to the brothers.
“You don’t know the half of it.” Edward salted his fries and steak.
They just laughed, but she was curious about what else they'd been up to.
“We’ll be in the area, but we won’t be returning here to the chalet after dinner,” Jeremy said.
"We'll let you know when we leave the area though," Josh said. "And if we run into Lisa and take her home with us."
"We'll keep an eye out for her here," Robyn promised.
After dinner, the brothers gave Robyn a hug and shook Edward's hand.
"Congratulations again, to the both of you," Jeremy said.
"Have a great time, and we'll see you back in White Bear at some point," Josh said, "but we will be calling you before we leave, just to let you know we're no longer in the area."
Then the brothers left the chalet and Robyn and Edward returned to their room.
"Hot tub—" Edward started to say.
"If our hot-tub time is anything like what it's been for the last two nights, I'm ready. Do we have time for me to call the boys first?"
"Oh, absolutely, honey."
She was sure it would take Edward time to think about the kids, but it might just be her momma's instincts. She called Rob's cell phone number, figuring Alicia would be busy with the babies. "We weren't sure who the kids were staying with." She put the phone on speaker.
"They're here now. They were talking to the babies, making faces at them and making them smile. But everyone's kept the boys so busy, they were worn out and went to bed already."
"Oh, okay. We'll check on them in the morning then."
"All right. Everything's been fine. They've been too busy to worry about you not being here," Rob said.
"Good. I'm glad for it," Robyn said.
"Thanks to everyone for taking care of them," Edward said.
"It's made for good memories all around," Rob said. "I've got to run. Alicia needs me to change diapers."
Edward laughed. "I never imagined you being a father and being stuck with diaper duty."
Rob chuckled. "Me either but the babies are well worth it. Talk tomorrow."
14
This time when Edward and Robyn went down to the hot tub, a trail of bright pink rose petals led to the tub and Robyn seemed just as pleased to see the new setup. She was still taking pictures of the different settings. "I'm going to be so spoiled, I'll want this every night when we return home."
Edward was thrilled he'd made the trip so special for her because she meant the world to him. "If it makes you happy, we can, though it will be in the warmth and privacy of our house and we won't have to trudge through the cold, back to the changing room, dress, take the stairs to our room, strip out of our clothes, and get to the business of making love."
"I agree, and we can be naked in the tub from the start. So we won't have to go anywhere."
"Even better." He smiled, removing her robe, and helping her into the tub before he disrobed and settled into the hot tub with her. He was glad no one else was there to impose on their romantic interlude, all but their faithful waiter who came out to serve them a tray of crackers topped with salmon, pan-fried honey bananas, watermelon, dark chocolate-covered almonds, and hot mulled wine.
Once he left, Edward and Robyn enjoyed their appetizers, but before they could start the massages, they saw two Arctic wolves headed their way.
"Well I'll be. That's Noah and Isabella."
"I remember them, though I wouldn't have recognized them as wolves. They came to our wedding."
"Yep, that's them." Edward waved at them in greeting.
Robyn did too then.
The wolves ran up to the hot tub and woofed in greeting.
"We didn't expect you to be here," Edward said.
Smiling, the wolves bowed their heads.
They heard someone come out of the chalet door and Edward was afraid whoever it was thought to shoot at the wolves to protect Robyn and him, but a couple of men had come out to take pictures of the "tame wolves."
The wolves woofed at Robyn and Edward, then turned and ran off.
"They must not be staying at the resort," she said.
"Maybe camping. Or staying someplace else, or I'm sure we would have seen them some time or another."
They listened to the music and didn't see the northern lights tonight but enjoyed the sensual massages and afterward, went inside to enjoy the rest of their night.
EARLY THE NEXT MORNING, Robyn called Rob and put the cell on speakerphone before they went down to breakfast so that she and Edward could learn how the boys were doing. She could hear the boys playing in the background and she hoped they weren't disturbing the babies.
"Hey, we had some worrisome news and I was just getting ready to call you," Rob said, before he put the boys on the phone.
"What?" Robyn asked, thinking they needed to return home, even if it meant leaving now.
"Is that Mommy?" Garrett asked.
"Yeah, just a minute, bud. I have to tell her and your daddy something first. We saw the news of you and Edward running through Denali National Park as bears."
Edward had his phone out right away and was looking up the news.
"Yeah, we never thought we'd get caught at it, when we took a run on the wild side," Robyn said. "Though we were hopeful the guys who saw us wouldn't post anything for a couple of days until we had left the area. I guess we're out of luck." They weren't running again as bears, but if her family saw the news, they might check out the chalet to see if they were staying there.
"I see it." Edward showed the video to Robyn of the two of them running through the snow, and then swimming across the river. "It was just posted a few minutes ago. We'll be leaving then. We'll get breakfast and head out." They learned everyone in White Bear had heard about the polar bears' sighting.
“This is as exciting as last year when two grizzlies woke from their winter’s nap and stirred everything up. Apparently, the rooms of the chalet are booked now as a bunch of people are out looking for the polar bears,” Rob said.
“They ought to pay us for all their business,” Robyn said.
"I agree. Let us know if you have any problems. The kids are eager to talk to you," Rob said.
"Mommy, you got caught!" Garrett said, as if he was anxious. Probably because Rob sounded worried.
"And Daddy too," Bryan said. “I can’t believe that was you and Daddy in your bear fur.”
"Yeah. We didn't mean to. But you have to be so careful about getting caught where the other polar bears don't live." She'd tried to explain that to the boys, that there were polar bears that weren't shifters and they only lived further north and then the polar bear shifters lived where they could get work.
“We’ll be returning home today,” Edward said, “as soon as we eat breakfast, but it will take a few hours for us to drive home.”
“Okay,” Garrett said. “Uncle Ben is gonna take us to the movies today. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, we’ll be in after that. You enjoy your movie,” Edward said.
“We’re gonna eat breakfast now,” Bryan said. “We helped make dinosaur pancakes with chocolate chips.”
“Oh, yum, that sounds good.” She needed to get some fun molds for the kids.
“Bye, Mom,” Bryan said.
“Love you,” Robyn said and Edward echoed her sentiment.
“Love you,” both boys said.
Then they ended the call and Edward and Robyn headed down for breakfast. “Maybe we should just get on the road and get breakfast somewhere else,” Edward said.
“No, we’ll eat here. And then get on our way.” She wasn’t going to be chased off.
Then she got a call from Josh. “Hey, since you gave me your card, I called you, but we wanted to know if you’ve seen any sign of our cousin before we leave.”
“No, not at all. We’re leaving right after
breakfast because of the news concerning us being seen in the park.”
“Oh, great, do you need our help?”
“If we do, we’ll give you a call. In the meantime, if we see Lisa, we’ll try to convince her to come with us.”
“Okay, thanks.”
They finished the call and Robyn and Edward took seats in the restaurant and quickly ordered breakfast so they could pack up, check out, and leave before they ran into any trouble from her family.
Once the food arrived, Robyn and Edward ate their scrambled eggs, ham, and toast they'd ordered from the menu. They noticed the restaurant, that had been practically empty all along, was filled with people now, probably like Rob had said—they had come to look for the polar bears, but a couple of men had seen another strange phenomenon. Arctic wolves visiting the hot tub. She overheard someone at a table next to them talking about the wolves and she recognized them then—the two men who came out to take pictures of them.
The two women who were sitting with them just shook their heads. "They could have attacked you!" one of them said.
Then the men saw Robyn and Edward and the one asked them, "Hey, you were in the hot tub last night, talking to the wolves. Do you think they were half tame?"
"I'm sure they smelled the salmon we'd eaten and came to investigate," Edward said.
"Did they growl or anything? They were wagging their tails and seemed really friendly," the other man said.
"They woofed. But they're still wild wolves," Edward said.
"Well that was damned cool," the one man said. "Hey, Roger, what if we take our wives to the hot tub tonight and have salmon. We can take our waterproof cameras and maybe capture some shots of the wolves up close."
"Are you kidding?" one of the women said. "It's freezing out there."
"I'm game, but only if you add the flower petals, candles, and all the fun food and drinks they were having," the other woman said smiling.