by J. K Harper
“Of course I do, how can you even ask—”
“Then we do it my way. Besides, I won’t use it unless I have to. So, what’s this guy like? What am I gonna have to deal with, eh?”
Chapter 6
Joseph
“Oh no, kid, don’t do that.”
I’d managed to get her dirty diaper off and laid a new one down on the changing table in the bathroom. The duffel bag was still there, surprisingly. I thought it would’ve been gone, but lucky for me (and Ava) it was there, and I’d been able to search through it to find one last clean diaper.
But Ava was doing what babies did—whatever they wanted. As I lifted her up (now knowing for sure she was a girl!) to put her onto the new one, a torrent of pee shot out of her onto the clean diaper directly below. I was too late in moving her away, only causing more of the pee to trickle down her chubby legs and onto the floor.
“Ah, what we gonna do now, little lady, huh?”
She merely giggled, thoroughly pleased with herself. “Yeah, laugh it up cutie-pie.” I removed the diaper and shoved it in the trash then hunted for anything that would cover her up for the time being. There was only one thing for it; we’d have to raid the shelves for some more diapers and baby wipes, as I couldn’t find anything else to clean her up with. I’d pay the bill in the morning for what I’d take.
With some paper towels I managed to pat the pee off her as well as soak some up off the floor, but the smell still lingered.
“Okay, let see what else is in here,” I said as I continued on my hunt. “A blanket? You think that will do for now, Ava? It’ll cover up your modesty while we search out some wipes. What do you think?” I said holding it up to her. “It’s got a giraffe on it, too… that’s gotta be worth something, right?”
She merely stared at me as if I was out of my mind, or perhaps she enjoyed hearing my voice. Either way, I would never know for sure, and I marveled at how wonderful and yet bizarre babies were.
I quickly secured the blanket around her before she could catch a cold, swaddling her almost like I’d seen done on T.V. “All right, you’re all set. Let’s get you some proper protection!” I said, continuing to talk her like she could understand what I was saying. I pushed open the door.
All the baby stuff, if I remembered correctly, was located on aisle seventeen, close to the regular toiletries and bathroom stuff. I headed that way, not really wanting to think what I would do with her after that. Her mother had obviously been too scared to stay… the sight of the sheriff definitely hadn’t helped matters. But I had to believe she wouldn’t have gone far… she had to come back for the little one. And if I was being truthful, I wanted her to come back, just so I could see her again. However I took a look at my watch, and she had only a few hours left before my shift was over and I would be forced into making a decision about the baby, and effectively about her.
It made my stomach churn thinking about reporting the break-in and her abandonment of her kid… not that I’d helped in that matter, I considered. There was of course an alternative way to go, but I would think about that only if the worst came to pass and I had no other choice. Becoming a single dad was not on my day’s to-do list. Besides, people would ask questions; they would notice that all of a sudden I had a kid. It was a ridiculous idea… but perhaps it would be better than her going into care.
I shook my head, I was getting too far ahead of myself. First things first. Diapers! And getting them on properly.
We made our to the baby section where a shit-ton (no pun intended) of diapers awaited us. It looked like there was a greater variety of them than of Baskin-Robbins ice cream flavors!
“So, you’re not going to be much help in telling me your size, are you? Though I suppose it’s rude to ask a lady her size, isn’t it?” I said with a laugh. She had to be a few months old, so after shining my torch and trying to decipher the code of baby-sizes, I eventually grabbed the one that seemed the most likely to fit. “No giraffes this time, I’m afraid, Ava. But you have what I think is supposed to be a cute hippo instead. I’ll take your non-response as permission to go ahead and get them,” I said and began to walk back to the restrooms. “Oh, wait, nearly forgot. Baby wipes!”
I turned and began to reach out for the pink, plastic-wrapped package when two figures emerged from around the end of the aisle. I swear this baby had me preoccupied and oblivious on a whole other level. I was entirely focused on her, and it was completely overriding all my other senses.
“Hand the baby over,” a gruff young voice called out. I studied the man who was making the demand; he was standing next to the woman who made my heart sing. I wondered if she had called him, bringing in reinforcements so she would get the kid back and avoid getting arrested. Little did she know I wouldn’t have let her be arrested… at least not anymore.
She shifted awkwardly on his left. That told me everything; this wasn’t her plan, it was his. And she was petrified he was going to screw it up.
She was probably right. He wouldn’t be able to match my strength, that was for sure, and unfortunately for him, I could tell he definitely wasn’t supernatural. Just a human, with a disheveled look—bark worse than his bite—though the way he held himself, confident and upright, made me slightly cautious. Like he had an ace up his sleeve.
“Or what?” I countered, wanting to see his hand, for surely he had planned this out, right?
“Just give up the baby, and everyone gets to go home in one piece. We can forget this whole night even happened. See out another Christmas and New Year. How about that? Deal or what?”
“And who the hell are you?”
“Please, just give me my baby back. I’m so sorry I stowed away in the bathrooms. It won’t ever happen again,” the woman said, her pleas making my heart lurch. I didn’t want her to be in pain, but the man at her side gave off all the wrong signals. I didn’t trust him one iota.
“And who the hell is he?”
“I’m the one in fucking charge, that’s who. I won’t tell you again: put the baby down, right now, and back the fuck up before I do something you will regret.”
“That ain’t going to happen. I’m not handing a sweet, innocent baby over to the likes of you. Her maybe, but not you. No way, no how.”
“All right, enough of this shit.” He extended his left arm and hooked it around the woman’s neck, bringing her in close, pinning her to his body. A flash of silver rose in his right hand. “You know what? If you don’t do what I say, I’ll slit this bitch’s throat, right here on this clean floor of yours. What do you say to that?”
“Hunter, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” she asked, clawing at his forearm to be free.
“Shut the fuck up, Cora. I’ve had it up to here with you and this baby.”
I forced back a smile at learning her name, but now definitely wasn’t the time to piss off the man with the knife, the knife that was hovering dangerously close to her neck—my future mate’s neck, I suddenly realized. Seeing her in danger like that made my skin prickle. The bear inside me paced anxiously. We couldn’t let anything happen to her.
“You mean your daughter?” Cora replied, her tone full of venom.
“Yeah, whatever, how do I even know she’s mine?”
I took an opportunistic step forward, but then I realized I wouldn’t be able to help anyway, what with the baby still in the crook of my arm. While Hunter was momentarily preoccupied, Cora trying her best to convince him the babe was his, I pushed the top layers of packaged diapers farther back on the lower shelf, causing them to topple, creating a mattress-like base that I could put Ava on. She would be out of harm’s way, safe in a cushion-like pillow fort.
“How many times do we have to have this conversation, Hunter? You’re deluded if you think Ava’s not yours.”
My ears pricked up and I almost laughed, completely shocked that of all the temporary names I could’ve bestowed upon her, I’d chosen her actual given name. Wonders never cease. Ava and Cora. Their names h
ad gorgeous rings to them… and for a quick moment I saw a future together, all three of us.
But then I remembered the knife Hunter was wielding. God, it was so close to her neck. Too close. If he wasn’t careful, he would cut her without meaning to. He was far too distracted by his rage and their argument to care about the consequences, I thought.
Once Ava was nestled down and safe, I stood back up to my full height and began to march towards the warring couple.
“I’m going to give you till the count of three to let her go. And if you so much as harm a hair on my mate’s head, I will rip you apart. Literally.”
“What?”
“Huh?” Cora muttered.
“One!”
“Don’t come any closer, I mean it! I will cut her,” he said, pointing the knife at me, his arm waving it slightly in fear.
“Two!”
“Do you want her to die? Is that it?”
“Three!”
I felt the bones in my body pop and shift; the pain was bearable—almost—but I was far too concerned with getting to her and getting that knife away from the fool she was with. Let him wave it at me instead.
“What the fuck!?”
My polyester shirt tore as each seam burst, my body filling it out beyond what the fabric could contain. Next my thighs bulged and my pants—well, let’s just say they were goners, too. My thick winter jacket was equally obliterated. I didn’t care… I didn’t have time to waste getting undressed.
Once I was fully transformed, everything became simple. My mind was quiet, and I knew exactly what I needed to do. There is a certain sort of clarity when I am in my true form, but sometimes if I stay in it for too long, there are unintended consequences… like partially losing my rational human side that tells me what was right and wrong in modern-day society. The bear doesn’t care one jot about morals or codes. Bears have their own code, and in that moment, someone with a weapon was threatening my mate. There was only one course of action to take, and that was violence.
I reared back upon my hindquarters, my paws going wide and bashing items off the shelf. They landed and scattered by my feet. The idiot didn’t let her go. I roared, snarling, and let the spittle fly.
Did he move? Nah, he was either too stupid or completely out of his mind.
I batted the air in front of his face, and only then did he take a step back, with Cora in tow. She finally screamed, the shock overcoming her as she witnessed a bear in a supermarket, which on any normal day would’ve probably been more funny than frightening.
The bastard still clung to the knife and I watched it out of the corner of my eye, just in case he decided to get any ideas.
Stomping forward, I nearly had them separated; he was losing his bravado.
Pride flowed through me as I watched Cora slam a heel back and up into his privates—the same place she’d hit me before—but this time she missed, her foot bouncing off his thigh and only landing a glancing blow to his groin area.
That seemed to pull him out of the daze he was in, as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. I couldn’t blame him, really. It wasn’t every day that you see a human male transform and shift into a menacing, fully-grown, furry creature that wasn’t after honey… but blood, for threatening what would be mine.
“You fucking bitch!”
The knife arced outwards, like he was getting ready to plunge it into her wherever he could. She saw it coming, too, her eyes widening in shock, terror and disbelief.
I charged. There was no way I was going to allow that to happen, not on my watch. I knew right then that I would rather have died than have her come to harm. My back paw pads found traction, which wasn’t easy on the smooth, glossy, tiled floor, and for a brief heart-stopping moment, I didn’t think I was going to get there in time to save her from what would’ve been a life-threatening stab wound.
It was inches away from her breastbone when I stretched my jaws open and then sank them down onto his forearm. Blood gushed into my mouth, and I heard the glorious sound of the knife clattering to the ground. My eardrums felt like they were about to burst; there were screams in stereo sound.
“Oh god. Oh god!” I heard Cora repeat once she was able to stop screaming. She’d landed on the floor to my right and was looking directly up at me, still clinging to what I presumed was her boyfriend’s arm. He, however, wasn’t as calm. My nose and muzzle took the onslaught of hits, his fist coming down like an unrelenting battering ram. But the joke was on him—each time he hit me I merely clenched harder, causing him to scream again and grimace. It was almost enough to make a full-grown bear laugh. But that would’ve caused me to let his arm go.
“Fuck, oh my god, fuck! All right, all right, let me go! You got what you wanted, didn’t you?” he said with stilted breath. Each word became more and more labored by the time he was finished.
I bit down harder—for good measure—so he knew I wasn’t fucking about, and then I let go.
“Arrrgh!” he yelled in pain and relief, cradling his mangled arm, taking wary but fast steps back. “What the hell are you? You fucking monster!”
I thought that was a bit of a stupid question, since he was looking directly at me, but I chose to ignore the idiotic man and padded softly over to Cora. At first she scooted back a few inches on her bum as I got closer, but as my muzzle touched her side, nudging her to let her know I meant her no harm, she stopped moving. Her hand rose, shaking with bravery and fear, while she stared into my eyes. God she was beautiful… and if I could stare into those very eyes for the rest of my life, I would consider myself truly lucky and blessed. I wouldn’t ask Santa for anything ever again; she would make all my Christmases come true.
She patted my muzzle, careful not to touch the underside where I could feel Hunter’s blood still dripping from my mouth. “Thank you, I think,” she whispered, regaining her voice.
I wanted to stay by her side like this forever, breathing her in in my most natural state. Perhaps even lay my head in her lap as she stroked my fur. But we don’t always get what we want, do we?
“Hunter! No!”
I’d fallen for her hard—and for Ava, as well—so much so these girls were making me lose all sense. They were like kryptonite for my brain. I swung my bulky body around just in time to see that Hunter was now wielding the knife in his left hand. It wasn’t his dominant one, but at this range, the knife was still deadly.
“Look out!” Cora screamed, but I’d been too late to react. He’d gotten close enough to pick up the knife without me even hearing, and I’d even let him get inches from my behind.
As I turned to face him, the knife had already plunged into me. I roared as the blade sliced through hide and muscle, so deep that it almost touched bone. The knife left my flank, Hunter readying himself for another attack. But it would take more than one hit to take me down…
Don’t take a knife to a bear fight.
My claws slashed through the air and ripped into his chest. Blood immediately seeped from his disheveled clothes, coating them with luscious, reflective claret.
His screams were almost constant, but he still held onto the knife. It was as if he thought that if he were to drop it, he’d be a dead man. And he was probably right; I would’ve killed him if he’d kept it. Fool me once, but fuckers like him wouldn’t fool me twice.
A warm but unsteady hand found its way onto my side, the contact soothing the warring bear that wanted only death for the man who would dare to threaten what was his. And I knew what I had to do.
Another paw, claws retracted this time, aimed carefully at the back of Hunter’s hand and whacked the knife right out of his grip. I’d probably cracked a few of his wrist bones, but the idiot deserved what he got.
Disarmed, he was nothing but a scared, weak, little man. Still holding his dripping arm, he ran, almost tripping over his own feet at the speed he was going. Yeah, and don’t come back!
Cora was standing by my side now, and I flumped down into a resting position.
“Why on earth would you do that… for me? I… caused all this. I just don’t understand.”
Unable to communicate what I wanted to say, I tried my best to get across to her that it was okay, and I nuzzled my head against her thigh. She stroked my head and moved to my ears, too. It was so relaxing I let my body fall forward, overwhelmed by her touch.
Chapter 7
Cora
Oh my god. The bear that also seemed to be the security guard fell forward, his bulk crashing to the floor. I still couldn’t understand what I had just seen… it was like watching Dr. Banner turn into the Incredible Hulk on T.V. except this happened right in front of me—in real life!—and the guy had turned into a bear, not the Hulk. Either I was losing my mind or this was very real. And with my hands upon his soft fur, able to feel the warmth of his body and the thunderous heartbeat of the beast, everything was pointing to the fact that this was not a dream.
He had saved me, I thought. I’d created this whole mess. I’d gotten my ex involved, who’d gone absolutely nuts, and even then the guy/bear stepped in to save me. I didn’t want to think what that meant—was it something more than someone just doing the right thing?—but I couldn’t help it. The way he’d nudged me out the way instead of letting me be a victim of my own stupidity, well, that was something more… It had to be.
Then I remembered that he was actually wounded. I felt round his body to inspect the gash. There was blood all over the place, coating the floor, the items on the shelves, and his fur. But it wasn’t all his… Hunter had lost his fair share, too. But good riddance to bad rubbish, that’s what I thought.
The bear was still bleeding, but as I searched for something to sop up the blood, grabbing a few diapers that had fallen loose and spilled onto the ground, his fur began to recede. I watched with fascination as dark brown bear skin turned lighter to a dusky hue, until I was no longer looking at a bear but at a very naked man.