Shifter Starter Set

by Candace Ayers

  “Are you sure you don’t have a porta-potty in there as well?” Brianna snickered.

  “You laugh, but I really wish I did,” I sighed as we walked off into the darkness of the forest.

  When we couldn’t see the camp lights anymore, I decreed that we’d gone far enough. We’d stayed side by side as the forest had become eerie with only a flashlight to guide us, casting shadows that shifted and moved as we walked.

  “Okay, now I think I’m too spooked to pee,” Brianna hesitated as she glanced around the chosen spot.

  “Don’t be silly. C’mon, Bri, the faster you do your thing, the faster we can be back at camp.” I reasoned. I held the flashlight by a tree and turned away to respect her privacy.

  “Chloe… I hear something,” Brianna whispered quietly. I turned back. She was frozen in fear as she squinted into the depths of the dark forest.

  I was about to tell her not to be so jumpy, when a low rumble seemed to shake the soil beneath us. I could hear bushes being thrashed aside and tree branches being snapped as if some great bulk of a thing was tumbling toward us.

  “What the hell is that?” I whispered back, too frightened to move.

  My legs felt like they were going to collapse beneath me at any moment. Instinctively, I wanted to shine the flashlight in the direction of the noise, but I refrained. If whatever it was happened to be passing, then I didn’t want to attract attention. I threaded my arm through Brianna’s and flicked the light off.

  “What are you doing!”

  I hardly heard Brianna’s hysterical plea. The noise was getting closer, as if it was heading straight toward us. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw the trees tremble ahead, and then shake violently.

  A deafening roar, solitary and vicious, splintered the air. I ducked, shielding my face with my arm, as something flew out of the trees toward us. Whatever it was yelped on impact.

  I was able to focus enough to see a massive heap of fur lying motionless at our feet, no more than a yard away. As I watched, the furry heap moaned pitifully and rolled onto its back.

  Thick fur. A muzzle. Sharp claws… Grizzly. It was a huge grizzly bear. Its sheer size alone was terrifying. The fluffy fur, small ears and inquisitive eyes that I associated with a cuddlier version of the animal did nothing to quell my fear as I gazed at the eight hundred pounds or so of muscle and brute strength lying before us. As it moaned in pain, its jaw stretched to reveal a ferocious, blood-stained set of canines.

  “It’s hurt,” murmured Brianna, “The poor thing.”

  What?

  “Brianna, don’t – please don’t – go near it. We need to back away, quietly. Come on.” I tried to keep my voice at a whisper, but anxiety turned it into a high-pitched, sonar-like shrill instead. The bear turned its head in our direction.

  “We need to help it! I think it’s bleeding,” Brianna replied, completely ignoring me as she rose from her crouched position.

  “Or it’s just caused something else to bleed,” I spat, “We need to go.”

  She stepped toward it. It whined again, and tried to move off its back. Brianna paused. I could see her body, like mine, trembling in fear. But, she continued, regardless, edging her way toward it, cooing softly as though it was a newborn.

  I refused to abandon her. As much as every part of my body was desperate to turn and run, I wasn’t about to leave my idiot friend with a creature that could snap her neck in a matter of seconds.

  3

  “Excuse me ma’am, can you please step away from the animal.”

  The man startled me almost as much as the bear had. I jumped, emitting a strange squeaking sound, and landed badly, twisting my ankle on a small rock.

  I’d been so preoccupied with Brianna and the bear that I hadn’t heard him approach. He shone a flashlight in my face and I grimaced and covered my eyes, wondering why the hell I was the target of suspicion, and not the killer grizzly lying prostrate on the ground.

  “Can you not do that?” I replied haughtily.

  The man lowered his light, but didn’t apologize.

  “Are you a forest ranger or something?” I asked, relieved to have some back up.

  The man was silent for a moment before he replied, “Yeah, a forest ranger. You ladies both need to go back to wherever it was you came from. I’m guessing the camp that way?”

  He waved his light in the direction we’d just come.

  “Yes.”

  “I think the bear’s badly hurt,” Brianna interjected, “What are you going to do? Do you have a truck or something? How are you going to help him?”

  I looked around, but saw no sign of a vehicle. The man seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

  “My truck is about a mile back. I’ll drive it up here and haul him on. Do it all the time.”

  He sighed as if this was an annoying event that happened on a regular basis. How many fights did these bears get themselves into?

  “Will the other one be back?” I asked with slight trepidation, “Do you think we should move camp?”

  If the other bear was strong and vicious enough to be able to cause this beast harm, then there was no way I wanted to be intruding on its territory.

  “Not tonight, no,” he muttered darkly, “You’ll be fine.”

  I tried to get a better look at the ranger, but the lack of light made it difficult. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with a more than capable looking physique, but his face was almost fully cast in shadow. The only thing I could make out for sure was that he certainly didn’t dress like a forest ranger. I could definitely make out dark wash jeans, and a plain black t-shirt, but they looked clean and pressed, without a hint of forest debris or mud anywhere.

  “You don’t look like a forest ranger,” I speculated out loud, “I thought you guys all had those camo uniforms?”

  “It’s my night off,” he deadpanned.

  The forest ranger clearly wasn’t a fan of ours. No doubt he saw it all the time, urban dwellers who came to the forests and open landscapes of the Rockies to let off steam and ‘get back to nature’ without knowing the basics, which I’m pretty sure included running the hell away from grizzly bears.

  “Well, we’ll be on our way… Bri?”

  She hadn’t taken her eyes off the bear, and barely seemed to hear my invitation to leave. I could tell just by looking at her that she was desperate to reach out and touch its fur.

  “Not a fan then?” The forest ranger asked.

  “Huh?”

  “Of bears. I take it you’re not a fan.” He clarified, and I was sure I could detect the hint of a smirk on his face.

  “They’re awe inspiring,” I replied truthfully, “But that doesn’t mean I want to get close enough to get my head chewed off.”

  “Very sensible.”

  I could definitely detect a hint of amusement lacing his tone, and it ticked me off. Brianna was the maniac here, not me. I would have expected a park ranger to applaud my good sense in keeping a safe distance. But then again, I already had the impression that this guy was probably the maverick of his ranger unit.

  “Whatever. Bri, can we please get going, I think I twisted my ankle,” I pleaded. It was beginning to throb, and the hike was going to be ruined tomorrow if I didn’t prop it and get some ice on it soon.

  “Let me take a look,” the ranger replied, and started to approach me before I could protest.

  “Is it bad?” Brianna finally re-focused and looked over.

  “Really, it’s fine,” I tried to shrug off the pain, “We should just get back.”

  The ranger ignored me completely and bent down to look at my ankle. I felt his hands touch my leg, his fingers warm and firm as they felt around the bone. I winced when he touched a sore spot. He didn’t say anything, but softly palmed my calf as if in an apologetic gesture.

  “It’s a bit swollen, try not to walk on it tonight, and put some ice on it. If you don’t have ice, dip a towel in water and wrap it around the ankle, okay?”

  I nodde
d before realizing that he couldn’t see me, “Yes… okay.”

  Suddenly I wasn’t feeling that chatty. At this close range I noticed just how broad and muscular the man was. His t-shirt strained over his thick shoulders giving me an ample view of the bulging bicep muscles and the toned definition of his forearms. He wore his hair slightly long, pushed back behind both ears. As he inspected my ankle, tendrils dropped in front of his face and for a split-second I felt a strong urge to push them back off his forehead.

  “Are we done?” I said instead, my tone weirdly brisk and hoarse.

  “We’re done,” he replied and straightened up. He towered over me. I’m average height, but in his presence I felt miniscule.

  “Thanks,” I breathed, “We’ll go now.”

  He nodded at me slowly, but I didn’t move and neither did he. I looked up and our eyes met. His face was still cast in shadow, but his eyes where hypnotic. They seemed to gleam in the darkness. His irises were an unusual midnight blue, but the tones within appeared as if they were moving and shifting, sparking like electricity. The overall impression was like looking into the midst of an electrical storm.

  I looked away. My heart hammered irregularly in my chest.

  “Are you ready?” Brianna called, having picked up the flashlight where I must have dropped it on the ground.

  “Yep,” I gulped, “Thanks, see you around.” I muttered to the ranger’s chest, unable to look up again.

  “Yeah, see you. I hope he’s okay,” Brianna replied, looking back longingly at the bear. The ranger waved us off.

  I felt his eyes on us, following as we walked back toward the camp, and the feeling didn’t go away until we re-entered the clearing.

  It was only then that I could actually breathe again.

  4

  That night, Brianna and I had returned to camp, practically falling over ourselves to tell the tale of our bear adventure. We mentioned the ranger briefly. Brianna hardly seemed to have noticed him. It appeared that I was the only one who he’d made a lasting impression on. Later, curled up in my sleeping bag, I’d listened for his truck, but heard nothing.

  The next morning, our adventures were old news after Janine almost gotten bitten by a snake, and Laker found a scorpion curled up inside his boot.

  Jason and Brianna hadn’t really spoken on the hike, and as we made the final descent, I had to give up on my matchmaking skills. No matter how many subtle ways Jason tried to vie for her attention, Bri just didn’t seem to notice. In fact, she was more preoccupied with wondering how her bear was faring in his recovery.

  Now we were making our way back home on route thirty-six, sun-kissed and drowsy. Brianna sat next to me in the back of Tim’s car, her head slumped on my shoulder as she snored softly in sleep.

  “Gas station!” I called out as we passed a sign, “I really need some water.”

  “I need a smoke,” Tim agreed, and pulled over. I saw Jason’s car do the same behind us.

  The station was run down, built from cinderblock and corrugated tin. It looked like more of a shack than a gas station, which made the McLaren P1 sports car parked out front all the more obvious. I only recognized the make because a few years ago they’d been a client of the PR firm where I worked. Those machines where upward of eight hundred thousand dollars.

  Laker and Tim both emitted low, envious whistles and stopped in their tracks to stare longingly at the gleaming body. I carried on toward the entrance of the station, desperate for rehydration and air conditioning.

  The door swung open just as I was about to push. I stood back to let the customer pass, and froze. It was the forest ranger.

  He was wearing the same clothes as yesterday, the dark denim jeans, black t-shirt and, surprisingly given the ensemble, some barely-scuffed black Converse. Finally, in the light of day, I could get a clear look at him.

  Good Lord, he was magnificent!

  Last night, I’d noticed he was large and wide, but in the daylight, it was obvious that the man was a wall of solid muscle. His chiseled jaw was clean-shaven, and his defined facial features portrayed remarkably classic good-looks. His looks were marred only by the slightly too-hollow cheeks and dark shadows under his eyes that gave him an edge which looked almost savage.

  I had been wrong about his eyes. They were a dark midnight blue, but that’s where the strangeness ended. I must have imagined the electric-like sparks that had stormed within them.

  “How’s your ankle?”

  It took a minute for my brain to process. In fact, I was probably staring at him with my mouth hanging open.

  “Uh, fine. Fine. Thanks for asking.”

  He looked down at my bare legs. I suddenly wished I wasn’t wearing such short shorts. His gaze travelled from my legs up my body slowly. The look in his eyes was raw and hungry with an intensity that made me feel exposed, and I shuddered involuntarily.

  “H.. how’s the bear,” I stuttered when it became apparent that he wasn’t going to speak.

  “Recovering.”

  I saw him unconsciously flip a set of keys in his hand. The unmistakable logo of the McLaren flashed in the sunlight.

  “Was that the ‘truck’ you carted him off in?” I quipped, staring pointedly at the key.

  “I thought about it. But blood’s a nightmare to get off upholstery.” He smirked at me, showing off a set of gleaming white teeth. I took a step back.

  “They must pay you well. I didn’t realize ranger positions were so lucrative.”

  He raised an eyebrow at my pointed tone.

  “Sorry,” I blushed slightly, “That was rude.”

  Damn my lack of a filter. But in my defense, I couldn’t quite merge the sharp, well-dressed man in front of me with the profession of a park ranger. He looked like he’d be more comfortable in a board room, despite the Converse.

  “It’s fine,” he shrugged, “I have other interests.”

  “Chloe?” A sharply questioning voice interrupted and Tim came to stand next to me, slinging an arm around my shoulder.

  “I thought you were getting water?”

  I shrugged him off, wanting to punch him in the ribs for thinking he could be this territorial around me when I was speaking to another guy.

  “This is the park ranger. He rescued the injured bear,” I replied.

  Tim held out his hand, but I could see that he was reluctant to do so. The ranger towered above Tim, and was easily twice as broad.

  “Tim Hutchins, nice to meet you.”

  The ranger looked him up and down, with a very different expression than the one he’d just adopted with me.

  “Nathan.” He replied tersely. He didn’t shake Tim’s proffered hand. Instead he looked toward me, expectantly.

  “I’m Chloe. Chloe Carpenter.”

  He nodded, his expression contemplative.

  “Very nice to meet you, Chloe Carpenter.” He replied eventually.

  “Nice to meet you…Nathan.”

  The name sounded strange on my lips. It was a common enough name, but there was something that suddenly seemed so personal about referring to him that way.

  He walked back to his car, not saying another word. As I watched him move across the parking lot, I couldn’t help but be reminded of a beast’s prowl. There was so much repressed power and control in his movements.

  Tim and Laker watched him as greedily as I did. I saw Tim pale when the engine thundered to life and the machine revved out of the lot.

  I smiled to myself and went inside.

  5

  Monday came too soon. My whole body ached from the hike, hurting in places that I didn’t even know I had. Sunday night I’d immersed myself in a bath with Epson Salts, but it hadn’t seemed to make the tiniest bit of difference to my aching muscles. I felt like I needed another weekend to recover from the one I’d just had.

  Brianna had called me later on Sunday night. I’d been dropped off around four, so I was surprised to hear from her so soon. She wanted to talk about the bear. How did I think he
was? Where did I think the ranger was keeping him? She’d been looking up bear sanctuaries online, but couldn’t find any in the immediate Denver area. I hadn’t known how to respond, other than to repeatedly sooth her anxiety with unfounded reassurances.

  Her behavior was odd, but in truth it was no stranger than mine.

  Since we’d seen the ranger, Nathan, at the gas station, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him. I’d never met a man who’d had such an effect on me. I’d met guys I thought where hot before, of course I had. I’d also experienced that little fission of excitement and dreamy head space as I launched into a fully blown crush. But this was different.

  I didn’t know the guy at all, but everything about him intrigued me. His physique, his face, the way his voice sounded, the memory of his warm touch that refused to fade. It all drew me in, preoccupying me so that every thought I had, every action I took, was saturated with the sexy-as-sin Ranger Nathan.

  That’s how I started my day, thinking of him as I walked the few blocks down to Eighth Avenue to work. I stopped off at Starbucks for a non-fat latte, which was ready and waiting for me at the counter when I arrived, and then practically glided through the doors to my office.

  “Looking good dollbaby, hiking obviously agrees with you,” Cory called out from behind the reception desk to me as I crossed the lobby. He looked as good as he usually did. Clearly he’d spent another productive weekend at the gym and topping up his tan.

  “I’m not feeling so hot on the inside, trust me. Everything hurts.” I moaned in reply.

  “No pain, no gain and quit whining. Debra is on the warpath this morning.”

  I rolled my eyes at Cory. He was such a drama queen, highly tuned in to the emotional nuances of our boss. He seemed to live and die by her mood swings. I could handle Debra. She could be frosty, but I respected her a great deal, and that made all the difference. It meant that I could tolerate some of her less redeeming aspects. The package as a whole was worth it.

  She’d brought me in two years ago to set up the digital team at the PR firm that she’d created from scratch. When she’d brought me in, it was just her and Brianna in Debra’s front room. They had been growing rapidly but they were behind the times when it came to digital and social marketing. I now had a team of five working for me, and the firm as a whole was reputed to be the best in the state.