by Kim Fox
The bear raised his wet black nose in her direction and sniffed. He would have been cute and cuddly if she didn’t know what the future had in store.
She cringed as the bear stepped forward and shook her head. “I can’t,” she said, holding back burning tears. “I’m sorry, Stetson, but I can’t.”
Kylee turned and ran. She ran without looking back; through the forest, through the camp where the rest of the members of the Clawed Squad asked if she was okay, and into her car. She slammed the keys into the ignition and sped out of there as fast as she could.
Tears burst from her eyes when she hit the main road. She had to pull over as sobs quaked through her, rocking her to the core.
There was no denying it now. The bear in her vision was Stetson’s. He was the one. He was the one who was going to kill her.
She picked up her phone off the passenger’s seat and dialed a number with her trembling fingers. “You were right,” she said when Andrew picked up on the other line. “They’re all bad.”
“Good,” Andrew answered. “Let’s drive them out tonight. I have a plan that will have every resident in Montana ready to kick out every shifter in sight.”
Kylee wiped her eyes and cleared her throat. “I’m in.”
nine
“I don’t know what happened,” Stetson said with his head in his hands. “She insisted on seeing my bear. I showed it to her and she took off.”
“Your bear didn’t take a dump in front of her did he?” Slate asked with his hands on his hips.
“Will you shut up?” Thorn said, giving him a dirty look. “That’s not helping.”
Slate shrugged. “What? His polar bear always takes dumps in front of me.”
“That’s because he wants you to step in it,” Karl said.
“Okay,” Thorn said, standing up with fire in his eyes. “Get the hell out of here. All of you.”
Stetson tried to slow down his breathing to try and lighten up some of the tightness in his chest. He couldn’t stop picturing the wild terror in Kylee’s eyes when she looked at him. It broke his heart to see her so afraid of his bear.
Thorn placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “It’s probably nothing. Maybe she left her oven on or something.”
“Yeah,” Stetson muttered but he knew the truth. There was no mistaking that panicked look in her eyes.
“Sometimes it can be hard for bear shifters to date humans,” Thorn said. “Our animals are apex predators and the humans have a deep evolutionary wiring within them to avoid predators.”
Stetson slid a hand over his aching heart. It literally felt like it was cracking to pieces. He had seen her face. This wasn’t an average human’s fear. This was something else entirely.
“She’s gone,” he said, his voice dull and monotone. “She’s not coming back. I can tell.”
You should have listened to your instincts. You’re not mate material.
“How about you call her?” Thorn asked. “This could all just be a major misunderstanding. You want to keep dating her don’t you?”
Stetson swallowed as his shoulders drooped. “I bonded to her,” he whispered. “Of course I do.”
Thorn leaned back in his chair with a grimace on his face. “You bonded? Shit, that changes everything.”
Stetson looked up at his alpha with hope. Hope that he had the answers, that he could tell him what to do, that he could fix everything. But Thorn wasn’t even able to save his own mate. How could he save his?
“I’m just gonna go hunt,” he said, standing up with a lack of energy. Being human was too hard right now. He needed to bring out his bear and let him deal with the anguish of the tender wound.
“Okay,” Thorn said. He probably understood what Stetson was going through. It had been years since his mate died.
Stetson shuffled to the forest, past the boys who were watching him from the other side of the camp.
“He better make up with her or we’re all out on the streets,” Karl whispered. Stetson always had better hearing than most shifters. They didn’t think he could hear them but he could.
“We’re already headed to the streets,” Tyler whispered back. “None of us have mates.”
“Imagine what the Vega brothers are going to do to us if we lose their property?” Slate whispered. “We better all find a lady or we’re fucked.”
Stetson yanked off his shirt as he stepped into the forest ready to phase. He didn’t care about any of that. Living on the streets didn’t bother him and pissing off the Vega brothers didn’t bother him. He would welcome their vengeance to put him out of his misery.
There was only one thing that he cared about, one person actually, and she was disgusted with him. Yeah. Being put out of his misery sounded pretty fucking good right now.
ten
“Shit,” Kylee said as a car turned into her driveway lighting up the wall of her living room. It was the mayor.
She walked to her front door with a thickness in her throat. This is a bad idea. Seeing Stetson’s bear that morning had frightened her and she panicked and called Andrew. Now as she opened the door and saw the look in his eyes through the windshield, she was regretting it big time. How could she tell the mayor that she was out? He wasn’t the type who took no for an answer.
“Get in,” he called out through the open window of his car. Kylee blocked the light from the headlights with her hand as nausea crept up her throat, making her feel sick.
“I changed my mind,” she said, walking over to the driver’s side.
“Get in,” he repeated. “You’re not backing out. This is too important.”
“Why is this so important?” she asked, clutching her stomach. “Why are shifters so bad?” She pictured the Vega brothers, Hannibal and Julius, so happy with their smiling wives. Surely they couldn’t be bad.
But the other side came crashing down like a falling mountain. Her vision. Her death. By the man that she loved.
She exhaled heavily feeling like the weight of the world was on her shoulders.
“They know too much,” Andrew said, staring blankly through the window. “We have to get rid of them.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked. “What do they know?”
Andrew rolled his eyes. “Just get in, Sheriff.”
Kylee took a deep breath and walked over to the passenger’s side, her nausea worse than ever. I hope I don’t puke in his car. Actually, that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. He probably deserves it.
She took off her hat and sat down in the passenger’s seat. She wasn’t fully committed but she did want to see what the mayor had planned. Her gun was strapped to her hip and she was in full uniform so if she didn’t like what was happening she could always stop it.
Andrew threw the car into reverse and sped out of the driveway before she could click in her safety belt. He was wearing black gloves. In the summer.
“What exactly is the plan here?” she asked with an empty feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Andrew grinned as he sped down the road. “The plan is to turn the whole town against shifters.”
Kylee glanced at his gloved hands squeezing the steering wheel. “But the town doesn’t even know about shifters.”
He huffed out a breath. “Oh, don’t be so naive, Kylee. This is Montana. Of course everyone knows about shifters. Everyone has worked with a shifter or has a cousin or a friend who can phase. I want them all gone and I need public support in order to do that.”
“Okay,” she said with a thickness in her throat. Her heart belonged to a shifter but she saw how that was going to end. They could be in love as much as they were but if Stetson couldn’t control his dangerous inner animal then he had to be stopped. And if a strong, powerful man like Stetson couldn’t control his bear than she was convinced that no shifter could. “How are you going to turn the public against them?”
“Nothing scares the public like a gruesome, senseless murder,” he said with a grin.
A murder?
He turned towards her with a sinister look that gave her the chills. This was a bad idea. He hit the brakes and the car rolled to a stop on the dark secluded road. “Why are you stopping?” she asked, swallowing hard. “Andrew, I want to go home. I don’t want any part of this.”
He pointed to her window, ignoring her. “She’s out there. Look.”
Kylee gulped as she turned to the window and looked out at the dark forest. “What are you poin-”
Andrew snatched the gun out of her holster in an instant while her head was turned.
“Hey!” she screamed, whipping her head back around. “Give it back. Andrew!”
He just laughed as he pointed it at her from out of her reach. “Do as I ask and you’ll get the gun back. Betray me and all you’ll get is a bullet.”
Kylee shivered. “What do you want from me?”
“You’ll see,” he said as he threw the car into drive and took off down the road. “Now let’s go pay your boyfriend a little visit.”
eleven
All of the boys went to the pub in town except for Stetson. There was a famous local band named Cool Wood who was playing and the guys wanted to check them out. They begged Stetson to go with them but he had refused. He needed some alone time to heal his fresh wounds and he also wanted to stay at the camp in the rare chance that Kylee came back.
It’s not going to happen, he had to remind himself. You saw how she looked at you: like a monster. Just the way your parents looked at you. That’s your true nature and that’s what you get for thinking that you’re mate material.
Stetson was lounging by the fire deep into a twelve pack of warm beer when the headlights of a car lit up the road in the distance. Back already?
That wasn’t like the guys. When they went out and started drinking they usually didn’t come home until they were forced too.
But there was only one car and the boys left in two pickup trucks. Is it? He perked up in his chair, an empty beer can falling off his lap.
Stetson raised his nose and sniffed the air. Peaches. It was her. But there was someone else with her. A scent that he recognized. A scent that had his bear growling.
The police car slowed to a stop beside his Jeep and the engine cut, killing the headlights.
Kylee stepped out of the passenger’s side and Stetson’s stomach dropped when he saw her face. She looked worried. Her fingers were in her hair, twisting it nervously as her panicked eyes darted around the camp searching for something. Her eyes settled on him and she flashed him a pained look. “I’m sorry,” she whispered barely loud enough for him to hear.
He was about to respond when the driver’s door opened and the mayor that he met at the restaurant, Andrew, stepped out. Kylee’s neck stiffened as she looked back at the mayor.
One look at Kylee’s tense, strained muscles and Stetson’s possessive bear growled deep within his chest. Stetson rushed forward to be by her side. She could hate him and be terrified of him all that she wanted to but that didn’t mean that he would ever let anything bad happen to her if he could help it.
“Hold up,” Andrew said, pulling out a gun and pointing it at Stetson’s mate.
Stetson slid to a stop, glaring at the dead man who was threatening his love. He opened his mouth but an angry snarl ripped out of him instead of the words that he had intended to say.
“What the hell, Andrew?” Kylee screamed, staring at the gun pointed at her. “What are you doing? I’m the Sheriff!”
Stetson’s anger quickly turned to fear. He could move fast but he couldn’t move as fast as a bullet. He had to get closer.
“I’m doing what’s best for Montana,” he said with his chin in the air. “These shifters need to go.”
“And what about you?” Stetson hissed. “You’re no better than us. Hypocrite.”
Kylee narrowed her eyes in confusion. “What is going on?” she yelled.
Andrew walked around the hood of the car keeping the gun pointed on Kylee. Stetson grunted, struggling to keep his furious bear from exploding out of his skin. Stop. That’s exactly what he wants.
“All that you need to know,” Andrew said, walking up behind Kylee and pointing the gun to her temple, “is that Montana will be free of shifters soon and it will all be thanks to you.”
“And what about skin shifters?” Stetson asked with a growl. “Are you going to banish yourself as well?”
Andrew shot him an icy glare. “I don’t have an uncontrollable monster hiding inside of me.”
“He’s a skin shifter?” Kylee asked, trying to keep up. Stetson had known it the second he saw Andrew in the restaurant. He had the same musky scent as Tyler. The scent of a skin shifter.
“Then why do you hate shifters so much?” Kylee asked with anger bubbling in her voice.
Andrew grabbed her arm and Stetson took a step forward, his bear raging inside of him. “I’m going to be the Governor of Montana,” Andrew said. “And then one day the President. But I won’t get there if people know what I am and the only way they’re going to find out is if a shifter sniffs me out. That’s why they have to go. And you’re going to help me.”
Kylee shook her head and struggled to break free from his grasp. “I’ll never help you. You’re a lunatic.”
“You don’t have to be in on it to help me,” Andrew said, yanking her back towards him. “I only need him.”
Stetson flinched as his enraged bear nearly broke free from his skin. You come out and she’s dead. He could try to explain the consequences to his animal all night but his frantic polar bear was only seeing red. He wanted Andrew in his jaws for the way that he had his hands on his mate.
“Release your bear,” Kylee pleaded. “Kill him. He’s crazy!”
“Yes,” Andrew hissed. “Release him and come save your girl.”
Stetson held tight, trying to control his violent breaths. If a shifter’s bear killed the beloved Sheriff of Colwood then the residents would be begging for every shifter’s head on a platter. It was exactly what Andrew wanted.
“Kylee,” Stetson said with a shaky voice. “If I release my bear he’ll take over it and use it to kill you. He’ll blame shifters for your death and use the hate to drive the rest of us out.”
“He’s not as dumb as he looks,” Andrew said, yanking her towards him and tightening his grip on the gun that was digging into her temple.
Stetson stepped back with every muscle in his body clenched as he fought back his snarling bear who was desperately trying to claw its way out of him. Stop it! You’ll kill her! His forehead broke out in a sweat as he shut his eyes focusing all of his energy on containing the snarling bear. It was getting harder with every passing second.
“This should help move things along,” Andrew said with a twisted smirk. Stetson opened his eyes to see him snaking a hand down Kylee’s stomach and into her pants.
A furious growl shook Stetson’s body and his unstoppable bear surged forward. He grappled with him, trying to hold him back but his beast was beyond controlling.
Stetson cursed as his bear took over and exploded from his skin.
He could feel Andrew slide into his bear skin just as Tyler had done all of those years ago. It was a horrible feeling. All he could do was watch with helpless fear. It was like he was tied up in the back seat of a car with Andrew at the wheel.
His bear, under Andrew’s control, turned its fierce gaze onto Kylee. She burst out of Andrew’s limp arms and ran towards the forest. Stetson screamed helplessly as his bear snarled and chased her down for the kill.
twelve
“Yes!” Andrew whispered, his vile breath tickling the back of Kylee’s neck. Stetson was on his hands and knees, shaking as he phased into his bear.
“He won’t hurt me,” she whispered staring as the angry white bear exploded from his body. He was so big. She wouldn’t have a chance if she was wrong. She remembered her vision, the vision that took place in a setting that looked horribly close to the one she was in right now, and shuddered.
>
“You’re right,” Andrew said with a smile. “He won’t hurt you. But I will.”
His strong arms released her and she took off running. “Run Sheriff run,” he called out as she sprinted to the dark forest. She glanced back at Andrew and nearly tripped. His eyes were glowing a wicked white as his arms hung limply at his sides. His slack fingers were barely holding onto her gun. She could go back and grab it easily.
“Oh shit!” Stetson’s polar bear was charging at her with rabid foam flying out of his snarling mouth. Even if she could reach the gun in time, which she couldn’t, it would be useless against an angry bear of that size. She had no choice but to run. Run and hope that Stetson could regain control over his bear before he caught up to her.
She made it to the forest, jumping over a rock and hitting the ground running. The vicious bear was gaining on her but she continued sprinting with everything that she had.
“Ah!” she winced as a branch came out of nowhere and whipped her sweaty face. It was just like in the vision. She was living it now. Soon she would fall and Stetson’s polar bear would charge down on her. And it would be the end for her.
Don’t look back! She had to keep running but the heavy footsteps behind her were too much and she had to turn her head. The polar bear was moving so fast. He was a snarling blur of white that was approaching at a terrifying speed. Kylee stifled a scream and pushed forward, trying to ignore the cramping pain in her legs and the searing burning in her lungs.
The dark forest looked so familiar. The uneven ground under her feet, the eerie silence, that huge pine tree. That was where she-
Her foot slammed into a root and she flew forward, smashing to the ground in a crash of scratched knees and elbows. No. This was it.
She spun around on the ground as her heart pounded in her ears and her pulse raced. The deadly blur of white jumped and surged down on her as she raised her helpless hands to protect her face.