Dare to Bear (Book 1 Trail Guardians Series)

by Julian, Christine

  A strange sound in his chest rumbled through him like the thunder of a gathering storm. But wait. Wasn’t there some kind of ritual, like a rite of passage, or whatever?

  Hadn’t his buddies who’d mated talked about The Knowing? The Claiming?

  Did he need the blessing of a woodland priestess? Or some other entity to confirm and bless a mated union? The thoughts swirling in his brain made his head want to explode.

  Then again, he could be overreacting. Starved for sexual attention, since he hadn’t lain with a woman in… Well, longer than he cared to admit, as this was the peak of their busy season and the store commanded nearly all of his attention.

  Only one way to know for sure.

  Mason would join her on the hiking trail. He’d keep her safe by his side, until he uncovered the truth behind these unexpected sensations.

  It didn’t matter how her companion felt about the situation. Nobody told a bear, “No.”

  This was about fate, destiny. A path conceived by the Ancestors long before he’d been taken his first breath in this world. If his future lay in her hands, he wasn’t about let her walk out the door without him.

  Come hell or high wind or wildfire, he would know soon enough, beyond a doubt, if Stephanie was his eternal mate.

  2

  The first order of business, Mason decided, was to learn about her travel companion. He was sure she had one, since women rarely traveled alone. It wasn’t safe. She didn’t wear a wedding ring, so he didn’t have that obstacle to overcome.

  How awkward would that be? Hey, dude, I know I’m a complete stranger, but you’re married to the woman who’s supposed to be my wife.

  Damn, that would suck.

  He could handle some chump. Shredding someone’s marriage was another thing, and far more complicated than he cared to imagine. If her travel companion was a female, that made his life much easier. He’d turn on the charm until Steph was smitten and received her friend’s blessing to uproot herself and create a totally new life with him here on the trail.

  Sure, no problem.

  He scoffed, mystified by the abruptness and absurdity of their situation.

  Mating with an ordinary human was tricky. If she, in fact, was his mate. Eventually he’d need to explain—or demonstrate—why they were bound to each other. He didn’t look forward to revealing the truth about his shifter capabilities.

  But the part about seduction? Hell, yeah. Say when. He was all in. Picturing Steph under him turned his blood to liquid fire in his veins.

  Whatever it was about her, he wanted her. Completely.

  Ownership. Domination. Nothing less would satisfy him.

  Trapped in thoughts of her, he exited the locker room and ran smack into a guy half his size. Instant resentment poured through him. Was this scrawny dude her competition?

  Pulling back, Mason saw who it was. The familiar peach fuzz on his chin and his shaggy dark blonde hair gave him away. “Quinn. What are you doing?”

  “I’m great. Thanks for asking, and almost mowing me down.”

  Mason didn’t have patience for the junior Guardian’s attitude. “I need you to look out for someone. If a guy—or girl—comes in looking for Stephanie, let me know.”

  Quinn scratched his neck. “Who’s Stephanie?”

  “I’m about to find out,” Mason said under his breath, licking his lips.

  “I need to shower before my shift starts,” Quinn said.

  Mason grunted. “Make it quick. I need you on the clock, asap.”

  “Yes, sir,” Quinn muttered.

  No doubt, training as a junior Guardian could be trying at the best of times. Whatever orders the master Guardians dished out, the juniors had to grin and take it. Mason recalled the frustration personally. Especially when the elder Guardians turned grumpy and infernally obstinate in the old age. However, Mason was in his prime and in command of this post. He didn’t care if the juniors liked his orders, they just needed to follow them.

  When he returned to Tyce’s clinic, Mason found Steph neatly patched up and ready to go. She reached into the zippered pocket of her shorts and pulled out her insurance card and debit card. “Thank you, Dr. Tyce. How much do I owe you?”

  Mason cut Tyce off before the man answered. “On the house.”

  Stephanie blinked at him. “I have the money to pay him.”

  A slight grin tugged at Mason’s lips. He appreciated an independent woman. But he was bred and raised to one day become the alpha provider for his family. Like hell he’d let his future mate, if that’s what she was, pay for anything he could provide.

  Few beyond the elite master Guardians knew the extent of the clans’ wealth. Sales from their survivalist stores worldwide provided a large, steady income. In the tens of millions. He could afford to pick up the tab.

  “I insist,” he said. “I’m the one who forced you to get your leg checked. Let me make up for my imposition.”

  A cute frown formed between her eyebrows. Steph eventually relented. “Okay.” Then she looked longingly at the towels and bath soaps in his arms. “Can I take my shower now?”

  The sweet, pleading look in her eyes softened him in a way no woman could. Strike that. One woman could. Damn, she got to him. “The shower is all yours.” He smiled. “Ladies locker room and showers are out this door, down the hall, on the left.”

  “Thank you.” She hopped off the table and collected the towels. As though driven by impulse, she bounced onto tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for everything.”

  The place where her lips met left a tingle on his skin. He watched the sway of her generous hips as she walked out, his gaze lingering on the door long after she left.

  “You seem quite taken with her,” Tyce observed.

  Mason swung around. “There’s…something about her.” He shook her head. “Anyway, write up her bill, and I’ll pay it with cash from the drawer. If you need me, I’ll be out front changing the register so Quinn can start his shift.”

  “That can wait.” Sandy’s normally gentle voice held a sharp edge to it. “We need to talk.”

  “About?” Mason asked.

  Tyce stepped forward. “It’s about the rabies strain infecting wolves along the Appalachian Trail.”

  “Isn’t that something for the APL or National Wildlife Federation or the State of North Carolina to investigate?”

  “We’re not talking normal wolves,” Sandy said with a shimmer of worry in her eyes. “And it’s not a normal virus. This strain has leaped to the lycan.”

  Mason narrowed his eyes then outright dismissed her conclusion. “Shifters are immune to all the common sicknesses that infect wildlife species.”

  Sandy shrugged. “So we thought.”

  “Come.” Tyce beckoned him to the microscope. “Take a look at these two live cultures. Tell me what you see.”

  “Microbiology isn’t exactly my strong suit,” Mason retorted.

  “You don’t need an advanced degree to see this,” Sandy said dryly.

  “Fine.” Mason exhaled and bent over the microscope. “Okay, there are little squiggly things breaking into the shell of the round eggs.”

  “Those eggs are cells,” Tyce explained. “The squiggles, as you call them, are a typical strain of rabies. The viral DNA is slowly, gradually invading normal cells and recreating the host’s DNA structure to replicate itself.”

  “So these wolf cells have the rabies virus.” Mason lifted a shoulder. “What’s the big deal? It happens often enough. The solution is to put the wolf down.”

  “The big deal,” Tyce said in a low voice, “is on the next slide.”

  When Mason peered through the dual lenses a second time and the double-image became one, he instinctively recoiled. “What the hell is that?”

  Tyce nodded at him. “Grim, no?”

  “Uh, yeah. That’s disgusting. I think I just threw up in my mouth.”

  “Take a closer look,” Sandy urged. “You need to watch what this virus does.”

&
nbsp; Mason shuddered. “Do I have to?”

  Sandy urged him back to the microscope. “You have to understand the extent of what we’re up against.”

  Mason exhaled and pressed his eye sockets to the cushion of foam around each lens. “Holy mother of…”

  The squiggly strains in this sample were like the evil twin of the first virus. This beast moved fluidly through the healthy cells like a dark octopus, its tendril arms piercing the cells rapidly like a vile creature on steroids. By the time Mason stepped away, a knot of dread had formed in the pit of his stomach. All the cells in view had turned inky black. Darker than a moonless night in the densest forest. Dark as death.

  Mason rolled his shoulders uneasily and flicked his hands to shake the chill off his arms. “That was creepy. Nightmare creepy.”

  Tyce nodded. “Exactly.”

  “Man I feel bad for the critter who catches that.”

  Sandy eyed Tyce. “We need to tell him.”

  Mason crossed his arms. “Tell me what?”

  When Tyce dipped his chin, Sandy cleared her throat. “Tyce and I have been out collecting blood samples from carcasses for weeks.” Sorrow inflected her tone. “This strain of the virus only impacts one species of wolf.” Her chin trembled. “Werewolves.”

  Mason’s expression went blank. “You’re kidding.”

  “I wish she was.” Tyce rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Unfortunately, we’ve discovered countless lycan corpses, every cell infested with the brutal mutant strain.”

  Mason straightened. “I’m all for the shifter code.” The tacit understanding that shifters were united by unique abilities yet kept to their own. “But the lycan need to know about this. Seriously.” Agitated, he scraped a hand through his hair. “I mean, we’re talking mass annihilation here.”

  “No, we’re talking extinction.” Tyce spoke the dreaded word no shifter, of any species, wanted to hear.

  Suddenly the lump of ice in Mason’s gut spread in a numbing chill to his limbs. “Is it transferrable to shifters beyond lycan?”

  When he received no answer, he clenched his jaw, forcibly trying not to go berserk. Roar at the top of his lungs. Break something.

  Sandy’s eyes filled with tears. “We tested it on my blood. The cell rate of death was nearly the same as a lycan’s.”

  Rage boiled in his blood. He paced, disgusted, beside himself with fear for his kind. “What do we do?”

  “As of now, the heaviest concentration of this rabies strain is farther north on the trail.” Tyce sighed heavily. “I’m in touch with a doctor up there. As far as I’ve been told, the lycan are aware of this curse. Painfully aware. Few of their kind roam the wild as they used to. But for now, every wolf must be treated with extreme caution, shifter or not. We are all at risk.”

  Mason swallowed. “You’re right. All of us are in danger. No matter what species. Even birds of prey could happen on a carcass to pick it clean and…”

  There was no need for him to finish. All three of them knew with dreadful certainty that any type of shifter may face extinction with this wretched strain.

  Taking a haggard breath, Mason asked, “Have you talked to other shifter species? Do they know? Should we sound an alarm?”

  “Only the elders have that power,” Sandy replied softly. “But you know them, Mason. They believe we’re immune, impervious to traditional mortal plagues. If we take this to them now, they’ll demand undeniable proof werebears can contract the virus.”

  “Stubborn old bears,” Mason muttered through clenched teeth. “Is there any way to stop it? Some kind of vaccine?”

  “Working on it,” Tyce said, arching an eyebrow, “when you so gracefully barged through my door.”

  “From now on,” Mason stated, “the antidote is your sole mission. Unless a human is broken or poisoned or on his deathbed, your skills are dedicated to fighting this thing.”

  “That’s the plan,” Tyce said.

  “In the meantime, I pray to the Ancestors we won’t have an example to show the elders as proof of this virus’s toxicity. I have no desire to place the infested dead of our kind at their feet. Hell, by that time it could already be too late for all of us.”

  “We know.” Two tears tracked down Sandy’s cheeks. “Sorry, excuse me.” She raced from the clinic.

  Jaw clenched, determination pumping through him, Mason straightened. “I’m going on an expedition.”

  “Is that wise?” Tyce cautioned.

  “It’s necessary,” Mason said flatly. “Does Bryon at the next post have a heads-up about what you’ve discovered?”

  Tyce nodded. “I’ve been meaning to send a sample up to him to verify in his medic lab.”

  “Get it ready. I’ll bring it with me. My brother will want to know about this.”

  A frown on his lips, Tyce eyed him warily. “That could be exceedingly dangerous, should anything happen to the vial in transit.”

  “I’ve guarded the woods along the North Carolina trail for twenty-five years. You know me, Tyce. Better than anyone. When the stakes are high, I make sure every decision counts.”

  Tyce bowed his head. “The Ancestors be with you.”

  “They will.” They had to be. How could their Ancestors allow this pestilence to destroy them?

  Protecting Steph on the trail, learning more from other shifters on the way, and taking the sample to the next post became his intertwined priorities.

  Nobody messed with a bear, damn it.

  Nobody.

  Mason walked out to the lodge’s main room and found it empty except for the junior Guardian. He stopped short. “Did Stephanie leave?”

  Quinn wagged his eyebrows suggestively. “The sexy cutie with the red hair? Yeah, about two minutes ago.” He grinned like a grizzly with his hand in a honey pot. “Hate to watch her go, but love to watch her leave.”

  “Did she leave alone?”

  The young man shrugged. “Far as I could tell. I asked who she was with, like you wanted me to. She said no one.”

  Mason’s jaw hung open in shock. “And you let her leave? By herself?”

  “You said to find out who she was with. You didn’t say anything about stalling her. What’s got your scruff up, dude?”

  “Forget it,” Mason growled. Then he thought better of his anger, putting himself in check. “For letting her go, you owe me a favor.”

  Quinn let out a world-weary sigh—as if the kid knew the half of beginning of world-weary. “What?”

  “Go ahead on the path. In bear form. When you cross her, transform and act aggressive.”

  “Okay, why?”

  “You don’t get to ask questions.”

  Quinn exhaled. “Do I still get paid for this?”

  “Yes,” Mason muttered.

  “Fine.” Quinn headed for the door. “Anything else I need to know?”

  “Don’t attack. Just make it convincing you might eat her alive.”

  Quinn grinned. “I wish.”

  Mason’s hackles rose, and the bear in him flashed his incisors.

  Quinn raised up his palms. “Just kidding, dude. Dang.”

  “Go do your job.” As he grabbed supplies and stuffed them into an overnight pack they kept handy behind the counter, Mason considered his options.

  It could appear too convenient if he came across her with no reasonable explanation for his sudden presence. He needed an excuse she’d buy, a practical reason he needed to join her on the trail for the duration of her hike.

  That’s why he’d sent Quinn on that task.

  The two of them headed out the door, hot on the heels of Mason’s destiny.

  *

  Ten minutes after Stephanie left the lodge, showered and wonderfully clean, an acute sensation of loneliness crept up on her. She couldn’t pin down the source, except that while in Mason’s company she’d felt alive inside. For the first time in ages, she’d felt beautiful, happy, even a little feisty. Like her inner light had kindled to life again—until the source of the igniting
spark went away.

  How could a man she’d met for all of fifteen minutes leave such an indelible impression? Yes, he was tall, gorgeous, and built like a professional wrestler. Sure, he’d seemed to show a sincere interest in her health and wellbeing. Not to mention the undercurrent of attraction and mild flirtation he’d directed at her. But there was something more, something special about him…

  Oh, please. She rolled her eyes at herself, walking the trail, putting inevitable distance between her and the mysterious Mason. Keep dreaming.

  A hot hunk like Mason probably had every female drooling who stopped for supplies at his shop. Why would he give her a second thought?

  She didn’t consider herself particularly memorable. Her ex had confirmed that when he’d posted a picture on Facebook last week with him and another, much skinnier and prettier, woman kayaking on some romantic meandering river together. Her shoulders sagged. Kyle hadn’t wasted any time forgetting all about her and the fact that they should’ve been married by now. It should’ve been her in a kayak beside him—or him hiking the Appalachian Trail with her as his new bride. Her self-esteem hit bottom when she realized her hips probably wouldn’t fit in that teeny tiny kayak.

  Going alone on her own honeymoon vacation sucked. Royally.

  With a heavy sigh, she forced herself forward, determined—maybe a little desperate—to prove she was good enough. Brave enough. Resourceful enough. And fit enough to accomplish anything she set her mind to, including this trail. Her damaged heart had to heal on this journey.

  There would be plenty of time back home to cry, mope, and eventually heal. After she conquered this southern mountainous leg of the trail.

  Then she’d have something interesting, a real accomplishment, to talk about with the next guy she dated. If she bothered to date again. At the moment, she was convinced that men and the institution of marriage were severely overrated.

  Instead of dwelling on matters she had no control over, she pushed the heartache away and concentrated on the lush scenery. She filled her lungs with the thick, rich air. The mountain terrain and dense forests around her stood untouched by the modern world. Majestic nature. Almost magical in its peace and beauty.