by Zoe Chant
A shifter. A shifter on the hunt. And there was nothing to hunt here but the two of them. It still made no sense, but there were the rare occurrences of shifters gone mad, no longer satisfied by hunting down deer or other game. A shifter who had gotten lost in his animal or in his rage. All of that was possible. All of it meant danger.
“I’ll explain once we’re back at the cabin,” he whispered, still listening for the sound of paws. If only he’d used his chance to tell Eve yesterday… “You need to believe me. It’s very real. And very dangerous. Trust me, Eve, please.”
“I trust you,” she whispered back.
He could hear the fear in her voice, but her hand tightened around his. She kept very close as they turned away from the creek at last. Only a few minutes to the cabin now. Before them stretched a hollow filled with dry leaves, and beyond rose the slender trunks of birches, their silver bark a welcome sign that they had almost made it back to safety. They only had to make it up the slope now, and then Eve would be safe…
The jaguar attacked when they crossed the hollow. It exploded out of the brushes to their left with a snarling sound of fury, and there was no more time to think.
“Run!” Chris shouted and shoved Eve forward, just in time before the large, spotted cat landed where they had stood a moment ago.
Lips pulled back as it turned its head to look at him, showing off sharp fangs. There was intelligence in its eyes, and a great deal of anger.
Shifter, Chris thought again even as the bear within him roared and took over at last, his uniform pants stretching and ripping along with his shirt as the change came over him.
Then all that was left was his own rage at the threat to his mate, and the scent of his adversary that had dared to challenge him in such a way.
***
Eve couldn’t believe what was happening. One moment, everything had been perfect bliss, with Chris by her side and the many years of fear finally falling away from her—the next moment, there was the terrifying roar of a large cat exploding into the clearing they were crossing.
She heard Chris’ cry, the command to run, and with the growl of the attacking beast close enough that she feared to feel teeth close around her leg any moment, she did the only thing she could and raced for the birches.
It only took a few steps, but it felt like an eternity to her. Her heart was pounding against her ribs, her mouth was dry, every sense heightened as she listened desperately for the movements of the predator. It roared again, so furious that the sound was almost human—but then she had made it to the trees and clutched at a trunk, daring to look back for the first time, terrified that she would see it tearing Chris apart.
What she saw instead was just as shocking. Chris was standing in front of the beast—indeed a jaguar, she noted in confusion, and that made no sense, why would there be a jaguar here?—and then, something happened that made her feel dizzy.
Before her eyes, something around Chris seemed to shift. She couldn’t make sense of it. One second he was there, the next second she saw his pants and his shirt rip and fall off. Instead, in the middle of the leaf-strewn hollow, there now stood a large, shaggy bear, all brown fur and muscles. It rose to its hind legs and let out the loudest, angriest roar she had ever heard. It made the birch leaves rustle and her knees tremble, but she was still too shocked to feel fear.
She hadn’t seen wrong. She had seen it happen. Something about the air around Chris had changed, and then he’d just… morphed. Transformed? She had to bite back a hysterical giggle. Magicked himself into a were-bear?
Oh God, she thought as she stared at where the jaguar and the bear were still facing off. Chris was… a were-bear? Or maybe she had hit her head during the accident and was now going mad. Or it could be a concussion. Concussions were a perfectly normal, sensible thing. It had to be a concussion!
The jaguar growled, showing long, sharp fangs, and then it pounced.
With a loud snarl, it impacted with one of the bear’s giant paws. There was another roar, loud enough to make the birch she was leaning against tremble, and then the jaguar dove forward once more, this time closing its jaw around the bear’s hind leg. A moment later, the bear and the cat broke through the brushes in a furious tangle. Eve kept holding on to the birch, her heart contracting fearfully.
Nothing made sense, but if that bear was really Chris…
The jaguar yowled in pain and anger. A powerful bat of the paw sent it back into the clearing, where it landed with a sickening thud. Eve gasped, then bit her lip, terrified that the beast might have heard her. She remembered at last that Chris had told her to run.
It wasn’t far to the cabin now, she only had to make it up the slope. Then she’d have a door she could lock. And the axe; there was the axe Chris had used to cut wood! And—
The jaguar’s head rose with a hiss. For one moment, its eyes met hers. They were small and black and filled with anger, unsettlingly human in the face of the animal. Her heart skipped a beat. She couldn’t breathe. Its lips rose again, and she could see its fangs, sharp as knives. Blood dripped from them—the bear’s blood. Chris’ blood!
Once more the jaguar growled—and then the bear barreled into it. Furious, it took the neck of the jaguar between its teeth and shook it with another mighty roar while the large cat yowled in pain.
Eve could see blood on the fur of the cat now, and one of its paws hung limp. Even so, it did not give up. Hissing and spitting, it twisted until it could attack the bear with its claws. One swipe drew new blood dripping down the bear’s chest. As the bear roared in pain, the cat at last broke free from its grasp—only to race back towards the creek, the bear thundering after it in furious pursuit.
Eve’s hands were still cramped around the slender birch for support. In the distance, she could hear the sounds of the fight: growls and cries and the distinctive roar of a very large, very angry bear.
Chris, she thought again, something constricting around her chest and keeping her from breathing. After a moment, she realized that it was complete, utter terror.
He had been bleeding. The jaguar had wounded him, and Chris had turned into a giant bear, and what if the jaguar won and came back to finish what it started? What if the angry bear returned and tried to eat her?
There was another crash in the distance. This time, panic took over.
She let go of the tree and ran up the slope as fast as her legs could carry her, her heart thudding painfully against her ribs with every step she took. She was already out of breath, but she couldn’t slow down. Any moment, the jaguar could appear from out of nowhere again and attack—oh God, what if it had brought friends? Was that a thing, jaguar packs?
Magical jaguar packs, she reminded herself, and didn’t have enough breath left to giggle with hysteria at the image. They have a name for that in Harry Potter, don’t they?
With her last strength, she grabbed hold of the axe. Her blood roared in her ears as she stumbled into the cabin. She was so dizzy with fear and exhaustion that her hands trembled when she locked the door and fastened it with the bolt. Then she pressed herself into a corner, trying to keep both the windows and the door in her sight, and held the axe tightly clutched in her hands.
***
The door to the cabin was closed when Chris at last made his way back up the hill, furious and guilty and limping from the wound the jaguar’s teeth had left. He’d shifted back halfway up the hill, and the first thing he did was curse. He had ripped his clothes, and he had nothing else to wear.
Great, you big lummox. You nearly frightened her to death because you turned into a bear, and now you’re going to return stark naked. Couldn’t have found a worse way to tell her if you had tried.
The bear in the back of his mind was still furious that the other shifter had escaped, and so worried for their mate that Chris had to fight the need to race up to the cabin to reassure himself that she was still there and safe.
Instead, he walked deliberately slow. If she was watching the slope from on
e of the windows, he wanted her to see that it was him, and that he might be naked and bleeding from wounds at his chest and leg, but still the man she’d threatened with a sooty finger a short while ago.
Nothing had changed between them. He told himself that as he hesitantly approached the door. Nothing had changed, he was just… a bear. It had been a part of him for as long as he could remember, but now even saying the words in his head made him cringe. He’d really made a mess of this. He shouldn’t have waited and talked to her yesterday evening instead. None of this would have happened if he’d shown some good sense for once.
The door opened slowly, and he breathed a sigh of relief as Eve looked at him. She was still pale with shock, and when the door opened a little wider, he saw that she was clutching the axe.
The bear approved with a rumble. Their mate could protect herself. But still, it nearly killed him to think of her alone.
“Can I come in? Sorry for…” He gestured at his naked body with a grimace. “The clothes didn’t… I usually take them off before, but the attack came so fast.”
“You usually… So it’s true?” she asked. “You’re, what—a were-bear?”
Her eyes were wide and red-rimmed. He wondered if she had cried. Once more he cursed himself.
She let him inside, quickly bolting the door while he made his way to the bed and then sat down with a hiss.
“A shifter,” he said when she turned to face him. “That’s what most of us call it. I can… well, shift into a bear. You’ve seen me do it.”
She nodded slowly. Then she took a deep breath and put the axe back down near the door.
In case the jaguar should return, he thought with approval.
“This is insane,” Eve declared. “You know that, right? I’m… I still think I must be dreaming. Only it has to be a nightmare. Or a concussion.”
“Not a concussion. It’s very real,” he said gently, despite the burning slashes the jaguar had left. “Do you want to sit down? I wanted to tell you this evening. I know it’s hard to take.”
“You said most of you. Are there more of you then?” Eve asked. “That jaguar… The attack was deliberate, wasn’t it? It was another man.”
Chris nodded. He didn’t dare to reach out for her as she slowly advanced towards him. After a moment, she sat down at the end of the bed.
He wanted to lean forward and hold her in his arms, breathe in the scent of her hair and reassure himself that she was safe—but all of that had to wait. Right now, it was more important to apologize. He’d never intended to hurt her or cause her pain, and now she had cried because of him. Had only barely survived an attack, because of him!
“That shifter was here for you? Is it someone you know?” Eve demanded.
Chris exhaled in frustration, then winced once more at the burning wounds. Eve pursed her lips. She stood, only to return after a moment with an old first aid kit. He wanted to smile at how well she’d used her time in the cabin, but then hissed again when she began to dab disinfectant onto the bites at his leg.
“Thank you,” he said with a grimace.
Eve looked up to give him a reluctant smile.
“Keep talking,” she commanded. “There’s a lot you haven’t told me.”
He could hear what she left unsaid: He’d chosen to keep his secrets when she had trusted him with her own.
I’m such an idiot.
The bear rumbled at him in agreement.
“My father was a shifter too,” he began. “So are my brothers. I have two, but we don’t really talk. Logan at least updates his Facebook status every few months. Steven is… I don’t actually know what he does. I think he’s called three times in the past ten years, so…”
Chris shrugged helplessly. Eve was still listening, although she was now busy wrapping a bandage around his leg.
“My father went away when I was still a child,” he continued. “I like to think that he found himself a lonely hut somewhere on a mountain. Or maybe he’s drinking himself to death somewhere in some shitty town. Siring more bear cubs he has no intention of caring for. Who knows.”
He was surprised at the bitterness that had suddenly broken free. He usually didn’t allow himself to dwell on those things.
Chris had fought hard and made a life for himself. And it was a good life. He’d always wanted to be a cop. Keeping people safe, making sure that no one got hurt—all those cop shows had been so appealing to a lonely boy abandoned by his own father. And growing up, he found that it suited him.
He was still lonely, but at least he could tell himself that he was doing something worthwhile with his life. He might return to an empty apartment, but at least he’d made a change for other people. Hey, even if as a small-town cop sometimes all he got to do was retrieve Mrs. Bosman’s runaway dachshund, at least it got him a smile and one of her famous cookies. Perhaps he wasn’t truly happy, the way people in movies were, but at least it was enough.
And then he’d met Eve, his mate, and now enough would never be good enough for him ever again.
She moved on to his chest, her fingers very gentle when he hissed again at the burn of the disinfectant, although she still didn’t meet his eyes.
“Anyway,” he murmured. “The bear shifting is just a… I don’t know what to call it. I’ve always had it, and I hope you will believe me that I’ve never hurt anyone. On the weekends, I go out into the forest, just to let the bear run for a few hours. Then I go back and do my job. It’s… boring, really.”
He tried for a smile, but Eve didn’t bite.
Boring, really? You just told her you’re a were-bear!
Shut up! he snapped back at himself.
Out loud, he said: “OK, maybe not boring. Anyway, bears are mostly solitary. I know there are others shifters, but I don’t search them out. One reason I decided to take the job in Linden Creek was that this is a touristy area, and there haven’t been any sightings of large animals in the past years. Bears, wolves, cougars, other big cats… Nothing. It’s a good sign that there are no other shifters in Linden Creek.”
“Or they’re very careful,” she pointed out while she wound another bandage around his chest.
“Or that,” Chris agreed. “We heal quickly, too. I know those slashes look bad, and right now they hurt a lot, but they will look much better tomorrow.”
Eve let out a relieved breath, and then at last looked up at him again with a small smile. “I guess I should say thank you. If you hadn’t fought that jaguar…”
“I still don’t know what that was about.” Chris shook his head, baffled. “I looked through the files when I arrived here, but I promise you, I’d be very surprised if there was another shifter living nearby. Maybe it was someone passing through, but…”
“It seemed really focused. And really angry,” Eve said with an instinctive shiver, and at last he dared to rest his hand on her arm.
“That it did,” he replied slowly. “I don’t know what was wrong with it, but we’ll have to be very careful until we get rescued.”
Eve made a soft sound of agreement, and then, with a deep sigh, turned away from him so that his hand slipped from her arm.
“I’ll see what I can do about dinner,” she said, then grimaced. “I hope you like rice with rice.”
***
Eve spent most of the afternoon quietly mulling over the things Chris had told her. She could feel that he was miserable, and more than anything she wished she could lean against him and distract him from his injuries. At the same time, now that the shock of the attack and his transformation had passed a little, what rose up instead was hurt.
She’d told him the one secret that had left her terrified of confiding in anyone for years. The Herberts didn’t know. Sidney didn’t know. She’d never even considered telling Jeremy. But Chris—he’d just felt so right. She had wanted to trust him so badly.
And so, for the first time in nearly ten years, she’d taken a chance and told Chris. She’d done it because she couldn’t lie to someone
she wanted to love her. After all, what did that love mean if she couldn’t trust him with her secrets? How could she expect to share her life with someone who didn’t know about such an important part of her?
She stirred the rice with a frown. She wished there was any of the fish left to add some flavor; she’d made do with some of the instant ramen spices and a handful of dried herbs that were probably years past their expiration date, but at least there was a healthy supply of salt in the back of the old cupboard.
Chris allowed her to have some space for a few hours, and for that at least she was grateful. It was something, wasn’t it, that he understood that he’d hurt her by keeping his silence?
Jeremy had done these things all the time—of course, he’d lied about smaller things, not magical were-bears, but in the end, what difference did it make? Jeremy had only ever laughed at her when she’d been upset, or rolled his eyes at what he called her over-emotional female lack of rationality. Well, he’d been an asshole. He had also always expected that he could make up for any of the hurt he’d caused by appearing on her doorstep with a cheap flower arrangement from the store. Chris… Chris at least seemed genuinely sorry for lying to her.
She sighed and then frowned at the rice again. She wasn’t the best cook, which surprised people who knew her patience when decorating cupcakes, or all the work that went into experimenting with new recipes to find the perfect pie. But cooking was an entirely different thing, and rarely as much fun as baking. And she wasn’t terrible either… but given how little she had to work with here, she doubted that her dish of rice with rice, garnished with some more rice, would impress even the contestants of a survival show.
A soft giggle escaped her as she imagined just what sort of show that would be: abandoned in a forest with a were-bear! The winning prize would go to whoever avoided getting eaten! Or maybe… She blushed as she turned to look at Chris again, who looked at her with a raised brow.