“Oh dear… Uhhm, okay.” Jessi said.
“Yeah, thanks.” Kim said.
The women smiled courteously and then Kim turned back towards Jessi and groaned, “Yuck. It’s never the cute ones you know?”
She nodded in feigned understanding. The truth was that Jessi didn’t know what Kim meant at all. Men didn’t buy her drinks. But it wasn’t like she could explain that to Kim. As much as she loved her friend, she knew that Kim had long ago gotten fed up with Jessi’s self loathing.
Jessi knew that she was always going to wind up with someone of her own kind anyway. So in that respect her shape didn’t matter. Well, it was more accurate to say that it didn’t matter to anyone but her. The truth was that for as long as she could remember it had bothered her.
Growing up, she was always envious of her human friends. She always thought it was a cruel joke when they complained about being fat or not being able to lose weight. As much as she loved her family and what she was, it was the one thing that hurt her the most. She knew that no matter what she did, she would always be large.
Kim interrupted Jessi’s train of thought and asked, “So what are they like? The brothers? Details, details…”
Jessi squinted a little and replied, “Uhhm, it’s hard to explain…They aren’t like anyone in our town - either humans or bears.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, aside from their looks which are just… yum… there is something… I dunno… mysterious about them.”
Kim’s eyes widened and she said, “Ahhhh, I see now… You like them don’t you?”
“No!” Jessi fired back.
“Jessi, I’ve known you since we were no taller than a redwood stump. Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not!” Jessi huffed.
“Bullshit.” Kim scoffed.
“It doesn’t make any difference anyway.” Jessi replied.
“What doesn’t?”
“Nothing…” Jessi said as her voice trailed off.
“No, not this again Jessi.” Kim said sharply.
“Not what again?”
“Jessi, don’t play dumb. You know how I feel about you putting yourself down because of how you look.”
Jessi grimaced and replied, “I didn’t say a word about anything Kim.”
“Jessi… Look all I am saying is that you have so much to offer. You are a wonderful friend with a tender, loving heart. I just want you to be happy.”
Jessi paused for moment and let her friend’s words sink in. Logically, she knew that what Kim said made sense but emotionally, the self defense walls she’d built up were just about too high for her to see over any longer. Anyway, she knew that there was no way to explain it to Kim that she could understand. Instead, she decided to try to get past it for the moment for Kim’s sake and replied, “I know. I’m sorry I snapped at you.”
Kim reached across the table, squeezed Jessi’s hands in hers and said, “It’s okay. You know how much I love you don’t you?”
“Yes. I love you too.”
Kim leaned in winked and said, “Okay, so which one of the brothers do you want?”
“Screw you!” Jessi replied sharply as she snatched her hands back.
Kim laughed out loud at her friend’s shyness over the question. Deep down, Jessi knew that Kim was only teasing and after a few moments, a smile came across her face.
“I hate you sometimes.” Jessi sighed.
“I know.” Kim said with a laugh.
As Jessi shook her head, she leaned down to take a sip of her drink when suddenly she heard Kim say, “Oh… Shit…”
Jessi looked up and asked, “What?”
“They’re coming over.”
“Who is?” she turned her head to see what Kim was referencing. In a split second, she could see that indeed they were coming over.
“The guys that bought us the drinks.” Kim exhaled.
Sure enough, the gang of four that had purchased their cocktails came over to try and see if their gamble had paid off. As Jessi suspected, their interest was in Kim.
“Evenin’ ladies…” said a large man in the center of the bunch. They all appeared to have come straight from work to the bar. By the looks of them, Jessi supposed that they were either loggers or ranch hands.
The women smiled but did not speak. Kim was about as close to being a professional at handling these situations as could be imagined. Jessi decided to follow her lead. A few seconds of awkward silence rolled by when the same large man, who was the apparent leader of the bunch, stepped forward and said once more, “I’ll try that again. Good evening ladies…”
His attention was focused squarely at Kim but she was completely unaffected by the dourness of his speech. She shook her head slowly for a moment, then turned in his direction and said, “Look, thanks for the drinks but we’re really not interested. We’re here waiting for our friends to arrive.”
It seemed as though it took several seconds for the meaning of her words to permeate his liquor-fueled awareness. Finally, he turned back towards his friends and said, “Hey boys, she’s not interested. I suppose that means we should just head back over with our tails between our legs.”
A mild cacophony of stilted laughter ensued amongst the lesser men.
Kim snapped back, “Listen. I said thank you. Don’t be a dick about it okay?”
He turned back towards her and slammed his hands down on the table. “Don’t you tell me what to do lady.”
Kim recoiled.
Jessi spoke up and said, “Hey jerk off, why don’t you just leave us alone. We can pay for our own drinks.”
He turned towards her and said, “Pipe down lardass… Who the hell do you think you’re talking to anyway?”
“Fuck you asshole! How dare you insult my friend like that?” Kim fired back.
“Kim. It’s okay.” Jessi said softly.
Jessi was embarrassed and enraged all at once. The truth was that she wanted to shift and tear his arms off. But she couldn’t shift even if she wanted to do it. Outside of their territory it wasn’t possible for bears to shift and the Sidewinder was three miles too far north. Luckily, before the situation could escalate much further, two of the man’s friends reached in and grabbed their would-be leader by either arm.
One of the two said, “Eli, come on man. Forget about it. It’s not worth it.”
He angrily pulled his arms away and said, “Get off me.”
He then turned back to the women and said, “You two better watch it.”
The women scowled in quiet disgust.
He laughed sarcastically and then said, “Have a nice night, bitches.” The group then turned and headed back towards the bar.
“So ridiculous.” Kim said.
“Yeah. Good thing that wasn’t awkward at all.” Jessi joked.
Kim laughed for a few seconds but then her mood turned dark once again and she said, “God, I don’t even feel like being here right now. It’s already 10:30 and they aren’t here yet. Can you try calling or texting and see if they are still coming?”
“I don’t have a signal. I haven’t had one since we left town. Do you?” Jessi replied.
“No.”
Jessi said, “Okay, well. Let’s give them a little more time. Maybe a half hour? Can we please?”
Kim pursed her lips and replied, “Fine. A half hour. That’s it. I don’t want to be here one second longer than that.”
“Alright. Thirty minutes.” Jessi said.
To pass the time, the women tried to make small talk in the midst of all the chaos that had unfolded moments earlier. Finally, after the allotted time had nearly elapsed Kim said, “I don’t think they’re coming honey. I’m sorry but do you mind if we just go?”
Jessi was disappointed but not surprised. Anyway, it’s not like it was a date and she’d been stood up or something. That was the truth even if in some small part her mind she’d hoped it could have been more than a causal get together.
“No. That’s fine.”
Jessi said.
The women collected their belongings and on the way out took care to avoid eye contact with their drunken suitors. They emerged from the bar into the cool air of a partially moonlit night. They walked in silence to the far end of the lot where they’d parked behind an old storage building.
Jessi felt creeped out for some reason. Maybe it was what happened with those guys in the bar, maybe it was the stillness of the night air but something was putting her bear on edge. Frankly, the sooner the night would end at this point, the better. The whole thing had been a big mess anyway.
As they continued walking, the only sound beneath their feet was the crunch of loose gravel. As they neared the area where their car was parked, out of her peripheral vision, Jessi saw Kim stumble.
“Damn it!” Kim exclaimed.
Jessi turned to see her friend struggling to stand upright. “What happened?” she asked as she rushed over to help her.
“Ohh, I think I broke my heel in this hole here.” Kim said.
Jessi spun her head around to search for the indentation in the ground when something else much more ominous caught her attention.
“Oh no…” She said.
“What?” asked Kim.
“It’s those assholes from inside. They’re coming.”
“Shit! Come on, help me…” Kim said urgently as she spun her head around to see what Jessi was talking about.
Awkwardly, Jessi attempted to assist her friend hobble towards the car but the men had seen them scramble and were now running in their direction. They’d gotten almost all the way to the vehicle when a voice from behind said, “You bitches didn’t think you were getting away that easy did you?”
Horrified, Jessi steadied her friend against the driver’s side door.
“Kim, hurry! Get the keys…” she said in a loud whisper.
But no sooner had she spoken those words then the men were upon them. The biggest one grabbed Kim by the upper arm and snatched her from Jessi’ grasp.
“Let her go!” Jessi shrieked.
As she reached to pull Kim back a thick palm flew against her face and struck her to the ground with a violent thud.
“Back off!” the big man said.
The blow rattled Jessi. Her cheek throbbed from the strike. It was landed with such force that she could feel her heartbeat in the side of her face. Through tearing eyes she looked up to see that they had started to drag Kim off in the opposite direction.
“Jessi!” Kim shrieked.
Jessi scrambled to get up when out of nowhere, two large shadowy figures suddenly appeared between her, Kim and Kim’s kidnappers.
“Let her go dirt bag.” One of the voices said.
Jessi shook her head and looked upwards. Her eyes still watered from the strike moments earlier but there was no mistaking the voice. It was Daryn. And standing right next to him, Theo. Somehow, Jessi managed to get on her feet and peek between their broad shoulders.
The big man stopped in the midst of his friends. “Or what? What the fuck are you two gonna do about it? We’ve got you outnumbered six to two.”
“Don’t make us say it again. Let the girl go.” Theo growled.
“Why don’t come make me?” the big man dared. He then quickly passed Kim into the hands of two other men. As he did, Kim defiantly kicked dirt and gravel in his direction.
Daryn warned, “You are making a terrible mistake man. If you don’t let her go, we will have no choice but to force you.”
The large man raised his right hand up towards the brothers, flipped his fingers back towards himself in a rapid motion and said, “Let’s go. I’m ready when you are pussies.”
What happened next was unlike anything Jessi could have imagined in her craziest of dreams. For no sooner had the big man spoken those words than an unimaginable transformation happened right before her eyes.
In a matter of seconds the bodies of both brothers started to contort and buckle violently. They fell forward towards the gravel beneath them and hit the ground with a heavy thud. Except that the thud was not them collapsing on the ground in a heap but the end result of eye popping metamorphosis - from man to beast.
Without so much as a sound, the men had shifted from their human form into the two largest wolves Jessi had ever seen. Daryn turned in Jessi’s direction and moved his enormous skull towards her. His communication was clear… back away. Her bear instincts kicked in and she did as was told.
As Jessi moved away one of the men holding Kim yelled out and said, “Fuck! What is that Eli?”
“I… I… Shit I have no idea.” The big man stammered.
Just then, Theo let loose with a blood curdling howl. Its shrillness pierced the night air and the men surrounding Kim turned ashen white. Frantically, they scattered in all directions and released her as they did.
But rather than pursue them, the wolves remained still. Neither Daryn or Theo gave chase. Theo walked towards Kim who collapsed against his enormous fur frame. Daryn turned and walked back in Jessi’s direction. Seconds later, the wolves returned to their human form.
Daryn rushed to Jessi and said, “Are you alright? Are you hurt at all?”
“No… He just slapped my right cheek. That was all.” She replied.
Without speaking, Daryn wrapped his hands around her face. Gently, he turned her head towards him to examine where the injury had occurred. Yes, Jessi was still in a daze but his touch… it just took her breath away. Through his hands she could feel not only physical warmth but a deep caring for her.
It was typical for Jessi to read more into a situation than she should but for some reason, it didn’t seem as though she was misinterpreting the meaning of his attention. But, her bear sensed that the look in his eyes expressed much more concern than it ought to for some random girl he’d met in a small town diner.
He gently stroked her face and said, “It doesn’t look too bad.”
She smiled and he helped her put her arm around his shoulder. He turned towards Theo and said, “Is Kim okay?”
“Yes, she’s fine.” He replied.
Daryn walked towards them with Jessi in tow. As they neared Kim and Theo he said, “Okay, I am going to drive Jessi home. Kim, would you mind if Theo drove you back to your house?”
“No.” she said. “Actually, I would appreciate that very much.”
“Alright then,” Daryn replied. “Theo, text me once you drop Kim off. I’ll be waiting for you at Jessi’s.”
“Sounds good.” Theo said.
Moments later, the two couples split up and headed back to their respective vehicles. As Daryn and Jessi walked, he turned to her and said, “I’ll drive if you don’t mind.”
“That’s fine.” She answered. “Besides, I have a few questions for you.”
Daryn chuckled a little and said, “I thought you might…”
***
A few minutes later they’d pulled out of the Sidewinder’s parking lot. They drove along in silence for a little while until Jessi’s curiosity had gotten the better of her.
“Alright… so Daryn… I think it’s pretty clear that there’s more to you and your brother than meets the eye. Would you like to just tell me what’s going on or do I need to start guessing? We have about a half hour drive ahead of us so if you don’t start, I will.”
Daryn smiled and replied, “No, that’s fair enough. I realize we’ve both been behaving a bit cryptically since arriving in town but there’s plenty of reasons for that.”
“Like what?” Jessi asked quickly.
“It’s… family stuff mostly.” He replied.
“What do you mean?”
With his left hand on the steering wheel, Daryn stroked his chin with his right and said, “Well, I’m not really sure how to explain it.”
“Try me.” she replied.
“Alright… Uhhm, I don’t know how it is with your kind but with wolves, it’s expected that our mates will be chosen for us by the pack leader. At least, it was that way for a very long time until
my great grandfather found his true mate - a human female named Gwendolyn.”
Jessi nodded her head in understanding - true mates were not a foreign concept to her. Although among bears, they were incredibly rare.
Daryn continued, “Anyway, my great grandfather went against the pack and stayed true to feelings that his wolf told him were right. However, it caused a split in the pack and ultimately he was shunned. But, a few members believed in his strength of character for following his convictions and so they left with him. You have to understand that this simply isn’t done. Blood bonds and kinship are all that matter to us. The only exception to this is when a wolf is called to his truemate.”
Jessi listened quietly and then said, “What happened to him?”
Daryn replied, “Well as the years went on, his pack grew and over time the old tradition that had been was replaced with the new one, that is, the choice to seek out one’s truemate - alone.”
“I see. And, this is something you don’t believe in?” Jessi asked.
“No, to the contrary. My great grandfather’s story is only the beginning…”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you.” She replied.
“That’s okay, no problem. Well, as I was saying, the new tradition was strong with the next two pack leaders - my grandfather and my father. The pack thrived under it until the time that my father was killed by accident on a hunt.”
“Oh my God, that’s terrible. I’m so sorry to hear about that.” She said.
“Thank you. I was very young at the time so I don’t remember very much about it. Only that he and my uncle were out on a hunt. He slipped into a ravine and died. Since then our uncle raised us as his own and as the only blood heir, he assumed control of the pack.”
“Wow.” She said softly.
“But, for some unknown reason, my uncle wanted to revert back to the old ways. And so shortly after taking control, he reinstituted arranged pair bonding. As my brother and I reached maturity, we discussed it and knew that it wasn’t what we wanted for ourselves. But we also knew that in order to change things, one of us would have to challenge for pack leadership.”
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