Killer Bear

by Dillon, Kym

  Allie sat down again, her back to the couch. The bear seemed at peace now. Did she dare run for the door? She tried to convince herself to get to her feet, but found she couldn’t. The rumbling sighs of the animal behind her held her frozen in place just as surely as Mark’s kiss had done back in that holding cell. She would wait for it to fall asleep, she decided, and then she would move. If she tried to run before then, there was every chance the bear would follow her, and the odds of her outrunning that animal were slim to none.

  Finally, after half an hour had passed and Allie felt as though her nerves couldn’t take another second, she peeked over the back of the couch again. The bear hadn’t moved. Time to go, then, she thought, and forced herself to her feet.

  But as she rose, the bear stirred, and she froze.

  The animal turned, rising to its feet. At its full height, its head grazed the ceiling, and Allie trembled as she watched it yawn, exposing vicious looking fangs. Don’t move, she told herself, feeling the start of panicked tears welling up. Don’t move.

  The bear looked around. She couldn’t tell if it had seen her, but something seemed to anger it, and with a snarl that made Allie’s hair stand on end, and one swipe of its massive paw, it threw the rack containing the fireplace pokers across the room. One embedded in the wall, not too far from where Allie was standing.

  But she barely noticed.

  It was the bear’s forearm that had captured her attention.

  It bore a familiar scar pattern. Fur hadn’t grown over the scarred places, so it was easy to see, the messy scars snaking their way from wrist to elbow—the same scars she had seen once before.

  She looked up. The bear was staring at her. The bear was staring at her.

  The bear was staring with dark, hypnotic eyes, a gaze from which she found herself unable to break free. She was entranced. She was hypnotized.

  The bear dropped to all fours and stepped toward her slowly, cautiously, sniffing, and against her better judgement, Allie found herself moving toward it—toward him.

  This can’t be.

  “Mark?” she whispered.

  7

  It was as if the bear had been waiting for her to say the word.

  Allie didn’t even have time to question the sanity of her deduction. The animal was shrinking before her eyes, its fur vanishing to be replaced by smooth, tanned skin. The claws seemed to retract into its paws...its paws weren’t paws anymore, they were retracting, slimming until they were hands. Within a minute, it was all over. The bear had vanished, and where it had stood, Mark now crouched naked on the floor. He was shivering, his body heaving as if he was struggling to catch his breath.

  Allie screamed.

  Mark’s head darted up. “Allie, it’s okay!”

  “What are you!”

  “I’ll explain,” he said hurriedly. “I can explain everything, I swear. Let me just…can you turn around or something so I can put some pants on?”

  Allie hesitated.

  “I promise you’re perfectly safe,” Mark said.

  Against her better judgment, Allie turned her back. She heard him shuffling around with fabric, and a moment later he said, “All right, you can look.”

  She turned back. His pants rode low on his hips, distractingly so, and it was a moment before she could will herself to meet his eyes. He looked distraught, combing the hair out of his eyes with one hand, and she noticed that it was the same brown color as the bear’s fur had been. I’m losing it, she thought. I’ve got to be.

  “Do you want a beverage? I could make some coffee.” Allie almost laughed at the absurdity of it. What else could one say in such a situation?

  “Got anything stronger?”

  He nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. Allie pressed her hands over her face and took a couple of deep breaths, trying to collect herself. And she had been so convinced that she knew everything there was to know about Mark!

  He came back into the room holding a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. Pouring her out a little bit, he joined her on the couch. “I’m guessing you came in through the bedroom window?”

  “I came in through the front door.” Allie upended the scotch feeling the burn go down her throat, and reached her glass out for more. “It wasn’t locked.”

  Mark shook his head. “It’s been so long since I’ve had to think about things like that. I don’t get a lot of visitors. Nobody wants to come near the place.”

  “Because they think you killed your parents.”

  “Which I didn’t.” Mark took a long drink of his whiskey. “But, Allie, it’s best if you distance yourself from this whole mess. You’re not going to be able to prove anything. I’m being framed.”

  “By whom?”

  “That’s complicated.”

  “Is it more complicated than the fact that I just saw you turn into a bear?”

  “Technically, you just saw a bear turn into me.” He eyed her. “You’re taking it pretty well, incidentally.”

  “I believe in the evidence that’s presented to me,” she said, trying to sound calmer than she felt. “I saw it happen, so...I guess it’s something that happens.”

  Mark nodded.

  “Still…I mean...still…”

  He laughed hesitantly. “Pretty weird, yeah. I was thirteen when I found out—”

  “You mean it wasn’t something you could always do? No, of course not. I would have known if…when we were kids…”

  “Not when we were kids, no. It’s a family thing, and it comes on during adolescence. I was mad at my parents about something, I don’t even remember what, and it was my anger that triggered it. One minute I was stomping around, and the next…” he shook his head. “Well, it was scary enough that first time that I had a hard time transitioning back.”

  “Wow,” Allie whispered. “That sounds awful.” She thought back to high school, and how isolated and distant Mark had become during those years. This explained everything. If he’d been afraid of reacting emotionally to his peers, of course he would put up a wall. “So just now, when you were…”

  “Shifted.”

  “Okay, when you shifted, that was because you were angry?”

  “It’s been like that since I was released from the station,” Mark admitted.

  “But you were furious when we were there. You didn’t shift then.”

  “No. I’ve learned to keep it under control if I need to, but sometimes it’s hard. That’s part of why I wanted you out of there so badly,” Mark admitted. “I didn’t want to shift in front of you—I didn’t want you to know, and I didn’t want to accidentally hurt you—and I also didn’t want to lose control and shift in the middle of a station full of cops.”

  He had lost control, though, or at least, he’d lost partial control. Allie thought back to the kiss they’d shared, how raw and animalistic it had been. Had that been his bear side coming through? She shivered. She had to admit, a part of her was very eager to experience that again.

  “You were angry because you think you’re being framed?” she said, as much to get her own thoughts back on track as anything else.

  “I know I am.”

  “Who would want to frame you for murdering your parents?” Allie asked.

  “The people who actually did it,” Mark said.

  “And who was that?”

  Mark hesitated. “Look, I don’t want to throw you into all of this too fast. It’s not your problem.”

  “I’m your attorney,” Allie objected. “It’s very much my concern. The police don’t have any evidence against you beyond the circumstantial, and if I can name another suspect, they’ll have to drop the charges against you unless they find something more concrete.”

  “You still want to be my attorney?” Mark asked.

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

  “I just assumed that once you found out...what I am…”

  “What, that I wouldn’t want to defend you anymore?” Allie shook her head. “You’re still Mark, and you’r
e still innocent. That’s what matters here.”

  Mark took another gulp of whiskey as if steeling himself. “All right. My parents were murdered by another shifter clan.

  “Another clan?”

  “The Black Bear Clan. Old rivals of my family and my ancestors. The fighting between our families goes way back, and there have been deaths on both sides, but within the last three generations things have been peaceful. They broke that when they murdered my parents. If they can get me imprisoned for it, they’ll have wiped out our whole line.”

  “My God,” Allie said softly. “Do you think they could be the ones responsible for perpetuating the rumor around town that you’re the one responsible?”

  “I’m sure of it.” He drained his glass. “I was happy to live in peace with the Black Bear Clan, but they put an end to that. Now I know they’ll never leave me alone. And I’m the very last of my own clan. It’s me or them at this point. I don’t like it, but I’m going to have to hunt them down and avenge my parents’ death.”

  “Well, you’re going to have to stay out of jail for that to happen,” Allie said briskly. “And you’re going to need me for that.”

  Mark shook his head. “You don’t want any part of this, Allie. You should get out while you can. Go back to New York.”

  “I can’t go back to New York,” she snapped. “I lost my job. And in case you weren’t aware, it’s an expensive city. Until I find another job, there’s no way I can afford a place there.”

  “But you want to go back, don’t you?” Mark asked.

  “Sure. Eventually.”

  “I’m sure you have friends there. Maybe a boyfriend?” His glance was shifty, and she knew that had been more than just a casual question.

  “No,” she said. “No boyfriend.” She fidgeted awkwardly. She was used to answering this question—her mother loved to interrogate her about her dating prospects—but the kiss she had shared with Mark intensified her discomfort. She would have liked him to see her as confident and desirable, not as a stressed, unemployed mess who had never managed to get it together and meet any worthwhile men. And yet...she did want a repeat performance of that kiss, didn’t she? It would benefit her cause if he knew she was single.

  “The truth is, I never had time to date,” she confessed. “Work always kept me too busy, and by the time I finished for the day, well, the days were incredibly long. I guess I thought that might be something I’d get to try during this time off I’m taking.” Had that been too bold? “Of course, if I committed to someone here in Iowa, that would make it that much harder to go back to New York.”

  “A fling?” Mark murmured, and slid a little closer to her on the couch. “A fling…”

  She wasn’t mistaking the signs. He was definitely coming onto her. His hand found her thigh, and then—she wasn’t quite sure how it happened—she was staring into his eyes again. Just as he had back in the holding cell of the police station, he had her utterly transfixed, unable to move.

  This time, the kiss came slowly, almost tentatively, and it was gentle and searching. It was Allie who deepened it, pulling him closer, lying back so he could cover her body with his. A fling, she told herself as his tongue parted her lips. A fling, he’d agreed. Don’t let yourself get attached. But her hands were already sliding up the back of his shirt, gathering it, preparing to pull it over his head—

  He sat up, pulling her with him. She was gasping and her heart was racing.

  “So,” Mark said, putting space between them on the couch once more. “You’re my attorney.”

  “I’m your attorney,” Allie agreed, trying hard not to look him in the eye, knowing only too well what would happen if she did.”

  “Is an attorney with benefits a thing?”

  His eyes captured hers. They were deep pools of lust, and Allie could feel herself slipping, falling into them. She idly wondered if this was a shifter quality, this power he had over her, or if it had always been there and she had simply been too young to realize its intensity. Either way, she felt it now. It was barely a choice.

  “It’s a thing,” she acquiesced, and pulled him to her once more.

  8

  Allie woke with a start in the middle of the night. She had been having a nightmare in which she was being chased by a bunch of big black bears, but when she’d turned to look over her shoulder, the bears had disappeared, to be replaced by a fierce looking biker gang.

  But, just as the bikers had been closing on her, they were gone, replaced by a solitary brown bear. Allie’s immediate instinct had been to keep running. This bear was even larger than the black bears had been. But it wasn’t as fierce looking, and as she looked into its eyes, her fear vanished.

  She lay panting in her bed, trying to calm herself, breathing deeply. The bear had been Mark, that much was obvious. After what had happened the day before, Allie wasn’t surprised to find herself dreaming about him. But, there was something about this dream that felt different, somehow, more ardently acute. She had felt as if, at some point, the dream had ceased to be a dream and the bear had actually been looking at her—through the dream. She stared at her ceiling in somewhat of a daze wondering what to make of it.

  A clattering sound came from outside, and Allie realized that perhaps the nightmare wasn’t what had woken her. She slid out of bed and crept over to the window to peer out.

  Mark was standing under her window.

  Instantly, Allie was transported back to the long, lazy summer nights of their childhood. Mark had often crept out of his house and over to hers, tossing pebbles up at her window until he was sure she was awake. It was their secret sign, a way for him to ask her to come and meet him at the apple tree in his backyard. They’d stayed up all night there once or twice, plotting adventures and watching the sun rise before sneaking back into their beds. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

  Allie pulled on a pair of sneakers, crawled out her window, and used the drainpipe to help her clamber down the side of the house. Mark watched her descent. “I thought you’d come out the front door,” he called up when she was halfway down. He sounded amused.

  “You could have rung the doorbell,” she shot back, and dropped the last several feet to land before him. “We’re not kids anymore.”

  “Uh huh,” Mark said. “So do you want to come hang out in my apple tree or not?”

  “Yes, please,” she grinned.

  There were some boards nailed up in Mark’s apple tree to make a kind of platform in a Y formed by two of the larger branches. Allie thought that they had to be too old to have still maintained their integrity, but when they arrived at the tree, it was obvious the boards had been replaced or reinforced recently. They looked solid, and she followed Mark up to their spot. After Mark took a seat, she sat beside him. She was deeply curious to find out what had led him to call her out in the middle of the night, but years in court had instilled in her a habit of waiting for the other person to speak first. She sat quietly. Whatever he had to say, he would say when he was ready.

  But Mark seemed hesitant to speak. He plucked a leaf from the tree and shredded it between his fingers, an old nervous habit she recalled from childhood. “Is everything okay?” she asked him finally, breaking her resolve not to speak. “It’s not those Black Bear people, is it? Because, as your attorney, I have to advise you not to have any contact with them.”

  Mark laughed. “If I had any contact with them, someone would probably be dead. You don’t need to advise me on that. No, it’s...it’s something else.”

  “Well, what is it?”

  He hesitated. “Allie, did you have a dream just now? Just before I showed up?”

  “Yeah,” she said, seeing no harm in admitting it. “Not too surprising, considering the day I’ve had.”

  “It was a dream about me,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

  She wondered how he’d known. “Yes.”

  Mark sighed. “I was afraid of that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I
didn’t quite tell you everything this afternoon at my house.”

  “You mean there’s more besides the fact that you turn into a bear when you’re angry? Do you also turn into something else?”

  “No, nothing like that.” He paused again. “I don’t know how to say this. I was afraid, when I saw you at the police station...I thought I felt it then, but I hoped I was wrong—it only ever happens once, and it’s never happened to me before, so I couldn’t be sure, but it felt so unmistakable…”

  “What are you talking about?” Allie was nervous now. Whatever this was, it clearly had Mark badly shaken, and she imagined it would take a lot to induce this much fear in someone who could shapeshift into a bear and was being hunted by a clan of rival bears. What was it about her that was upsetting him so much?

  He wouldn’t look at her. “You’re my mate,” he said quietly. “My bear chose you as a mate.”

  “I’m your—your bear chose—what does that mean?”

  “Soulmate,” Mark explained. “For a shifter it’s a bond much stronger and deeper than human relationships, more primal. When the bear recognizes its mate, it reacts on a chemical level, maybe even a supernatural one. Sharing dreams is common. When you dreamed we were facing each other just now...I was really there. In a way. I was having the same dream.”

  “No, you can’t have been,” Allie said, but even as she said it she saw the flaw in her protestations. How could he have described her dream so accurately if what he was saying wasn’t true? And, really, if shapeshifters were real, was this so hard to believe? The world wasn’t the sensible, orderly place she had always thought it to be.

  “I felt it in the police station,” Mark said, still avoiding her eyes. “When you first walked in, and I smelled you—”