by V. Vaughn
I know as mates we’re supposed to be able to communicate telepathically so I try it by talking in my head. “What are you waiting for? Let’s run.”
Jared’s laughter rings out, and he replies, “Your voice is like music to me, Courtney.”
I watch as he morphs into a bear before my eyes, and I recall how he did it before to carry me to safety. This time I enjoy the show as I see what must have just happened to me. Jax and Olivia shift too, and my best friend nuzzles me before she takes off in a sprint. I race after her as the four of us make our way through the forest.
We follow a path and blow by brush and trees with ease until Jax leads us off the trail. Jared is behind me, and he communicates with me. “Take your time if you want to. I won’t leave you.”
My heart warms at his concern, but I find that keeping up with Olivia and Jax is easy. Each time I dodge something, my body works. It’s as if I’m no longer awkward, and I enjoy my fast reflexes as I weave through the trees. Even though I’m a large being, I seem to have grace with my speed, and as twigs snap under my feet, a breeze ruffles my fur, creating a sensation similar to wind blowing through your hair. If bear smile, then I’m doing it.
I notice Jax slow down as the trees begin to thin, and when we reach a clearing, I realize he has led us to the river. I gaze out at the water as it rushes. A rocky beach is ahead, and the area appears to be deserted. Jared asks, “Want to try swimming?”
My first thought is that it would be too cold, but then I realize that as a bear, I have fur and a layer of fat designed to keep me warm. “Lead the way.”
The rocky shoreline should be rough under my feet, and I begin to pick my way down before I realize my animal feet are toughened. I barely notice the pebbles as we make our way to the water. We walk out until it reaches our bellies, and the cold doesn’t seem to seep into my skin at all. I dive forward to begin to swim. Each stroke I take propels me easily, and I marvel at the strength I have in my limbs. Jared moves toward rocks that stand close to the other shore, and when we get there, he climbs up to sit. I join him and let the warmth of the sunbaked granite seep into my belly as I lie down. I bask in the simple pleasure as I say to my mate, “This is wonderful.”
“I know. Whenever human life becomes too much, I shift so I can dial it all back to this again.”
“Yes.” A calmness has settled in me, and it’s as if I’ve suddenly got nothing to worry about. “I feel so free.”
Jared rolls so that our bodies are touching, and I lean against him as I say, “You were right. I love being a werebear.”
He touches his nose to mine. “Does that mean you’re glad I bit you? Because once I saw you begin to change I wanted to take it all back. You went through hell for me.”
“I went through hell for me. For us.”
Jared wraps his limbs around me and rolls onto his back so that I’m on top of him. He asks, “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
His words make my heart nearly burst as I experience yet another emotion supercharged by my new state. I say, “If it’s what I feel, yes. Because I can’t imagine anyone could feel more love than I do for you.”
Water splashes, and I lift my head to notice Jax and Olivia watching us. She tosses a fish toward me, and without thinking I open my mouth and move to catch it. When I do, I let out a small roar of excitement. I ask Jared, “Did you see that? I just caught something!”
His laughter sounds in my head as he jumps off the rock to join them. But I stay to watch my mate fish, and when he tosses them my way, I snap them up and enjoy my new skill. Perhaps letting my bear take over wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
10
When we return from our excursion, I discover I’m just as good at shifting back to human as I was becoming a bear. It’s similar to how I felt when I discovered I could paint. Sure, I need to perfect a few of my techniques, but it’s as if I was born to do this. And I suppose with one parent as a werebear, I was.
Jared and I went by my apartment to gather up the rest of my things, and now he’s helping me unload them. He and Jax decided I should set up in a small shed located at the back of the property. Paintbrushes rattle in a glass jar as I set them on the plywood shelves, and I gaze around at the bare walls. So much space to hang things! My blood pumps with excitement at having all my work on display instead of piled against the wall of my old place. My easel creaks as I set it up, and Jared’s feet thump when he approaches with the last load of art supplies.
I smile when he enters, and I ask, “Feel like hammering nails?”
He takes my arms, and his touch, while no longer searing hot, still warms me to my toes. “Does this mean I get to see every one of your paintings?”
I nod as I place my hands on his chest. “You may regret that, but yes.” I press against the firm muscles of his torso and slide my palms down to his abdomen. “I want to hang up all of them if I can.” I don’t stop my movement, and when I get to his waistband, I slide my finger under it and tug him toward me. “And when we’re done, I need to find out what sex as a werebear is like.”
Jared lets out a low growl that makes me giggle before he turns away to get tools. I call out, “And about that biting thing. We should test out Olivia’s theory.”
A roar sounds, and I think he starts to jog. I turn back to a box of paints as a grin covers my face. I don’t think I could be any happier than I am right now. I glance at a blank canvas and grab it. It thuds on my easel when I set it down, and I close my eyes to let the image I want to paint form in my mind.
As I focus on the landscape that I want to capture, a faint noise draws my attention. At first I think I’m hearing myself breathe, but then I realize that it’s someone else. As I focus on the sound, a vision pops into my head. I see a girl about my age hiding behind a tree, and she appears to be frightened. But when I notice she’s holding a rifle with a large scope on it, fear builds in me, too. I stand quickly to glance around the room, but I don’t see anything unusual. I close my eyes quickly with the hope that my vision will return so I can identify where the girl might be.
All I get is woodlands, so I walk over to the doorway and gaze out at the forest behind the shed. The rasp of the girl’s breathing is louder now, and I think she must be close. A rustling noise that no human would ever detect makes me turn quickly to the left, and my new eyesight allows me to notice a sliver of navy-blue fabric that makes me think of a sweatshirt. I’ve got her. But what do I do now?
I think the girl is here to kill one of us, and because she’s the only one I can hear, I believe she’s alone. I know from my vision she’s scared, and I call on it again as I walk slowly toward her. She’s not in a position to shoot me with her back against the tree and the rifle lowered, and with all my senses on high alert, I’ll hear her if she moves. That would give me enough time to thwart her attempt to kill me.
Even in human form, I now have my bear’s physical prowess, because I’m able to step slowly and in a way that the girl can’t hear my approach. I’m almost at the tree when I form my plan. I think her reaction to me will be to swing her weapon in my direction and pull the trigger without aiming. I need to grab it first.
I’m so close I can hear her fabric rustle as she shakes with fear. I peer to the right and locate the gun. With my lighting-quick werebear reflexes, I pounce to grab the rifle, and it’s cold in my hand as I shove her against the tree at the same time. The girl cries out, and I release her as I point the gun in her direction. I say, “Don’t move.”
The brunette’s eyes are big as she nods quickly, and I ask, “Were you sent here to kill me?”
I’m surprised when her voice is strong as she answers, “Yes.”
“Why?”
She glares at me and says, “Because you’re an abomination that shouldn’t be allowed to walk this earth.”
She has an accent that reminds me of a girl I know from the Philadelphia area. I raise my eyebrows at her. “Really? So because you don’t understand what I am, you think
it’s okay to kill me?”
Her tone is haughty as she says, “Kill or be killed.”
I frown. “Seems to me you and your group are the ones trying to do the killing. We just defend ourselves.”
“Is that what happened to my partner you killed yesterday?”
I tilt my head back and tug my shirt away to show her my neck. “That man tried to strangle me, and I would have died if my boyfriend hadn’t come to save me.” I step closer to her and say, “Your partner attacked me in my apartment. Not the other way around.”
Jared’s footsteps sound in the distance and tell me he’s on his way back to us, and from the careful way he’s walking, I think he’s listening to our conversation.
The girl’s eyes flash with anger, and I’m impressed by her display of bravery when she says, “Doesn’t look like much to me.” I realize that my new healing powers have probably taken care of the bruising that I noticed this morning. The girl spits at me, but I’m not close enough to hit. She snarls as she says, “Nobody will be safe until your kind is gone.”
Jared steps out and says, “Guess we missed one.” He reaches for the gun, and I let him take it from me. The girl inhales sharply, and I realize she thinks he’s going to shoot her.
I place my hand on Jared’s arm and speak in his mind. “Don’t kill her.”
“We can’t let her go.”
“I understand, but—” I know we should kill her, because that’s exactly what she’ll do to us if she gets the chance. But I can’t let it happen. “Let’s tie her up.”
Jared says, “You know, maybe it’s because we didn’t invite her in.” He tilts his head toward the house as he keeps the rifle trained on the girl and says, “Right this way.”
I ask, “Have you ever kept a prisoner before?”
“Nope. But I don’t want to kill her either.”
We walk up to the house, and when we get inside, Jared asks me to get the cuffs. He tells the girl to sit in one of the kitchen chairs, and I detect the stench of her fear when I attach her wrists to the back and her feet around the bottom rung. The leather creaks as I tug the restraints tight enough she can’t wiggle her way free.
The girl glares at me while the gun clicks as Jared unloads it. I seat myself across from her as I ask, “What’s your name?”
“What’s it to you?”
I shrug. “Nothing, I guess.” I imagine what she must be thinking, and the disgust on her face makes me wonder what it must be like to hate so deeply. I ask, “Are you thirsty?”
“What do you plan to do with me?”
Jared speaks in my mind. “I contacted Tori, my alpha. And she’s sending some warriors down to deal with this. It should be a couple hours.” I recall that the alpha of each clan can speak telepathically to all members the way bonded mates can.
I ask the girl, “Why do you hate us?”
She curls her lip. “You’re foul creatures that pose as humans, while you’re really just feral animals determined to take over our world.”
I wonder if she’s ever spent time with any werebear, and I point to Jared’s cello case, which is sitting next to Jax’s saxophone. I ask, “Do feral animals play musical instruments?” When she doesn’t answer, I ask, “And do they cook like chefs, play sports like athletes, and go to colleges like Bowdoin? Why we would do all of that if our intention was to kill off all humans? I think you’re misinformed.”
A flicker of doubt crosses her face before she catches herself. She scans me as if she’s trying to figure out if she can believe me. She says, “Sasha.”
“Courtney. I’m going to get you something to drink.”
Water rushes in a glass as I fill it, and I glance over at Jared. I know that he and Jax haven’t had to deal with hunters until lately, and while they grew up knowing about the danger, the actual reality of it is new to them too. Jared’s long, elegant fingers move smoothly over the rifle as he inspects it. I think about my mate’s love for music and appreciation of my paintings. We’re more human than bear. And my humanity is determined to find a way to solve the hunter problem without killing.
11
Sasha gulps down the glass of water I hold up to her mouth, and when she’s done, I crouch down to check her restraints. They’re tight, and my recent memory of what that feels like makes me say, “I’m going to loosen these to be more comfortable.” Her wrists are thin, and I imagine they’re fragile like glass as I hold them.
“She’s not a pet. You can’t keep her,” Jared tells me telepathically.
“I know that. But we don’t have to be cruel. She’s—” Human. She lives in fear of something she doesn’t understand, and I can’t let her die because of ignorance. “I think we need to let her go before your warriors get here.”
“So she can return with help to kill us all in our sleep? No.”
I sit across from Sasha again and notice her jeans have holes from wear. Her hoodie is frayed and stained. I ask, “Where are you from?”
“South of here.”
I lean back and swing my foot as I study her for a moment. She looks like your typical college girl that might be wearing her last clothes before she breaks down to do laundry. I say, “Help me understand why a group of people I know to be human in almost every way deserve to die.”
“Because. You’re—”
Jared interrupts her. “Beasts, yeah, we’ve heard that already. But as you can see, we aren’t. So what is it?”
Sasha appears confused. “I just know you need to die.”
I glance at Jared before I say, “We could have killed you earlier, but we didn’t. Do you know why?” She shrugs, and I say, “Because we have compassion and value life. Do you?”
“Of course I do.”
I think about how Sasha was scared to death in the woods, and I wonder if she’s ever killed someone. “Then why were you hiding behind a tree with a gun waiting for the right moment to kill someone you’ve never even met? Do you do this often?”
“No! I’ve nev—” She sucks in her lips as if she can take her words back.
I say, “You’ve never killed anyone, have you?” When she doesn’t answer I say, “I haven’t either.”
I speak in my mate’s mind. “Jared.”
“Damn it.” Jared’s chair scrapes on the floor as he stands quickly and lifts the gun. “I hate this.”
“Do you think your clan’s warriors will kill her?”
His tone is exasperated as he walks into the kitchen. “I don’t know. I’ve never dealt with this before.”
His words make me think that yesterday might have been the first time Jared ever killed someone, and my stomach clenches. “Oh, Jared.”
“Yeah.”
I get up and go to him. I wrap my arms around his waist and hug him tight. He squeezes me back just as hard and sighs before I ask, “That man yesterday was the first person you’ve ever killed, wasn’t he?”
“Yes.” I gaze up at my mate, and he shakes his head. “I’m just like Sasha. I was taught that hunters are evil. How could I be so blind?”
I swallow as I recall what it felt like to be strangled and know that if Jared hadn’t yanked the hunter off of me, I’d be dead. “No. You’re not. Yesterday you had no choice. That man was the one that shot at you the other day, and he wouldn’t have given up until we were both dead.”
“This isn’t what werebear are.” He gazes down at me, and the pain I see in his eyes makes my chest ache. “It’s not what I want to be.”
I reach up and place my hand on his cheek as I breathe in the man I love more than anything. His heart is kind, and I want to find a way to ease his guilt over saving us both. “I know.”
A thud makes us both turn to notice Sasha has toppled over the chair. She must have slipped out of the restraints I loosened earlier, because she’s working frantically to remove the ankle cuffs. I move faster than I thought possible to grab her arms and yank her back upright. The chair bumps hard on the floor as she lets out a frustrated scream.
&n
bsp; I say, “Nice try.” I can’t be mad at her for doing exactly what I would have tried to do, and I sigh before I say, “Look. We’re trying to find a way to work things out.”
Jared cuffs her again and yanks them to make them tight as the chain rattles against wood. He says, “We can’t let you go knowing the first thing you’ll do is go get help and come back to kill us.”
Tears make Sasha’s eyes glassy as she says, “So I’m just waiting until you figure out I have to die.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” I say. “I wish I could trust you to leave us alone.” The rumble of Jax’s car sounds in the distance, and I glance at Jared as panic floods my veins. What if Jax thinks she needs to die? Jared walks over to the door and waits for his brother.
Sasha reacts with fear too, and her words are rushed as she says, “I won’t come back. I swear it. I’ll tell them that Rand killed the brothers and died in the fight.”
As the front door pushes open, Jared says to Jax, “We’ve got a problem.”
Jax’s eyes widen when he sees Sasha, and he says, “So I see.” He glances at me as he recovers quickly. “Couldn’t wait to tie one up for me?”
I roll my eyes. “Unless you like them murderous fanatics, I don’t think she’s your type.”
“Hunter?”
Jared says, “Courtney found her in the woods carrying a rifle and hiding behind a tree. And now we’re trying to figure out what we should do with her.”
Jax squints at me. “We’re supposed to kill them.”
“I know,” says Jared. “But think about it. Why?”
Jax lets out a low growl. “Because they’ll murder us if we don’t.”
I say, “And they try to eliminate us because they think if they let us live, we’ll kill off humans.”
The lock on the front door clicks as Jared turns it, and Jax gazes at Sasha. She’s trembling as she stares back at him with hatred. For a moment I envy her courage, because I’d be bawling and begging for my life.