The clerk behind the counter peered over his glasses at her. “Young lady, I can't give you a ticket if I don't know what destination you want to go to. How far are you going?”
Marla studied the signboard over his head. She had no idea how far away the different stations were, so she picked the name at the bottom of the list. With luck, that would be the farthest away from Bruins' Peak. “I'll take Burke's Road.”
He handed the ticket across to her. “The bus leaves in half an hour.”
“Thanks.”
Marla shouldered her bag and headed for the waiting room. Still no Bruins around. She would get on the bus and get away clean, with no one knowing where she went. They wouldn't be able to track her on the bus. When she got to Burke's Road, wherever that was, she would catch another bus going somewhere else and disappear.
While she waited, she studied the other people in the waiting room. On one side of the bench where she sat a fat old man snored with his hat pulled down over his eyes. He sat up straight, but his great mass propped him up so he didn't fall over. On the other side, a skinny teenage girl with blood-shot eyes stared into space. She didn't look right or left at anyone or anything around her. Across the room, a young man held his shoulder bag across his lap. He smiled at Marla.
So, these were the dreaded humans. They looked pathetic. They couldn't harm a fly if they tried. If Marla left Bruins' Peak, these would be her people. She would live with them and talk to them on a daily basis. She might as well be human herself.
So much the better. She hadn't shifted since the incident with the hunters, and she hoped she never shifted again as long as she lived. She would pass for human and no one would know the difference. Most humans didn't know Bruins existed. If they met a young woman at a bus station, they assumed she was human like themselves. Humans were stupid like that.
A whistle sounded. The fat man started awake and heaved himself off the bench. He waddled toward the door, where people from another part of the bus station formed a line to board the bus. Marla joined them. The girl continued to sit and stare into space, oblivious to everything.
Marla handed her ticket to the driver and climbed on board the bus. She found a seat for herself and gazed out the window. So ,this was it. She was leaving Bruins' Peak behind forever.
The bus driver got into his seat and started the engine. The bus eased out onto the street and rolled out of town. Marla's spirits soared. She left her secret behind on the Peak. Wherever she went, no one would ever know what she'd done. They would never find out who she was or where she came from. She could make up any story she liked about herself, and they would believe it.
The bus's wheels ate up, miles and miles of highway. The farther behind her Bruins' Peak dropped away, the more she relaxed. Why hadn't she run away years ago? Why did she torture herself all these years trying to keep up appearances?
Overwhelming love for these pathetic humans filled her soul. They would accept her as no Bruin ever could. They would embrace her and take care of her. They would blot out her past and help her build a new future. No hunters existed in that future. They wouldn't come after her or threaten her. They would protect her from the Bruins of the world.
A few hours after the bus left Iron Bark, someone stood up in front of her and headed down the aisle. It was the young man with the shoulder bag. He smiled at Marla on his way to the bathroom behind her. Brilliant green eyes glittered under his shock of black hair. He looked skinny to Marla after the burly Bruin men she knew, but he wasn't skinny. His shoulders cut lean and strong under his shirt. He moved with an easy grace she never saw among Bruins.
He passed by her, and a few minutes, he came striding back against the swinging vibration of the bus underfoot. Instead of continuing on to his seat, he turned in next to Marla. “Is anyone sitting here?”
She looked up in surprise. She wasn't expecting this. “You can see there isn't.”
He smiled down at her. “Do you mind if I sit down?”
“Go ahead.” He lowered himself into the seat. He still clutched his bag against his front. “What's in the bag?”
“This?” He held up the bag, but he didn’t let go of it. “It's just my wallet and phone and a few papers.”
“They must be important papers,” Marla remarked.
His head shot up. “What makes you say that?”
She nodded toward it. “Just the way you hold it like that. You haven't let go of it since you got to the waiting room in Iron Bark.”
He tossed his hair out of his eyes. “You're right. They are important.”
“What are you doing with them?”
“I'm taking them home to my father in Burke's Road.” He stuck out his hand. “I'm Riley Faulkner.”
Marla couldn't help but smile. She shook his hand. Talking to humans was a lot easier than she thought it would be. If they all acted like this, she could be happy where she was going. Her future brightened before his eyes. “I'm Marla Dunlap.”
“Nice to meet you, Marla. Where are you going?”
“I'm going to Burke's Road, too.”
His eyes widened. “What are you doing there? Are you visiting someone? I know everyone in Burke's Road. If you're related to anyone there, you're probably related to me. Wouldn't that be something?”
“No, I'm just passing through on my way somewhere else. I'm not related to anyone there. I'm not related to anyone outside Iron Bark.”
“Are you sure?” He pointed at her. “You're not my long-lost sister or something?”
She laughed. “No, I'm nobody's long-lost sister. I'm a free agent.”
“Good. You had me worried there for a minute.” He settled into his seat. “I shouldn't be talking to you, anyway, but I wouldn't want to wind up kissing you or something and find out later you were off limits.”
She stiffened. “Don't worry. You won't wind up kissing me or anything like that.”
“No? Why not?”
“I'm not that kind of free agent. I only meant…”
He cut her off in the nicest possible way. “I know what you meant, but I wouldn't mind kissing you, anyway. Any man would be happy to kiss you.”
Marla blushed and looked out the window. She had enough to forget with Walker haunting her memories without jumping in the deep end with some guy she met on the bus. “I don't think so.”
He gave her the same congenial smile. “That's okay. I won't try to kiss you if you don't want me to. Let's talk about you going to Burke's Road. What are you leaving Iron Bark for, if your family is all there?”
She shrugged. “I just need a change of scene. I need to get some fresh air.”
“You can get that in Burke's Road. It's nice there.”
She turned in the seat to face him. “What's it like?”
“The town isn't anything to write home about, but the mountains around it are stunning. That's where most of my relatives live. They hunt and fish and farm for their living. They live in big clan groups around the mountains.”
She found herself smiling back at him. “That sounds nice. Living with family is nice.”
“But not for you, right?”
“I'm just saying it's nice when families stick together. My family is like that, too.”
“You gotta have family. You've got nothing if you don't have your family.”
“So, tell me about yours.”
“There's my father and my mother.” He pointed one way and then the other. “There's me and my three brothers and my two sisters. There's my grandmother and grandfather and a whole passel of cousins and other relatives. There's no end to the Faulkner family.”
Marla laughed out loud. “Sounds familiar.”
So, these humans had their own families, too. Maybe she could get herself one, too. She could find herself a human mate. She could have everything she had on Bruins' Peak without the troublesome fact of her own Bruin nature bothering her conscience.
She cast a sidelong glance at Riley. He wasn't half bad to look at. In fact, he w
as a lot better than half bad. His lean, angular frame exuded power and mystery. She didn't understand every pore and sinew of him the way she understood a Bruin like Walker. Walker was her own kind. She knew every thought running through his head. She knew what motivated and excited him. She would never understand Riley that way. He was alien. He could talk to her for the rest of her life and she would never comprehend what he was thinking or what motivated him.
He obviously liked her, too. He kept smiling at her, and his green eyes flashed when he glanced down at her mouth. The blood flushed his cheeks, and his tongue moved behind his teeth. What would kissing him be like? What would his body feel like, all naked and smooth against her skin, with his muscles rippling against her?
The thought of exposing herself like that to a human gave her a secret thrill. Her father and brothers would blow their lids if they ever found out she shared her body with a human, let alone mated with one of them. Bruins didn't do that. Bruins stayed with their own kind.
She would be outcast if she mated with Riley. She could never go home. She would never see her parents or her brothers or any other Bruins again for the rest of her life. Isn't that what she really wanted? What was she running away for, if she wanted to see Bruins?
Riley broke in on her reverie, “What are you thinking about?”
She gazed out the window and whispered under her breath. “I'm thinking about my family back in Iron Bark.”
“Do you miss them?”
She shrugged. “I miss them, and I don't miss them.”
He showed his bright sharp teeth when he smiled. “I know what you mean. Family is a bear, isn't it?”
She snorted. “You said it.”
The bus stopped in a wayside station. People got on and people got off. Riley waited in silence until the bus started moving again. “Are you hungry? I have a sandwich here in my important bag. We could share it.”
She held up her hands. “I wouldn't want to take the food out of your mouth.”
“You won't be. I have some money. I can get more at the next station.” He took out a sandwich wrapped in a piece of cloth. He broke it half and handed over one part to Marla. “I hope you like pastrami.”
“I love it,” she exclaimed. “It's my favorite.”
“Good,” he returned. “I like a woman with an appetite for flesh. I can't stand women who eat spouts and tofu and salad.”
“I like salad, too,” she added.
“That's all right, as long as you eat your pastrami.” He took a bit of his sandwich and tucked the cloth back in his bag.
She watched his every move before she took a bite. The meat squirted its juice into her mouth. “Did you make this at home?”
“Yep. It's homemade pastrami.”
“It's delicious.”
“I told you we do a lot of hunting and farming, so we cure all our own meat. It's better that way.”
“My brothers do that, too.” Pain stabbed her heart. When would she see Boyd and Aiken again? When would she taste Aiken’s homemade sausage again?
“It sounds like you and I have a lot in common.” He jerked his head sideways. “How about you come with me when you get off the bus in Burke's Road?”
“Come with you?” She backed into the corner of her seat. “I don't think so.”
“You said you don't have anywhere else to go,” he pointed out. “Even if you get on the next bus out of town, you'll need a place to spend the night. At least let me offer you a bed for the night.”
“A bed with you?” She hooted with laughter. “Dream on, honey.”
He grinned. “Just remember you suggested it, not me. You could stay at my old aunt's house. She lives right next to the Burke's Road bus station. I'll stay somewhere else. You'll be perfectly safe.”
“How far away from Burke's Road are we?”
He checked his watch with a flick of his wrist. “It's one-fifteen now, and the bus gets in at three.”
“Then I have some time to think about it before I decide. I'll keep an eye on you to see if you behave. Then I'll make up my mind.”
He laid his hand on his heart and closed his eyes. “You'll find me a model of chivalry, Ma'am.”
“You better be,” she warned. “I'm not as helpless as you think.”
“I don't think you're helpless at all.” He grinned. “I think you're very helpful.”
“You better believe it,” she snapped.
“Great,” he exclaimed. “Now tell me about you.”
“What about me?” she countered.
“What's your shtick?”
She froze. “What?”
“What do you like to do with yourself?” He encouraged her with waves of his hand. “What do you hope to accomplish in life? I want to know everything about you.”
She turned back to the window. “I don't have any shtick.”
He didn't say anything for a while. Why did she react that way to such an innocent question? Anybody could ask that question. She didn't react that way because she didn't have any reasonable answer to a simple inquiry about her life. The question reminded her of Walker.
Where was he right now? Was he finding out she ran away? Was he finally accepting the fact that he couldn't mate with her after all? Was he grieving her loss, or was he secretly relieved to be unsaddled with such a troublesome burden?
Poor Walker! It wasn't his fault Marla was untouchable. He couldn't know when he got interested in her what a chore he took on his shoulders. Now, he knew. She was somebody else's problem. Once she got away from Bruins' Peak, her troubles would evaporate. She wouldn't have to worry about anybody finding out she was really a Bruin. Years would pass, and eventually she would forget entirely how to shift. She would become human after all.
Riley cleared his throat. “Earth to Marla.”
She smiled at him. He was her future—him or someone a lot like him. “I'm right here.”
He leaned closer. “I've been looking for you.”
Her head shot up. “For me? You don't even know me.”
“I mean, I've been looking for someone like you.” His eyes sparkled, and his voice rippled out of him in a steady stream. “I'm surprised no fine-looking guy has snapped you up before now.”
“What makes you think they haven't?” she shot back.
He fixed her with his unflinching gaze. “You wouldn't be on this bus, going far away from home, if they had.”
“What about you?” she countered. “Have you got a fine-looking girl waiting for you at home? Does she know you're hitting on strange girls on the bus home?”
He held out both palms. “Who said anything about me hitting on you?”
“Come on, Riley,” she chided. “We both know where this is going. You're putting the moves on me.”
His hand fell over hers. He picked it up and pressed it between two warm palms. “Of course, I'm putting the moves on you, Marla. You're the most beautiful woman I've met in a long time. You're much nicer than the girls I meet in Burke's Road.”
“Cut it out,” she teased. “I'm sure you have girls falling all over you.”
“I'm not interested in them,” he insisted. “I'm interested in you.”
She tried to take her hand back. How could she have this same conversation with two different guys so close together? She never wanted to be a beautiful woman, to attract all these men's attention. She would prefer to be just average so she could blend into the background.
He leaned closer. She smelled his alien scent. The excitement of doing something forbidden with one of these humans thrilled her to burning arousal, but his scent didn't speak to her heart the way....She shoved that thought out of her mind. She couldn't think about that now. This was her future happening right now.
His green eyes studied her mouth. “You're delicious. Delicious Marla. I want to take you home with me. I want to taste you.”
She shrank back in her seat. “Riley, I....”
He held up a hand to cut her off. “Don't say it. Don't break my heart.�
��
“I was just going to say…”
She never got a chance to say anything before he kissed her, only once, a delicate little kiss, just to test the waters. The next moment, he leaned back in his seat with a self-satisfied smile. “I'm sorry I don't have any more pastrami for you. Maybe when we get home, I'll rustle up some from my aunt's fridge.”
“Home?” She shook her head. “Your home. Burke's Road isn't my home, and it's not going to be.”
“Of course not. That's what I meant.”
He didn't make any further move toward her for the rest of the bus ride. He engaged her in casual conversation about the ins and outs of family life until she relaxed back into her seat. She laughed at his jokes and answered his questions. She told him all about her family back in Iron Bark, but always leaving out the one crucial detail of them being Bruins. That fact would never see the light of day.
A few hours later, the bus hissed to a stop in the little town of Burke's Road. Riley carried his bag in both hands and climbed down into the dusty street. His eyes squinted into the sun, and his hair gleamed shiny black. Every nerve stretched taut, and he flared his nostrils to catch every smell.
Marla stepped down next to him and set her bag strap over her shoulder. This was the end of the line. She had to go into the station to find out what buses left this one-horse town to the next stop on her journey.
Riley interrupted her thoughts. “So, what did you decide?”
She turned around to face him. “About what?”
“About coming to my aunt's house.” He jerked his thumb behind him. “Do you want to stay there, or is this good-bye?”
She swept the town with her eyes. Not a single café, hotel, or store broke the continuous line of Victorian houses lining the streets. If she didn't go with him to his aunt's house, she would be knocking on doors in search of some other place to stay tonight. It was either that or camp out on a bench in the bus station waiting room.
How did it come to this? How did she go from being a pampered Bruin princess to a nameless hobo in middle America? She had nothing to eat and just enough money to buy another bus ticket. “All right. I'll go with you.”
Bruins' Peak Bears Box Set (Volume I) Page 50