by Kim Fox
Her bear had come back with a vengeance. She was stronger than ever, exerting her will, attaching herself to Matteo.
The sudden sensation subsided and the world came back into view around her. The soft, radio static was back and the inside of the car came back into focus. She could breathe again. She smelled the burning of the old engine.
She flipped the license over in her hand and looked at it again. What the hell was that?
But she knew.
She had bonded with Matteo.
The guys gathered at the plane, sweaty, sore and tired. Matteo leaned against the fuselage of the plane as Amanda handed out some bottles of cold lemonade. They had stopped the fire before it got too close to the campsite. They had put out the fire in their bear forms, without any incident. Well except for Quint’s bear getting distracted by a fleeing deer. His bear chased the deer away and came back twenty minutes later.
Amanda handed Matteo the cold bottle and he held it to his sweaty forehead. He exhaled as it cooled him down.
The risk of the fire was behind him and thoughts of Lani came swirling back. Would she be gone when he got back to camp? He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He did ask her to leave but the thought of living without her was…what? Worse than the thought of living with her?
“And the Hudson Crew saves the day again,” Amanda said with a cheer. “You guys should get superhero costumes.”
“I don’t know,” Beckett said. “A cape will get in the way.”
She ran her hand down his large chest. “I was thinking tights,” she said, raising her eyebrow.
“I could see you in a Wonder Woman outfit.” Beckett wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in close.
“You stink,” she said, laughing and pushing off his chest, trying to get away.
Beckett let her go. “You heard the lady. Time to hit the showers.”
The guys climbed into the plane and Matteo sat in the back. He needed time to think. What if Lani was still there?
All she wanted was his money and the worst part was that his werebear side of him wanted to give the money to her. He just wanted to make her happy. To do whatever he could for her.
He sat in silence watching the spectacular scenery of the Flathead National Forest below him. He got lost in thought and before long the trees, rivers and boulders started to become familiar. Their camp was just ahead.
The plane banked to line up with the runway and Matteo got a view of the trucks. One missing. Jessica and Alexi were walking over to the runway to greet them.
It was Lani.
She was gone. And she stole his truck.
Matteo sat there and stared at the yellow patch of grass in the empty parking spot with his hands folded in his lap. Of course she was gone. She had never wanted him in the first place. She didn’t want him in their youth. She didn’t want him now. So why did he keep thinking that she would?
“Now we get to hear more made up stories from Lani,” Keene said. The rest of the crew laughed. Matteo sat quietly, staring out the window with a serious demeanor. His limbs felt heavy and weighed down.
He just wanted to be alone.
They landed the plane and he headed out of the hangar without a word. He walked slowly, gazing at his cabin with an unfocused stare.
He opened the door and there was all the proof that he needed. His sofa was flipped upside down, his clothes strewn about and the hardwood floors were ripped to pieces. He didn’t have to go look to know that his chest would be gone.
She’s finally out of your life and it only cost fifty thousand dollars.
Tires crunched on gravel and Matteo turned his head. Lani was in the pickup truck driving back into camp. Did she forget to steal something?
She parked the truck between the other two and stepped out with a nervous smile on her face. “How did it go?” she asked the crew. They were hanging around the fire and the cabins. Sander was in the kitchen fixing up a quick snack for them. They were always starving after putting out a fire.
“I thought you guys would like some nice cold beers,” Lani said picking up two, two-fours out of the back of the truck.
“Hell yeah,” Keene said, rushing over and taking them from her.
“I also picked up some watermelon and Popsicles to smooth your throats. They must be burning after inhaling all of that smoke.” She grabbed three bags with three full watermelons in them. “Sit down. I’ll cut them up for you guys.”
All the heads followed her in shock as she walked to the kitchen carrying the bags. Ellis’ beer was bubbling out of the bottle onto his hand and he didn’t even notice. He just stared at her with his mouth wide open.
She walked in front of Matteo, stopped and closed the door of his cabin. “I was just doing some redecorating,” she whispered. “It will all be fixed by tonight. Then you can have your cabin back. I’ll sleep in the hangar.”
Matteo shook his head vigorously as she continued towards the kitchen. What was going on? Maybe I inhaled too much smoke.
Lani sliced the watermelon in half and nearly cut off her finger. It had been a while since she was in a kitchen and it didn’t help that Matteo’s presence was distracting as hell.
She kept glancing up at him but whenever she did the whole camp was still staring at her. She turned around, placing her back to everybody, and worked on the other counter, every few seconds looking at Matteo’s small, blurry reflection on the back of the pot hanging on the wall beside her. It wasn’t very clear but it was enough for her bear. Her inner bear was purring, sending smooth vibrations through her body. She finally let it be and enjoyed the sensation. It pushed to come out, to phase, but she wasn’t ready for that. She didn’t even remember how to change.
And she had to cut the watermelon for the guys.
She had a lot of making up to do after the way that she had been acting.
The knife slipped and half of the watermelon slid onto the floor. “Damn it,” she cursed, bending down, hoping that the five second rule was still in effect. It was too late. There were a couple of ants already on it and more on the way.
She cursed again and stood up. Jessica was there with a smile. “Use this one,” she said, taking a long knife from the drawer. “It’s sharper.”
Lani thanked her and tried the knife. It sliced through the watermelon like a samurai sword through butter.
“Everybody hates me don’t they?” Lani asked in a low voice.
“Yup.” They both laughed at the honest answer.
“I would hate me too,” Lani said.
“Yup.” Jessica chuckled. “But there’s something that I learned recently,” Jessica said, looking her in the eyes. “It’s never too late to change.”
six
Lani fluffed up the brown pillow and placed it back on the sofa. She looked around Matteo’s cabin making sure that she hadn’t missed anything. She walked over to the wall when something caught her eye. The picture of Matteo’s mother was crooked. She straightened it. The woman in the photo glared back at her. She was holding a frilly umbrella even though the sun was shinning in the black and white picture.
Lani stared back. The lady was frowning at her. She looked pissed. I’ll treat him good from now on. I promise.
The chest of money was returned into the hole and the hardwood floors arranged as best that Lani could manage. The planks of flooring were a bit lose but they were hidden under the carpet and couch. The Benjamin Franklins were tucked back in their beds.
She walked to the window and looked at the Crew enjoying the late afternoon sunny weather. Keene was standing up, telling a story with very animated hands. The rest of the werebears were clutching their ribs laughing. Except Matteo. He had a sad, somber look on his face as he listened off to the side by himself.
Lani had definitely caused him some serious heartache over the years. If only she had bonded to him in her youth. Things could have been so different. She saw that now. She felt drawn to him like a magnet. It wasn’t just lustful attraction, althoug
h there was that too. It was deep and meaningful, like their souls were connected. She couldn’t imagine being away from him for a day, let alone ten years. It must have been torture for him.
Lani rubbed her chin. Well she would experience it first hand soon enough. Matteo wanted her to leave. He had asked her to.
Even after he had bonded to her. Even with this intense pull between them. He had asked her to leave. That’s how shitty you’ve become.
She just wanted to apologize to him. For everything. And then she would go. She didn’t know where yet but she was done trying to be a celebrity. She was going to try to be herself for a change.
She steadied her nerves, left the cabin and walked up to Matteo. She tiptoed around the edge of the group, trying not to draw any attention to herself.
Keene was balls deep in his story. He was telling Amanda, Jessica and Alexi how Quint had dropped the ball in the forest and chased after a deer. “And then I look up and Winnie the Pooh runs by me.” He was on all fours imitating Quint’s bear. The whole Crew was cracking up, including Quint.
Lani slid up beside Matteo. It felt right, standing beside him. Complete. Their bears purred lightly.
“I know I don’t deserve it but can I get one more walk?” she whispered.
He inhaled and held his breath, his shoulders tight. Lani’s heart hurt with the way that he was looking at her. She could tell that he didn’t want to go. But a male werebear will always want to make their mates happy. Even if their mate is a selfish, little bitch.
He looked down at her through the corner of his eye and nodded. The two of them left towards the privacy of the trees. Keene never skipped a beat in his story.
Lani stared at the dirt under her feet even though the setting sun was lighting the sky up with pink fire. Thin white clouds swirled around the sun giving the landscape a hazy, coral colored glow. The tree tops shook nervously in the light breeze.
Matteo was quiet and stiff. Guarded. He kept his hands in his pockets and looked straight ahead.
Lani didn’t know where to start. She took a deep breath. “I stole your money today.”
He never took his eyes off the horizon. “I know.”
“I put it all back. I’m sorry.”
“You came to take it,” he said, his voice straining and full of pain. “So take it. And leave me be. Go be a movie star. Go be a celebrity if that’s whats going to make you happy. But please just don’t come back again.”
“I deserve that,” she said, her chin quivering. “I’ve been really shitty to you, to everyone. But especially to you.” She took a deep breath, turned and looked him in the eyes. “I’m sorry Matteo. I really am. I didn’t know what I was doing to you. I didn’t understand the type of pull a mate had on a person.” He looked at her with distrust in his eyes. She looked down at her hands. “I know now.”
When she looked back up he was staring at her with a dazed look on his face. As if he didn’t quite understand what she had just said.
“I bonded with you this afternoon,” she said.
“When?” he asked in shock.
“In your truck. I saw your picture on your driver’s license and my bear bonded with you. I bonded with you.”
“To my driver’s license picture?” he asked, jerking his head back. “That’s not romantic at all.”
Lani let out a laugh. “It wasn’t the best picture.”
“The lady made me take my hat off.” He smiled and her whole body lit up in happiness, quickly struck back down with sadness. You still have to leave.
“You said your bear.” Matteo waited for an answer.
“She’s still inside me,” Lani said, her heart rate increasing. “She always has been. When I was in high school with those normal people something changed in me. I had a crush on this boy named Paul. I thought that I had bonded with him. That I was going to marry him.” Lani shook her head. “I confided in him. I told him about my bear, about what I could do. He called me a freak. He teased me and worse, he got the whole school involved. I was the only shifter at the school and they all singled me out. For three years I was bullied and tortured and called a freak.” Her chin shook at the memory of the name calling and the groups of kids that would steal her books and carve freak onto the covers.
“When I finally graduated I vowed to keep my bear caged up inside me, to never let her out. I only wanted to be looked at as normal, as a regular human. I just wanted to be accepted. To not be thought of as a monster or a weirdo.” Matteo held her hands and listened. “I internalized the jeers. I began to think of myself the way that they saw me. I was young and stupid. I thought that if I became a famous actress then everybody would accept me. That they would want to be my friend.” She shook her head. “When it didn’t happen for me I just kind of faked it. I began living the lie.”
“And you never phased?”
She shook her head, embarrassed of how badly she abused her bear. “It was hard at first but became easier over time. But she came out in other ways. I started to change. I became irritable and mean spirited. I couldn’t control my mood. My grasp on reality began to slip until I became…” she looked away. “Until I became the person that you saw the past few days.”
Matteo brushed his strong hand across her cheek. “It’s time to let her out.”
He was right. It was time to embrace who she really was.
He put his hand on her chest and the vibrating within increased until her whole body was shaking.
“Let’s see that beautiful bear that I missed so much,” he said.
Lani’s heart rate increased as her body shook violently. She didn’t remember it being this intense, this painful. Her body burned alive as her ears expanded upwards and her teeth descended into fangs. Searing pain sliced through her body and she fell to her knees and screamed. Her shrill human voice morphed into a deep, thunderous bear growl.
She stared at her hands as they swelled to four times their size. Short black hairs sprouted out of the skin and the pink was no longer visible under thick black fur.
The final transformation was swift and excruciating but then, all of a sudden, there was no more pain.
Her bear was released.
She was beautiful.
Matteo’s pulse raced as he watched Lani’s black bear stumble around on unsteady legs. She was big and majestic with an energy radiating out of her that cut straight to his core.
The black bear looked at him and he could see Lani in there. He could see happiness and contentment in those eyes that he hadn’t seen in her since she was a kid.
His emotions caught the better of him and his eyes welled up with tears. His Lani was back. And she had bonded with him. All those years of pain and turmoil had been worth it for this beautiful moment.
Lani raised her head and sniffed the air. She opened her mouth and growled.
Matteo’s bear growled back in response. They were talking to each other.
His bear surged towards the surface trying to get loose. She was calling him.
He let his bear come and be with his mate.
It was late into the night when Matteo phased back into his human form. It was almost impossible to keep track of time in his bear form but by the darkness of the sky and the brightness of the moon; he estimated it to be well after midnight.
The burning subsided and Matteo looked around. They were on the side of a mountain. He recognized the spot and ran about twenty yards through the trees to where a pair of shorts were hanging on a tree. He snatched them off the branch and slid them on.
He sprinted back to where Lani was. She had phased back while he was gone. She was lying naked on the ground breathing heavily and shaking. She wasn’t used to the pain of phasing anymore. It would take a few times to get used to. It never went away but it did subside to the point where it was tolerable, sometimes even enjoyable.
Matteo put his hand up and looked away, not wanting to look at her naked body when she was at her most vulnerable.
“Stay here,” he
said. “There’s a stash of clothes not too far from here.”
“No,” she whispered. “Matteo look at me.”
Matteo blocked his view of her body with his hand and looked into her eyes.
“Look at me.” She laid there naked and unashamed. “We’re mates Matteo. Look at me.”
Matteo swallowed hard and lowered his hand. Her body was completely exposed and there for him to see. Her legs were thick and full. His eyes crawled up them slowly towards the triangle of black hair at the top. She parted her legs slightly and he hardened in response.
Her breasts were large and round, her pink nipples erect and hard. Matteo’s bear grumbled inside him. Or was that him?
Her lips were parted and she stared at him with passion in her eyes. She was breathing heavily, her breasts undulating with every breath.
“I showed you mine,” she said with a heavy, deep voice. “Now you show me yours.”
Matteo glanced down at his cargo shorts. His erection was pressing through them trying to rip through the fabric. He inhaled and unbuttoned them.
Lani gasped as he slid the shorts down his legs and his hard cock sprung out. He stepped out of them and stood there, naked for his mate.
She waved him over and he was there in an instant. He knelt down and leaned over her. The side of her breast rubbed against his forearm and he shuddered.
“I understand that you want me to leave,” she whispered to him, her lips close to his. “I get it. But I’m giving you my body tonight if you want it.”
That’s all that he ever wanted. He just wanted her. Every time he had been with another girl he had always thought of her. Of Lani.
He kissed her deep and hard. Their lips collided and their tongues crashed together with sexual force. He tasted every inch of her delicious mouth as his hand slid up her sensuously soft stomach and caressed her breasts.