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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Bear with Me
By
Dominique Eastwick
Dedication
Dedicated to rangers in Yellowstone and all the national parks, who love the animals of the park more than anything else.
Chapter One
“We have a mama black bear and two cubs on Grand Loop Road, north of Golden Gate.” The voice of a Yellowstone Park Ranger rang through the walkie-talkie. “We could use some crowd control.”
Quinn looked out over the elk congregated on the main common in front of the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. As the usual afternoon crowd gathered, the biggest issues were keeping the people at a good distance from the animals and making sure cars drove with care when the young elk crossed the road to get to their mamas lying close to the hotel on the east side.
“Quinn I went yesterday. You want to take this one?” Jenny Roth asked, tying off the yellow caution tape.
“I can.” Jenny enjoyed the Mammoth area elk. The hotel grounds was one of the places where people could get a closer, safer look at the wildlife, and no one in Yellowstone knew more about these creatures than Jenny. Quinn loved the bears. As a child, she had always had more teddy bears than doll babies.
She climbed into her white and green official car and headed south toward the bears and absolute gridlock. Rush hour traffic in the park could be any time of day when the animals chose to visit. The tricky part would be getting past the cars blocking the road, their drivers hoping to catch sight of the bears. She didn’t blame them and wouldn’t interfere, as long as the people stayed at a safe distance. She got as close as she could, pulled the car to the shoulder, grabbed the paint gun out of the trunk, and headed down the side of the road.
“Why the delay?” a tourist called from one of the vehicles as she passed by.
Quinn paused and gave them her best friendly ranger smile. “Mother and her two cubs have been spotted up the road. Make sure to stay in your car with your windows up.” She waved at the children in the backseat. A few yards down the road, she stopped, the eerie sense someone or something watching washing over her, as it had so often in recent weeks. Was that a grizzly lurking behind a fallen tree in the distance? Grizzlies rarely ventured this side of Mammoth. Not to say they never did it, but she expected to see black bears in this area. She took a step closer, but whatever she’d seen was no longer there.
The stumps just off the roadway had a way of playing tricks on the eyes. She continued down the road until she heard the familiar sound of a paint gun being fired into the woods. The ranger would he firing at the tree, trying to move the mama and her cubs away from the road and the crowds. As a man opened his door to climb out of his car, she strode over to persuade him to stay put, succeeding but not without his making a disparaging comment about her large derriere.
Nothing was more attractive on a plus-sized girl than the National Parks Service standard green slacks and tan shirt. But she loved the job so much, she never complained, honored to be able to wear the uniform. Adjusting her hat, she saw the bear again. A chill ran down her back. Large dark-chocolate eyes stared at her over the large muzzle; its ears perked up on full alert. Keeping her focus on the animal in the distance she lifted the communication device to her lips. “We have a grizzly out here as well.”
“Quinn, are you sure?”
“Yes I have it in my sights now. North of the location of mama and her cubs.”
“Great.” Sarcasm dripped through the receiver.
Quinn walked up to the SUV with its windows down. “Sir, we have a grizzly in the area. Please roll up your windows to keep your babies safe.”
“Of course, thank you,” the man said, quickly rolling up the back windows but leaving his down.
She kept her eyes on the large brown bear. He remained a good hundred yards away, but she, like all rangers, knew how quickly grizzlies could cover that distance. She heard the children in the car squeal in delight as they caught sight of the majestic beast. Yet the bear stared at her.
She pushed down the fear running up her spine. At last the bear turned and moved deep into the wooded area. She breathed a sigh of relief and kept the people in their cars. After the last bear disappeared into the woods, the traffic started moving again. Walking down the hill, she found one of her closest friends arguing with a guest to move their car. She waited patiently in the distance until the irate man in the rental RV finally moved on.
“Sometimes it’s a love hate relationship with these people. The bears are gone, bye-bye now.” They walked together to his vehicle parked in one of the pull offs. Popping his trunk, he placed the paintball gun inside. “Jesus, Quinn, this is the third time you’ve dealt with grizzlies in unusual parts of the park. I think they’re stalking you.”
“Funny Marco.” She didn’t want to think about it. But he was correct. She had spotted grizzlies in more places than most rangers did. If others weren’t seeing them, too, she might think she imagined them.
“He was a big guy this one,” Marco stated, his eyes still scanning the woods. “I caught a glimpse of him before he disappeared, almost like he wanted me to see him.”
Because that made any kind of sense. “I’m going to check through the Indian Creek Campsite and let them know there are bears in the area.”
“Okay, watch out for your grizzly. Maybe we should start calling you Grizzly Quinn.”
“Funny.”
Two hours later she, climbed into bed, happy to have avoided contact with anything wilder than a few fireflies. Still, as she pulled the blanket up to her chin, she couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched.
***
He shouldn’t have come, but he had to see her. Her scent was addicting; his strong sense of smell led him like a moth to a fucking flame. The first time Brutus laid eyes on her, his whole sense shifted. His mate had come to him, although not in the form he had expected. She was 100 percent human, but he found her intriguing all the same. Her curves, even in the ugly pants she wore for the rangers’ service, brought his cock to full attention. But the few times he’d seen her out of uniform, his mouth had watered. Once she had gone out the north gate to the small town for pizza, dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt. He’d wanted to talk to her then, introduce himself, but he couldn’t get close enough without drawing attention to her. Not heading into the town much, he had been unprepared for the number of shifters in the vicinity. The next time he encountered her off duty, she had been on a picnic date on wolf lands, wearing a sexy sundress. His blood had boiled at the thought of another man laying a finger on what belonged to him when her date moved in to attempt a kiss.
Once he had seen her, all other women had ceased to exist for him. He belonged to her. Unfortunately, fate, the cru
el bitch, didn’t seem to see the humor in her not sensing him back. “You need to just go up and claim her.”
He turned to his sister, who focused on the stars. They stood in front of the Mammoth Springs Hotel. Across the grassy area lay the staff housing and his mate. “Easier said than done.”
“So you keep saying, but standing here doing nothing is getting neither of us anywhere. If we’re going to sit here staring at her window all night, I’m at least going to get me some huckleberry ice cream from the creamery before it closes. Want some?”
He shook his head, happy to just stare again. As Asha moved away, he rubbed the stubble on his chin. He’d shaved twice today and still the hair lay thick on his face. The curse of being a bear, he supposed. A couple of minutes later, his sister returned, licking the purple cone. “She’s out for the night. How long do you plan to watch her cave?”
“Every night until I can figure out how to approach her.”
“Take one of her tours, ask her out, and then bring her home.”
He snorted his response.
“Okay then, how about you put on your sexy fireman outfit, minus shirt, scoop her up into your arms, and kiss her senseless. Then she won’t be able to think of anything other than getting into those pants with you.”
Why the hell did he bring her along with him? Right, she’d invited herself. “And then tell her, by the way, I can shift into a bear at will. Hope that isn’t a problem.”
Mid-lick, she paused. “Why must you always go right for the negative aspects of any situation? Has it occurred to you there are maybe ten thousand steps between us and the moment where you have to tell her all? Worry about it when you are like a hundred steps from there. Oh, look, all the shifters are coming out to play.”
He looked toward the restaurant, made eye contact with Corbyn, the wolf pack regent, who stood beside a wolf female. He jerked his chin to acknowledge Brutus. The female wolf waved and offered a friendly smile but the male stared.
“They’re going to get curious as to what you are doing so far out of your area. Again.”
“The elk claim ownership of this land, so the wolves are here for the ice cream just like us,” he said. “Until Lars complains, I have just as much a right as any shifter in the park to come and enjoy a cone or two.”
“You might want to eat some if you want to use ice cream as an excuse.” Asha sniffed the air. “I can smell the testosterone in the breeze tonight.”
He kept his focus on the restaurant as three more wolf couples went in. He cursed. “Let’s get out of here before it becomes a pissing contest. The last thing I want is for the rangers to ban us from Mammoth Springs.” Life in Yellowstone required a careful balance of living with the human visitors to the parks, which meant showing up as an animal every now and then. Dealing with the human rangers was more difficult because they cared more about the park than anyone else, and they each knew the danger that lay within its borders. But they would come out to save missing hikers, and, while Brutus could care less about most of the idiot people who had to touch the hot springs to believe they were hot, he did care about the rangers who would give their lives for the nature wonder around them.
But it also made keeping their secrets harder. The unwritten code though was that the shifters in Yellowstone stayed in their own lands unless work called. He, like many others, had discovered working in the park in some manner made life easier for all. But they found it important to keep the peace, so they could come and go to the different restaurants and lodges on occasion. The elk covered the Mammoth Springs Inn, Tower Roosevelt the black bears, Old Faithful was faithfully covered by the Bison, Grant Village had been marked by moose, and then the wolves, recent returnees to the park, had the cabin area at Canyon Lodge, leaving Brutus’s people Lake Yellowstone. The coyotes had lost all ability to maintain an area due to their inability to maintain anything. And the rams preferred to be in the mountains so they could butt heads in private.
So far, things worked well for all involved. Everyone respected the others but didn’t particularly want to hang out or have them know their business, and the last thing he wanted was for the wolves to discover his mate was the curvaceous ranger in Mammoth Springs.
They agreed the best way to live in the park was to have members of each pack, clan, and herd employed as actual rangers, allowing them access to select places to keep their vehicles. Park superintendents stayed in the park for a long time and co-existing was essential. When a new super arrived, the elk alpha would determine when all the alphas and some betas would meet with the leader of the park, welcoming them to their world and informing them of their secrets. He drove the truck south past the Hayden Valley and towards the lake. Pulling into the maintenance shed they both got out, moved into the woods, and shifted, braced for another lonely night in his bed while he yearned for a woman out of his reach, at least for the moment.
Chapter Two
Quinn walked the trail around the lake. So far she’d found no sign of the rowdy teens reported to be harassing hikers in the area. Of course, with the amount of noise she made, they would be long gone. The chiming bear bells attached to her belt rung, ensured no bear would be startled by her approach. With the number of times she had spotted grizzlies this season, she kept her hand on her bear spray. She would much rather spray one than shoot one. The trail was well known for grizzly activity at any time. “Here, bear bear bear,” she said loud enough any animal around a blind bend in the trail would hear her.
Her proclivity to find grizzly did beg the question why having only come to the lake area to help cover a large event for some government bigwigs, the local park rangers would think it a good idea for her to deal with teens on an unfamiliar trail.
Rounding the bend, she found the evidence of the teens—beer cans and junk food wrappers littered the area. “Damn it.”
She took out her phone to document the area before grabbing a bag from her sack to start cleaning up the mess. She would send the pics when she found an area with coverage or Wi-Fi. The park wasn’t known for its cellular coverage and she had no complaints about it. Anything forcing people to unplug was in her opinion a great thing.
As she leaned in to pick up the first can, the unmistakable paw print of a black bear lay in the muddy ground next to the trash. Some of the fresh tracks lay on top of the teens’ footprints. She pulled out a pencil and her pad to draw the paw print, lining it up with the toe pads to help document the kind of bear and its size in her picture. She lifted her walkie-talkie to check in and warn the others of black bears on the trail. A trail known for grizzlies, but lately the animals didn’t seem to understand where they were supposed to be.
A shadow crossed between her and the sun.
She felt the paw swipe her at the same time she heard the bear growl. As she rolled onto her back from the force of the powerful hit, the black bear climbed over her and roared, his open mouth mere inches from her face. The breath, hot and moist on her skin, sent shivers of fear through her. Curled into a ball to protect her neck and face, she closed her eyes, preparing for what might come next. The bear’s head butted her in the side and she bit her lip to keep from crying out. Another bear in the area bellowed and as she peeked to see her worst fear, a territorial giant male grizzly on hind legs coming at them. Her only hope she knew was that she could get out of the area while these two fought.
Then another black bear came into view, blocking her escape route and inadvertently kicking her in the ribs in his attempt to attack the new predator. He was another adolescent like the first and no match for the power of the adult male angry and defensive. When the Grizzly had its back to her and totally focused on the three teens, she crawled behind the fallen tree, her head spun, her mouth watered, and she prayed she wouldn’t lose her lunch. Blood dripped over her left eye from the wound on her forehead, her ribs ached, and, shaking in fear, she listened to the fight happening just yards from her. Curled into a tight ball she waited for the fight to end. Unsure if her heart was b
eating so loud it covered the sounds around her or the fight had ended, she prayed for help to come. A loud crack of stick beneath a foot told her who the victor was heading her way. She held her breath and braced for the worst, doing everything to keep from crying out in fear.
“Quinn, it’s safe. You can come out.”
A deep, husky male voice calling her name? She must be delusional. The steps came closer. She could hear him shuffling over the log, and when a large hand touched her shoulder, she jumped.
“You’re in shock.” He lifted her to sit on the downed tree. “Let me look at that wound.”
Now she couldn’t help but open her eyes. When she did, she saw a large man with the biggest brown eyes. There was no way this man who could grace the covers of magazines could be here rescuing her from the bears. Bears? “We have to get out of here.”
“You’re safe. I promise.”
“You don’t understand. That grizzly could come back.” There were two of him. There shouldn’t be two of him. She blinked hoping to settle her vision.
“He isn’t going to hurt you. He was trying to protect you.”
The world started spinning and her stomach churned, “I don’t feel well.”
“That’s it. You are coming with me.” He lifted her as if she weighed nothing.
“Where are you taking me? I don’t even know you.” The loss of blood was making her light-headed, and all she could do was lay her head on his shoulder, content in the safety of his arms.
“My name is Brutus and I’m your mate. Trust me, we have plenty of time to get to know one another later. Right now, I need to get that wound looked at.”
She would have liked to argue, to tell him it would have been quicker to head back down the trail than in the direction he headed, but she couldn’t seem to find enough energy. The stubble on his chin itched as he rubbed it against the top of her head. “Don’t fall asleep on me.”
Bear with Me (Shifters of Yellowstone Book 1) Page 1