Bearly Holding On

by Danielle Foxton

  “Shut up!” Enyeto screamed, his face contorted with rage.

  Awen saw his eyes begin to glow but she was in too deep now to stop. “And you told your father about the mean girl, didn’t you?” she screamed back at him. “He already disapproved of her upcoming marriage so he used your pain as an opportunity to murder her!”

  Enyeto snarled.

  “I bet you only have one regret about that day,” Awen challenged, quieter now. “That you never got to do the deed yourself.”

  A great howl ripped from Enyeto’s chest. He turned his furious gaze to her, his teeth elongating into fangs. “You would have made a good leader, princess,” he spat. “You’ll make better prey.”

  A clap of thunder resounded overhead, drops of raining beginning to patter on the roof of the porch.

  “Awen, please.” Her mother’s soft cry from behind her caused Awen to turn. It nearly broke her heart, seeing the two of them there, huddled on the porch so helplessly. She was resolved though, she had to save them.

  “Don’t worry mom,” Enyeto said mockingly. “I’ll let her have a head start. And I will honor her terms. Fair is fair after all.” He smirked at Awen and sidled up to her, grabbing her jaw painfully in his hand. His eyes glowed yellow, his teeth horrifically long and sharp. “You get twenty minutes, Awenasa. Then I’ll be coming to rip your throat out.”

  He thrust her head to the side and bent to her neck, taking a long inhale of her scent. Then he licked the curve of her neck, where she had been scraped by a shard of glass on the floor of the dining room.

  “Your blood is like candy to me,” he purred. “And tonight I have a sweet tooth.” With that he released her, shoving her backwards.

  Awen didn’t know whether she was supposed to move or stand still.

  “Tick tock.” Enyeto was grinning. “You’re wasting the precious last few moments of your life.”

  With that Awen bolted off of the porch, cutting through the middle of the pack of wolves. They let her by without so much as a growl. She plunged into the thicket, dodging briars and brambles as she went. The rain echoed through the forest, and within moments she was soaked. At least it would be harder for him to track her scent.

  She ran towards a nearby creek, jumping into it and allowing it to force her along downstream. She ran through the water for some time until she emerged near a large cedar tree. She was careful when she stepped out of the water not to leave tracks.

  She paced around the tree, trying to find a good way to climb up. Feeling in her back pocket, she confirmed that she still had the knife. She had managed to stow it there and hide it while she was being dragged out. She found a relatively low branch and began to climb up. Once at a reasonable height, Awen hacked off a sturdy branch and began to sharpen it into a point.

  A bloodcurdling howl alerted Awen that her time was up. She pressed up against the tree, ensuring that she would not be seen from the ground, and gripped the makeshift spear in her hand. She tucked the knife back into her pocket and waited.

  It seemed like mere moments before she heard his approach. He had shifted back into his human form, though she could tell he had been in his wolf form previously as he was unclothed. He walked straight to the bottom of the tree.

  “A creative effort,” he called up to her. “Nonetheless, you’ve been beaten, princess. I’m disappointed.”

  “Same goes to you!” she yelled down at him. “I always thought it would be a bit larger.”

  Her assault of his manhood caused Enyeto to immediately begin to shift, enraged. She took the opportunity to pounce down from the tree, spearing him through his right shoulder in the process. He half-howled, half-cried out in pain, only midway through his change.

  Awen didn’t relent. She grabbed the knife from her pocket and stabbed it into the side of his neck as he swiped out at her with his claws. She pulled it out and stabbed again, this time on the other side. He snarled and struck out, managing to knock her to the ground. He lunged at her, but was knocked out of the air by a large brown blur—a bear.

  “Mati!” Awen cried. Her heart filled with joy. He was alive!

  The two wrestled on the ground. Enyeto was now in his wolf form. Awen could tell that Mati was weak; he was moving slower than normal, and Enyeto clearly had the upper hand. They were a blur of fangs and claws, blood and fur. Awen picked up her knife but didn’t even know where to begin.

  Suddenly Mati was thrown across the forest floor, hitting a tree with a sickening crack. Enyeto lunged again, grabbing his neck in his gaping maw and tearing.

  Awen rushed forwards. “No!” But she was too late. A mighty tearing sound reverberated through the trees as Enyeto tore out the bear’s throat, blood pooling darkly around him. Slowly Mati’s bear form began to shed away. Soon he was a man again, his mangled throat displayed grotesquely to his murderer.

  Mati was still.

  Awen couldn’t believe it. Was he dead? Could he be dead? She moved to go to him but the wolf’s snarl stopped her. He stood across from her, his muzzle bloody. She was surprised when he didn’t take the opportunity to attack her; he just studied her for a moment with his citron eyes. Then he began to change.

  The transformation took only moments. “Apparently even an immortal has their limits,” Enyeto mused, in reference to the body behind him.

  Awen felt like she was choking. She collapsed to her knees and began to sob.

  “You know my father eventually came to regret killing Awenasa.” He ignored her sobs and began to circle her. “He even went so far as to try to make amends. Do you know what he did, princess?”

  Awen ignored him, her eyes glued to Mati’s form in the desperate hope that she would catch a sign of movement.

  Enyeto continued anyways. “He decided to put a curse on himself. Imagine that—thinking that living forever and being able to turn into a great beast at will was a curse?” He came up behind her, crouching to her level and pulling her hair over her shoulder. “I thought that if he was going to get access to that kind of power, then I should too. But he denied me that right.” She heard him chuckling, and felt his hot breath on her neck. “Or, at least he tried to.”

  Enyeto spun Awen around so that she was facing him and not Mati’s body. He grasped her throat and looked down at her with wild eyes, pulling her to her feet. “So I killed him. I had the curse placed on myself...with a twist.”

  “Just spit it out,” Awen grumbled. His hand squeezed harder but otherwise he seemed unfazed.

  “I am immortal until the day that there is peace between our two tribes. Unification, more specifically. Do you know how easy that is to prevent? Our people practically thrive on our rivalry. I barely have to lift a finger to make sure they stay at odds.” He grinned wickedly. “Though I do lift a claw on occasion.”

  Awen softened her gaze, releasing the tension in her body. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  Enyeto furrowed his brow, puzzled. “You’re sorry?”

  “You’re like a dog that somebody kicked, so you lash out at everyone else,” Awen said gently. “I’m sorry that that happened to you. You must be so lonely.”

  His grip on her neck loosened slightly. The anger in his eyes wavered.

  A tear slipped down Awen’s cheek. Enyeto’s eyes followed its progress.

  “Nobody should have to live like that,” she continued. “Nobody should have to go through life alone.” She lifted one of her hands up to her neck and rested it over his. Gently she pulled his hand away. Then she lifted her hand to his cheek and stroked softly. “I’m so sorry, Enyeto.”

  Then Awen kissed him. Slowly and gently, she pressed her mouth and body to his.

  He was stunned for a moment, but responded within seconds. He pulled her to him, wrapping both of his arms around her and lifting her nearly off of the ground.

  Enyeto didn’t notice that Awen still had the knife in her back pocket. He remained unaware of that fact until she plunged it into his neck. He staggered back, sputtering, the knife still jutting f
rom his throat.

  Awen was crying. All she could do was watch as his hurt expression turned to rage. He pulled the knife out and went to lunge at her. Immediately, however, he fell to the forest floor on his knees. He was losing too much blood. His hands gripped at his throat, trying to stem the flow, but it was too late.

  “You’re free now,” Awen said between sobs. “Your curse has been lifted.”

  Her words sunk in and Enyeto realized she had beaten him—tricked him. He collapsed to the dirt, his hands falling away from his throat. In less than a minute he was still; his eyes remained open, staring blankly at the night sky and the pouring rain.

  Awen rushed to Mati’s side. He was cold.

  How is that possible? she wondered desperately. He’s immortal!

  “No!” she sobbed, pulling his head into her lap. “You can’t be dead!” She wailed and cried, but still Mati didn’t stir.

  “Awen?” Keme called in the distance.

  “I’m here!” Awen cried.

  When he reached her she had stopped crying, but her eyes looked dead.

  “Awen—” Keme took in the scene around him. “What happened?” His gaze flicked between the two lifeless bodies on the forest floor. “Did you…?”

  Awen could do nothing but nod silently, affirming that she had been the one to finally slay the beast. “Daddy,” she sniffled. “Mati’s—Mati’s not waking up. I think...he’s dead.” She hiccupped, the sobs threatening to overtake her again.

  Keme approached her carefully, resting a hand on her shoulder. “He died protecting the people that he loved,” he said softly. “And he loved you, sweetheart. I can tell you that. I’m sure there’s no way he would have rathered to go.”

  Awen stroked Mati’s hair, biting her lip. She looked up at her father. “But I never got to tell him that I love him,” she said mournfully.

  “I think you just did,” a deep voice said from below her.

  Awen’s gaze snapped downwards, fixing on dark brown eyes.

  “You’re alive!” she squealed. She pulled herself down to him immediately, embracing him tightly.

  “Alive but not totally uninjured,” he protested, chuckling.

  Awen released him. “Sorry,” she murmured. “I just...I didn’t think you would make it. I guess I underestimated the powers of the curse.”

  Mati shifted into a sitting position, groaning. “Not cursed anymore,” he said as he massaged the pain in his neck from where the wolf had bitten him. Awen hadn’t been able to see that under all the blood he had healed.

  “And how do you explain that?” interjected Keme. He was relieved—incredibly relieved—but he took his position as a grumpy old man very seriously.

  Mati grinned at Keme, then turned his to Awen. He took her face in his hands. “I saw Awenasa,” he said. “The other Awenasa, that is.” He stroked the hair from Awen’s face. “She told me that I had fulfilled my duty, that I was free to come along to the afterlife. That she had been waiting for me.”

  “Why are you here then?” Awen asked quizzically. She knew that Mati liked her, but she didn’t expect to win out over the ex-girlfriend.

  “I’m surprised you even have to ask that,” Mati chuckled. “Because I love you, Awen. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I loved Awenasa too, in our day, but I have lived several lifetimes since then. You’re my life now.”

  Awen positively beamed. Her heart beat in her chest like a drum, and she felt dizzy and giddy all at once. “Do you mean that?”

  He kissed her softly. “Of course I do,” he said against her lips. Then, quietly so her father wouldn’t hear him, “and I’m not cursed anymore so I can show you just how much I mean it later.”

  Awen descended into giggles and smacked him playfully.

  “How did you…?” Mati asked, glancing over at Enyeto’s body.

  Awen took a deep breath. “It was a fluke, really. A guess. He said that his curse would be broken by peace between our two tribes.” She paused, unsure of how much she wanted to tell Mati about what had happened. It wasn’t that she was ashamed, not at all. It had been so personal though, so raw. She figured the less words, the better. “I gave him peace. And one moment of peace in a lifetime of hate counts more than any treaty ever could.”

  “Whatever happened,” Mati said. “I’m proud of you. You did the right thing for your people.”

  Awen’s heart swelled. He was so wise, so wonderful. And he was all hers.

  Keme cleared his throat. “Are we going to hang out in this forest in the rain all day or are you two done confessing your eternal love?”

  Awen giggled again. She had everything she had ever wanted—her family, her culture, a love that would last a lifetime. There was still rebuilding to be done, still bridges that would need to be mended, but she felt like her life was on the right path.

  She helped Mati stand, wrapping his arm around her to support him on their way back to the house. The trio tramped through the woods silently, her father picking the way in front of them. The rain was still beating down on the branches, and it brought Awen peace to know that so much of the torment of the past few weeks would be washed away by it.

  They reached the house and Aiyana rushed out to them.

  “Keme!” She threw her arms around him. “Is it over?”

  “Them kids are going to kill me,” he complained. “First he was a were-bear, then he was dead, now he’s alive and a human.”

  Aiyana beamed at the pair. “That’s excellent news!” she chirped.

  Keme muttered something under his breath and proceeded to climb the steps to the porch. He stopped on the last stair. “I’m glad you’re alive,” he said. “Both of you. And Mati, I’m forever in your debt. Could you do me one last favor though?”

  Mati nodded solemnly.

  Keme smiled. “Could you put some damn clothes on?” With that he disappeared into the house. Aiyana did too—she sensed that Awen and Mati needed some time alone.

  Mati looked down at Awen tenderly once they were by themselves. The rain splashed off of her face and she quirked her lips up at the corners. He leaned down and captured her mouth in a passionate kiss, holding her tightly like it might be the last time.

  “Let’s go home,” he suggested when they broke apart.

  Awen nodded. She was overcome with happiness, both from the love she shared for Mati, and the realization that for now and forever, his home would be her home too.

  NOTE FROM DANIELLE

  First and foremost, I want to personally thank each and every one of you for giving Bearly Holding On a chance. This book represents the first installment of what I hope to be a very long storytelling career.

  If you like the book, it would mean a lot to me if you would leave a quick review. Even if you hate it or find errors, I would love to hear about that also.

  Right now I am currently working on my next book which I know you will love!

  Danielle Foxton