by Olivia Harp
He pressed the accelerator, his truck roaring, dirt covering its lower side. He felt better. The mere thought of seeing her again put a smile on his face. His bear inside was satisfied, at least for now. It wasn’t the wild beast it usually was.
He was on the final stretch of the mountain trail, just a few more turns and he’d be on the lower road, and from there about an hour to Rosenberg.
It was still early, he’d be there by dusk and look for her. He didn’t want to barge into her life and claim her like a barbarian, though you should, he thought, take her home and explain things on the way. That girl is a wild one, she’d understand. He smiled at his dumb joke.
Out in the distance, a car approached.
What? A car coming up here? The dirt road was not easy to find, there were no directions, people were encouraged to go to the national park, not here.
Then he noticed.
The light gray color, the model and make, what in the world...?. The Nissan was coming in slowly, carefully. It wasn’t made for these kind of roads, so it threaded carefully. It’s her. For some reason she was coming back. His plan was simple: get to Rosenberg, find her and tell her how he felt. The first part of his plan was useless now, hopefully the other parts would go better.
He blinked his highlights. She blinked hers back.
If this is how it has to happen, so be it, he thought. He lowered his speed, this place is as good as any other. He moved to the side of the road, parked his truck and got out. Big trees towered above, silent witnesses to the scene.
Her car stopped a few yards away. The engine was still running, windows still up.
She looked almost as nervous as the first time they met. Her hands were still on the wheel, her eyes not meeting his. He stepped towards her, and she finally turned off her car and got out, looking at him, not saying a word.
He almost gasped, she was even more stunning than he remembered. Four weeks ago you let her go, the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen. Four weeks of being apart, you’ll have to make up for the lost time.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey.”
They both stood under the trees, awkwardly silent.
“Listen,” he finally spoke, “I was coming for you”.
Her eyes met his, she smiled.
“That’s why you were driving like a crazy person?”
“Yes,” he said.
The wind picked up, passing through the swaying trees.
“It’s not really recommended to drive through these parts like that,” she said, “I think you said that.”
His eyes widened, then he laughed, moving closer to her.
“I don’t remember saying it. But it’s the truth. Sometimes you have to risk everything for your mate.”
She tried to hide her surprise at that word.
“What about this place being dangerous for humans?” she asked.
“I’ll make it safe for you.”
“I want to be with you, Damien.”
“I want to be with you, too,” he said, “this place is not for everybody, but if you let me, I’ll be the man you deserve, I’ll make you happy every day.”
“This place is perfect.”
“You are perfect.”
She laughed, then contained herself.
“What about the White Paws?”
“They are strong. They know you are my mate, they know that you and I, together, are stronger than on our own. You make me strong, Zoe, you make me a better leader, you make me much more than I ever was. I always thought I was all right by myself but I can’t fathom living without you now.”
Her eyes were watering, her face pure bliss. He walked to her, held her, and lifted her from the ground and kissed her. A long, sweet kiss, their lips hungry for each other, bodies burning.
They kissed and they smiled and then they couldn’t keep themselves from laughing. Foreheads touching, Zoe in his arms, her feet suspended in the air.
“We’re having a feast tonight, a celebration,” he said.
“What about?”
“Us. You’re here now, there’s no better reason to celebrate."
“I’m in,” she said, “as long as I help preparing something.”
“Maybe I’ll let you, if you’re a good girl.”
She laughed and hugged him.
“I don’t think I feel like being a good girl tonight, Damien.”
He growled faintly, his cock starting to harden, then remembered.
“Hey but... what about your life, your business? Mav told me about it, you seem to be doing pretty good, I don’t want to make you feel constrained or—”
“Don’t worry about that, I’m an accountant, I crunch numbers, I do all the work from home. My place is with you. Being here frees me, makes me more me, makes me happy.”
They kissed again, this time it was hotter, Damien had to keep himself from hugging her too hard, she fit perfectly in his arms, but he didn’t want to harm her.
“There was no one for me until I met you, Zoe,” he confessed, “you are the only one on this Earth I would ever want to share my life with.”
He kissed her hard. How did he live without her all his life? His hands on her legs, his sex hard as a rock.
“You are my destiny,” he said, kissing her again.
She put her legs around his waist, enjoying every second of this. Everything had gone much better than she anticipated. He carried her up to the hood of her car and laid her there, she could feel the bulge in his pants getting harder and harder. Oh my, I missed this, she thought, unable to grind her center hard enough into him. He grabbed her hair and pulled her head back, exposing her neck, kissing and biting it, touching her legs, her waist, pulling her to him, letting her feel his thick cock beneath all the layers of denim.
Her breathing was loud now. He moved his hand to her blouse, slowly unbuttoning her from the top, kissing her chest and burying himself in it.
She was soaked now, she’d never got so wet so fast but his contained fury, his intensity, the hunger in his deep blue eyes made her feel so wanted, like she’d never felt before.
“I missed you,” she rasped, her ragged breath reaching his ears.
He growled, ripped open her blouse and softly kissed her exposed breasts, slowly turning his attention to each of them with a passion she hadn’t yet seen in him. His mouth found her nipples, pushing her bra down with his chin, his hands on her ass pulling her closer. He satiated himself and looked up, found her face again and kissed her.
“I missed you too,” he said, unbuttoning his jeans, she could see his cock against the denim, completely swollen for her, thick and hard. His blazing desire just as she remembered. She touched it, their mouths and tongues combined in a fiery passionate kiss, she felt it with her palm and started a jerking movement, Damien moaned.
He grabbed both her hands and put them on the hood, “I want to taste you first,” he told her, “I want your taste in my mouth, I want to taste your folds, I want your honey.”
Her center was ready for him, her panties soaked. They had waited long enough.
“Taste me.” she implored
He knelt, his head between her legs, and unbuttoned her denim shorts, anxious to get to her, to open her folds with his mouth.
Then he realized.
There was no wind now. No sound at all. Everything was completely still. His senses were sharper than ever, he knew it, and he couldn’t sense any wildlife around. No birds, no mammals, nothing.
He stopped, standing up with a questioning look, trying to listen. Trying to make sense of what was going on.
To Zoe, his intensity suddenly changed. He was enveloped in her, and suddenly his hands tightened. He pulled her closer to him, his breath turning from wild, hot ferocity to cold calm. His eyes were not looking at her any more.
“What is it?” she asked
“I don’t know honey, you should get in the car.”
He loosened his grip on her and turned around, looking at the forest.
His fists were clenched hard now, his knuckles white. His bear was on full defense mode now.
“Something’s wrong,” he said.
Chapter 15
Zoe noticed now. It was just like the first time they met, the still air, the acrid smell, the soundless forest. She started trembling with fear, but Damien held her hand.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” he said. She could only nod. He was wary of his surroundings, and she could tell he was keeping calm for her, he had an inner fury, a contained explosion in his eyes. He opened the door of her car for her and she went in, nervous.
“We’re going back to the HQ,” he said.
She turned the ignition key but nothing happened. Damien’s eyes narrowed. He picked up his radio and pressed the communication button.
“Damien here guys,” he spoke to it, “there’s something strange happening down on the trail, anyone copy, over?”
Nothing but interference came through, white noise the only constant. Damien turned the volume knob higher.
“Can anyone hear me? We might be under attack, over.”
For a second or two there seemed to be someone talking, noise hiding the details of what was said.
The radio hissed a high pitched note, Damien tried to get through but the results were the same. Zoe tried twice now to turn on her car but it didn’t respond at all.
Then she heard it.
A faint growl in the woods.
And suddenly there it was. A big, dark bear, his fur a weird, muddy texture, black goo dripping from it. He was a living shadow, its red glowing eyes looking straight at her.
Zoe gasped, goosebumps rising on her skin. Somehow, she knew the Shadowbear was coming after her, its hatred focused.
Damien was red with anger, his fists clenched tight, a growl inside him reaching her, very different from the soft, sweet sounds he made when they were together. This was a side of him that she knew only his enemies would ever truly know.
He turned to her, calm as the eye of a storm, “Stay inside the car honey, you will be all right.”
Then he turned back to the Shadowbear roaring mightily and shifting to his Grizzly form. That might have been enough to scare any man or animal away, but this thing that wanted her, this monster, was not a just a wild beast, it was something from beyond the veil of the natural world.
It roared and started towards Damien, both of them clashing in a hurricane of fangs and claws.
Damien dealt the Shadowbear an enormous gash on its stomach, making it roar in pain. That’s it! He’s done! she thought, letting herself relax for a second, but then she saw the wound stitching itself. The monster howled and pushed forward, biting Damien on the neck.
They both fell to the ground as Damien turned to get away from the bite, and he bit back, harder, moving his head wildly to rip away the beast’s throat, but a huge claw appeared out of nowhere and pushed him to the side.
The Shadowbear roared again, leaking a black, thick liquid, both of them circling each other. Watching, waiting for the best moment to attack. They were equals in strength and fury.
Zoe noticed the dirt trail turning a sickly, grayish tone. Each step the Shadowbear made was an affront to nature, she finally understood why they were a disease. It was death given form, and Damien and his crew were here as a first line of defense.
Damien jumped blindingly fast and hit the Shadowbear in its muzzle. It went roaring to the ground, but rolled before he was hit again and leaped towards Damien. Both of them now stuck in a violent embrace.
She was enthralled by what she was seeing, her heart about to burst out of her chest in fear when her car was hit from the side, twisting around, the sound of cracking car aluminum filling her ears. There was another, bigger Shadowbear, his red eyes fixed on her, mere inches away.
It roared, his paw high in the air giving her just enough time to throw herself down, the monster hit the driver’s window, turning it into a spider web of cracks.
She screamed and pushed herself to the passenger seat, the roaring Shadowbear leaping to the car’s hood before she could see anything else.
She tried to hide beneath the dashboard, between the passenger’s leg space and seat, but it was too small, she didn’t fit.
She could feel the animal towering a foot or two above her. “Damien!” she yelled without thinking, this had been an ambush, the two big monsters had wanted them dead, but why her? Was she just that unlucky?
The Shadowbear hit the windshield twice, turning it into mush. It was just a matter of time before the monster destroyed it completely. Dusty glass particles fell all around. She reached for the door, maybe she could open it and make a run for it. But a claw pierced the windshield. Her fear and adrenaline helped her, she moved surprisingly fast, getting out of the creature's reach just in time. It would have ripped it off! her frenzied thoughts told her.
I have to find a way to escape, she thought. The Shadowbear above roared in anger again. No. There’s no way I can outrun them.
She could smell the animal now, its muzzle dripping black slobber onto her car seat. The thing had clawed her car apart, hitting the windshield twice with such ease that it wouldn’t take long for it to get her.
It’s your end, Zoe. This is as far as you go. And you couldn’t even tell him how you felt.
***
Damien was engaged in battle against this dark being. Nothing like this had ever come from the Shadowlands, and it was strange that it waited for Zoe to return. Why? It had been an ambush but now he knew it wasn’t for him. The Shadowbear he was fighting with was just a diversion. The bigger bear was focused on Zoe’s car, reaching for her.
He had to end this soon, had to give her a chance to flee. He had to kill them even if they got him. It didn’t matter, nothing mattered but Zoe.
He roared again and faked a leap forward, his enemy falling for it, turning aside, finally giving Damien an opening, and he didn’t hesitate. He raised his claws and went for its head, both claws hitting it hard enough to drop him down. He could finish him now, but it would take precious seconds, and there was no time to waste.
He ran to Zoe like a lightning bolt, the dire Shadowbear about to hit the windshield for a third time, and with such force as to finally tear it down. You’ll die for this, you fuckers, he thought as he roared and leaped against the thing. The dire bear tried to raise his guard but it was too late.
Damien hit it hard on the side and dropped him from the car’s hood. Damien took an instant to look inside and saw Zoe, in her eyes an immeasurable fear, finding him, almost tearing up in her helplessness. A blinding fury rose up inside of him. They had done this to his mate and now they were going to pay for it.
The dire bear tried to get up but Damien jumped over him, his claws tearing and ripping apart its muddy skin. He roared and the huge monster roared back. Damien went for its throat but got hit on his side, falling to the ground. It was the first Shadowbear, the one he left to die, its gash patched up, its skin dripping black goo. The dire bear got up, its wounds sewing themselves in front of his eyes.
He saw a puddle of blood beneath him, he hadn’t felt the dire bear hitting back when he was above it, and the dripping bear’s claws had done even more damage. He clasped his jaw: if he was going to die, he was going to take them with him.
Both of the monsters came to him, the big one behind, limping. Damien had done him much hurt and it roared and screamed each time his claws hit him. He was sure they felt pain, and its wounds may stitch back together, but the recovery wasn’t instantaneous. I have to kill them fast, before they can recover. It’s the only way. Both bears were in front of him. Then Zoe screamed.
And another claw ripped his back open.
He roared in pain and saw another enemy behind him. His heart raced, where did it come from? The dripping bear jumped forward and threw Damien to the ground, claws sinking in his skin. He could see its red eyes glowing with pleasure. They were going to feast on him. Damien looked farther back and saw Zoe inside he
r car, looking at him, her face full of fear. The dire bear on its hind legs, trying to tear open the passenger’s door.
He saw her anguish. She wasn’t afraid of any of the monsters around her. He saw in her eyes and recognized that she was afraid for him. Another claw hit him in the head, red hot blood pouring down to the dirt.
He saw she was scared that they were going to kill him. In the midst of all the danger, surrounded by shadow beasts, a huge Shadowbear trying to open the door of her car to reach in and rip her apart, she was afraid for him.
No.
No he wasn’t going to let them win. He tried to yell “No” but a monstrous, thunderous roar came out instead, and he felt his body tearing itself apart. He felt his skin turning and his claws and fangs growing, each of his muscles boiling hot, an unmatched ferocity inside him. Suddenly, there was only one thought inside.
Protect my mate.
***
Zoe felt the air around her change. What was a rotten stench coming from everywhere turned into a cool breeze, blowing leaves around. The Shadowbear at her side, less than a yard away turned to Damien. Its roar the loudest sound she’d ever heard.
Back there, she saw a colossal grizzly, double—or triple—the size of Damien’s bear, what happened? She saw the wounds and gashes in his head and side and recognized him. It’s Damien. He had turned into something else: a beautiful specimen, a tremendous Grizzly, a huge Bear who roared again and in its roar his enemies cowered.
In one movement he struck the sneaky bear—the one who hit him from behind—on the side of the head. It went flying and right there, while it was still on the air, Damien hit it again on its back, dropping it instantly to the ground. The monster cried and tried to get up but couldn’t, its hind legs motionless.
Damien stepped towards the dripping bear, who seconds ago was so sure of its victory. It was drawing back now, its glowing eyes shifting around, trying to find an escape route.
Now you know fear, Zoe thought, the dire bear outside her car snarling at the sight.