Caught by the Bear

by Adele Niles

  E. J.

  The coyotes sink fangs into my flesh. Meat tears away as I shake them off. I bite into necks. Claws slice my back. I smash through bodies and break bones.

  Blood sprays trees.

  I make my way to E. J. and with one signal of his tail he sends his army back.

  We circle.

  E. J. lunges and slashes my chest. I swipe a paw and catch the back of his head. I toss him to the side.

  He’s back on all fours, with evil glowing in his eyes. He swishes his tail to find balance for assault.

  I don’t wait. I drop to all fours and charge him full speed.

  It catches him by surprise. He flips and tumbles off the side of the rise. He falls to the next ridge, fifty feet down.

  He’s not dead and I know it. But he’s out, and for now that’s good enough.

  His coyote crew run down to him, afraid to take on the battle on their own.

  Good riddance.

  Now my bear has to find the woman.

  This one, he tells me, is special.

  I know if I go to her in bear form, she’ll run, so I morph back to my human form. I keep my back to her so she will not see the agony of my transforming face. The pain wracks my body worse than the coyotes did. My skin burns and shrinks as my bones break and fuse.

  I finally feel my human fully re-form and I turn to her—but she’s gone.

  I trot over to the grove where she was hiding and find nothing left. I have no clue who she is. Where she’s gone. Her scent is already fading in the downpour.

  But I do find one thing.

  A camera lens. Maybe from a camera bag.

  A camera bag would hold a camera. The camera might hold a picture of me morphing back from my bear.

  Now I have double the reason to find that woman. My bear is torturing me by saying she is my chosen mate—and she has film that could destroy the URSA forever.

  Chapter 5

  Coraline

  I ran so fast getting back to my room, I tripped over my own feet. But now I’m here and I’m so excited. I have a real picture of a huge hairy humanoid. Bigfoot! And not only do I have a picture of Bigfoot, but he saved me from a pack of werecoyotes.

  If this doesn’t get me top ratings, I don’t know what will.

  But as I study the camera viewer, I see that the first pictures I took of the coyotes fighting the bear didn’t come out. The forest was too dark under the trees with the storm. The rain on the lens makes the images blurry.

  So blurry I could tell my viewers these were pictures of alien invaders and they wouldn’t know the difference. Crap. I want to cry. The chance of a lifetime, and I’ve blown it.

  But then I remember something. When I was getting ready to give up and put the camera away, I wiped the lens. That was right before Bigfoot appeared.

  Breath held, I advance through the indecipherable pictures until I come to a new image.

  There he is. Bigfoot. He’s right there, looking majestic and heroic.

  My hands shake as I plug in the cord to transfer the image from my camera to my laptop. If anything goes wrong, I’m going to scream.

  But it transfers. Exhaling, I remove the cord. I have it—I have everything I need! I quickly put copies on a memory stick, an external hard drive, and the cloud. I email it to myself. I send a copy to my phone.

  Now, finally, I can breathe.

  But not for long. I have to create and upload my video. Maybe the best of my career.

  I bustle around the room, setting up the camera and making sure the light quality will be good enough for video. I’m soaked from the rain and start to blow dry my hair but then decide not to. I’ll be more believable if I’m in wet clothes, with wet hair, and the leaves and sticks still stuck to my coat. As if the photo isn’t convincing enough.

  I finally get the lighting right and start making notes on what I’m going to say. I bring up the picture and see if I can enhance it a bit for the video.

  Then I stop. I stare at the photo. All I managed to get was the big broad hairy back of the creature before I’d disappeared into the woods, intent on escaping its notice.

  But just that much is magnificent.

  Muscle swells in firm cords under the thick fur. His arms, buttocks, and legs have the look of a ripped body-building athlete. His stance is not hunched over like other representations of the Sasquatch, but straight backed and proud.

  The image stirs an aching yearning in my chest.

  I start to wonder. Would it be right to exploit this magnificent being purely for profit? If I post this picture, will people come with vans and nets and tranquilizer guns to try to capture him and study him?

  Would I be responsible for the humiliation and degradation of one of nature’s finest creations?

  But I owe it to my viewers and my patrons to share what I have learned, don’t I?

  As I look at the picture, I feel tears well up in my eyes and begin to flow down my cheeks.

  I turn to look out the window. To the forest. To the home of this wonder of the world.

  I gasp. A bear is standing at the edge of the trees. Black fur and intense black eyes. He’s looking directly at me.

  I scream and dive under my desk.

  I’m not sure how long I’ll stay here.

  But I have no current plans to get out.

  Chapter 6

  Zane

  Damn. I just scared the shit out of her. Didn’t mean to do that. I thought she’d recognize my bear, but I forget that to humans, all bears look alike.

  Okay, I tell my bear. Calm yourself. You’re going to have to let me handle this for right now. She’s not ready for the “bear” facts.

  I phase back into my human form and find my clothes where I stashed them on my bike. I brush off the twigs and bear fur and go and knock on the door of the bed and breakfast.

  There’s no response. She might be the only one home. And I guess it takes a few minutes to get over seeing a bear staring at you through your window. I knock again, this time calling out, “Hello? Anybody home?”

  After a minute I hear a quiet noise as she moves to the other side of the door. I stand back from the fisheye peephole so she can see all of me.

  I hear her fumbling with the lock.

  I wait.

  The door opens but the chain’s still on.

  “Yes?”

  I almost fall back off the front step. It’s the sweetest voice I’ve ever heard. And I can’t see her whole face, but the part I can see looks definitely kissable.

  I rattle my head. I’ve got to stay focused. I’ve got business here. “Hey. My name’s Zane. I’m the Sargent at Arms for the URSA MC.”

  She looks at me blankly—with the biggest, brownest eyes I’ve ever seen.

  I blink and clear my throat. “The United Righteous Shifters of America Motorcycle Club,” I explain.

  “Shifters?” she says.

  Do I see the door open a hair wider?

  “Uh, yeah. We’re really good motorcycle riders and we can shift through gears really fast.”

  “Oh.”

  I take a deep breath. “Do you have a name?”

  She frowns. “Yes. Coraline. Why do you need to know?”

  Whoops. That put her guard up. I’m going to have to go easy.

  “Well, Coraline, the reason I’m here is because the URSA consider Maiden’s Fork our home and we like to make sure all the citizens are protected.”

  Is there a slight blush in those soft cheeks?

  “That’s why I’m checking on reports of a pack of coyotes around here,” I push on. “Have you seen anything like that?”

  “Well…” she looks down.

  I wait, not sure what for. I’d wait forever to hear her say just about anything.

  “Let me get dressed,” she says. “Then we can talk.”

  The idea that she has been standing there behind the door naked just about knocks my wind out. Please don’t get dressed! is all I can think.

  My bear wants to break
down the door.

  After what feels like an hour, I see the door crack open again, and this time the chain is off the door. She steps out in the cutest little hiking outfit I’ve ever seen.

  Well, okay, I’ve probably seen a lot of them, but they never looked as cute as they do on her.

  My bear is huffing and chomping and I know what he wants. He wants to mate.

  Whoa, boy, I tell him. We got a job to do here. If she’s got the picture I think she has, we’ve got to let her know what could happen if she shows it to the world.

  It wouldn’t be good.

  She shuts the door behind her like she doesn’t want me to see inside.

  Like she’d got something to hide.

  Now I’m convinced.

  She’s got the picture.

  “You know,” she says, stepping out into the yard, expecting me to follow, “if you’re worried about protecting people, you should be worried about bears as much as coyotes.”

  “Why do you say that?” I ask, walking beside her.

  “Because there was one standing in the trees right outside my window a little while ago. Scared me to death!”

  I smile down at her. “You don’t look like you’re dead.” I want to put my arms around her luscious waist. “In fact, you look pretty lively.”

  She cocks her head as though trying to figure me out. I know I have to keep us on topic or I’m going to lean down and kiss those pouting lips.

  “Besides,” I say, “the bears help keep the coyotes in check. Have you ever seen a bear and a coyote in a fight?”

  I watch her closely for reaction. There is none.

  “No,” she says, all wide-eyed innocence.

  Wow. This girl is good. I’m going to have to watch her.

  In fact, I don’t think I’ll be able to keep my eyes off her.

  My randy bear likes this.

  We start walking again.

  “So,” I ask. “How’d you end up in Maiden’s Fork? You thinking of moving here?”

  “No,” she says, rolling her eyes. “I’m just staying for the summer.”

  I chuckle. “I guess this wasn’t your first choice for a summer vacation.”

  “Nope. But now that I’m here, I’m glad this is where I ended up.”

  My bear perks up. Is she talking about me?

  “This place is great for my work,” she continues.

  “Your work?” I say, and then catch myself. “Oh. Well that’s good. What do you do for work?”

  “I’m a YouTuber,” she says. “I have a channel that specializes in the paranormal.”

  “Wow, no shit?”

  “No shit. I’m fascinated by ghosts, spirits, and any kind of cryptid. Skinwalkers, the Loch Ness monster, Yeti…” She turns to me with wide eyes. “And now, Bigfoot!”

  I look down at her, amazed. She’s talking about the paranormal like it’s normal. I could just kiss her.

  In fact, I do.

  Chapter 7

  Coraline

  Zane’s kiss makes me dizzy.

  His huge, ripped arms pull me into the hard muscles of his chest and he consumes my mouth with his.

  I’m glad he’s strong enough to hold me up because my knees buckle.

  I feel the blood rush from my head to the soft parts between my legs. I’ve never felt that with a kiss before. He tastes like the wilderness and spearmint. Hot. Wild.

  When he finally lets me go, I gaze up at his face. I thought he was good-looking when I first saw him through the peephole, but now I can see he is gorgeous.

  His medium-length blond hair and square jaw give him the aura of a Greek god. His muscles are Herculean. His hard, gray eyes make him look dangerous, and from the speed he’s moving in on me, I gather how dangerous he really is.

  I feel a shiver of delight, which causes him to put his arms around me again. He pulls me into his hard body. I could stay in this shelter forever.

  But then he suddenly holds me away with outstretched arms. He tips his head at me. He looks down into my eyes.

  “Want to go for a ride?”

  I look past him and see his bike is resting at the end of the driveway. It’s a long and lean chopper and has a huge engine bulging out from its frame.

  I’ve never been on anything bigger that a moped. But I liked that. So I’m pretty sure I’ll love this.

  “Do you want to?” he asks.

  Well, if I’m brave enough to slog through the woods looking for Sasquatch, I’m brave enough to ride a motorcycle.

  Especially if he’s the one in front.

  “Let’s go,” I say.

  * * * * *

  The power and the roar of the bike is orgasmic.

  The thrust of the bike presses my spine against the backrest. My feet are on pegs and my open thighs hug his waist. My hands rest on my legs and I submit to his control.

  Zane races up the mountain road and it is exhilarating. The mountain air is crisp and clear and carries the glorious scents of nature, life, and freedom. After what seems like minutes—but must have been an hour—Zane pulls into a mountain top restaurant that I didn’t know existed. He secures the bike in their parking garage, and then we go into the restaurant and have the best bean burgers and fries I’ve ever tasted. We sit side by side in the booth and press up against each other as we talk and laugh and tip back a couple of beers with our burgers.

  He has a great sense of humor—a lot like mine—and we soon find out we have a lot more in common. We both love the outdoors, adventure, and kissing.

  And we use the privacy of the high-backed booth to practice that last one—a lot.

  Zane must really like his beer because he keeps ordering more, and I find myself telling him more and more about myself.

  I tell him about being a YouTuber. I bring up my channel on my phone to show him. I tell him I do more than just post things other people say. I’m actually a cryptid hunter and I go out looking for legendary beasts all the time.

  Then, after a few more beers, I say I have something especially exciting to tell him.

  He nods in encouragement. “Go for it.”

  After taking a deep breath, I say, “I told you a little fib earlier, because I didn’t want you to think I’m crazy. But I actually did see what I thought was a black bear attacking a pack of coyotes today.”

  I look around to make sure no other table is listening. Zane’s gaze is locked on me.

  “But you know what?” I say. “After the fight, I saw him walk away and he had a human form!”

  Zane looks at me with narrowed eyes and then pulls back.

  I pull up the picture on my phone and hold it to his eyes.

  “See?” I say. “Bigfoot!”

  His mouth drops open like he’s about to say something, but then a huge smile cuts his face.

  “Damn,” he says. “You’re right! Bigfoot! Can you send me a copy?”

  Chapter 8

  Zane

  I just about fall out of the booth when I see myself on her phone, all bare-assed and hairy. I got to admit. I do look like Bigfoot!

  But then I sober up when she says she’s ready to do a video and post the picture on her YouTube channel.

  And I know the URSA won’t want that.

  Okay, they know most people just watch these videos for fun and don’t believe they’re real, but what if some decided it looked real enough to come out here and try to confirm her sighting?

  It would be goodbye Maiden’s Fork as we know it. Goodbye to the URSA haven that the black bear shifters have enjoyed for so long. Goodbye to the freedom to walk the streets unmolested. Goodbye to the mutual trust we’ve built with the locals.

  A pack of Howlers is bad, but a pack of tourists would be worse.

  And that’s not all. If somebody else got lucky and got a picture of another bear shifter phasing, then that would bring in the biologists, the geneticists, and a whole fuckin’ zoo of zoologists.

  They’d want samples and specimens and they’d want to put us in cages—at
best—and on the examination table at worst.

  The bros would probably throw me out of the club for showing my hairy ass in public and starting the trouble.

  Why did I do it?

  Because I was trying to be the good guy. I was trying to rescue a lady from coyotes.

  My bear gives a low, guttural growl to remind me that, yeah, I was trying to get laid, too.

  But that gives me an idea. Maybe I can do both. Maybe I can get Coraline to get a little closer to me and then she won’t want to hurt me by posting the picture on her cute little website.

  I look over at her beautiful curves and sweet softness.

  Oh, the sacrifices I make.

  Coraline excuses herself to go to the lady’s room. By the time she gets back, I have two more beers on the table.

  “Oh, gosh, Zane,” she says. “I don’t think I need any more.”

  “I hate to see good beer go to waste…”

  She laughs. “That’s exactly where it would go—to my waist—and I have enough excess there already.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” I say, slipping my arm down around her waist. “It feels just right to me.”

  I pull her in, and I don’t get any resistance.

  She reaches up and strokes the stubble starting to form on my chin. “That’s sweet of you to say, Zane, but I also have to get back to post that video to my channel. My views have been slipping and I need to give my subscribers something they’ll want to share.”

  I nod and try to look like I know what she’s talking about. “But you know, Coraline, that one picture doesn’t really prove anything.”

  She starts to protest but I put a finger to her lips.

  “Just listen for a second,” I say. “The picture is good, but you need more if you really want to get their attention.”

  She tilts her head, considering.

  I put my finger under her chin and tilt her face up to mine. “How about this? You hold off on posting that picture, and I find you some more local cryptids.”

  Her eyes go huge. “You can do that?”

  “Yep, you bet. I’ve lived here all my life and I can tell you a lot of things about Maiden’s Fork that most people don’t know.”

  She looks at me suspiciously. “I don’t know…”