by Leslie Chase
She only saw the rifle slung over his shoulder as an afterthought.
“I’m pleased to see you too,” he said, voice uncharacteristically soft. He took the heavy pack from her, casually lifting the weight she’d been struggling with as he stepped past her. “But we can’t stop here. I’ve slowed them down a little, so we’ve got some time to get a head start, and they’ll think twice about getting too close. They’ll be after us soon enough, though.”
Back in the direction he’d come from, she heard another shot and flinched, wondering if they were being shot at. Karl just chuckled and kept walking, his long, muscular legs devouring the distance. “Don’t worry, they’re going to take a little while checking the house for bears,” he told her. “And after the reception I gave them, they might be a little skittish about going through doors without checking.”
Allison glanced back again and then turned to follow him. At least now I’ve got a great view to follow, she thought to herself, blushing as she admired his bare ass and thighs. For a moment, embarrassment made her want to look away, but then she thought better of it. This could be my last night: I’m not going to let myself miss out on anything.
Besides, admiring the form of the man ahead of her was better than dwelling on what was happening behind them.
The long walk to the base of the mountains reminded Karl of his time in the Army. Walking through hot, dusty terrain, never sure if there was about to be an attack… it was an odd thing to be nostalgic about. But looking back on them, those times with his squad of bears had been amongst the best times of his life.
I’m in even better company now, he thought as he glanced back. Allison was following without complaint, though the pace he set was punishing for her. Her face was red, and he could see a grim determination in his mate’s eyes as she struggled to keep up. But nonetheless, she was managing.
She’s so much stronger than she should have to be. No one should have to face so much pressure, but she’s managing despite it all. Karl’s heart broke for her, and he wished he had a better solution to offer for her problems. Part of him still wanted to simply carry her away from all this, to double back and sneak her past the hunters. Once they were in a car, they’d be away and safe.
But that wouldn’t protect her from the real danger, the one in her soul. There was nowhere to run from that, and saving her only to see her mind devoured by the hunger of her wolf wasn’t a victory. The only hope we have is that Harper was right and that there is something up here to help.
The odd black rocks rose slowly from the desert floor, and together they clambered up. There was a trail, old and worn, that rose up amongst them, and the change of pace was welcome as they climbed wordlessly together. As the slope grew steeper, harder to navigate, Karl reached back to take Allison’s hand and haul her up amongst the dark stone.
Her eyes opened wide and she gasped, going limp in his grip. The sudden shift in her weight nearly carried him backward with her, and he had to grab a sharp rock ridge to hold himself up. Pain shot through his hand and he clung on, swearing and keeping her from falling.
Allison blinked up at him, looking lost, as though she was looking at something that wasn’t there. The moment felt like an eternity as he hung from one hand, the stone slicing into his palm. Then she recovered, pulling herself up and clinging to him and the rock as she panted.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, recovering her strength. “Something here… it hit me hard. I can feel something, whatever my uncle was talking about is here. I’m sure of it.”
Despite the pain in his bloody hand, Karl grinned at that. “That’s good news. Let’s find somewhere we can light a candle without being seen and get on with this!”
His eyes flicked back across the open ground behind them, looking for signs of pursuit. There was nothing to be seen, as he’d hoped – ambushing Damian and his men had made them wary of chasing too close in the dark, as they should be. Come sunrise it would be another matter, though. Their trail would be easy to follow for anyone with any tracking experience at all.
Whatever he might think of the hunters’ morals, he had no reason to think they were that incompetent. If he and Allison were going to do this, they only had until dawn.
They pulled themselves over the ridge with an effort and found themselves in a small hollow amongst the rocks. The mountains rose steep ahead of them, and black stone was all around. The remains of an old fire waited undisturbed on the ground. A very old fire, if Karl didn’t miss his guess. Years old. But a sign that someone had visited here before.
While Allison caught her breath, Karl let his bear rise to the surface and taste the air. There was something there, something his human senses couldn’t catch, a scent of wolf and ancient power.
He smiled, looking at Allison. “Yeah, this is the place.”
Nodding back, she looked around distractedly. Whatever he was feeling, he realized it was far more powerful for her. With the wolf in her soul so close to the surface, and without any experience of this kind of thing, she was being overwhelmed.
Resting a hand reassuringly on her shoulder, he guided her down to the ground, sitting her against the cool stone and kissing her forehead. Reaching into the bag, he passed her a bottle of water and took another for himself before setting up the candle in the remains of the old fire. Here, shielded by the rocks, the light would be hidden from prying eyes.
Lighting a match, Karl watched Allison closely as her eyes followed the light. She was already distant, he could tell, and she barely responded to his hand on hers as he brought the candle back to life.
This is it, he thought, settling down to wait. He wasn’t used to being in this position, of relying on someone else, but there wasn’t anything he could do to help her now. He’d brought her here, where she could confront her wolf – now it was down to Allison.
21
The little stone hollow felt hostile, claustrophobic, and somehow wrong to Allison as she settled herself against its wall. It was as though she was somewhere she shouldn’t be, trespassing. Perhaps I am, maybe this is another wolf’s territory. Well, tough – I need to talk, and that’s that.
She felt like she should respond somehow to Karl as he spoke, but the words wouldn’t come. She couldn’t tell whether it was because of the shock of the day’s events, the bone-deep exhaustion that was settling into her, or the strange feeling of the place they were in, but she felt disconnected, drifting, almost as though she was floating up into the air.
The flame drew her attention, and she tried to focus on it like Karl and Harper had told her. Letting it wash away her awareness of the world around her, letting her connect to the wolf within.
It felt like no time at all passed before she heard the deep, hungry growl. It didn’t sound the same as what she’d heard before, it didn’t feel like it was coming from inside her. Instead, it seemed to be coming from deeper inside the cave.
Wait a minute, there isn’t a cave here. The hollow hardly went back any distance into the rock – or at least it hadn’t. Now, when she looked up, she saw a deep dark hole into the earth, and in its mouth waited a wolf. Not just any wolf, but a great white wolf which stood as tall as Karl did. Its eyes were flames, and its attention was focused on her.
Instinctively, she looked around for Karl. He wasn’t there – all she could see was a shadow where he had been sitting, as though a bear were between the light and the wall. She blinked again, realizing that at some point he’d let go of her, though she couldn’t tell when. Alone in the cave with the giant wolf, she scrambled to her feet.
The great beast took a step forward, towering over her. Allison tried to hold her ground, swallowing nervously and meeting the burning gaze of the creature.
“Um,” she started, unsure what to say. “Hello?”
The huff of breath from the wolf sounded amused, and it nudged against her with its nose. The creature felt real, as real as anything that she’d ever felt, despite the fact that she knew it couldn’t be. Giant wol
ves don’t exist, and if they did they’d be hidden in Canada or something, not living in a cave in the desert.
Of course I’m real. The words formed in her mind as though they were her own, but she knew they weren’t. They came from something else, something much older than she was. Just because I don’t have a physical body doesn’t mean I’m not real. Why did you come here if it wasn’t to see me?
Allison stepped back, trying to think about what to say. It didn’t help that the wolf could clearly read her thoughts anyway – that just made it harder as she tried to keep from thinking anything embarrassing.
The warm, amused gaze of the giant watched her struggle for words.
“I need your help,” she tried eventually. “I’m new at this, I don’t know what I’m doing, so I’m sorry if I’m asking this wrong. I never learned to control my wolf, I wasn’t raised by the wolf side of my family, can you show me how?”
How to control the wolf in you? There was an amused sound at that, and the wolf’s jaw hung open as though it were laughing. That’s what you want to learn? Child, that’s a fool’s game, and not one you should trouble yourself with. Be one with the wolf, let her have her way, let yourself run under the moon as you were meant to. Don’t fight yourself, be yourself.
“But it’s killing me!” Allison tried to meet those giant eyes, her gaze flicking back and forth between them. “It’s taking over and making me do things, things I don’t want to do. Please, you have to help me! You’re my only chance.”
I don’t have to do anything. You are a wolf, and if you fight that truth then it will end you. That is the simplest fact in the world.
Perhaps if you had come earlier, this would be easier for you.
“I never had a chance! I didn’t know you were here!” Allison felt tears welling in her eyes and tried to keep herself angry rather than despairing. “I didn’t know anything about any of this until now.”
Your father came to me once, years ago, to ask my blessing. He should have been the one to teach you, to raise you. He could have brought you before me, if you needed my help, while you were still young enough to learn. But it is too late, and if he has failed you, that is not my problem.
“He’s dead, you asshole!” She was crying now, but didn’t let that stop her. “He died before he could teach me anything, and now I’m stuck with this nonsense and all I want is to go back to normal! I don’t want this, I don’t need it! I just want to live!”
She thought that she could see a note of sadness in the eyes of the wolf, but she wasn’t sure. The voice in her mind was silent, though, and she almost thought that she could feel guilt from the creature. Or maybe that was just her imagination. Putting her hands on her hips she stared at it, waiting it out in angry silence as tears ran down her cheeks.
Your father was a worthy wolf and a great alpha, the thought came eventually. He was at one with his wolf, and would have raised you well. I am sorry that he didn’t get the chance, and I am sorry that you feel so lost without his teaching. There is little I can do for you, child, if you will not accept that the wolf is as much you as the woman is. You are too attached to your human soul, and it wars with the wolf that you should be. That fight will consume you, and I cannot help you win it.
I offer you the only blessing I have to give. Become yourself and find peace.
With those words, the great wolf turned and slipped away into the darkness of the cave. Allison cried out for him to wait and leaped forward after him, but the wolf was too fast, and the cave vanished into the rock as he passed leaving her facing solid stone. She was once again alone with her thoughts.
Behind her, the sun rose.
The night passed quietly for Karl. Too quietly. Watching Allison stare into the candle flame wasn’t helping anyone, but there was nothing else that he could do. Not if he wanted to stay with her and be there for her when she returned from whatever vision she was having.
For the same reason, he couldn’t sleep. Not that he’d want to when the werewolf hunters could be creeping up on them.
I doubt they’ll be here in the night, he told himself. They knew he had a rifle, after all, so they wouldn’t want to use light to track him and Allison. But he couldn’t be sure, and he didn’t want to take any chances.
Whatever Allison was doing, it was taking longer than he’d expected. Her other visions had been short, but this time, hours passed and the candle burned down to a stub while she sat motionless, barely breathing. Even when the sun finally reached the horizon dimly lighting up the Eastern skies, she barely moved an inch.
“I’m sorry I can’t be in there to help you,” he told her, wondering if she could hear any of what he said. He’d tried to cross into whatever other place was, but it wasn’t a place for bears it seemed, and so he couldn’t reach her. He put his hand on hers, disconcerted to find her skin cold to the touch.
“Let’s just hope that whatever you’re doing is working,” he continued. “And that it’s nearly done, because those hunters won’t wait long before coming after us.”
Rising to look out over the desert, back the way they’d come, he looked for signs of pursuit. Sure enough, there they were – a group of hunters following their trail out from Allison’s house.
Karl weighed the options open to him. He could start a gunfight, he supposed – he did, after all, have the rifle he’d taken off one of the hunters the night before. At this range, though… he was a good shot, yes, but he had to assume that the hunters were too. In the pre-dawn light, he would get a few of them only to tell them exactly where their targets were.
The rifle only had eight rounds in it, too. Not enough for a firefight.
“So, time for plan b,” he said to the unresponsive Allison. “You won’t like it, but it’s all we have.”
Snagging a notepad from his pack he scrawled a note in a hurry then put it down opposite Allison, the rifle lying across it to weigh it down. He paused for a second, then leaned in to kiss her tenderly on the forehead.
“Goodbye, Allison,” he told her simply. “I love you.”
With that, he pulled himself over the ridge and off on a hunt of his own.
22
Allison blinked as she returned to the world, surprised to find herself alone in the hollow and shocked that the sun was up already. She looked around for Karl, for her mate, wanting to fling herself into his arms for comfort.
There was no sign of him, though, not apart from the notebook. Allison shook herself, wondering where he could have gone. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach as she picked up the pad and read.
My love, I’m sorrier than I can say that I am not there to see you. I hope that you’ll understand – saving you is the important thing now, and that means confronting Damian and his pack of fools before they reach you.
So far they’ve only seen me shift, not you. I hope I will be able to convince them that I am the monster they’re looking for, at least long enough for you to get away. That’s all that matters to me.
I will draw them off to the East, once they’ve reached the black rocks. Go West and you’ll be able to circle them, get back to town and to my car. The keys are in the side pocket of the pack. Leave, and don’t look back. Go to the Guardian Bears Agency, tell them what happened in Mayfair and they’ll take care of you. The guys are intimidating, but they’re like family to me and that means they’ll be your family too. If you want them to, they’ll be able to put you in contact with Harper. If you don’t, I wouldn’t blame you, but he is your family and he might still be able to help you.
When I get out of here I’ll come and find you, and we will be together as we should be. I love you, Allison, and I miss you already. Go quickly and be safe.
Karl
Allison stared at the note for a minute, tears forming in her eyes. Karl, you beautiful idiot, what have you done?
Despite his talk of meeting her later, she knew he didn’t plan on getting out of this alive. However dangerous he was, the men he was hunting outnumbered him
and they were dangerous too. He was dying as she sat there, selling his life to buy her time to escape.
“But I’ve got nowhere to run.” Allison breathed the words aloud, teardrops falling onto the note in her hand. “Not without you.”
Scrunching the paper up, she looked to the West, the sun warm on her back. Her breath was short, and her heart pounded in her chest as she struggled to go, to take his last gift and honor his sacrifice.
The wolf inside her disagreed, fought against her decision. It didn’t understand the fancy words – the only thing the wolf knew was that her mate was in danger, and that she was running from that fight. Struggling against the rebellious part of her soul, Allison took a step and then another before sighing and glancing backward.
You’re right, she admitted to the wolf. I can’t leave him.
Slipping amongst the black stone, Karl crept down from the hollow, feeling empty inside as he turned his back on Allison for what he feared was the last time.
The hunters were following their tracks easily now that the sun lit their way, and that would lead them straight to her. And that he would not allow. No one was going to harm his beloved, not while he had a breath left in his body.
Dropping behind a rock, he flattened himself to the ground and waited for his prey. The bear inside him was alert, eager as he was to protect their mate, and he grinned. The situation was grim, yes, but there was a certain satisfaction in the fact that he didn’t have to pull his blows anymore.
His cover was barely enough to conceal him, but that was a good thing. Waiting in ambushes, he’d long ago learned, worked best when he was in a space that no one would think big enough to hide him. And that suited his polar bear soul, too – it approved of using camouflage to hunt, just as a polar bear would blend in with the arctic snow.