by Lisa Daniels
“Won’t eating help with that?”
“I–” Ryland paused. “Alright. Hold on.” The warmth again disappeared and the blanket was tucked under her again. She turned to watch him moving around the fire, but Serenity couldn’t see what he was doing.
After a minute or so, he returned. When she tried to sit up, he quickly stopped her. “No, conserve your energy.” Gently, he pulled her upper body towards him and rested her against him. Carefully, he fed her, though she knew that he must be uncomfortable. It wasn’t like the angle was an easy one, but he didn’t complain or say anything about his own discomfort.
“Okay. I’m satisfied that you have eaten enough.” He slid her carefully from his lap. “If you want to sleep now…”
She gave a nod as her eyelids began to droop. The last thing Serenity remembered was the feel of his body pressing against her as Ryland slipped back under the covers. He rested her head on his arm and cradled it as she fell asleep.
Chapter 10
Into the War
Serenity woke and the first thing she noticed was warmth and pain. Her body felt like it hurt everywhere. “Oh God–”
A hand quickly clamped over her mouth. She turned to the side and found herself looking into a pair of startling blue eyes. Suddenly the events of the previous day flooded back to her, and Serenity frowned.
Ryland looked down at her, a finger over his mouth. Her frown deepened, but then she heard voices from outside.
“I know I saw it around here somewhere. That bear was huge. It couldn’t possibly have disappeared.”
Serenity’s eyes widened. Ryland was looking at the mouth of the cave where a couple of shadows moved over it. The pair remained silent on the floor for quite some time, even after the voices had faded from hearing.
Ryland pulled his hand from her mouth. His voice was a very low whisper, almost like a warning growl. “Your clothes aren’t completely dry, but they will have to do for now. We have to get out of here because they will find this place sooner than later.”
“Were they hunters?”
He looked down at her. “Only in the most general terms.”
Serenity gave him a confused look. “What is that suppose– shit!” She fought to keep her voice soft, “Those are the poachers you warned me about.”
Ryland looked pained as he sighed, “Yeah, those are a few of the poachers.”
“You stole from them yesterday.”
His eyes darted to hers and a thin smile let her know she was right. “Now is not the time to debate all of that.”
“We should keep everything you took from them. Did you get a gun?”
“What?” He looked at her with shock. “Not a chance.”
“Why not? Are you a pacifist or something?”
All he could manage was to blink at her. With a slight shake of his head, he muttered, “I don’t use that kind of primitive, unskilled weaponry. Only cowards use them.”
“People who want to survive use them.”
“In the wild, instinct is far better than anything produced by science.” He paused, “Well, maybe bows and arrows. Those things are classy, but I don’t have them. We are going to have to do this cautiously. They won’t hesitate to kill us if they find us. Make sure to lean on me. I want to apologize ahead of time for having to carry you, although I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that.”
“Maybe you should leave me and go get help.” Serenity’s voice was calm.
“Not happening.”
“Look, I know you are trying to be gallant, or brave, or something, but seriously, that is the most logical thing to do right now. I hurt everywhere, so all I am going to do is slow you down.”
“You can stop right there because there isn’t a chance in hell that I would leave you behind.” Without another word, he lifted her to her feet. She had to lean over to fit. Holding the towel in place, she tried to find another angle to argue. “I said don’t bother,” his voice cut through her thoughts as a damp shirt was pulled over her head.
Serenity let out a slight gasp. “You could have warned me,” she hissed.
“Shh.” It was the last sound from Ryland as he took her hand and gently led her to the mouth of the small cave.
His head was on a constant swivel over the next couple of hours as they slowly moved away from the place where they had encountered the poachers. Several times he stood up and looked around, before hunching over and pulling her in a different direction.
Ryland sped up a little around noon, and with the speed came a few explanations. “We need to head to the water because they have dogs.”
“That shouldn’t affect us though, right? The dogs should be hunting animals.”
“That are trained to go after anything that has a strong smell. Right now, between the rapids, the day without a shower, the–” He stopped talking and looked at her, then cleared his throat. It was obvious that he was omitting saying something when he spoke again, “Suffice it to say, we are a very strong smell right now.”
“I don’t know if I can go any faster.” Serenity had been trying not to complain given their circumstances, but her knee was beginning to hurt even when they stood still.
“Here.” He turned to her, offering his back. “Let me carry you for a ways so that we can move a little faster.”
“Are you sure?”
“You weigh next to nothing. Hop on.”
Serenity felt herself blush as she put her arms around his neck. Without warning, he placed his hands under her butt and lifted her easily off of the ground. His hands slid down her thighs, locking near the knees.
“Hold on, but not too tight, please.” His face was in profile as he talked to her, almost like he was waiting for her signal to go.
She did as she was told. “Okay.”
To her surprise he began at a pace that was nearly jogging. They moved a lot faster as he weaved through the bracken, leaves, and roots, making far less noise than she would have believed possible. As much as she wanted to talk, Serenity was afraid of distracting him. The pair made their way silently through the woods.
She had no idea how long they had been moving when he appeared to pick up the pace. He was nearly running when a loud bark sounded from a ways behind them.
“I don’t know if we will make the water before they catch up to us.”
“I thought we were close to the water. How far did you move us after you got us to shore?”
“We aren’t heading back to the river. There is a small stream that I was hoping to reach, but the dogs picked up our scent.”
“Maybe I should climb up a tree and you can make your way to the water. They’ll follow you, right?”
“That would be a good idea, except there are five mountain lions within ten miles, and a pack of wolves within five miles.”
“How on earth could you know that?”
“At this rate, you will find that out soon enough.”
“What exactly is that supposed to mean?”
There was another bark from much closer as Ryland tried to pick up the pace.
“You sure you really want to know?” A hint of warning in his voice caused her to think about the question.
Quickly dismissing the concern, Serenity felt that the man’s strange behavior was rubbing off on her. “Why wouldn’t I want to know?”
“Because there are some things that science cannot explain, and I know that it is going to cause you some significant issues.”
“Next you are going to tell me you are a wizard and you can magic us out of this.” She felt him laugh through her thighs and she couldn’t help but respond by clamping them tighter to him. Feeling very self-conscious after that, she sounded slightly offended. “Look, if you can do something that gets us out of here faster, don’t let me stop you.”
Ryland placed a hand on hers as she held onto his neck. “If you insist. But hold on, and don’t let go. And grip a little tighter with your legs.” One of his hands moved to her injured knee and gently pressed her le
g to him as several barks sounded from less than a mile away.
Slightly annoyed, Serenity did as she was told. As soon as she did, the form between her legs began to shift. Her legs spread further apart as Ryland’s back expanded. The hand on her hands began to grow and she distinctly felt hair quickly growing under them. Her thighs automatically clenched at the shock and change in position – the figure under her moved from two legs to four as he let go of her.
Her first thoughts were of the impossible – Ryland was a werewolf! Then her eyes drifted down and she saw that it was not a wolf-like figure she was riding, but a large black bear. Her desire to let go was ignored because the idea of letting go of a bear was about as logical as letting go of a tiger’s tail. There was no safer place than on its back, unless the bear decided to slam her into a tree.
Or pull you off, her thoughts chipped in. Closing her eyes, she held on tighter as the realization sank in that Ryland was not just a regular human – in fact, the evidence was that he wasn’t at all human.
This is a dream. I am dying in the river and this is my brain just trying to distract me from the pain. She repositioned her hands, grabbing her wrist in the process. The sharp pain that went up through her shoulder made her reconsider the thought that her body was masking the pain.
The sound of barking was about the same distance away as it had been, and she turned to look. Unable to see anything, Serenity turned her attention back to the bear. Her mind still reeling, she decided that it must in fact be some kind of dream, though whether she was still in the water or the cave she was not certain.
It didn’t take long after Ryland shifted before they reached the water. Without slowing down, he charged into the water and immediately changed direction. They began to run upstream.
“Shouldn’t we be going downstream?” She strived to keep her voice down while trying to make sure he could hear her.
The bear simply shook its head. They reached a point where Ryland was not able to touch the bottom, and Serenity gasped as the water rose up her legs. There were a few sounds from the bear, but she didn’t quite understand what he was trying to say. He sped up, his legs working furiously to get back to an area where he could reach the bottom. In a short amount of time, he had managed to swim much further upstream than she would have. He got high enough on the bank that her legs were out of the water, but his paws were still in it, masking their scent. They progressed like this for she didn’t know how long. His body began to move to the side, and she readjusted her position. With a nod, he charged out of the water and up the bank.
Despite his size, Serenity began to notice the smooth motion of his body. It was rather impressive the way he maneuvered and sped up, almost like he was a large cat instead of a lumbering bear. Nor did he seem to tire as they made their way through the woods. The sun was setting before he seemed to show any signs of slowing.
When he stopped, they were close to a cabin. It was tiny and there was no sign that anyone was there. He moved in a way that indicated for her to slide off of him. Serenity swung her leg over and moved down, making sure to put more weight on her uninjured leg. She stumbled a little, but found a pair of arms around her before she could fall.
“Whoa, careful there. We are going to stay here tonight. It’s going to take at least another half day to get to the next occupied cabin, and it isn’t safe to try to do that at night.”
“You can shift into a bear.”
Ryland’s eyes stopped looking around them and shifted down to her. He simply blinked at her.
“You can shift into a bear. How does that make any sense?” Serenity’s eyes turned to look at him, and that was when she noticed that his upper body was again naked. Unable to stop herself, she began to look down, but she paid for the distraction when her foot caught on a root.
“I don’t think you are in any state to walk on your own.” With that, he lifted her up and carried her to the cabin. “It’s not going to be comfortable because no one has been here for more than a decade. Still, it will be more comfortable than finding another little cave. I’ll hunt down food. You just go get warmed up.”
“That’s hardly fair. I should do something.”
Ryland looked down at her. “Working on recovering is the best thing that you can do.”
“Maybe there is some canned food in there.”
He paused. “There might be. If you want to look for it, go ahead, but try not to put any weight on that leg, at least not any more than necessary. If your knee starts to hurt, sit down.”
Serenity frowned, “When was the last time you ate?”
“What?”
Her eyes met his. “You didn’t eat last night. There wasn’t any food remaining after you fed me. When was the last time you ate?”
“I don’t need to eat every day.”
“Sounds like you haven’t eaten in over a day.”
“Thank you for your concern, but I guarantee you that I am completely fine.”
“Make sure to get enough for yourself because if you aren’t eating, I’m not eating.”
“Are you really going to be difficult right now?”
“You spent all day running. As a bear.” The words sounded so odd coming out of her mouth, but Serenity forced herself to continue. “If I had to guess, making that kind of massive shift takes up a lot of energy. Coupled with outrunning dogs, you need food more than me.”
He opened the door. “I will see what I can do.” Placing her gently on the ground, Ryland turned to leave.
“Ryland.”
He stopped before closing the door, his beautiful blue eyes radiated in the dying light. “Thank you. For everything.”
“It is my fault you are in danger. If I weren’t here, they would not be so intent upon hunting us.”
“If you hadn’t pulled me out of the water, I would be dead.” She cut him off before he could counter. “You didn’t have to be there. So no matter how you look at it, you have been saving me for more than 24 hours now. Thank you.”
An honest smile spread across his face. “You are welcome.”
The next 45 minutes were spent getting food and cooking it up. The pair sat by a small fire Ryland had started in a bucket in the middle of the room because, as he pointed out, they couldn’t use the chimney.
After they were done eating, he stood up. “You can have the bed. It’s dusty, but there’s nothing else wrong with it.”
“Have you already tried it?”
“No, but I can tell that there aren’t any bugs making a home on it. Although I cannot vouch for the level of comfort you are likely to find on it. ”
“You are welcome to join me.” Serenity moved over to it and sat down, bouncing up and down a little to see just how much spring it had. It wasn’t nearly as bad as she thought. The silence from Ryland caused her to look up. “What?”
He quickly shook his head and looked away. “You are doing much better today. I don’t think that you need me to warm you up. After all, clinging on to a bear will warm up anyone.”
“I still feel a good bit colder than usual. The extra warmth can only help, right? I mean, you still want me to go to the hospital, don’t you?”
“Of course,” he was looking at her again. “But–”
“Don’t argue. I don’t want you sleeping on the floor and there is no way you are going to sleep on that.” She pointed at a couch that looked like it was more than a century old.
Hesitantly, he moved over to her. “I am not sure this is such a good idea.”
Serenity moved over so that he could lie down. “What are you afraid of? I don’t bite.”
His cheeks turned a little pink. “That was certainly not what I was afraid of.” Ryland reclined, but he looked incredibly uncomfortable as he did.
Without thinking, Serenity moved close to him. Instead of turning her back to him, she put an arm over his chest. He took a deep breath and his body seemed to freeze.
“What’s wrong?”
Ryland turned to look at h
er, his eyes shining in the dim light. “Now that you are not in any real danger, I find that I am having trouble keeping myself under control.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Serenity looked up at him, and she found that her eyes drifted down to his lips.
His breath became shallower as they stared at each other. Ryland’s hands pushed Serenity’s hair behind her ear and then lingered on the back of her head.
“Oh,” her voice was low as she realized what he meant. She leaned up and pressed her lips to his. His hand immediately slid down her back and rested on the small of her back, pulling her hips against him.
Suddenly, he pulled back. “No, I’m sorry. I do not take this kind of thing lightly.”
Serenity looked at him and couldn’t help but smile at the look on his face – it was the first time she had seen him look uncertain. “Neither do I.”
“But you don’t know anything about me. That suggests–”
“Apart from the fact that you have repeatedly saved me, you are loyal and faithful to a fault according to a couple of people who seem to know you well. You take things seriously, but you also keep perspective in a way that people like me and Alaric can’t. And I know that you can become a bear. I don’t understand it, but it seems unlikely that many people know about that, even in a small town like Deep River.”
Ryland rubbed his ear. “But you have known me less than a month.”
“And you have known me less than a month, too.”
He looked at her, then looked away as he shook his head. “No, Alaric told me about you almost right from the start of when he tried to poach you. The more he talked about you, the more interested I got. Then when I saw you for the first time…” His eyes said everything that he seemed unwilling to utter. Attempting to hide his feelings, Ryland began to slide out of the bed. “You don’t have any idea who I am.”
Serenity stretched out a hand. “I know that you care, that you are not the jealous type, and that I will always be safe with you. And your interest isn’t just physical. Do you have any idea how much of a turn-on that is?”