He shook the idea out of his head. Impossible. Nope, it was time to go. He’d stalled long enough, and who knew when those redneck bear creatures would come back to finish the job.
He nearly leaped out of his skin at the rapid knock on his front door. Fred gave a sharp bark, then whined and crawled under the bed. Jess eyed him carefully. The dog looked worried, not terrified, so it probably wasn’t a werebear out there, but he was still cautious. He didn’t really know anyone in town, and the only people who knew where to find him weren’t exactly people.
He peeked out the small window and caught the profile of a slight older man, probably in his mid 50s, wearing all khaki, like he was getting ready to head out on safari. The man was propping up a rifle against the side of the cabin, which he wouldn’t normally find threatening since everyone out here carried a gun for protection. But under the circumstances, he wasn’t taking any chances.
Grabbing his own rifle, he stood off to the side of the door and took aim at its center, right where the man’s chest should be.
“Who is it?” He hadn’t meant to sound so gruff but the paranoia had taken over.
He heard a low chuckle from the other side of the door. “Mr. Slade, I presume? It’s Ted Scantling. From Fish and Wildlife headquarters? Your supervisor, Rob, should have told you I was coming. No?”
“No.” But Jess wasn’t entirely sure. He hadn’t checked his email since responding to Rob’s note the night before. It was very possible — likely, in fact — that he’d sent a heads up anytime after that.
Slowly, carefully, Jess edged closer to the window. The man was standing with his hands in his pockets, head dipped, waiting for Jess’ response. The gun remained propped against the cabin. Jess kept his at the ready and eased the door open a crack.
“What are you doing here...Ted, is it?”
Ted looked up at him with tired gray eyes. He smiled wearily, glancing pointedly at the rifle Jess was clutching.
“Did I catch you at a bad time?” He held up his hands in mock surrender. “I promise, I come in peace.”
He seemed harmless enough, and what were the odds he was a werebear pretending to work with him? If Rob had sent him, acting like a delusional mountain man who’s lost one too many marbles probably wasn’t going to help him. He forced a smile at Ted’s attempt to diffuse the situation and pushed the door open.
“Sorry, but some weird shit has been going down and it pays to be careful, you know?”
“So I heard,” said Ted as stepped into the cabin, taking in everything in one quick, perceptive glance.
“Going on a trip? If I’m not mistaken, you’re scheduled to work through the end of the salmon run.” He gave Jess a knowing look.
Closing and barricading the door after a quick peek around the clearing, Jess set the rifle by the door and pulled a couple beers from the fridge. He thrust one at Ted and sat at the table, twisting off the cap and chugging half the bottle before he spoke.
“Listen, I’m sorry but I have to break the contract. I need out.”
Ted nodded like he had a clue what Jess was talking about and sat down across from him. He politely took a sip of beer and set the bottle down, wiping his damp fingers on his khakis.
“Cabin fever, huh? Well, the best of us get that, I can assure you. It’ll pass.”
His benevolent smile irritated Jess. The man had no idea what he’d been through the last couple of days. And if he tried to explain it, they’d call the men in the white coats. He had to choose his words carefully. He stood and paced the small room, raking his hands through his hair and down the two days of scruff that had grown on his face.
“No, I can handle cabin fever. I can handle loneliness. What I can’t handle is a pack of rogue bears stalking me.”
Ted laughed. “Stalking you? Bears don’t stalk humans, Mr. Slade.”
“Normally I’d agree with you, but if you know anything about bears, you’ll know that there have been a number of reported cases of rogue bears roaming through resident groups and attacking humans. I believe one such band of rogues has, um, gotten my scent.”
“I happen to be something of an expert on bears, which is why I’m here.” There was a hint of controlled patience, bordering on being patronizing, in Ted’s voice. “Fish and Wildlife sometimes brings me in to consult on cases and your mention of rogues in yesterday’s report caught their attention. So why don’t you tell me what happened, every detail.”
Ted pulled a smartphone from one of many pockets on his safari pants.
“Oh, you won’t get a signal out here,” Jess said.
“It’s for recording our conversation, if you don’t mind.”
Jess got the distinct impression that the recording would happen whether he minded or not. Regardless of the older man’s small stature, he commanded respect.
“They sent you out here to the boonies just to hear some bear stories?”
It seemed odd to Jess, but if there was one thing he’d learned while working for a government agency, it was that government agencies loved to spend money in weird and seemingly frivolous ways.
“Research,” said Ted as he touched his screen to start the voice recorder app on his phone. “Please, begin.”
“I don’t see what good it will do. Your trip was wasted because I put everything in my report.”
“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”
Shrugging, Jess started talking, slowly at first but picking up steam as the tension from the last couple days poured out of him. It felt great to get this off his chest, even if it was only part of the tale and the listener was a complete stranger.
For the next few minutes, Jess related a carefully edited version of events, from Fred’s initial freak-out over the unseen bear in the woods to yesterday’s experience at the river. The only parts he left out were when his girlfriend changed from the perfect woman into a fucking bear and when the men by the river did the same.
“And now you’re here,” he finished, cracking another beer to soothe his nerves. He noticed Ted hadn’t touched his since that first sip, so he didn’t offer another. Wasting everyone’s time and money coming up here for this, and now he’s wasting one of my beers.
“Did these bears have any...abnormal features or act strange in any way?”
“You mean other than stalking me? Not really.” He wasn’t a good liar by nature and even now his face flushed at his dishonesty. He moved around the cabin, avoiding Ted’s searing gaze.
“You say you believe a bear was watching you from the woods. Where do you think the bear was?”
“In the back,” he said, pointing to the back door of the cabin.
“I’m just going to poke around back there for a minute, see what I can see.” Instead of moving to the back door, though, Ted started removing the large oak bar barricading the front door.
“No, I said out back,” Jess objected.
Ted threw him a look over his shoulder. “Rifle.”
Of course. No sane outdoorsman would go out into the wilds of Alaska unarmed, especially when he’d just heard a report of rogues attacking humans. Ted disappeared out the front door and around the side of the cabin.
Fred raised his head and whined at the open door. “Sorry, boy. I’ll close it.” Sticking his head out the door, Jess shouted to Ted. “Door’s unlocked!”
As it turned out, not the smartest move.
Chapter 17
Since Ted didn’t seem interested in beer, Jess thought tea might be in order. He’d carefully collected batches of nettle leaves early in the summer and set a pot of the herb to steeping.
As he prepared it, his thoughts turned back to Veronica, as they kept doing. Her parting words rang in his ears. Everything I’ve told you is true.
But she’d kept the biggest part of her a total secret for six months.
And how, exactly, was she supposed to tell you she’s some kind of mythical creature, only not so mythical? His subconscious had been sneaking that one in since yester
day, and he had no answer.
The fragrant steam rising from the teapot was mesmerizing, and it lulled him into an almost hypnotic state, allowing his mind to wander. How would you have handled it, smartstuff?
He turned the problem over in his mind, every direction, and still couldn’t come up with a good way to break the news to an unsuspecting human.
“You’re never going to believe this...” Damn straight.
“There’s this secret society...” Paranoid much?
“I turn into a real bear when I’m on my period.” Hilarious.
Plus there was the fact that they’d literally just met. Sure, she’d slept with him before he found out, but it wasn’t like they’d been living together or made any long-term plans.
No, as much as he wanted to stay angry at Veronica for not telling him what she really was, he just couldn’t hold it against her. If he couldn’t figure out a good way to break the news, it was little wonder she couldn’t either.
Of course, that didn’t change things. How on earth would a mixed relationship even work? Could they have kids, and if so, would they be werebears? There were just too many questions, too many ifs.
He couldn’t deny he was still in love with Veronica but the obstacles were too big. There was no future with her, as difficult as that was to accept, so he just needed to move on. And moving on meant getting off Kodiak Island.
Yes, you’ve got a lot of practice at giving up, don’t you? He hated that voice, especially when it spoke the truth.
Fred’s whine drew his attention. “It’s okay, boy. Why don’t you come on out of there?” He kneeled in front of the bed, peeking under it to try to coax out his dog.
Instead of edging out, though, Fred shimmied farther back until he was jammed in the corner and shivering like a frightened mouse. His eyes were glued to the door and every hair on the poor pup’s body was standing on end.
In response, every hair on Jess’ body did the same. He glanced back at the closed but unbarricaded door. And his rifle propped up next to it.
“Shit.”
He made it as far as the center of the cabin when the door slammed open, a burly beast of a man filling the doorway. His piercing blue eyes burned with hatred and his upper lip quivered in a terrifying snarl. But the most terrifying thing about him was the blood matted in his hair and a flap of scalp that didn’t appear to be completely attached anymore.
Jess glanced at his gun, knowing it was too far from him and too close to the intruder to do him any good. The man followed Jess’ gaze and a triumphant smirk filled his weirdly handsome face.
Before he could think, Jess spun toward the back door. He fumbled with the barricade but didn’t dare spare the split second it would take to look behind him. Whipping open the door, he was stopped in his tracks when he ran face first into the barrel chest of another massive man. It was the same guy he saw shifting down by the river — the leader.
“Going somewhere, sweetheart?”
The humor in this man’s voice made Jess painfully aware that he was but a toy to these guys. He had no protection and no defense against them. He was trapped. But even if they were all outside, they could easily run him down if they switched over to bears.
In other words, he was fucked.
“Listen, guys,” he said, hating the quiver in his voice. He’d never felt like such a wimp in his life. If he could just get to his gun...
“Listen, I’m leaving. I told you yesterday that Veronica and I split up. Nothing’s changed. See?” He pointed to his half-packed duffle. “You made your point — very well, in fact.”
“Too late, you human scum.” The big man at the front door edged into the room, slowly closing the distance between them.
“Why? Why too late?”
“Because yesterday you were dabbling with some were slut, but today it turns out that slut is going to be my mate,” said the big man, who was obviously higher up the food chain than River Guy.
“Veronica? She’s your...mate?” Had Veronica cheated on this guy with Jess? What had she gotten him into?!
“Not yet, but she will be. And it sickens me to think she’s touched human flesh for reasons other than ripping it apart.”
A low growl ran under his words, like it was completely separate from his voice even though it was coming from him. And he seemed to be growing taller...and much bigger.
“Well, if she’s tainted, why do you still want her as your mate?” Jess was stalling for time, trying to engage this maniac in conversation and hopefully talk him and his buddy out of tearing his arms off and eating his legs for dinner.
“I could give a shit about her, but a were of my standing is expected to have a respectable mate. I’ve burned through all the rest of the skanks on this fucked-up, backward island, and she’s all that’s left.”
Jess backed away from him toward the bed, avoiding River Guy as he went. “So you’d rather be single?”
“Does a bear shit in the woods?” Big Guy snorted. River Guy, who’d fallen in beside his buddy, chuckled like the suck-up he was.
Glancing behind him, Jess saw he was almost out of room. The two men nearly filled the breadth of the cabin, and he was quickly approaching the wall.
“So why settle down? Why let tradition and society dictate how you should behave? You’re a young buck who should be sowing his wild oats, or whatever.”
The wall thudded into his back, but Big Guy and River guy crept in closer. They wanted to draw out his fear as long as possible.
Big Guy narrowed his eyes at him. “You know, you may be on to something. Why should I obey our society’s rules?”
Hope kindled inside Jess. Was this really happening? Were they going to let him walk out of here with all his body parts intact? He feigned excitement. “Yeah! Fuck the rules!”
Big Guy turned to River Guy. “Hey, Franklin—“
Franklin? River Guy’s name is Franklin?!
“Yeah, Yoren?” Franklin never took his beady black eyes off Jess.
“What are the rules our ‘society’ has about killing humans?” The air quotes and fake sincerity were the least of what chilled Jess to the bone.
“That we’re not s’posed ta do it,” Franklin said without the slightest change to his hateful expression.
Yoren nodded thoughtfully. “Thought so.”
The pair stopped a step away from Jess, forcing him to tilt his head back to see their faces. They hadn’t been this tall when they stepped in the cabin, had they? And they seemed...hairier. Were those fangs?
“You give good advice, human. I think I’ll take it...and I’ll enjoy every minute of it.”
Yoren coiled his muscles to spring and Jess braced for impact. This was going to hurt.
“YOREN BRAND! GET YOUR FILTHY PAWS OFF HIM!”
Yoren and Franklin spun around at the sound of Veronica’s command. Yoren looked more furious than ever.
“Don’t tell me what to do, you filthy slut. I’ll deal with you later.”
He started to turn back but her voice stopped him. “No, I will deal with you now!”
Ignoring the puny human he had backed into a corner, Yoren turned a smirk on Veronica. “Oh, you wanna play, little girl? C’mon, then. Let’s go!”
~ * ~ * ~
The hatred in Yoren’s face as he stalked toward Veronica made her flinch. He meant to hurt her as badly as she’d hurt him, she could see it in his eyes. The wounds Sam left on his head had barely stopped bleeding, though they would heal quickly enough, if she gave them the chance to.
He’d moved away from Jess, though. That was the important thing. But that lug Franklin was standing guard over her love, arms crossed just inches from him.
She couldn’t get caught inside the cabin because the two of them would instantly shift and overpower her. She’d have a better chance out in the open, so she darted out the doorway and into the clearing.
But she wouldn’t hide from him. An asshole like him didn’t deserve that much satisfaction. Instead, she
planted her feet and thrust her fists on her hips.
You look like Wonder Woman, whispered a voice inside her head. Not Keith’s, her own. Now let him have it!
“You are the poorest excuse for a werebear I’ve ever seen, Yoren Brand! It makes me sick that I was even considering binding myself to you.”
Yoren’s caustic laugh made her skin crawl. “You’d be lucky to get me, human-lover, not that you ever will get the chance now that you’ve openly defied me.”
The menace in his gaze told her that he wasn’t just out to dump her or injure her. He was going to kill her — and Jess — if he could. Fear for her sons and what would become of them gripped her gut. Would he go after them, too?
Veronica’s inner bear surged forward, pushing to be released. Not yet, sweetie, but stay close. I’m going to need you very soon. She could feel her bear’s toothy snarl of anticipation. If Yoren thought he’d seen Momma Bear’s wrath back at her house, he was in for a very unpleasant surprise.
At his words, two big bears she’d seen around town — one of them was the guy who followed her and attacked poor Fred yesterday — stepped out from behind Yoren’s monster Cadillac. All three were looking at her like a piece of meat they couldn’t wait to sink their fangs into.
“What’s the matter, Yoren? Scared to face a lowly female all by your lonesome?”
His quick flush told her she was right. She must have hurt him more than he was letting on. He cut a glance to his buddies and jerked his head to the side, signaling them to stand down. But of course they’d be there if she started getting the better of him.
“You’re a stupid bitch, you know that? You had a chance to be my mate. Do you know how much power you would have had? The weres on this piece of shit island love me! They fucking worship me! My mate will be the most powerful female around. And you threw that all away for some loser human?”
He shook his head in mock disappointment. He wasn’t really disappointed. This just fueled his hatred, and he loved it.
“Normally, the Brotherhood would just bring you up on charges of being a traitor to the clan, but here we have extenuating circumstances, wouldn’t you say, boys?”
Crazy About Curves: 10 Luscious Reads Page 116