by Sadie Savage
She’d had no idea she could love someone so profoundly. The level of her devotion to her bear cub and daughter shocked her. She would kill for them if she had to; nothing bad would ever happen to these children, not as long as she or their father was alive.
Zak picked up their bear cub by the skin on its neck and brought it over to her. The little baby curled up next to her on the grass. Zak touched his big, wet nose to her forehead and she reached up to feel his face.
“Our little bear is a boy?” He moved his head no. “A girl?” A big nod this time. “Oh, Zak! We’ve had two beautiful girls. Oh my goodness. As soon as you’re back to human we’re going to name them, okay?” Another touch to the forehead let her know that he was happy with whatever she wanted.
She kissed her little human daughter and smiled down at her bear baby. This was her family. Zak went up to a high point on a boulder and let out a loud bellow to announce that his children had been born. A little ways off they heard the human cheers of the crew. Zak looked back at her and then ambled off into the woods. He would stay out there the rest of the day and return the next morning so that he could be in his original form again. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
A while later, Petunia came and joined her with a bottle of baby formula for her bear baby. She showed Joy how to nurse the little cub.
“Now, she’ll be hungry most of the time. And she may keep this form for a long time. Some changeling babies don’t learn how to shift until they’re one year old and that first change can be traumatizing. You’re little pink baby on the other hand could just wake up in bear form one morning. Shifters will keep you on your toes. But,” she added, tickling the little bear as she pulled on the bottle, “we’ll help with all of that. We’ll show you how to help them sleep outside and in, what foods are good for them, all that.”
“Thank you so much.” Joy fell back onto the ground, completely spent. “I don’t know what I would do without all of you. I could never raise these little hellians all alone.”
“And I wouldn’t want you to.” Petunia watched the human baby on Joy’s stomach let out a big, squeaky yawn. “She’s so beautiful. You know what you’re going to name her?”
“I’m waiting until Zak’s back. I’m sure he has some ideas.” She kissed her little daughter and shifted her over to one side so she could nurse. The baby went right for her nipple. Her little lips latched onto Joy and began sucking all the milk it could out of her breast.
“Oh, wow.” Joy’s eyes popped open at the feel of her milk flowing out of her so fast. “She’s starving.”
Petunia nodded. “Yeah, they’ll both be big eaters, I’m sorry to say. You’ll want to get them on formula. Otherwise, you’ll have to breastfeed constantly.”
Without looking Joy could feel the little bear teeth extending from her daughter’s human mouth. Maybe she would transition overnight. The clamp of her bite got to be too much and Petunia helped her transition the little one to her bottle before she tore Joy’s nipple off.
Joy held human baby and Petunia took the little bear baby. The poor thing was so sleepy all it could manage to do was curl up on her stomach. Her silky fur was deep brown and reflected the bright sunlight beautifully. Joy hoped Zak would hurry back. She didn’t want him to miss any of this.
After a day and a night in the woods, Joy was led back out with Petunia’s help. The crew came up to help carry the babies and sang an old song as they led her and her family back into the world.
And with the rising sun
We shall walk this world as one
Like my father and my mother
We will live beside each other
With strength and pride…
Joy showed her children to her father who held his human granddaughter proudly. “Oh, you’ve got a little pistol on your hands, here. And as to this other one,” he looked down at the bear baby who was chewing on his pant leg, “well, I just hope she’s smart.”
Steve had gotten the whole story after the crew had saved him. Joy was passed out during the conversation, but Zak told her he’d taken the news of their true state very well.
“I remember your father,” he’d said, pointing at Zak. “He was always wild, always making it impossible for me to teach my kids. One day he ran out of school and a few minutes later this big grizzly bear was seen walking across the school baseball field. Everyone else was shocked but I knew. I knew it was Chet, my class clown, playing the ultimate prank.”
Zak had pressed him with a million more questions about what his father had been like in school, but Steve refused to continue. “It doesn’t matter, boy. You’re the father now. I just hope you know what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
By the next evening, Zak had wandered back, naked and sweaty. They had his clothes waiting for him at the camp and everyone jeered at him and teased as he pulled them on in front of everyone.
“There’s the daddy! And there’s his favorite toy. Put that thing away!”
Laughing, he got himself dressed and went into his tent where his family was settling down for the night. He snuggled up to Joy and gave her a kiss, then took his human baby in his arms. Their little bear baby walked up to him with her tiny tail wagging behind her. She pulled herself up on his knee to better see her sister.
“Well,” Zak said, cradling one baby and petting the other, “what are we naming these two troublemakers?”
Joy snuggled into her sleeping bag and considered the two babies in front of her. “I was thinking Clementine for our little human,” she said, “and maybe Jasmine for her bear sister. What do you think?”
He looked down at his baby girl. “Clementine. Is that your name? Is it?” As he spoke, she reached up a tiny, shell-pink hand and he caught it and gave it a kiss. Her tiny fingers wrapped around his giant one and squeezed mightily.
“Okay, I think she likes it.”
He turned to the baby bear. “Jasmine. You like that name? You have to have it for the rest of your life.” She sniffed his face and jumped up and down on her front paws. He put a hand over her muzzle and let her gnaw on him for a moment. “Okay. Oh, ow!” He took his hand away and baby Jasmine was quick to put an innocent expression on her face. “Careful baby girl.”
“She’s her father’s daughter.” Joy put a hand on Zak’s leg. “So, you like their names?”
“I love them. I knew you would give our daughters the perfect names.” He leaned down to kiss her and she managed to raise herself up slightly to receive it.
“You look exhausted, babe. Let me get us a babysitter so you can sleep.”
He stepped out of the tent, Jasmine right behind him, and Joy tried to protest but even yelling out for him to wait a moment was far more than she could manage. Every single one of her muscles was exhausted and refused to move.
That night, she and Zak slept with their limbs entangled in a sleeping bag. Their babies slept with Petunia and Greg under the stars. In his sleep, Zak reached out for Joy’s face, turning her towards him. She looked at him while he slept; her wild, strange lover and now the father of her children. She couldn’t imagine a more perfect being existing anywhere in the world. That night, Joy slept soundly and deeply knowing that she was loved and not wanting for anything other than the life she had.
Summary: Joy wanted to believe her difficulties were behind her, but the day she saw her old high school boyfriend Zak pull up on a motorcycle she knew they had just begun. Back together after decades apart, the two pick up right where they left off as teenagers, but something is off about Zak. His motorcycle gang seems a little different, too, but she can’t be sure what exactly it is that sets them apart. Her father doesn’t know who she is half the time but, even when he isn’t sure if he’s talking to his daughter or his nurse, he always knows Zak is trouble. The rest of the town seems to agree with him and everyone she meets assures her she’s made the wrong choice. Joy tries to resist, but she’s drawn to his beautiful face and wild lifestyle over and over again.
After a beautiful romanc
e with Zak, Joy’s ex-husband Aris closes in to let Zak know that he doesn’t like seeing his wife in the arms of another man. The two have a stand-off that ends with Aris in the hospital and Zak vanishing. Joy sees a bear running off into the woods and her ex beaten and bloody. Sure that Zak has fallen victim to a bear attack as well, she falls into a deep depression and pines for the man she loves.
Just as Zak returns, Joy’s body begins to change and she’s worried she may be pregnant with Zak’s baby. It’s time for him to tell her his secrets so that she can finally know; what is it that makes Zak so different?
Biker Short Stories
OUTLAW HERO
“Come on, come on, pick up,” Melanie Carr said under her breath, surprised that the payphone actually worked. She couldn’t remember the last time she had found a payphone, let alone one that still functioned. Stevie, her two-year-old son, was asleep in the carseat at her feet. She had driven all night from Dublin, Ohio to arrive in Washington DC the following morning. Melanie normally planned things better, but this time she had to act fast.
Finally, there came the sound of someone answering her call for help. “Hello?” the muffled voice of her former best friend Casey asked.
“Casey?” Melanie replied. “This is Melanie Carr from Ohio State, your sophomore roommate. We talked on Facebook recently about me visiting?”
There was a slight sigh on the other end that Melanie suspected she was not intended to hear. “It got that bad?”
She clutched the hard, metal, barely bendable phone cord and a sob came out as she spoke. “Yes,” she said. “It got that bad. I’m at a gas station outside 270. What’s your address again?”
After packing her kid back into the car, she made her way to Casey’s house in the DC suburbs, somehow finding it through her tears and the fog of the early morning. She was relieved to see that she would not have to go through the awkward business of ringing the doorbell once there; Casey was already standing on the front porch, waiting for her.
Melanie put the car into park and got out, keeping the back door of her small, white SUV open so she could retrieve her son and her luggage once the reintroductions were over. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her green rain jacket and walked up to greet her waiting friend. “I never intended to spring this up on you, but…”
Casey looked at her college friend. Melanie looked remarkably the same even though they were now eight years older. She was still slender with long, curly golden brown hair, blue-green eyes and a cute dusting of freckles across her nose. But the purple bruise around her left eye… That was new.
“Hush,” Casey said as soon as she noticed that. She opened her arms for Melanie, who gladly fell into them. Casey was several inches shorter than her friend, with short blonde hair and glasses, and she had always been the more nurturing of the two. Even now, even though Melanie had a toddler, Casey was more mothering. Melanie needed a friend like Casey back in her life.
They unpacked the car together and took little sleepy Stevie up to one of the bedrooms so he could continue to sleep, oblivious to his mother’s problems. “Thank you,” Melanie said, pulling her long hair into a ponytail. She looked exhausted. “Jake hit me for the last time. He went to bed and I hit the road. I promise, it will only be for a few days. Once I can get a job, we’ll be out of your hair.”
Casey waved that off, smiling at her friend. “You can stay as long as you need. I’ve got this house all to myself, and it’s so good to see you again.” She gently rubbed Melanie on her upper arm. “Get some sleep and you can start thinking about jobs and stuff later. You’ve got my number, right?”
Melanie smiled back, appreciative. “I do. Thank you so much.”
She went up to her bedroom that she would be sharing with Stevie for the time being. He was still fast asleep, wrapped up in the blankets. She did her best to get in beside him without waking him, and was soon asleep, too.
When Melanie woke up, it was well into the middle of the afternoon. Stevie was playing quietly with some of his toys in the corner, but he was relieved when he saw that she was awake. “Mommy, where are we?”
She rushed to his side as he sat on the floor. She had been unable to pack all of his toys up so quickly in their spontaneous move, but she managed to bring his favorites along with them. “We’re at my nice friend Casey’s house,” she told him. “We’re going to be living here for a while until we get a new house.”
“Where are we?” he asked again, not understanding that they were far away from what they called home. “Where’s Daddy?”
Melanie bit her lip. “We’ve moved away from Daddy,” she told him, trying to give him the news as gently as possible. “We are going to live in Washington DC now. You will love it here. This is where all of the presidents live!” She widened her eyes and her mouth as she told him that, so he would feel excited rather than concerned about his no-good father.
Stevie gasped a little bit. “Even Taft??” The little boy had a strange fascination with President William Howard Taft ever since Melanie had shown him a picture of America’s heftiest president. Stevie liked him because ‘he looks like a walrus.’
“Even Taft,” Melanie said, nodding wisely. “If you are very good, I will take you to visit him at some point. Would you like that?”
Gasping even more, Stevie grinned. “Yes! I am very good!”
She laughed. “You have to prove it to me, though.” She looked at her watch. It was nearing five p.m. and Casey would be home from work soon. Casey worked for a TV news station in DC, and that had allowed her to be able to afford her nice house in the suburbs. Melanie was hoping that she might have the same luck if she got out there and applied herself. “My nice friend is almost home from work and Mommy needs you to stay with her for a while, okay?”
“Promise you won’t go see Taft without me?”
Melanie smiled at her son. “I promise.”
She kissed his head and unzipped one of her bags, pulling out her black laptop. Before she ventured forth to see what jobs she could go apply for, she needed to do some research.
When Casey came home, Melanie felt as ready as she would ever be. “Do you mind watching Stevie while I go apply for a few of these things?” she asked her friend. It was getting into the evening now, so many of the jobs that she found would have to be applied for online, but she had found some restaurants and retail positions that she could still go check out in person.
“Sure,” Casey said, smiling. “Here, you can borrow my Metro card.”
Melanie took the offered card and carefully placed it into her purse. “He’s really into grilled cheese and chicken nuggets right now,” she told her. “His bedtime is nine o’clock. I’ll hopefully be back by then.”
With that, she drove to the nearest Metro station and parked in the lot. She added money to the card and headed into DC. She’d visited the city once, on an elementary school field trip, but that had been when she was about eight, so she didn’t remember that much of it. It looked pretty as the evening slowly descended on it, however. She appreciated a city that was pretty at night. Growing up in Ohio, she was mostly used to seeing corn and farmland. She was ready for something different.
It turned out that the places she had written down as potential new jobs were all either not looking for someone new or not looking for someone like her. She ended up being told by one of them to try applying on their website, but that was the best news she received.
Feeling disappointed with herself, she decided to pop into one of the bars she saw and see if maybe they needed any help. The place was lively even though it was a weeknight. Melanie admired the space and the people who were hanging out there. Most of the people seemed to be partying with their friends after work. They appeared to be around her age, which gave her hope. Maybe this would be a good place to network…
She sat down at the bar, not intending to drink but hoping to get someone’s attention. She had her son to get home to, after all, so she wasn’t planning to be there too l
ong. The bartender came over to her. “What’ll you have?” he asked her.
Looking up at him, Melanie’s jaw nearly fell to the floor. He was tall and the perfect amount of muscular, with short, jet black hair and piercing green eyes. He also had several tattoos on his arms and chest, including a large one of a tiger on his upper bicep. Melanie smirked a little to herself. She hadn’t ever been interested in men with tattoos, but this one intrigued her for some reason. He was wearing a white tank top and slightly holey jeans. He also wore dog tags, which dangled from his neck as he looked down at her.
She suddenly realized that a long time had passed and she’d merely stared at him rather than answering his question. “Uh… Diet Coke, please?” she asked, instantly feeling lame. This bartender looked like the sort of person who expected everyone to drink hard liquor. And she could not blame him. Bartenders made their money from people buying the heavy stuff, not fountain drinks.
Instead of snarling at her like the villain in a Popeye cartoon, he smiled. “Sure thing,” he said. Skillfully grabbing a glass from the counter and flipping it in his hand so the right end was up, he poured ice and soda into it and handed it over.
“Thank you,” Melanie said politely. She had not expected him to have such a cute smile. He even had a big dimple in his left cheek.
“No problem,” he replied. “You’re not from around here, are you?”
It was her turn to smile. “How could you tell? Do I look that lost?”
He leaned against the bar, chuckling. “I didn’t say that. I just noticed your accent, and noticed that you were looking around like you’d never been here before. This isn’t exactly a tourist spot.”
Melanie blushed. She didn’t realize that she had a noticeable accent. Maybe she was just used to it. Casey had one, too, though it was somewhat fainter since she had lived in the DC area for several years now. “I just moved here from Ohio,” she explained. “I was hoping to find a job, but so far… Well, I’m here.” She held up her Diet Coke as if she was making a toast and then took a long sip.