Swell.
A short hour later the food was finished, the gas tank was heading toward low, and he remained exactly as he had been before: a predator watching her every breath. Eventually, she had enough. She kept her eyes on the road, but watched him closely out of her peripheral vision.
“So which are you now? Bear or man?”
“Both. I am always both.”
Not helpful. “I mean are you about to sprout fur?”
He looked down at his arms. All human normal, as far as she could tell. “Not at the moment. And I must not change again for at least a week. If I do, I will probably stay a bear forever.”
“Jesus,” she muttered. Like she needed more of an incentive to keep him human? “Can you just tell me if you’re about to kill me?”
He straightened as if insulted. “I am not.” His tone indicated he thought the question insane.
“Thank you,” she snapped, her anxiety coming out in a sharp tone.
He waited a moment, then spoke in that slow monotone of his. “Why are you angry? I am answering your questions.”
“Not really,” she groused. He was giving her literal answers to direct questions. But none of it told her what she wanted to know because she didn’t know what she didn’t know. How could she ask the right questions when she hadn’t the first clue how to start? Maybe at the beginning. “How did my brother find out you were a bear? Did he shoot you, too?”
“I rescued him. As a bear.”
She turned to look at him, annoyance eating at her already frayed nerves. God, she wanted to smack him. Instead she decided to bargain. “What do you need to talk to me like a normal person? To have a conversation where your answers don’t create a dozen more questions?”
He tilted his head, the gesture slower than natural. “Communication is hard after a shift. I will get better.”
“With practice?” She didn’t wait for his answer. “So let’s practice now. Tell me the full story of how my brother found out you were a bear.”
He looked at her with clear irritation. Not a studied movement at all but a furrowing of his brow and a peeling back of his lips. His teeth flashed white but she pretended she didn’t see it. She just kept her hands on the wheel, her gaze steady ahead. Part of her screamed that it wasn’t smart to poke at the bear, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself.
“Talk. Now,” she ordered.
“You cannot command me,” he said. “Only my alpha can.”
“And now I have another dozen questions.” Okay. Ordering him around wasn’t working. She hadn’t really expected it to, so maybe it was time for logic mixed with a little begging. “It’s a long way to Detroit. It would help me pass the time and you need the practice. Please?”
His gaze shifted from her face to the road. Then he nodded. “A solid argument.” He pursed his lips. “I will tell you the story of your brother’s stupidity.”
Like that would be a rare story…not.
“We were stationed in Alaska near Mount Denali. He wanted to go climbing, but I said no. The weather would turn. He disagreed.”
“Really?” Her brother might be stupid but usually with people. Not with something like the weather.
“The reports said the storm wouldn’t come until the next morning.” Simon snorted. “The reports were wrong.”
She turned to look at him, only now processing what the man was saying. She remembered when Vic had been transferred to Alaska. She’d been thrilled. Sure, it was cold as hell, but he wasn’t likely to get shot at. But, of course, her brother would want to explore. Hell, he loved mountain climbing more than anything. And, of course, he would get in trouble. It was just how the boy’s luck ran.
“How did you find him?”
He grimaced. “I went with the rescue team. I knew where he meant to go, but the storm came in fast and hard. We were ordered back.” He shook his head. “Stupid. Stupid not to listen to me.”
“That’s Vic all right.”
He shot her the most human look she’d seen on his face: a wry almost-smile coupled with a shrug. God, how many times had she done that in response to one of her brother’s mad ideas?
“I was very angry. I fell behind the rescuers—told them I was going back—and shifted.” He grimaced. “The grizzly was very near to the surface that day. There is something about that mountain that draws it out. I don’t know why, but it allowed me to save Vic’s life.”
