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Snow crunched beneath Shiya’s booted feet as she stepped outside of the cabin. A few feet ahead of her, Kotori strode with the ease of a man who had done this a million times, and Birk brought up the rear. She stumbled in the spots with deep snow and uneven ground, amazed at the terrain up here as opposed to Juneau. Sure, the weather there would turn soon enough, but it still seemed interesting, probably more so because of the guys than anything else.
After some time of walking, Shiya’s leg muscles began to ache, but just when they did, a stretch of water appeared just ahead. She gasped and stopped moving. Polar bears dotted the landscape, some nosing along in the ice and snow and some slipping into the water to search, no doubt, for seals. Her heartbeat kicked up a few notches. Birk stopped behind her and cocooned her in his arms. His and Kotori’s coats weren’t as thick as hers. They had dressed her like a Christmas goose with all the layers, but she hadn’t complained.
“Don’t be afraid,” Birk said somewhere above her head.
She tilted her head back to look at him. “Are they shifters?”
“No.”
She wondered if he lied to protect the others, but she detected no hesitance as he spoke. “They’re regular bears who spend a great deal of time in this area and farther north. This is a safe spot for them—and for us.”
She didn’t need to ask him what he meant by “safe spot.” From the interference of humans, probably. “Won’t they pick up my scent and be annoyed or whatever?”
“You’re with us. They know we’re different than what they are, but they respect us as we do them. They will not touch what we’ve claimed as our own.”
Claimed as their own? Temporarily, I guess. Thinking that this would end in a few days lowered her mood, but she shook off the feeling. On impulse, Shiya broke from Birk’s hold and bent down to form a snowball. She chucked it at the back of Kotori’s head and hit it spot on. That’s what came of being Kasen’s sister.
Kotori rubbed the back of his head and spun slowly on his heel. The look of confusion made her crack up, and then he was on her. She screamed and ran, but his long legs ate up the ground between them. He caught her around the waist and did some kind of twist in the air. Shiya landed on top of him in the snow. She wiggled to get free, but his embrace was a vise.
Kotori picked up a handful of snow and held as if he would smash it in her face. “You deserve this. Take it like a woman.”
“No, no,” she shrieked, laughing.
She sat up on his lap, pulling at the arm he held her to him with. Birk charged up and smacked the snow from Kotori’s hand. “You’re not hitting her with that, you idiot.”
Shiya took advantage of Kotori’s distraction and got free. She rolled to her feet and started running again. The wind bit at her skin and was so cold, it seemed to freeze her lungs, but it liberated her too. To let go and just enjoy herself felt incredible. Her mukluk boots crunched the snow beneath her feet, and her toes stayed warm. The coat Birk provided her with did the trick to keep her cozy, but didn’t weigh her down too much as she ran. Behind her, the guys argued, Kotori insisting he wouldn’t do anything to hurt Shiya and Birk accusing him of not liking to lose.
Shiya stopped running and bent over holding her side as she laughed at them. Stupid men, they wasted time slinging around testosterone when they could have been pursuing her. Now that she thought of it, though, Birk and Kotori never seriously argued with each other. They seemed to exist in harmony, and she considered whether it was because they understood each other’s place in the friendship and respected it. They never seemed to compete to pleasure her or got jealous of the other. If they were human, would it be different between the three of us?
“Shiya!”
The anguish in Birk’s tone sent a chill of fear crawling up her back. She looked at him, but he stared past her, and so did Kotori. Shiya went still, almost scared to turn around. From the corner of her eye, she noticed the polar bears walking farther down the shoreline, as if they’d all agreed to vacate the area as one. Some backed away as if they were giving the right of way to something. She licked her lips and swallowed, bringing to mind all she knew about the beautiful animals.
Polar bears were the largest land carnivores. They were the biggest bears, the male growing up to fifteen hundred pounds. While they easily outweighed the brown and black bears, they tended to move out of the vicinity of another type of bear rather than confront it. Shiya’s knees grew weak, and before she could move a step, the chuffing sound told her she’d guessed right. A bear was behind her.
A tremor started throughout her body, and she looked toward Birk and Kotori. Their clothes lay in a pile on the snow, and two polar bears charged toward her. This was the first time she’d seen them in their animal forms, and she wished she’d focused on them earlier so she could watch the change.
They were both bigger than all the other bears, and their coats were thick and silvery white. Long black claws cut into the snow and ice as they ran, and their growls of anger sent chills down her back.
Shiya spun around and screamed when the black bear rose up on hind legs. The beast stood closer to her than she thought. While bears were heavy and bulkily built, she knew they were more agile than they appeared, and not even the fastest human could outrun them.
Although she knew she should keep still, fear had her stumbling backward. The black bear growled and swiped a powerful paw toward
her. All she could see was those claws ripping her face apart. Seconds before it hit, a locomotive smashed into the bear, and it and the polar bear rolled in a tangled heap over the snow. A white paw swung and then a black one. They growled and chomped at each other, and Shiya’s heart hammered so hard in her chest it hurt.
She struggled to her feet, still shaking. The second polar bear walked in front of her, blocking her from the fight, but he kept his eyes on the two warring bears. She wondered which was which—who guarded her, and who fought. Either way, she worried about him getting hurt, or worse, killed.
Without thinking, Shiya curled her fingers into the hair of the polar bear in front of her and leaned against his big body. All at once, she realized which of the two men fought on her behalf. An image of Kotori zipping past her to throw Joe against the wall came to mind. Kotori, the one scarcely containing his emotions, the more dangerous of the two. Now that she compared the polar bears, she saw that the one fighting was built bigger.
She inched along Birk’s expanse and wrapped her arms around his neck. His small ears twitched, and he chuffed in annoyance, watching Kotori fight.
Something told her he wanted to jump into it, but he didn’t want to leave Shiya alone in case this bear wasn’t by himself.
“Please, Birk, don’t let him get hurt,” she begged. She had no idea if he understood English in this state. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t be out here. I’m sorry.”
Tears sprang to her eyes when, over Birk’s head, she saw blood staining the pristine white of Kotori’s fur. “No, no! Birk, help him.”
The bear growled, but he ignored her. Kotori reared up on his hind legs and came down hard on his enemy. The black bear dropped to the snow and didn’t move. She thought he’d killed it, but when Kotori took a few steps back and then growled, it struggled to its feet, turned, and walked off. Shiya waited until the black bear was far off before she ran around Birk and scrambled over to Kotori.
