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My vision will clear.
My dad says when this happens, it’s not my eyes, but my brain’s interpretation of the signals from my eyes. It’s trying to see as a human when I’m in wolf form or vice versa. Was it Lauren’s scent that caused it? I release the fabric from my jaws and drop to my belly, pawing at my face to try to rub my temples, praying to Fate this shit will clear up fast.
And that’s when the wind shifts. An unexpected scent reaches my nostrils, and I surge back up to all fours.
Where in the fuck is it?
I swing my head from one side to the other, desperately trying to see, to change up the brain signal that’s blocked my visual input.
A hard shake of my head, or maybe the massive dose of adrenaline, brings my vision back, and I see what my nose already discovered.
There, thirty feet in front of me, stands a gargantuan grizzly bear.
Not an ordinary bear–a shifter. One clearly out of its territory, not that I could defend ours without my pack.
As if this isn’t bad enough, he lifts his snout to the sky and lets out a warbling roar–a warning to me.
And that’s when I see it–clutched in the beast’s massive, swinging paw–
Lauren’s letter.
Chapter Five
Abe
There is no way I will win any battle against a bear. I may be nearly full-sized. I may be alpha of the school, but a lone wolf isn’t a match for a grizzly.
Fuck.
Who is he, and what is he doing on our pack land?
Has he gone feral? I note the white around his muzzle. He’s an old bear. Maybe bear shifters go senile?
His claws slash through the air in a clear warning, but I can’t back down.
Not when he’s holding Lauren’s letter.
There’s only one thing to do–try to appeal to this guy in human form. I shift and stand holding my palms face out.
“Whoa. Take it easy. You’re on my pack land, not the other way around. Are you lost?”
The bear doesn’t shift, and he doesn’t like the question. He lets out a savage bellow. The kind that nearly makes me shift back to wolf form to defend myself. I resist the urge.
“Okay, nevermind. I don’t care about that. The thing is–you’re holding my girl’s letter.” I’m not sure what makes me call Lauren my girl. I tell myself it’s just for simplicity’s sake, but my wolf fucking loves it.
“It’s from her mom, who died. It means everything to her. She sent me back to get it.”
The bear appears to be listening. I don’t think he’s feral, but he doesn’t shift to human form, either. His upper lip is still drawn back showing me his teeth. He swings his head around like he’s looking for Lauren.
“She’s back in the cabin. I promised I’d get the letter. May I have it? Please?”
I don’t expect him to comply. The bear clearly isn’t friendly and doesn’t care that he’s wandered onto wolf territory without permission. He swings his huge paw in an arc. I think it’s another threat until I realize he released the letter like he was pitching me a baseball.
I shift and run for it, forgetting to be cautious around him, but he doesn’t charge. He stands on two legs, watching me until I’ve caught the tumbling piece of paper. I carefully take it between my lips, not teeth, so I won’t damage it.
The bear wheels around and bounds off at an astonishing speed for such a big and seemingly clumsy animal.
I lower my head and run for the cabin.
