Laid Bear 2: The Kodiak Clan (18 page)

When the Glam-o-lac pulled up to a ratty shack of a house on the outskirts of town, Max wondered if the poor little rich boy had gotten lost. Several rusted hulks of what once were trucks littered the yard, which was really just a tract of lumpy tundra. Several layers of exterior paint were peeling off the house, missing roof shingles lay on the ground like pulled teeth, a stained and tattered sheet had been hung as a curtain in the front window, and a mountain of beer cans had grown to an epic size in the side yard. The place was clearly in need of a woman’s touch.
 

On second thought, a gallon of gas and a match would be a better idea.

As he started to pull in behind the SUV, Yoren laid on the horn, long and loud. A sideways glance as the front door was yanked open caused Max to drive past. He kept an eye on the rearview mirror as three enormous
weres
stumbled out of the shack and clambered into Yoren’s rig.

Now what on earth is going on here?
Yoren must have called these guys after leaving Veronica’s. But why?

Max slowed to a trundle and turned his head as Yoren roared past him, literally leaving him in the dust of the dirt road.
 

“All the better to track you with”, he mumbled with a dour smirk.

Following the dust plume at a safe distance, Max ran through scenarios in his head. Yoren had attacked one or both cubs, that much was clear, but why? It wasn’t unheard of for a male
were
to not accept a new mate’s cubs, but it was pretty rare for them to try to hurt them. Yoren didn’t seem the jealous type, especially considering he’d just met Veronica the night before.

Max’s mind dipped and weaved around the problem, letting every detail he knew filter through and collect at the bottom until he saw it all clearly. And just like that, the answer snapped on like a light switch. Yoren had discovered Veronica’s secret.
 

What if Elder Watkins hadn’t told Yoren about Veronica’s relationship with a human? If he found out during their date, that kind of news would send the leader of the Brotherhood — a group violently opposed to mixed mating — into a tizzy. The cubs were probably just caught in the middle.
 

And now Yoren was out gathering up his Brotherhood buddies to…what?
 

“Shit!” Max slammed on the brakes and turned the wheel hard, the truck fishtailing in the loose gravel. Slamming the gas pedal to the floor, he tore back the way he’d come. He just hoped he made it to Veronica’s in time.

~ * ~ * ~

Fred had been in a funk since their encounter with the bears the day before, but Jess knew the pooch was just mirroring his own mood. He was flying blind, uncertain what he should do. His contract had him here for another couple of months, but not only was his heart not in it anymore, but he was actually afraid to go to the river to gather the data for his report.
 

Those bears had known exactly who he was and where to find him. The bear Veronica fought must have told his buddies and they decided to have a little fun. Or send him a warning.

“Message received loud and clear, fellas,” he mumbled as he laid out his meager belongings on his bed. He’d packed and unpacked them all into his duffle about eight times since yesterday, and he was still waffling between working through his contract and catching the first flight, boat or humpback whale off this crazy island.

He’d never been a quitter and, as an avid outdoorsman, he’d enjoyed his fair share of life-threatening adventures, but this…this was something else entirely. As much as he hated going back on his word, this job just wasn’t worth sticking around this isolated cabin when a pack of angry werebears was after his blood.

Except…as much as he wanted to tell himself that honoring his contract was why part of him wanted to stay, it was a lie. The only thing that could keep him here was Veronica. His brain kept telling him that a relationship with her would never work out in the long run — how could it? — but there was a tiny spark of hope deep inside whispering to his heart that anything was possible, that he should fight for her like he didn’t for Hannah. Didn’t Veronica mention something about another human-werebear couple?
 

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.

S
ince 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 yesterday, 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.