“The shifter gets permission from the Shifter Council via their pack leader. This grants them permission to expose their animal to their human. Once a human has been exposed to the world, they can accept the claim, or the pack leader ends them. The two are then officially mated. The shifter in animal form marks their human, usually in the form of a bite in a visible area on the body, but really any mark with blood drawn that will scar is acceptable,” she explained, tugging the shoulder off her blouse showing a silver scar on her shoulder, “Some flavors do a ceremony, others insist on a human wedding even if the mating is between two shifters, Richard’s pack likes to have a party, I think Richie does the same. Then the claimed human is treated as one of us. Some claimed humans claim to experience some metaphysical changes, but I wouldn’t know.”
I nodded drinking my cocoa lost in thought.
“Richard and I would love to share a real meal and go over what joining our pack would mean with you,” Clara said, “After you left, we realized how absolutely enamored Sig is with you. I think that was the kick in the pants Richard needed to grant Sig permission. But by then you were here.”
I nodded, “That would be nice, but I’m still pretty busted up so it’s probably not a good idea.”
Clara raised an eyebrow, “How bad was your accident?”
“It looks worse than it was,” I said honestly, “I’m just a crazy slow healer and the injuries are in inconvenient spots.”
Clara sighed, “Souli, Souli, Souli, what did I get you into?”
“The summer of my life?” I said, sounding like a bad 80’s movie tagline, “But seriously, Clara, I wouldn’t trade this job and my experiences here for anything. I know why Linde and Art love this place so much. It’s heaven on earth. I don’t want to leave.”
Clara tutted thoughtfully but didn’t say anything.
We drank our cocoa quietly. Art came in after a while and gave Clara a hug. He nodded at me stiffly, “Glad to see you’re doing better, Souli.”
“We need to talk,” I told him seriously.
“I’ll take that as my cue,” Clara said, collecting her mug back from me and making her exit.
“No one’s seen Ebsen,” Art blurted out as soon as the door swung shut, “the man or bear. We’re looking for him.”
“That’s not what we need to talk about, and you know it,” I said more firmly than I intended he flinched at my tones, “Before I forget to ask, what happened to the cabin outside?”
“Ranger Ebsen happened,” Art groaned, “The morning after Ranger Carlson discovered you, Ebsen’s bear marked up the cabin and a few other places around WAZ. I’ve been informed by a few grizzly bear shifters it’s territorial behavior.”
Oh. That was different than I thought, “Why would...”
“Is this really what you wanted to talk about Souli?” Art said exasperated, “The territorial nature of the American grizzly bear shifter?”
I shook my head, “When were you going to tell me about the council’s demand?”
Art groaned and sat in his office chair wheeling himself back into my office, “I’ve been appealing it on the grounds you’ve been living here incident free. But with the mauling-”
“-It’s hardly a mauling,” I argued.
“It’s a textbook mauling. And the council is very insistent on the protocols, especially after incidents like this,” Art said. He ran his fingers through his hair before resting his elbows on his knees leaning in closer to me.
“Their primary concern is the security of identities of shifters, followed by the safety of packs. The Shifter Council believes that unclaimed humans are a serious risk to those goals. I already have a petitions to claim you and he’s a good applicant. I’m sure you’ll find him to be suitable.”
“You make it sound like a job interview,” I groaned, “And I already know he’s not suitable.”
Art raised his eyebrow, “And why is that”
“I wouldn’t be able to work here,” I replied, “Other than the fact Sig and I already have a failed relationship, I don’t dare bring him here with Ebs-”
“I-I thought you knew. Ranger Ebsen will be fired and removed from the premises as soon as he’s apprehended,” Art said. He wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Attacking a human is a grave offense, I had to pull so many strings with the council and offer a free exclusive week to a pack of strays to get permission to move him to a lumberjack camp in rural Montana instead of all out elimination.”
“No,” I whined, “This land is his home, he’s never been more than a hundred miles of here, you can’t.”
“I’m afraid I have no choice,” Art said.
“He didn’t maul me!” I yelled panicking, I jumped to my feet immediately regretting the effort it took, “He was...he was...he was marking me,” I bowed my head, to hide my lie, “it hurt worse than I expected and I scared the bear. I think the commotion and foreign smells when Ranger Carlson got me medical attention is why he hasn’t returned.”
Art’s eyes narrowed, he knew I was lying, “You know if I tell the council that, you’ll have to be Ebsen’s mate. Are you sure you two are prepared for what that means?”
I nodded, “We’ve been secretly dating since April, if you don’t believe me, he went shopping for...intimate items for me with Amber. They’re in his cabin.”
Art’s eyebrow raised, “Intimate items?”
I flushed genuine embarrassment, “Plaid panties.”
“Oh,” he said, realizing what I meant, “Why am I just now hearing about this relationship? Gossip spreads through WAZ like wildfire.”
“We were really careful about scents,” I said, “He has a reputation around the camp for...bedding coworkers,” I didn’t have to pretend to sound jealous, “And I didn’t want to deal with the social fallout of the gossip. We only hung out on days off, usually hiking in the backcountry.”
Art rubbed his hands over his face and leaned back in his chair, “This is a really ugly situation, Souli. I have the council and two packs watching you very closely. I don’t know if they’ll believe Ebsen marked his mate and then took off for several days. That’s not mating behavior.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Art,” I said, “I’m human, these things haven’t been explained to me. I don’t know what is and isn’t normal behavior.”
Art sat thoughtfully for several minutes before leaning forward in his chair rubbing his neck, I heard the dinner bells in the distance. Regular activities were done for the day and the village would be filling up with shifters.
“What do we do now, Art?” I asked.
Chapter 15
The radio buzzed, “All rangers channel two we got eyes”
Art jumped up and turned to channel two, “Is it Ebsen?”
“Yes, he’s in the lower field,” it was Ranger Irvin, “Should I put him down?”
“NO!” I whined pushing out of my chair and running out of my office. Tears were streaming down my face as I pushed through the pain. I felt a stitch near my armpit split, I ran. I made it to the field as I heard the shot. I ran harder. Yuri was laying in the center of the field where we had star gazed that first night. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a ranger uniform along the outside of the field looking concerned. I saw a ranger uniform across the field, he had a gun. I ran to Yuri and buried my face in his fur.
“Please be alive,” I begged, moving to his face, “please please please be alive, Ebsen if you’re in there, I told them about you marking me as your mate. Please come back to me and we can explain. You’ll stay with me here forever. Please come back to me.
The bear's eyes were blinking slowly, “Please come back and claim me, Ranger Yuri no middle name Ebsen.” I whispered, pressing my head to his massive hairy skull. Yuri’s eyes shut and I was bearing the full weight of his massive head in my hands.
I sobbed.
“I had to tranq him, Souli,” Ranger Irvin had made it to us, “He
was threatening the safety of the guests.”
I looked up, “Tranq?” relief flooded through me, “I thought you were going to kill him.” I buried my hands into Yuri’s scruff, “He’s going to be ok?”
“I doubt it,” Irvin said, “I don’t know what you think happens to shifters who maul humans, but it’s not good.”
“He didn’t maul me,” I whispered.
“The blood on your back suggests differently,” Irvin hissed, “Looks like we need to get you to the infirmary again.”
“I’m not leaving my mate,” I snarled at him covering Yuri’s head with my body. His fur was bubbling and thinning until Ebsen’s head was in my lap. I could see the darts sticking out of his back. It took four to bring him down. Pressed my lips to his temple, “I’m not leaving you teddy bear.”
“Mate?” Irvin aske. I nodded and he threw his hands into the air in surrender, “Fuck this shit, it’s too messy for me.”
More rangers converged on Ebsen and I stood over him protectively, a snarl came unbidden from my throat when one grabbed his legs. He backed up looking at Ranger Irvin confused. Irvin turned his back and said something over the radio. I bent down over Ebsen’s naked form and stroked his hair out of his face. He was mine.
“Beasts of Earth and Sea,” Ranger Pole cursed from behind me, “What’s going on with her back?”
“Souli?” Ranger Carlson’s voice pierced through the crowd, “Souli... sweetie.” She parted the crowd and crouched down in front of me, “We need to take you to the infirmary.”
“I’m not leaving him,” I said hearing the rasp in my voice, “he’s mine. You can’t take him from me again.”
Carlson gently reached out and moved some hair out of my face, “Souli, you’re injured, you need to go to the infirmary, we’ll bring him with, but you need to let us move him. He wouldn’t want you to get injured trying to carry him.”
I nodded slowly, taking the hand she offered to me. She lifted me to my feet and nodded to the guys surrounding Ebsen. I watched them put a stretcher under him and lift him. I refused to leave his side as we walked on the staff paths around the village to the infirmary. I heard the rangers voices asking me questions. I ignored them. I was focused on Ebsen.
We got into the infirmary and the doc took one look at me and pulled out a massive needle, “It’s going to be ok, Souli. Just take a deep breath in.” He pressed the needle to my arm and darkness overtook me.
Chapter 16
The smell of disinfectant overpowered my other senses as the fogginess in my brain lifted. I was in the freaking infirmary again. What did I do this time?
“You need to tell us what happened,” I heard Art’s voice somewhere nearby.
“I told you what happened,” I croaked. Talking was hard laying on my stomach but I turned my head in the direction of the voices, “Ebsen marked me, I spooked his bear.”
“Souli?” it was Ebsen’s voice, he sounded distant.
“Answer the question, ranger,” an unfamiliar stern voice said.
“I-- my memory is fuzzy. I remember she was upset, but not at me, but I wanted to fix it,” Ebsen said almost as a question, “my bear didn’t like hurting her but after the shift he shut me out. Next thing I remember was waking up here.”
“I’m sure you can see why we’re investigating this incident so closely,” the voice said, “claiming a human without council approval is a serious charge.”
“It wasn’t my intent,” Ebsen said, “my bear thought we lost her, and she was so panicked about-.”
“I begged him to,” I groaned, still trying to get up. Whatever I was drugged with was intense, my arms felt like bags of sand.
“Arthur,” the voice warned, “Get her out of here.”
“NO!” Ebsen and I roared in unison.
“I’d advise against separating them,” Art said, “They’re exhibiting strong mating behavior. And with her injuries, his bear is on edge.”
“That’s the problem, Art,” a new voice bit out, “he’s not stable. He’s a danger to the human and others.”
“The human disagrees,” Art said, “She insists he isn't. He’s not stable because of the suitor floating around the camp telling everyone she’s his mate. Once the mating between Souli and Ebsen is official, I’m confident he will be back to normal.”
“We don’t approve of this mating,” the voice said. I heard Ebsen snarl.
“It’s already happened,” Art said, “I approve of it. I am the leader of this pack; I take their burden. They are mine.”
“That is a serious protection to offer,” the first voice said, “Your confidence in your pack is admirable, but we cannot let you do that.”
“It is my right,” Art said.
“So it is,” the second voice, “We shall return for the solstice. But know we have eyes on you. And we have eyes on these two.”
“I understand,” Art said, “Ebsen, go check on Souli before she rips her stitches again.”
I felt a woosh of air and felt Ebsen’s warm hands on my face followed by his lips on my forehead, “I’m here Firebug. Rest now. I’m here.”
“I’m sorry I hurt Yuri,” I groaned, “I didn’t mean to scare him.”
Ebsen kissed my temple again, shushing me.
Ebsen stayed by my bed until the drugs wore off and then he carried me on his back from the infirmary to his cabin- our cabin. He took the long way back to avoid walking through the village. I loved being so close to him. I buried my face in his neck inhaling his smell, feeling his warmth on my chest. He stepped over a log, bouncing me a bit and I winced.
“Sorry,” he apologized, “we’re almost there.”
“I’m good, Eb,” I said, brushing my nose at the collar of his borrowed t-shirt. I nibbled on his skin. I felt a grumble in his throat. I licked him.
“Don’t tease the bear, Firebug,” he warned, “You’re too injured to do anything. And he’s already grumpy that his mate’s in pain.”
“Sorry,” I said, still nibbling his neck, “you just taste so good. I love the way you smell. I stole your shirts. Did I tell you that?”
“You’re still high on painkillers,” he chuckled.
“Nope, I did,” I said.
When we finally reached the cabin I slid off his back, “I wanted to smell like you, you smell safe.”
He was hovering around me, as I walked up the small steps into the cabin. He was never more than two steps away, as if he was afraid I’d fall and he needed to be close enough to catch me.
“I like when you smell like me,” he purred, “Speaking of, let’s get you out of that bloody shirt.”
I groaned, “Fine.”
He gently grasped the hem of my shirt and pulled it off slowly, careful to keep the fabric off my back, I winced when I lifted my arms and he gasped when he saw my bandages.
“Oh gods, Souli, I’m so sorry,” his voice was distant and sad. I felt his fingers at the edges of the bandages. The pressure stung but I didn’t move or wince
I turned to face him, “No,” I pressed my head to his chest, “Don’t blame yourself. We’ll talk it through when you’re ready.”
He kissed the top of my head, “I want to hug you but I don’t want to hurt you more. Also you aren’t wearing a shirt and your breasts are amazing, and Yuri’s on the surface wanting to make sure you’re ok, and I’m just such a mess of emotions right now.”
“Let’s work them through, pick an emotion and we’ll go over it,” I said, “We can start wherever you want, as long as you are making me bacon while we talk.”
Ebsen smirked, “Is my beautiful mate hungry?”
Warmth flooded me. I was his mate. His beautiful mate. I smiled at him and kissed his chin. It was all I could reac
h without lifting my arms to pull him back down to me. His usual stubble was replaced by a soft- almost downy beard.
“I really really like that bacon you make,” I said, walking over to the table. My note was still where I’d put it. I sat on a chair careful not to lean back, “Where should we start?”
“I don’t remember you begging me to claim you,” Ebsen said, voice muffled by the fridge, “Why is there a pie in here?”
“Ummm, you’ll probably want to throw that out, I made that the night you ate me out as an apology pie,” I said, “But I’ve never used a pilot oven before and didn’t want to burn your cabin down on accident.”
He turned and shut the fridge door, his eyebrows furrowed, “You made me a pie?”
I nodded,
“An apology pie?”
“I thought you ran out after we.... because of me,” I held up the note, “I waited up for you and I was getting anxious and-”
Ebsen suddenly kissed me. I hadn’t even seen him move, damn that man moved fast, “No woman has ever cooked for me before.”
“Technically I didn’t,” I pointed out, “I prepped a pie that is now rancid. Didn’t your mom ever cook?”
He narrowed his eyes at me, “You know what I mean. So about that night...”
I nodded as he lifted the note from my hand and read it, “Oh Souli, I don’t have a phone. How was I supposed to have called you?”
I felt my face flush, “I broke rule two well before that night. And you were so sweet and thoughtful with the-” I pointed to the bag in the corner, “I-I didn’t want to scare you off, aren’t supposed to be making me bacon?”
He smirked and lifted the parchment wrapped meat, “This bacon?” I nodded, he walked over to the stove and pulled out a frying pan, “Yuri was upset with me that night. We were fighting for control and he won.”
“Why was he upset?” I asked.
“I think it was because my mark was gone,” he groaned.
“Mark?”
“The,” he pointed to his hips, “the bruises on your hips from the first night I saved you from poison ivy.”
Bearly Camping Page 11
