Shifters in the Snow

by Jacqueline Sweet

  As I rounded the north side of the cabin it became clear that I didn’t know what I was in for. Thirteen bears stood on their hind legs staring back at me with their teeth bared. I howled an earth shattering call both to intimidate my enemy, and in the hopes of calling my pack.

  I knew there was no way that my pack could hear me all the way up there even with their keen hearing. Still, I hoped that someone would hear and come to my assistance. Whether they did or not, I was ready to fight those bears to the death.

  I lunged forward at the bear in front knocking him to the ground and rolling him around in the deep snow. He let out a mighty roar while I continued my shrieking howl. I tossed him around until he finally ran back into the woods.

  One of the other bears jumped on my back and took me to the ground, tearing a chunk out of my side. It took all I had in me to jump back up and grab him by the neck with my sharp teeth, knocking him over.

  I kept a tight hold of his throat as I stared deeply into his eyes. I wanted him to know that I wasn’t letting him go so easily. He’d taken a chunk out of me and I was quite willing to take a chunk out of his throat.

  He whimpered and I released him. One by one they all began to saunter into the woods with their tails between their legs. I knew then that I had taken on the two strongest members of their group.

  At least that battle was won, but I knew they’d be back. I howled some more to let them know that no matter what they brought forward I was ready to take it on.

  After they left I did a couple of laps around the house just to run free for a few moments before changing back into my human self. What I didn’t know was that Blondie had seen my transition.

  When I walked into the bedroom, she was huddled up in a corner with the blanket pulled up around her face. She looked almost like a small child as she sat in the corner whimpering.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked as I tried to inch my way toward her.

  “Stay away from me,” she said as she pulled the blanket up higher.

  “Blondie, it’s okay. They’re gone now. You have nothing to be afraid of,” I said as I cautiously walked towards her.

  “What are you?” she asked.

  It was then that I thought she might have seen me. I’d had to answer the question many times before, and each time it was equally difficult. Humans didn’t understand the shifter world, and it was hard to explain to them. I only hoped that she would accept me for who I was and that we could continue on the way we had been.

  “What do you mean what am I?” I said, hoping that I was wrong in the conclusion that I had drawn.

  “I saw you,” she said. “You went outside, but then you weren’t out there. There was a wolf and there were some bears. But you weren’t there. When the bears left, the wolf stayed and ran around the cabin. Then I watched the wolf change into you right in front of my eyes.”

  “Can you come over here and sit beside me?” I said gently as I motioned my hand towards her.

  She shook her head as she looked at me and I could tell she was terrified. She had every reason to be.

  “That’s okay, you stay where you are and I’ll explain it all to you from here,” I said while I stayed there on the bed. “I’m a wolf shifter.”

  “A wolf shifter?” she said. “What exactly is a wolf shifter?”

  I was glad that she didn’t have any preconceived notions in mind, but questions only meant I was going to have to go into more detail. I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. As the alpha of my pack, it was time that I had found a mate and I knew that she was the perfect woman for me. Yet, I was terrified that I would lose her after I told her the truth.

  “It means that I’m not exactly human, Blondie,” I said. “I have the ability to change myself into a wolf at will. When those bears were out there, I knew I had to protect you and I couldn’t do it as a human. I was just hoping you wouldn’t see me change.”

  “You can change yourself into a white wolf anytime you want?” She asked, absolutely fascinated.

  “Oh, it gets better than that. I can change myself into gray wolf, a red wolf, a white wolf, any kind of wolf you want. I usually choose to be a white wolf up here so I can camouflage myself with the snow if I need to.”

  “So how does that work being a wolf and all,” she said. “Being a wolf shifter is that something like being a werewolf?”

  “Yes, some people call us that,” I admitted. “We live in packs. I’m the alpha of mine.”

  “What’s an alpha?” she asked listening intensely to every word I was saying.

  “It’s like a ringleader,” I said, trying to think of a way that she would understand it. “I’m the pack leader of ours.”

  “How did you become a wolf shifter?” she asked me, waiting for the details.

  “I was born into a family of wolf shifters,” I told her. “My parents and grandparents before me were werewolf shifters too. But sadly my parents were killed on Christmas Eve in a car accident when I was ten years old.” I could see the tears well up in her eyes and I wished I hadn’t told her about my family.

  “I’m so sorry for your loss,” she said. “Are all wolf shifters born?”

  “Most are. Sometimes people become shifters by getting bitten.”

  “So if you were to bite me, I could become a wolf shifter too?” she asked almost eerily.

  “It’s also possible that you could die if things went awry.”

  “How could things go wrong?” she asked. “Surely, nobody gets turned into a wolf by accident.”

  “It’s not like that. Sometimes we accidentally bite too deeply into the human and they lose too much blood. When that happens, it can be lethal.”

  She sat there and stared off into space for a few moments as if she were contemplating heavily. She finally relaxed and let the blanket settle on her lap.

  “Turn me into a wolf,” she said as she stared at me.

  “I can’t do that, Blondie,” I said. “It wouldn’t be fair to you, and I love you just the way you are.”

  “Ah, I love you too,” she said. “But I have no idea who I am and nobody’s come looking for me yet. It doesn’t really matter if you change me or not.”

  “You don’t get it Blondie. You could die.”

  “I don’t care, Nate. I want to be a wolf. I want to be able to do what you do.”

  “Look, I’m not doing it, and that’s final.”

  I went to stand up from the bed and the pain in my side started soaring through my body. I doubled over and she stood up quickly to help me.

  “What happened to you?” she asked.

  “One of the bears bit me,” I said as the pain felt like it was ripping me apart.

  She helped me clean the wound and bandage it up before she made me a cup of coffee.

  “We’re running out of food in here,” she yelled from the kitchen.

  I leaned my head back on the sofa knowing that I would have to go out to get supplies. There was no way that I could send her with those bears out there. I grabbed my boots and my coat.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” she asked as she came out of the kitchen with our coffee.

  “I’m going into town to get supplies,” I said.

  “You can’t go anywhere in that condition. You need to lie down, get some rest, and let your body heal.”

  “Would you rather starve?” I asked her. “I’m going to go to town to get some supplies. While I’m gone, I don’t want you to go outside at all. I don’t know what’s going on with those bears, but I want you to stay in here and keep the door locked at all times. Do you hear me?”

  She looked at me and nodded, and I knew she understood. I kissed her forehead before I headed out to my truck.

  Chapter 10

  Laney

  Sitting in the cabin all by myself was a real drag. I liked excitement and fun. But when I was all alone there was nothing to do. I stared at the walls for a while and then I counted the ceiling tiles. When there was nothing else to do,
I started cleaning and then I counted the ceiling tiles again.

  In the last few hours there had been no sign of bears so I figured it was safe to go outside again. Besides, there was so much snow that I thought it would be fun to build a snowman. I knew it would keep me occupied until Nate got back.

  I was so excited as I got ready to go outside and grabbed a pair of mittens. I didn’t think he’d mind at all because I’d be right next to the cabin. If anything went wrong, I could run right back in the door and lock it quicker than anything.

  When I stepped outside into the storm everything looked so beautiful. The snow covered the land and the trees as it kept falling. I grabbed some snow in my mittens and made a ball before I started rolling it around to build my snowman.

  I had just put the head on when I heard something growling behind me. Uh oh, I thought to myself. He’s upset that I went outside.

  “I’m sorry Nate, but it was just a snowman,” I said as I turned around. I let out a loud shriek as I saw the brown bear on his hind legs staring me in the eyes. I could’ve sworn its nails were as long as my fingers and I knew it was going to eat me. I was a dead woman and it was all my fault because I didn’t do what Nate told me to do.

  Just then I heard a bloodcurdling howl as a wolf lunged out of nowhere and took the bear down to the ground. The wolf rolled the bear through the snow multiple times while blood flew everywhere. I ran back into the cabin and locked the door behind me before leaning against it, trying to catch my breath.

  I knew I had narrowly escaped death because of my own stupidity. My heart was racing and I was terrified. Finally, a knock came to the door. I wasn’t going to answer it, but then I heard a voice.

  “It’s okay, Blondie. It’s just me, Nate.”

  I walked over slowly and unlocked the door before turning the knob. I opened it only a fraction of an inch at first to make sure it was really him before allowing him to enter.

  “What the hell were you doing out there?” he asked me. I could tell by his tone he was angry.

  “I’m so sorry. I just wanted to build a snowman,” I said through my sobs.

  “It’s okay,” he said as he took me in his arms and ran his fingers through my hair. “Just don’t do it again.”

  “Why are the bears hanging around?” I asked him. “What is it that they want?”

  “I’m not sure, but I’m going to find out.”

  Chapter 11

  Nate

  One simple instruction, I gave her one simple instruction and she couldn’t follow it. All I told her was to stay inside with the door locked and what did she do? She went outside to build a snowman and almost got herself killed.

  I could tell this one was going to be a handful. It would take everything I had in me to keep her safe and in one piece.

  Later that afternoon while Blondie was taking a nap, I heard the noises outside again and went out in human form. I spoke to the bears telepathically, so they could tell me exactly what was going on.

  “What is your purpose here and why are you on my land?”

  “We’ve come for the girl.”

  “Why her? I don’t understand.”

  “Her father is Roger Reynolds, the CEO of Reynolds Enterprises. He embezzled large sums of money from the company, and received large sums from other partners that he was supposed to invest, but kept for himself instead.”

  “Embezzlement and money laundering, I still don’t get how this affects her.”

  “The kind of people he deals with is us. We don’t care about the official name for what he’s done. We don’t care about the law, or having him arrested. He was warned that we’d go after the thing he values most, his daughter lying in there. She must atone for her father's sins.”

  I could feel my blood draining from my head as I heard the words. They’d made it clear that they had come to get her. I couldn’t believe that she was in danger as the result of something her father did. The bears were determined to get her and I had to do something about it.

  “Leave her alone,” I said in my most intimidating voice.

  “We have to bring her to the boss,” one of the bears said.

  “Well, you don’t have to do it tonight,” I replied.

  The bear stood on his hind legs and started stomping his feet. I got on my hind legs and started to howl. As we wrestled around I bit him as hard as I could until he whimpered and took off into the woods with the rest of his group following behind him.

  When I went back inside I sat down on the sofa in the living room. I was glad that we hadn’t woken Blondie. I wasn’t sure what to say to her or whether she was emotionally ready to find out exactly what was going on. I was afraid the truth might be too much for her.

  While I sat there pondering, I heard movement in the other room and I knew Blondie was on her way out. I rested my head in my hands as I thought about what I was going to say.

  “What are you doing sitting here all by yourself?” she asked as she sat down beside me and put her arm around me.

  “I had another run-in with the bears,” I told her as I looked into her eyes and touched her cheek.

  “How did that go?” she asked.

  “This time I got a chance to speak with them telepathically,” I said, knowing that I had to tell her the truth no matter what.

  “Telepathically, you can do that?” she asked.

  “Yes, we can do that,” I said, “with most species.”

  “Did they tell you why they’re here and what’s going on?” she asked me with fear in her eyes.

  “Yes, they did,” I told her. “They told me that your name is Laney Reynolds and your father, Roger Reynolds is the CEO of Reynolds Enterprises. Apparently he’s been taking money and the guys he messes with are grizzly shifters. Instead of going after him, they’re going after you.”

  She looked even more terrified now. She thought heavily and I could tell the wheels were turning while she sat there thinking.

  “Oh my God, she exclaimed. It’s all coming back to me now. I remember everything, I remember my name, and my family. I remember everything including the car accident.”

  Chapter 12

  Laney

  As soon as Nate finished talking my memory came flooding back. I remembered everything from the day I was born right up to the car accident. It was all so clear now and yet for days everything had been completely erased.

  I started thinking about my parents and the argument we had before I left home. I knew they must be worried about me. I looked around the walls and try to find a calendar, but there wasn’t one. I thought back to when I’d asked Nate what day it was, but I couldn’t remember whether that was yesterday or two days ago.

  “How long have I been here?” I asked him.

  “About a week,” he said as he put his arm over my shoulder.

  I sat there trying to calculate the time in my mind and realized that my parents must be frantic. My friends at the ski villa were probably panicking too, wondering what on earth had happened to me.

  “What day is it?” I asked him as I looked into his eyes.

  “It’s December twenty-third.”

  December twenty-third, so it was only two days ago that I had asked him what day it was. I hadn’t lost that many days because of the whole incident. Regardless, I needed to let everyone know I was okay.

  At the same time, I felt like I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I was furious with my father for putting my life in danger for something he had done.

  “Nate, I just need to ask you something to make sure I heard you correctly. Those bears are after me because of my dad?”

  “Yes, you heard me right,” he said as he brushed my hair away from my face.

  I looked at the floor and nodded my head. I was trying to process all of the information that was flooding through my brain. It felt like I had a freight train running through my head and my mind just couldn’t keep up with it. No matter how hard I tried all of my thoughts were scattered and I couldn’t put them togeth
er.

  He grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket and asked me if I’d like to call my parents to let them know I was okay. I stared at it for a few minutes before the details of the accident rushed back into my memory. I’d been texting Tammy when I sped out of control and landed in the ditch.

  For a brief second, I was concerned about my cell phone and wanted to know what happened to it. But as the memory became clearer, I realized that I never wanted to see it again. I looked at his as he held it out, almost terrified to touch it.

  “I’m not sure if I want to call them,” I said. “If I’m in danger because of my dad, why would I want to speak to him?”

  “They haven’t heard from you in days and they’re probably worried sick. For all your dad knows the bears have you. This is your opportunity to ask him to do what’s right and call them off.”

  I thought about what he said and I knew he was right. I kept staring at his phone while I tried to remember my phone number. Within minutes the numbers came back to my mind. I took his phone and started dialing.

  “Hello,” I heard my mother say.

  “Hi mom, it’s Laney,” I said.

  “Laney, Oh my God, where are you? You need to come home now.”

  “Mom, I’m fine. I’m up in the mountains and everything’s okay. Is dad there?”

  “Roger, Roger, Laney’s on the phone.”

  I could hear my father’s footsteps coming towards the phone and by the sounds of it he was angry. I started to clench my teeth terrified of what he might say when he came to the phone. As I heard him getting closer, I held it away from my ear, waiting for him to yell.

  “Laney Reynolds you get your mother’s car back here right now,” he screamed.