by Zoe Chant
And there it was―the distinctive scent that said human. A man, smelling of the iron and fire of the gun, coupled with a whiff of stale cigarette smoke.
The scent was faint. Whoever had fired that shot must have fired it from somewhere nearby―but not close enough for his bear to pick up the scent earlier.
Terror and anger rushed through him once more when he saw that the bullet had hit a tree to his left. Either the intruder was a terrible shot―or he’d aimed intentionally away from Lily.
Which meant that he’d wanted to spook the horse.
Why? Hadn’t he left all enemies behind with his old life?
Had Iron Fang found him? But his former alpha was a cruel bear. This wasn’t how he worked. He’d never have missed.
Which left only one possible answer. The attack had been meant to scare either him or Lily, and after the shot had been fired, the intruder had vanished back into the forest.
The same forest into which Lucky’s panicked flight had carried Lily…
All these thoughts had raced through his head in a split second. Now Logan, who’d spent his entire life fighting, and trusting the instincts of his bear to ensure his survival, gave up the rational thoughts of his human mind, abandoning himself to the beast within him.
The bear broke free with a vengeance. A furious roar escaped Logan’s throat the instant he’d shifted into the powerful body of his bear.
And then he was off.
His claws dug into the earth as he raced towards the forest, his keen nose following the trail of the panicked horse―and his mate. In the form of his bear, the terror he felt inside his heart was even stronger. It was the irresistible pull of the mate bond. He’d heard of it, but now he experienced it for the very first time himself. Deep in his chest, where his heart was pounding with rage and fear for his mate, there was a sharp, painful tug.
It was Lily’s fear he could feel.
Like a compass, it led him forward―West, it said, pulling him into the forest that stretched out in front of him.
A bear was no rival for a racehorse when it came to speed. Logan knew that as long as Lucky was racing at full speed, there was no way he could outrun him.
But Lily knew the horse, and from what he’d seen in the meadow, she was a skilled enough rider. Furthermore, Lucky knew her―Lucky trusted her. He wouldn’t intentionally harm her.
As soon as the panic wore off, the stallion would either slow down himself, or Lily would manage to rein him in.
He might be a racehorse, but he’s old. A bear’s no sprinter, but I can run all day, if I have to. For my mate, I’d run all week without a break or sleep.
Only a few minutes had passed before he found himself crashing through the underbrush. Even in the forest, the horse’s trail was easy to follow. In addition to the scent and his heart pulling him towards where his mate was in danger, he could make out hoof prints in the soft soil here.
Lucky had been forced to slow down by the trees. Except for the occasional thicket of bushes, birches grew here. There was enough space between the slender, silvery trunks that Lucky could forge ahead in a gallop without crashing into trees, although the tracks showed that he was forced to swerve around fallen trunks or large roots every now and then.
Every time, the pattern of the hoof prints subtly shifted, telling Logan that Lucky was losing speed with every step he took.
Surely any moment, he’d have slowed down enough that Lily would get through to him and bring him to a halt…
The sudden, sharp scent of horse and cigarettes forced Logan to a skidding stop.
Before him, another thicket of brambles blocked the view, although the sunlight shining through from beyond the bushes told him that a clearing had to open there. To his left, a hill rose, strewn with rocks. To his right, another rivulet was making its way through the forest.
Logan was just about to swerve to the right, still praying that he could make it to Lily before whoever had fired that gun found her, when the constant thrum of her panic in his heart spiked so fiercely that it felt as if someone had rammed a knife into his chest.
Without a second of hesitation, he threw himself straight into the thicket of brambles, ignoring the thorns that clawed at him as he crashed through into the clearing beyond with all the ferocious fury of his bear.
Chapter Five: Lily
Lucky screamed again. Lily hadn’t known that a horse could make such sounds. It was a furious trumpet of rage as he reared, menacing the stranger who stood a few steps in front of them across the clearing.
Lily’d slipped from Lucky’s back as soon as she could rein him in near this clearing. Of course, mere seconds later the stranger had shown up. It was a guy in his fifties, balding, his face red even though right now he was grinning in triumph.
He also held some weird sort of gun in his hands.
Was it a gun? The past few years, Lily had worked for a shelter that tried to rehome bunnies―but she hadn’t yet forgotten the internship she’d done in a zoo almost a decade ago.
And that gun in the strangers hands looked a lot like the tranquilizer gun the zoo’s vet had used for the lions and tigers. Which meant…
He isn’t here for me. He’s here for Lucky!
Relief and sudden, overwhelming anger warred within her. She’d known Lucky since she was a child. She wouldn’t allow anyone to harm him.
“I don’t know what you think you’re doing,” she said, focusing all of her fury into the enraged look she gave the intruder, “but you’re breaking five different laws that I can think of right now, and I’m going to make damn sure the cops throw your sorry ass in jail if you don’t leave this very second.”
The man gave her a patronizing little smile. “Just shut up and stand aside and nothing’s going to happen to you, missy. It’s not you that I’m here for.”
He fired the gun before she could react.
In the same instant, Lucky squealed and reared up again. There, at his side, she could now see the tranquilizer dart piercing his skin.
Furious, she ripped it out and threw it straight back at the man. But her training as a vet tech told her that it was already too late.
Even though Lucky wouldn’t have gotten the full dose this way, it would be enough to severely weaken him, given his age. Maybe it was even enough to knock him out. She didn’t know what dosage the man had used, after all―and Lucky didn’t have the stamina of a younger horse.
The man took a step closer, and Lucky irritably shook his head, his eyes rolling as he stamped his hoof in anger.
But he wasn’t rearing up anymore, and Lily could see the shudders that rolled over his skin like waves.
Damn. Lucky won’t be able to fend him off. Which means it’s up to me…
“Run away now,” the man said, his tone audibly impatient. “Go on. It’s just an old horse, not worth risking your fucking life for.”
Lily swallowed, a spike of fear making her heart stop beating for a second when she realized that the stranger had now pulled an actual gun out of his pocket and was aiming it straight at her.
“If that’s true, you wouldn’t be here right now. What do you want Lucky for?” she demanded, her throat dry as she starred at the barrel of the gun.
Every instinct in her was screaming to run. She was terrified. She was all alone out in the forest with an armed stranger―but so was Lucky, and right now, Lucky was helpless. Lucky was depending on her. How could she leave him?
Again Lucky whinnied, a high, shrill sound of fear as his hind legs threatened to give out. He swayed precariously, and it was obvious that he wouldn’t be able to stay upright for much longer.
The man’s smile widened as his eyes slid over to the horse.
And then his mouth gaped open, an expression of utter terror on his face as something large and loud came crashing out into the clearing from somewhere behind Lily.
Terrified, she turned―only to find herself face to face with a large, angry bear.
Oh my God.
> Her knees weakened, panic making her stomach clench. She hadn’t seen a bear up close since her time at the zoo―and back then, there had always been bars between them.
The bear roared, his mouth gaping open to show off sharp teeth. It was a furious sound―a challenge, Lily realized as he took a step towards them.
Next to her, Lucky had gone very still. He was still blowing air out through his nostrils, his eyes showing white―but for some reason, even though there was a giant, angry bear close to them, he seemed to have calmed down now, instead of panicking at the large predator.
Must be the tranquilizer, Lily thought dizzily as the bear took another step towards her. His large head was swaying from side to side. She couldn’t think clearly anymore. Everything inside her was screaming at her to run, but she was so terrified she felt like she was frozen in place.
Play dead. That’s what you’re supposed to do when you meet a bear, she remembered. But she was too afraid to even drop to the ground, fearing that any sudden motion would make the animal attack.
Her heart beat faster and faster, and for a moment she worried that she’d end up fainting in front of the angry bear―and then the bear shoved himself past her.
The large animal was between her and the stranger now. The bear was so close that she’d almost be able to reach out and touch his fur. But the bear hadn’t threatened her. He hadn’t even really looked at her.
The bear seemed focused on one thing, and one thing only: the stranger who’d shot the dart at Lucky, and who was now holding the tranquilizer gun in his shaking hands once more.
Lily flinched when a dart shot straight at the bear. She couldn’t see if he’d been hit, and the bear showed no sign of reaction. Instead, he took another step towards the man who now fumbled with the tranq gun.
The bear roared again, and the stranger cursed.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” he muttered, his hands trembling so badly that he nearly dropped the other gun when he tried to pull it out of his pocket once more. Before he could even lift it, the bear pounced, and a shot went off.
Lily screamed.
Again the bear showed no reaction. Had the man missed him?
One swipe of a large paw batted the gun out of the stranger’s hand. The man managed to throw himself out of the way just in time to avoid being hit by the entire body of the angry animal barreling at him.
As soon as the intruder stumbled to his feet again, he turned and ran, abandoning his gun on the ground. The bear immediately boundedafter him―but after just a few steps, he noticeably slowed down.
Meanwhile, the man had made it to the bushes at the other end of the clearing. He vanished into them, and seconds later, Lily heard the sound of an engine starting up, and then the screeching of wheels.
Once more, the bear raised his head for an angry roar, but the sound seemed born of frustration. Then the bear turned his head, and Lily found herself captivated by the golden glare of the animal’s eyes. She’d never seen anything like it before―but at the same time, it seemed strangely familiar…
The bear took a limping step towards her, then another. The large body of the animal swayed. Once more the bear lifted a paw, trying to take a step forward―and then he toppled and fell.
Only the body that hit the ground wasn’t that of a bear anymore.
There, sprawled before her, was the powerful body of a naked man.
A naked man with familiar muscles and scars, and most of all, with familiar, golden-brown eyes…
“Logan. Oh my God,” Lily breathed, feeling as if she’d gotten lost in some dream.
Was this a nightmare? Some sort of fever vision? Had she hit her head while Lucky raced off with her, and she was now suffering the effects of a concussion?
But there, stuck into Logan’s side, was the familiar tranq dart…
Her hands shook as she knelt down by Logan’s side. She pulled out the dart, then frowned at it. She had no idea what sort of drug it was loaded with.
Enough to knock out a horse―which isn’t enough to knock out a bear. But is that enough to kill a human?
“Lily,” Logan murmured, his speech slightly slurred. He gave her a blinding smile. “Made it… just in time.”
“If you can still speak, it can’t be so bad,” she said, more to reassure herself than him.
Logan didn’t really look like he needed reassurance. Whatever effect the tranquilizer had on him, it probably wasn’t lethal if he could still give her a loopy grin like that.
“You just got hit with enough tranquilizer to knock out a horse,” she said sternly. “And I think I have a concussion and I’m seeing things. Weird things. So I really need you to stay focused and awake, you hear me?”
“Weird things? ‘M no weird thing,” Logan muttered with a little pout. He reached out to wind a finger around a strand of her hair. “Just a bear. ‘S not weird. ‘S really natural. Jus’ shifting, you see?”
“You… You’re a bear?” Lily repeated, her heart starting to pound again. Had it been real? Or maybe the concussion was making her believe that Logan was saying strange things…
“I’m getting a headache from all of this,” she muttered, her fingers seeking out the little red dot on Logan’s skin where the dart had pierced him.
“Ouch,” he said, then made an approving sound. “Bear. ‘M a bear. Your bear. And you’re mine.”
“I’m not anyone’s bear,” Lily replied with a snort, still feeling troubled as her mind replayed the events of the past few minutes.
She’d seen the tranquilizer gun being fired at the bear. And she’d seen the dart stuck in Logan’s skin.
It didn’t make sense. Nothing about this made any sense.
“Not you, silly,” Logan replied with another wide grin, his eyes beaming up at her from his position on the ground. He looked by all accounts like one of the bears at the zoo she’d known, waking up from anesthesia after they’d gotten their yearly vet checkup.
“You’re not a bear, would have known. Just a bear’s mate. My mate. Mmmm.”
He happily rubbed his cheek against her thigh.
“Your mate,” Lily repeated again, staring at his head on her thigh.
For some reason, her hand had found its way into his hair, gently stroking the short, dark strands. Something about the contact calmed her racing heart. For a moment, she simply remained where she was, touching Logan to anchor herself as everything she’d thought she’d known was turned upside down.
“You can turn into a bear,” she mumbled. “Well, that’s… well.”
She didn’t have words for what she felt. She’d love to pretend that it couldn’t be true―but she’d seen it with her own eyes. And she’d had a concussion before. It hadn’t felt like this at all. For one thing, there’d been a giant bump on her head.
Cautiously, she felt her head with her free hand. Nope. No bump. Which meant that it was all real.
People who worked with animals sometimes saw strange things happen. Dogs that ran hundreds of miles to find their master again, or who alerted people to a danger which should have been impossible for them to sense. Many of those things weren’t easily explained by science―but people turning into bears?
“I think we need to have a good, long talk,” she said.
Perhaps it had been too good to be true. She’d straight away felt completely at ease with Logan around. He’d never felt like an intruder, even though the farm had been her family’s for so many years. He’d just fit in perfectly―with the exception of the farm animals’ suspicion.
She huffed out an exasperated laugh. “Now I know why Cody wasn’t happy to have you around. He probably couldn’t believe that a bear would come to live in the house!”
Logan chuckled against her thigh. “Didn’t hold it against him. ‘S his job, you know. Protecting the farm against bears. But I’m… a farm bear. Yeah, that’s what I am now.”
“A farm bear,” Lily repeated with amused disbelief. Then she realized that her hand was still buried in Logan
’s hair. “Well, come on then, farm bear. Let’s get all of us back to the farm. Before that man returns.”
“Need to find out what was up with that,” Logan mumbled in confused agreement. “Must make sure you’re safe. Must―”
“Hush,” Lily whispered, taken by surprise as his words made her heart swell. Despite all the baffling developments of the past few minutes, here he was―hit by a tranq dart and under the influence of enough tranquilizer to knock out a horse, and all he could think of was protecting her.
This is probably the closest you can come to questioning him under the influence of a truth serum, she thought, her lips quirking.
But then, there was no reason to. What better proof of a man’s devotion than seeing him charge straight at someone pointing a gun at her?
Affectionately, she ran her fingers through his hair again. “You’ve done a pretty good job of protecting me and Lucky. But we need to get you both back to the farm before we can figure out what’s next.”
Logan gave her another goofy grin. “Mmkay.”
Nevertheless, he showed no sign of trying to get up, and prodding his shoulder didn’t much help. Shaking her head, she finally abandoned him on the forest floor for a moment to check up on Lucky.
The stallion nickered softly when she knelt by his side. She peered at his eyes, then rested a hand against his side, feeling the beating of his heart. Despite his age, his heartbeat was strong and steady. It was a little too slow for her liking, but that had to be the effect of the tranquilizer he’d been hit with.
If she hadn’t ripped the tranq dart out immediately, he’d be asleep now―or perhaps dead.
A shudder ran through her at the thought. She wrapped her arms around Lucky’s neck and buried her face in his mane.
“Thanks for trying to protect me, old boy,” she whispered. “Do you think you can do a little more? I know you’re tired, but we need to get back to the farm. And I can’t exactly count on our farm bear right now.”
Lucky made a tired little grumble, his mouth nosing at her hair for a moment.
Then, with obvious effort, he forced himself back onto his feet with her encouragement. Once he was upright, he swayed a little, but after a moment found his footing once more. His ears were drooping and his head hung low―but he was awake and upright, which was all that counted.
