by Cara Wylde
Despite his mother’s car having turned into a pretzel, and the speed of the collision causing her extensive wounds and killing her, the boy was relatively unharmed. I picked him up in my arms and used the bathroom sink as a basin for him and cleaned his tiny bottom. I didn’t have any diapers, so I used a pillowcase as a makeshift one. More things to add on the to-buy list.
I held the naked pillow to my chest and let myself fall to the floor, thinking back on the she-bear. She had been human one moment, dying, then she had tried to make a run for it, or lunge at me, and then she’d died for good. I felt a little bit of sadness at the thought of this baby boy growing up without his mom and at the heartache the she-bear must’ve felt in those last few moments, knowing that she was dying and she was leaving the cub all alone.
“Wow, look at me, cubs and she-bears… I already speak like some highly paid actress in a movie,” I whistled to myself.
Movie, indeed.
All this was straight out of some sci-fi flick.
I looked back to the little boy. He couldn’t be more than one year old, two at the most. He was rolling around in bed, left and right, never nearing the edges. Smart kid. His blue eyes were sparkling with intelligence and happiness. He had no idea what had happened, I could tell for sure now, and a part of me, the stupid one, wished he never would.
“Momma bear, if you can somehow sense me, sense my light, sense the good that’s in me, please know I will take care of your son. I’ll protect him with all my human might. I may not be a tough woman like you, but I will draw from the depths of my being and make sure you can rest in peace, knowing the boy will have a good life,” I whispered and looked up at the ceiling, imagining a brown bear looking down at me with kind black eyes.
I was playing peek-a-boo with him when it occurred to me that I didn’t know what a child his age ate, or if bear cubs ate different things than regular human children. What did they need to be given to be nurtured properly? What skills should I be teaching this boy? Would he… would he transform too and cause trouble?
Jack and I had tried to have children and failed. Another thing for which he blamed me and beat me up – my barren womb. My guess? It was his infertile ass that was the issue here. But in the end, it was for the better. Raising a child with Jack meant he would’ve had an extra boxing bag, and I didn’t want to be the cause of anyone’s suffering, much less my own child’s.
I felt something wet touch my breasts and looked down. I undid my towel and it wasn’t wetness touching me. I was… lactating? I slumped against the bed frame, feeling even more lost and confused.
The mattress moved and dipped behind me, and I turned around just in time to catch the little rascal, who, in his defense, looked absolutely adorable and cuddly. I held him to my chest, ready to drown him in cuddles meant to soothe the both of us, when he attached himself to one of my nipples and started suckling. It hurt at first, but it wasn’t unbearable. In fact, the more he suckled, the more I enjoyed it. He was bringing the first genuine smile to my lips that I had in years. He was so perfect. I traced his little head with a finger and started humming a song I heard playing on the radio, downstairs. His eyes were closed, and he was eating slowly, and I felt at peace, too.
Perhaps this could work, after all?
But I wasn’t allowed to hope and bask in my momentary happiness, because something even more shocking happened.
Three large bears knocked down the door, breaking it further when they stepped on it, trying to get to me. I ran, naked as I was, aiming to hide in the bathroom, but one of them, the larger one, tackled me, and I fell on my hands and knees. I screamed, not just in fear, but also in pain, because it had been my left arm the one that had broken the fall, since the other was busy holding onto the baby, and I could feel I had hurt myself even worse. It was probably broken for good now, and it hurt – it hurt like Jack’s beatings. Images of his rage, of me on the floor, huddled just like this, flashed through my mind, and I was finding it harder and harder to breathe. My vision blurred, half because of the pain and because of the tears, and all I could do was to make myself as small as I could and endure. Bears. Bloody bears. I was done for now.
Growls and roars, sounds that belonged to beasts, not people, filled the space. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew they had come for me because of the bear boy. One of them yanked me up by the same damned arm, his bear claws leaving marks on my skin, and I screamed again. He tried to take the boy, and I did my best to fight him off, desperate and chaotic.
The other two were growling in the background, and they didn’t sound human-like at all. My body and my mind were in agony. All I knew was that I had to protect the boy. For his dead mother. For myself. For the innocence he represented. Were they the reason the she-bear had been running, or were they family? I didn’t know for sure, and I wasn’t going to let the boy go without some reassurances.
I fought and I screamed, and the brute slapped my face so hard he sent me sprawling against the bathroom door. From there, I had a better view of the situation. There I was, a broken woman, facing three bears set to take the boy and… do what with me? Beat me? Kill me? Why were they here? What did I ever do to these people, or to anyone, to have such bad luck in life?
He didn’t need to wrestle me for the child now. With a broken arm and my strength depleted, I stood and watched him take the boy, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck, like a true animal. And then I watched as he transformed into a human, and passed it to one of his friends, now both human as well, and then returned to me, determined to slowly rip me to pieces.
Somehow, with all of us naked, reduced to just our bodies, our essences, I was even more aware of the disadvantages I had. I was slim, frail, and they were… big and bulky, and probably about as wide as the door they’d knocked down. My ribs had taken the brunt of the damage, and I was a bloody mess, crying and gasping for air. I tried to speak, but fear had frozen my tongue.
God took mercy on me again, and his friends tackled him together, screaming at him to stop.
“For fuck’s sake, Brooks, we’re not cold-blooded killers. Get a grip!”
“No, but she is! And she is going to pay for what she did!”
It was then that the boy struggled out of the man’s arms and shifted as he fell to the floor, then raced to re-join me. The bear cub attached himself to me, and it seemed that he was acting like my shield.
The men were stunned.
I was stunned.
What was going to happen now?
“It looks like he bonded with her,” one of the men said.
Now that we were all at a stand-still and things weren’t violently turning and stumbling in my brain, I took the chance to have a proper look at them.
The one that had snatched the child from me and tried to kill me, the one they called Brooks, was a massive man. They all were, but he seemed bigger. Perhaps due to my fear, perhaps because he was the only one covered in scars, but something else became clear to me then, apart from my unfortunate situation. The bear cub was his. The same blue eyes, the same dark blond hair. It made sense now that he wanted to kill me. I had taken his boy. He couldn’t have known my intentions to care for him. Oh, and his bear wife… did he blame me for her too?
“So, what now, Lincoln? Bitch gets away with her crimes?” Brooks shouted, his nostrils flaring in anger. He hadn’t stopped shooting daggers at me, and I recoiled.
Lincoln looked more like a bear to me than Brooks. He was also tall and muscular, but he had a long beard and kind, green eyes. He looked at me with pity and concern. It hadn’t escaped my notice that he was eyeing my injuries, not my nakedness. Or was that wishful thinking on my part? Could any of these beasts be capable of kindness? Mercy?
“Now we bring her home with us and she can nurse Milo,” the third one said, noting how the shifted bear cub was lapping at my nipple. He wasn’t any less bulky than the others, and his hair was all dreadlocks. He looked wild and scary, especially thanks to the tattoos I could see peppe
ring his arms. They seemed to be trees and leaves, testament of their connection to nature, I assumed. Or were they all part of a gang or cult? I ran my hand through the cub’s fur, a self-soothing action. “Unless you have a better idea. Breast milk is good for cubs. There isn’t another female bear to care for him, and you don’t want to feed Milo human baby food. That shit’s filled with chemicals.”
Ah, so Milo was his name, I thought. Beautiful name for a beautiful boy.
Brooks seemed to be considering it, but he did not seem to agree with them. In the end, though, he sighed.
“Fine, she can come with us. For now. I’ll figure something out, and once her role’s done, she’s dead.”
The men threw a blanket at me, hauled me up, wrapped it around me and Milo, who was still in bear mode, then we all followed Brooks out.
What was going to happen to me now?
Did I leave one hell to end up in another?
Four
Lincoln
Brooks was out of his mind, and for good reason. Colt and I insisted he should take care of Milo and talk to our neighbors about arranging a funeral for Krista, while we made sure the human female didn’t try to escape. We took her deep in the woods, where Brooks had a one-bedroom cabin. He hadn’t used it in a while, and when we opened the door and peeked inside, we noticed it was quite dusty and damp. Well, it would have to do. It wasn’t like the human bitch deserved luxury or whatever.
“Get inside!” I yelled at her as I pushed her through the door. She stumbled and fell. I rolled my eyes.
“What’s wrong with you, anyway?” Colt asked as he crouched down before her. She tried to crawl away from him, but the space was small and crowded with old furniture, and she soon found herself trapped between Colt and the couch. He reached out to touch her face. “Look at me. Who did this to you?”
“N-no one…”
Her voice sounded weak and terrified. I took a deep breath and released it slowly, trying to figure out what we were supposed to do now. It had been Colt’s idea to bring her with us, so she could breastfeed Milo, and I’d agreed at the time. For two reasons: one, I too believed that Milo needed her to nurse him now that his mother was gone, and two, I wasn’t going to let Brooks do something he would later regret. He was temperamental and even violent sometimes, but not to that extent. If he’d killed the human female, his guilty conscience would’ve given him nightmares for months, if not years. And now more than ever, Milo needed a father who was sane and in one piece. Mentally and physically.
So, here we were. Colt and I needed to figure this one out. At least we had this old cabin, and we knew no one from the trailer park ever came here. First things first: we needed to make sure she couldn’t get away, because no, we weren’t going to guard her twenty-four seven.
“Colt,” I snapped my fingers to get his attention. “Go find some wood planks, nails, a hammer. We have to board this place up.”
“Why me?” he whined. He turned and grinned at the female. I could tell he was fascinated with her, which when it came to Colt, was usually bad news. Yep, the guy was a sex addict. And just like me and Brooks, he’d never had a human bitch before. “I’m busy, can’t you see?”
“No, you’re not.” I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to his feet. “Come on, man. We need to do this pronto, and then help Brooks.”
He sighed. “Fine. Whatever.”
“Get dressed. And find me some clothes, too.”
He went to rummage through an old wardrobe and pulled out two pairs of battered jeans and two flannel shirts. Only Brooks could dress like such a cliché. He found two pairs of old boots, too, and in seconds, we were both dressed and looking fairly decent. Finally, Colt left, and I was alone with the female. She looked at me with wide, sapphire-blue eyes. She hugged her knees to her breasts, pulling the blanket tightly around her. I crossed my arms over my bulky chest and looked down at her. She was tall for her species, with long legs and nice curves. Her skin was slightly tanned, and her hair was long, black, and shiny. Too bad she was covered in bruises, scratches, and bloody gashes. I could tell she’d washed herself recently, but that hadn’t done much for her wounds.
“Who are you?” I asked.
My voice startled her. She licked her lips before answering in a trembling voice. “My name is Rosalie. Rosalie Olsen. I’m sorry, I… I didn’t mean to…”
“What?”
She shook her head. “You must think that I stole the child…”
“Isn’t that exactly what you did?” No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep my calm. I raised my voice. Bear shifters were short-tempered. “You rammed into Krista’s car, killed her, and stole her cub! Do you deny it?”
“I did no such thing… It was an accident. And I swear to you, I didn’t hit her. She hit me! I might’ve been going a bit too fast, but… but… I didn’t hit her.”
“Right.” I huffed. “Get off the floor. Sit like a normal person.”
She hesitated at first, but then she probably sensed that I was getting angrier by the second, so she complied. Hugging the blanket around her body, she pulled herself onto the couch. She flinched when I sat right next to her. I moved closer, and she pulled away. I growled at her, and she got the message and stood still as I leaned in and sniffed her. She smelled amazing. No thanks to the cheap shampoo and soap at the motel, though. My shifter nose could catch deep, subtle scents that revealed to me what kind of person she was and what life she’d lived before that terrible accident had changed her fate and ours forever. I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply, and tried to build a picture of her.
“What are you doing?” she whispered fearfully.
“Shut up.”
She swallowed heavily, and I tried to focus. She smelled like someone who liked to cook and bake, care for the plants around the house, and wait for her man with hot pancakes in the evening. She smelled like someone who needed to nurture those around or her life had no meaning. I could understand why the cub had attached himself to her. She was motherly in her own way, though by looking at her body, I could tell she’d never had cubs of her own. I’d seen her naked back at the motel, and when I summoned that imagine, my cock grew slightly hard in my pants.
“Please…”
That snapped me out of my trance. I was almost on top of her, and she was freaking out.
“Please don’t hurt me…”
“As if there’s anything left to hurt,” I snapped. “What happened to you?” I pulled away. Her scent was sweet and intoxicating. If I didn’t watch myself, I was in danger our devouring her whole. I pointed at her black, swollen eye. “Start with that. Who punched you in the face?”
“I… I told you. No one. It’s from the car crash. And then… I ran through the woods… fell a few times.”
“Bullshit.” I grabbed her left arm, and she winced in pain. I checked every inch of it. “It’s not broken.” She let out a sigh of relief. “So, you’re not going to tell me anything? Why were you speeding? You left your car in the middle of the road. Who does that, Rosalie?” She was silent. I cocked an eyebrow. “My guess? Someone who’s running away from something.”
She shook her head gently.
“If you don’t start talking now, I’ll make you,” I growled. I didn’t have time for this crap. I needed to know exactly whom I was dealing with.
“I… I’ll tell you. But I have some questions of my own first.”
“Do you now?” I chuckled darkly. Oh, she was amusing. “Let’s hear one.”
“What are you? Are you… human?”
I threw my head back and laughed. She gasped and jumped slightly, which I understood, really. My laughter was thunderous and tended to scare people.
“The woman in the driver’s seat,” she tried in a shaking voice, “She turned into a bear, and I… I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to call 911, but then… I got scared. You’re like her. The child is like her. What are you?”
“Bear shifters,” I finally said. “Half human, half beast. We
are strong, fast, but apparently, as you proved today, not invincible. You killed one of ours, Rosalie. I hope you know… this will not end well for you. I hope you understand. Brooks will have his revenge.”
“Brooks?”
“Milo’s father.”
“And you are?”
“Lincoln.”
“Oh.”
“And this is Colt,” I pointed at my friend who was just coming through the door. He dumped a pile of wood planks on the floor. I shook my head at him. “Why did you bring them in, idiot? We’re boarding the windows from the outside, so she can’t pull the planks off!”
“Fucking genius you are,” he cursed as he gathered up the wood and tools.
“Well, one of us has to be.”
“Wait… no.” The human female was finally starting to register what was going on here. “You’re… you’re locking me up? Why? I didn’t do anything.” From shocked, she turned to hysterical. “I didn’t cause the accident, I swear! And I didn’t mean to take the child! I just… I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t leave him there…”
I stood up and made to go after Colt. “You keep saying you didn’t do anything.” I tsked. “But you refuse to tell me why you were speeding like a madwoman, why you abandoned your car like that… I’m sorry, Rosalie,” my voice took on a sarcastic tone. “You’re just not very believable.”
She jumped to her feet and limped toward me. I stopped in the threshold. Colt started to nail the planks to the windows, and that made the female shake with fear and anxiety. It was just downing on her that she was in deep, deep trouble.
“It was stolen! The car was stolen!”
I grinned. “You’re a car thief, then?” I studied her from head to toe. Well, she was a fine piece of ass, even with all those green and purple bruises. Some of them must have been weeks old.
“N-no. I had to get away, that’s all.”
“Get away from what? Or whom?”
She furrowed her brows at me. “That’s none of your business,” she spat between gritted teeth. For the first time, she was showing some backbone. “You can’t lock me up. You have no right! Take me to the police. If you think I’m guilty, that’s what you should do.”
