by T. S. Ryder
The passenger door opened and Mary screamed. David slid into the car, naked and bleeding.
"Drive!" he shouted.
Mary scrambled for the keys and was finally able to grab them. Her hands shook as she started the car. The polar bear turned at the noise. The grizzly dodged in, its mouth closing around the other bear's neck. Mary threw the car into reverse and began pulling away.
The polar bear roared. It shoved the grizzly off, slamming it into a tree. The tree cracked and fell, and then came crashing down on the grizzly.
Mary stopped the car, heart in her throat.
"What are you doing?"
She ignored David, changing gears. Her foot stomped hard on the gas and the car shot forward. The polar bear was over the grizzly, its back towards them. Mary's hands were suddenly steady, the buzz of acceleration filling her mind, crowding out all other thoughts.
They hit the bear with a sickening crunch.
***
Andre stumbled to his feet, spasms of pain shooting down his spine to his paws. Easton sprawled on the ground, front paws digging into the earth. His back legs lay useless. Blood gushed from his body, staining his white fur and turning the earth muddy.
He deserves this pain. Andre pinned the larger bear to the ground and closed his mouth around Easton's throat, biting down until he tasted blood. When his enemy was no longer breathing, he left the body.
Mary was just exiting the car. Blood trickled down her forehead, but she otherwise looked unharmed.
Andre repressed his Bear, rushing to her side. "Mary!"
"Don't touch me!"
Andre skidded to a stop. His heart died within him at the look of utter terror in Mary's eyes.
Chapter Thirty Four
Mary sat next to the tent, a hunting knife held loosely in her hands. Her eyes darted between David and Andre, and she visibly shook. David wore some extra clothes he'd packed, but Andre had nothing but a blanket to wrap around his waist towel-style.
Andre didn't know what to say. This moment had played through his mind for so long that all the words were jumbled up in his brain, and there was no clear place to start. He had hoped that he would find something to say while they buried Easton's body, but somehow the silence during that task made it even harder to start now.
"We're Wolves," David said eventually. "You and I, Mary."
"You mean like Werewolves? Is that why I'm always staring at the moon?" her voice was higher pitched than normal and Andre wanted to take her into his arms and soothe her. But he made himself sit still.
"Not Werewolves," David said. "At least, not the Hollywood version. Our transformations are voluntary for the most part. We do have to embrace our Wolf on the night of the full moon, but we aren't mad vicious creatures."
Mary stared at him hard. "Is that why you had to work out of town every month?"
David nodded.
"Why didn't I change?"
Andre found his voice. "It's because the community you grew up in did something to you to stop you from being able to embrace your Wolf, and it erased your memories."
Mary's gaze locked with him and she stopped shaking. She drew in a deep breath and nodded for him to continue.
He told her everything, starting from when they first met on the road when she was running away from her home to try to get a life of her own. He stumbled over parts. Like the consuming rage he felt after her father destroyed his farm which led him to nearly kill her sister, how she had killed her own father when he attacked them and how she was manipulated to returning to her community so Easton could attack. But he left nothing out.
By the time he was finished, night had fallen. The three of them held flashlights while silver stars pierced the navy fabric of the sky.
"I feel like I should think you're crazy," Mary said after he was done. "Werewolves and Bear Shifters and… and soulmates. It's impossible, isn't it?"
"I never believed in soulmates before I met you." Andre found himself looking at the sky, afraid to see Mary's disbelief. "But you believed in them so strongly and when I held you in my arms, I could feel my soul binding itself to yours. You are all I want, Mary. I'll do anything for you, even if it means leaving and never returning."
David got to his feet. "I think I should let you two discuss this in private."
He strode off, and Andre finally found the strength to look at Mary. In the flashlight's glow, her skin was almost translucent. When she shivered again, he realized it wasn't fear, but the cold that made her shake. It was still fairly warm, but she always got cold easily. The hunting knife was on the ground instead of in her hand. A wind blew strands of auburn hair into her eyes.
"You're cold," he whispered. "You should get your sleeping bag."
Mary stayed where she was. "Everything you told me. It sounds… I should be thinking that you must have drugged me somehow. That you and David are in cahoots to drive me crazy and claim insurance or something. It would be saner than believing anything that you just told me. I mean, how could one couple be so damn unlucky?"
Andre laughed despite himself. He nodded. "I know. It sounds impossible."
"But it sounds true. It's like, my heart," Mary touched her chest, "is telling me everything you say is true. It makes sense, somehow. But I just… This morning I thought I was cheating on my husband before a dreadful accident stole all my memories, and now I'm a Wolf without a Wolf, in love with a Grizzly Bear. I don't know how to believe you."
What could he say to convince her? "You could see your brothers and sisters if you want. I think they would be happy to see you alive."
"If they really treated me the way you say, I don't know why I should want to see them." Mary's brow furrowed. "Why should I go back to them? Why should I even care? You said they treated me like a servant. I'm not going to start taking care of people I don't even know."
"You don't have to. But maybe being around other Wolves will trigger something and you'll remember."
Mary sighed. "Are there more Bears coming after us tonight?"
"I don't know. We'll have to push your car into the lake, hopefully hide what happened here. But I can take you wherever you want to go." Andre frowned.
He'd have to find a new vehicle–the car he'd stolen would be reported by now and the last place they wanted to be in was jail.
"I don't know where I want to go. I'm going to bed. When David returns, tell him he's not allowed in the tent."
She stared at him hard for a moment, then crawled into the tent. Andre let out a slow breath as she zipped it up. Well, that could have gone worse. He had to hope that the morning would be better, but at least she had left the knife outside and she had stopped staring at him in horror.
When David returned, Andre got to his feet. "She doesn't want you in the tent. Keep watch out here. I'm going to run patrols."
David nodded, averting his eyes as Andre shed his blanket covering and embraced his Bear. He loped off into the night, praying that the morning would bring good news.
***
They're crazy, Mary thought. Or I am. Either way, what am I supposed to say?
Pale gray light filtered into the tent while the smell of bacon made her stomach rumble. Her fingers danced over her belly. If she was a Wolf and her baby's father was a Bear, what would it be?
When she emerged from the tent, she found David curled under a tree in his Wolf form. She stared at him for a moment, trying to imagine what it would feel like to have four paws and a tail.
Andre was cooking breakfast. His back was to her, the blanket wrapped around his waist. Mary paused a moment, admiring the way his shoulder blades moves so smoothly under his skin. He seemed to glow golden in the early sunlight, his tanned skin looking so delicious that she wanted to taste it.
Her eyes trailed down the length of his spine and the desire to press herself against him and run her hands down his skin, remove the blanket and bring him into her was so strong that she was grateful David was there–otherwise, she might actually give into the t
emptation. Now was not the time to be thinking about sex!
Andre turned and she flushed, sure that her desire could be read in her eyes. If he noticed anything, he didn't mention it. "How are you this morning?"
"No more Bear attacks, so I'm good." She attempted a smile.
David lifted his head. He made a grunting sound and stood, shaking. He disappeared behind the tent and returned a minute later, human and dressed. "I'm leaving."
Mary's jaw dropped. She struggled to recompose herself. He had no reason to stay, now that she thought about it, but she had expected him to. He must have read something in her eyes because he gave her a rueful smile.
"When the Bears attacked the community, the Wolves would have gone to ghost town. It means all the family flee their separate ways and have no contact with one another for at least a month. I need to find my family and make sure they're okay. Besides, you don't need me anymore." He stepped over to Mary and took her hand in his. "I'm sorry that I lied to you. I always liked you. I thought you were kind and beautiful."
Mary nodded, her throat tight.
"I'm glad you found your soulmate again."
"David," she started, but he shook his head.
"I don't expect we'll see each other again, given the circumstances. It'll be for the best. Thank you." David's gaze flickered over to Andre before returning to her. "I know that I met my soulmate long ago, now. Seeing you with yours makes me realize that I need to embrace mine, no matter the consequences."
He offered her a tight-lipped smile and walked away into the forest, not looking back.
Mary watched him go, sad at his departure. Even now, he was the only familiar thing she had. But he was right. It was for the best that he leave.
"It's not safe for me to go back to Chicago, is it?" she asked Andre, trying to distract herself.
"No. But we can go anywhere you want." He handed her a plate of bacon and eggs. "I want to stay with you, Mary. I don't care if you never get your memories back, I want to be with you for the rest of your life. But if you tell me to go, I will go."
She could see how painful the words were for him to say. Without thinking, she found herself moving towards him. Like a magnet, his mouth drew hers. His lips were hot, familiar. Fireworks sparked under her skin as he wrapped his arms around her. She pressed herself to him, losing herself in the sensations. Her body warmed all the way through and a tightness built inside her, something pulling, an almost painful tug deep inside her was begging for him.
"No!"
Mary broke the kiss, heart pounding wildly. She backed away, shaking her head. It was too much. Too powerful. She didn't even know him! This couldn't happen. Her world could not be consumed by one man. And that pull… it was dangerous!
"No." She shook her head. "When we get back to the city, I want you to leave."
Andre stood still. Disbelief and pain were etched into his face. He blinked rapidly and turned away. "Of course," he whispered. "If that's what you want, that's what I will do."
"That's what I want." Mary's voice broke, but she straightened her shoulders. "I'm not hungry. Let's take down the camp. I want to get away from here. Now."
Chapter Thirty Five
Mary couldn't return to Chicago in case there were more Bears waiting for her, so Andre decided to take her west again, far away from her family. The more distance between them, the less likely it would be for more Bears to find her.
He discussed location with Mary, but all she said was she wanted to live in a town or small city. There needed to be enough of a population so she would blend in, however, so Missoula was chosen.
Somewhere on the highway in Illinois and Montana in the new truck–rented this time, albeit with a stolen credit card–Andre had decided his own course of action. The business card Easton had given him with Peter Locke's location was tucked away in his wallet.
Mary didn't want anything to do with him anymore. And he could understand that. After all the trauma she had been through, it was natural that she would find the whole thing terrifying.
As much as he wanted to stay by her side and protect her, the fact was that the best way to keep her safe was to keep his distance. Without her Wolf, other Bears would not recognize her. But they would recognize him.
And that left him with two choices. One was to go back to the Locke family, kill Philip. Then go to the location Peter was being held and kill him, as well, thus ending forever his need for revenge. After that, there would be nothing left for him to live for, so he could join Isadore and Eve in death.
The second choice was to find Peter and help him escape from the Bears. He would then restore Peter Locke to his family, and stand guard and protector over them while they built their new community. The community Peter dreamed about, one that would coexist in peace with other Shifters. Andre would find out how all their children were born with Wolves, and share that knowledge with whatever other Shifter communities he found, so that their species did not die off.
I don't have to do anything with the Lockes, he tried to tell himself. I could just leave them all behind.
Mary shifted in the passenger seat, her green eyes blinking open. She sat a little straighter and rubbed her neck, turning out the window. "Where are we?"
"We're almost in Montana. See the mountains?" He pointed out the window ahead of them.
"I love mountains," Mary sighed.
Andre smiled. "They are great."
Before all this happened, Mary had been determined that one day she would return to her community. Not to stay, but to get her sisters away from the way they were treated there, undereducated and married off at sixteen. At twenty-four, Mary had been considered a spinster when she ran from them. Andre knew that these teenage brides were forced through pregnancies right after another. Mary's own family, with thirteen children despite her mother's frail health, was proof of that.
Even if the Lockes wanted to change the way things were done, even if they broke away from their community to start their own, they had too many internalized principles to really bring about any real change in their lives and the lives of their children. He had to stay, protect Mary's siblings and try to help them build a truly new society.
Mentoring a bunch of Werewolves. You've changed.
But Peter was the one they would actually look up to. They might be grateful for Andre's help in escaping the attacking Bears, but it was only through figures they already respected and followed that change could actually happen. Peter had to come back to lead them to this new life.
"We're coming to a town here soon," he said aloud. "Do you need to stop for anything?"
She shook her head.
Andre tapped his fingers against his thigh. Before they headed out, Mary had given him some of her extra clothes. The skirt felt a little strange to wear, although he had to admit there was a feeling of freedom that came with it that he enjoyed. The shirt was a little snug about the shoulders. His odd outfit had caused a lot of stares when they stopped for gas, but his size and muscle stopped people from commenting.
"Mary, I just want to say… your brothers and sisters will be looked after."
"I asked you before, why should I care about them if they treated me so poorly that I already thought running away was the only escape?"
"It's not quite that simple, Mary. It was more your father and the community, I think." Andre sighed. "In any case, you did care about them. It just got to the point where you had so many responsibilities that you couldn't take care of yourself. The way your father ran things, anything inside was the domain of women. Most of your siblings old enough to help with anything are boys. They weren't expected to do anything around the house. It was all on you."
Mary shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."
They needed to gas up the car in the city, but soon they were on the road again. Soon they were among familiar pines and spruces, dotted occasionally with firs. The roads became curvier and Andre felt himself relaxing.
"Stop the car
."
He turned to see Mary's hands clenched over her stomach. Her eyes were wide and she stared at him with such fright in her gaze that Andre's heart immediately began pounding in his ears. He pulled the car to the side of the road. She fought with her seatbelt a moment. He reached for her instinctively, and to his surprise, she leaned into his embrace. Her arms wrapped around his head and her mouth sought his desperately. Her tongue ran over his lips and he opened them obediently.
His Bear called for her, but as soon as it did, she pulled away.
Andre panted with desire, forcing himself to remain still.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"It's fine. It's… fine." Andre leaned back, tugging his hair out of his bun and combing his fingers through it before he put it back up. "Are you okay?"
"No. I'm not. I'm very far from okay. I don't know why, but I have to stay with you. Thinking about being parted from you breaks my heart. It must be this soulmate thing, but it scares me. My need for you is terrifying and I don't know what to do."
Andre gripped the steering wheel tightly to avoid showing how much his hands were trembling. "I can be patient, Mary."
"That's not what I'm worried about. I don't know if I can." Mary laughed and ran her hand through her hair, mussing it up. Andre thought he might like it better short like this. "I keep wanting you. Then I get scared and have to stop."
"I understand."
She shook her head. "No, you don't. But I can't leave, Andre. I just can't."
He reached out slowly, cupping her face in his hand. Love burned in his heart, lifting his spirit as he leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her open mouth.
***
Two days ago I was a woman without a clue about her life, and now I'm going back to the family I don't remember.
Mary felt dazed as she considered it. Andre was going to go after Peter, wherever the Bears had him. He would bring him back so he could take care of his family. In the meantime, she was going to go stay with the siblings she didn't remember, in a hope that it would help bring her memories back.
