Bearly Christmas

by Becca Fanning

  "Her ex? Before Tom? He was a wolf shifter, and he was a piece of shit, from everything I've heard," Sam shook his head angrily. "I don't blame her for not wanting to trust any of us again."

  Lorne was still staring off into space, trying to process what she'd just heard. Dina had mentioned her ex, and Lorne knew with no equivocation her feelings about him, but she had never told her anything about him being a shifter. Why would she keep that from her? Was it that bad that it was a part of her life she never wanted to talk about again?

  "Huh, yeah, I guess," she nodded, realizing that she'd been sitting in silence for at least thirty seconds. "Can you give me a minute?"

  Lorne stood up abruptly, and made her through the crowd once again. Dina caught her eye, and immediately her expression changed from playful to concerned. She hurried towards Lorne, drink in hand.

  "What's wrong?"

  "I was just talking to Sam," Lorne gestured vaguely over her shoulder, in his direction. "He was just telling me about your ex?"

  "Who? Freddy?" A flicker of fear in Dina's voice sent a chill down Lorne's spine, she'd never heard that before.

  "Yeah. Said he was a shifter."

  "He was," Dina replied carefully. "And kind of a dick."

  "You never mentioned that before." Lorne knew that Dina was entitled to tell her or not tell her anything at her discretion, but it bothered her to know that she'd been keeping this, especially if it had hurt her as much as it seemed to.

  "He-" Dina shook her head. "It's not a big deal. He was just a piece of shit, but he's nothing to do with my life any more. I didn't go into detail about him because I wanted people in my life who didn't know about him. Then no-one would see me as his victim anymore, you know?"

  She sounded shaken, it wasn't a tone Lorne was used to hearing out her usually bubbly friend. Dina's expression had hardened, and it was clear she was done talking about Freddy.

  "Sorry I brought him up," Lorne replied emphatically, placing a comforting hand on her arm. "I was just surprised is all."

  "I know," Dina shrugged. "But you shouldn't be letting my dick ex get in the way of you and Sam! Looked like the two of you were really getting on."

  Lorne let a flicker of a smile pass across her face before she could get herself in check.

  "Yeah, he seems cool, I guess." She yawned, suddenly overtaken by tiredness. "I'm exhausted, though. Should probably head to bed."

  "Yeah, I should probably join you," Dina stretched and looked around. "We're missing the last bottle of champagne, anyway, so there's not much point in staying up any longer."

  "Missing a-?" Lorne shook her head. "That's not my problem right now. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

  "Love you," Dina pecked a kiss on her cheek, and turned to leave.

  Lorne stood for a moment by herself, and found her eyes drifting back towards Sam. She was intrigued by him, and she couldn't deny it, ever since she'd split with her last long-term boyfriend, maybe eight months previously, she'd been struggling to find that spark with anyone else. It wasn't that she didn't get on with the boys she ended up on dates with but, at this point in her life, she felt like she'd already dated most of them, the moody, flaky musician, the distracted business guy, the college bro. She'd hit every cliché in the book, and none of them worked out. Maybe her problem was that she was looking for someone too…normal? Perhaps a shifter was what she really needed to shake things up. Sam lifted his head and met her gaze, and she felt a jolt run down her spine, yeah, okay, this was something, even if she couldn't quite put her finger on what. He grinned, and gestured her over, and she went to join him again.

  "Everything okay?" He asked, flashing her that smile again.

  "Yeah, fine," she nodded, " Though we're missing a bottle of champagne, for some reason."

  "I'm pretty sure I saw one of the other bridesmaids sneak off with it," he commented. "Guess you'll just keep an eye out for the super-hungover person tomorrow."

  "Guess so." She felt a little out of practice; it had been a while since she'd flirted with someone for any other reason that because they were on a date and it would have been rude not to. Sam made her feel a little giddy and off-balance, but in the best way possible.

  "I don't suppose you'd like a dance?" He broke the silence, and nodded towards the dance floor. Lorne glanced in the direction of the gyrating crowd; she pretty much had two left feet, but she had a feeling she wouldn't care when she was getting up close and personal with Sam.

  "Sure!"

  Just as they made their way on to the dance floor, the band finished up the jaunty tune they were playing and replaced it with a slower, more intimate number. Lorne felt a flush run up her neck as she watched all the couples around them get closer, arms around waists, hands on shoulders. Sam offered her his hand, and drew her into a perfect waltz position.

  "How are you so good at this?" She mumbled, staring at her feet as she tried to figure out what she was meant to be doing.

  "Sisters. They taught me. I never thought it would come in handy, but…" He trailed off, and for a moment, the chemistry between them was almost unbearable, Lorne would have kissed him right then and there if it hadn't been for all the beady eyes on them.

  "Can I ask you something?" He murmured, breaking the tension. Lorne gratefully nodded.

  "How come the whole…shifter thing doesn't bother you?"

  Lorne shrugged.

  "I've been around normal guys my entire life, and I'm still very single. I figured-" She took a deep breath. "I figured it was probably about time I tried something new."

  "Huh," Sam nodded, and Lorne quickly leant her head against his shoulder. Right now, that was all she wanted him to know, they had the whole wedding weekend to figure things out. The music moved around them, and Lorne closed her eyes, this was the kind of romance she could plan in advance. For a moment, she forgot where she was, what was happening, all the admin she had to deal with tomorrow, she was here with Sam, and that was something. Even if she wasn't sure what yet.

  After the song was done, Lorne excused herself and made her way back up the stairs to her room. Sam had offered to accompany her, but she wasn't ready for that quite yet, and she had the feeling that even sharing a chaste kiss with him would lead to something more. Kicking off her shoes and carefully hanging up her dress, she slipped into bed, and stared out the window on to the angry sea until her eyes drifted shut.

  When Lorne woke up the next morning, at eight, like clockwork, jet lag or no jet lag, she knew something was amiss. Rain was whipping the window, and the wind was howling outside. Fuck. She grabbed her jeans and a t-shirt and hurried down to Dina's room. She had barely lifted her hand to the door when it opened, and she found Tom staring at her, his eyes wide and frazzled.

  "Lorne?"

  "The weather, have you checked with the airstrip? Is everyone still alright to fly out tomorrow?" She asked urgently. They had checked and checked and checked with the weather, but you could never be sure with stuff like this, and it looked like the gods had decided to curse the wedding weekend.

  "Dina's down doing it now, but it really doesn't look good," he warned, and Lorne squeezed her eyes shut. Fuck, how were they meant to deal with this?

  "I'll get everyone downstairs for breakfast in ten. We can work it out then. That work for you?" She demanded, already crunching numbers and making plans in her head.

  "Yeah, sure, I'll see you then," he nodded, and closed the door. Lorne quickly went around the other rooms, pulling out the whole wedding party, until she had everyone arranged in the dining room. She grabbed a coffee and a few slices of toast, she had a feeling she was going to need her strength for whatever the rest of this day had to bring.

  Dina was one of the last to come into the room, and she looked as if she'd been hit by lightning, frazzled, shocked, and not sure what had just happened. She hurried over to Lorne and threw herself down next to her.

  "Looks like we're stuck. No-one's getting off the island for another couple of days, at least. S
hit!"

  The whole table exploded into conversation, until, suddenly, Sam and the other groomsmen seemed to shuffle up in their seats. Lorne looked around, trying to gather some context, but before she had a chance to figure out what was going on, Dina's old college roommate, Maya, had grabbed her and taken her outside. Lorne hurried across to Sam, slipping next to him on the long bench that ran across the length of the table.

  "What's going on?"

  "I don't know," he frowned, watching as the groomsmen grew restless. "I think it's, we think it's another shifter, on the island."

  "What?" Her eyebrows shot up under her bangs. "Are you sure you're not just…I don't know, getting your own scents confused?"

  "Yeah, pretty sure," he replied dryly, and she realized what a dumb question that probably was. "Whatever it is, it doesn't smell like one of us."

  "What do you mean?"

  "It smells like a shifter-wolf," he replied, turning to peer out of one of the windows behind him. The dark sky and heavy rain obscured almost everything, but Lorne swore for a second she could see a figure out there, moving in the dark. She shook her head and turned her attention back to him.

  "Wait, like Freddy?" She murmured, trying to keep her voice low so as not to cause panic.

  "Yeah. And Adam and Maya saw someone on the beach last night, someone they didn't recognize." His voice was grim, and Lorne knew this was serious.

  "So, you're telling me that we're stuck on this island, with no hope of escape, with a psycho werewolf intent on doing…well, nothing good?"

  "And his pack, probably. They rarely go anywhere without their packs." He corrected her. "But other than that, yeah, pretty much."

  "Then we go deal with it," Lorne snarled, taken aback by the amount of vitriol in her own voice. She had never been much one for violence, but remembering the fear in Dina's voice the night before, the look in her eyes, and how she'd avoided all those questions about whatever it was that Freddy had actually done to her, she wanted this fucker far, far away. And she was going to do something about it.

  Sam placed a hand on her arm.

  "We're going to go do a scout of the island. You're welcome to come with me, but please, don't go by yourself, even if it's just him, you could be putting yourself in a whole lot of danger." He warned her and she nodded. She knew he was right, much as she wanted to go out there and take him down all by herself, she had never so much hunted a deer before, let alone a semi-sentient wolf.

  "Can we go now?" She replied urgently. "Just get going already?"

  "Are you sure you want to-"

  "This is about Dina. You're damn right I want to go," she shot back firmly, and stood up. "Meet you back here in fifteen?"

  "Deal," he nodded, and Lorne strode purposefully back to her room. Her heart was beating in her chest, did Dina even know about this yet? How could she not? What exactly had Freddy done to her, and what was his end game plan for turning up here? Even though she knew it was ridiculous, Lorne couldn't help but wonder if he had something to do with the storm. It was the perfect place to strike, secluded, distant, with no hope of escape. She threw on her wet-weather gear, with the wedding taking place on the beach the next morning, she had planned for every possibility, and headed back downstairs to meet Sam. She passed by the security office as she walked, and had a eureka moment. Surely, they'd have something she could use in there. She glanced around and, upon seeing that everyone was distracted, tried the door. It was unlocked. Creeping inside, she went for the cabinet on the opposite wall, managing to jimmy to lock with a pin from her hair, and found it full of weapons.

  Well, this wasn't exactly what she was expecting. She took a deep breath, and picked the biggest, scariest gun off the wall, her fingers closed around the cool metal, and she immediately hoped she didn't have to use it. She wasn't the violent type, and the thought of having to fire this gun at someone scared the shit out of her. She stashed it under her coat, and scurried back outside to see Sam already waiting for her.

  "Ready?" He rubbed his hands together. She noticed that he was hardly dressed for the weather.

  "Don't you need a jacket or something?"

  "Shifter blood. Keeps me warm."

  "Whatever you say," she shrugged, and he led her out, past the glass doors and into the wild of the storm.

  "So, where are we going?" She yelled above the wind, and he gestured to a path that led across the hill behind the hotel and towards the cliffs.

  "There're some caves down there. I'm pretty sure that's where they'll be camping out."

  "What are we waiting for?" She began to stride towards the path, and he hurried to keep up.

  "What's your plan if we find them?" He asked, struggling to match her pace.

  "I ask them to get the fuck out of here and never come back," she replied firmly, feeling a flicker of panic in her chest as she actually thought about confronting them. Whatever they were, these guys weren't invited, social niceties probably weren't at the top of their list.

  "And if they're in wolf form?" He pointed out. She hadn't thought of that. Pausing for a minute, she turned to him and cocked her head.

  "I think bear trumps wolf, no?" She carried on, striding with more purpose.

  "Yeah, but not a pack of them!" he protested. "We'll need-"

  "Let's just call this a reconnaissance mission," she offered in response. "We scour the island to find wherever they're hiding, and then we go back and find everyone and-"

  "Take them on?"

  "If that's what it takes." She replied firmly. She could already see the caves in the distance. Even though she knew she was being belligerent and probably a little stupid, she just wanted to protect Dina, and this was the only way she knew how.

  "This isn't exactly how I pictured spending today," Sam grumbled, and Lorne raised an eyebrow.

  "Oh, really? What did you have in mind?"

  "Well, I was definitely going to pluck up the courage to talk to you sooner than last night," he replied straightforwardly, and Lorne practically spluttered on a mouthful of rain.

  "Sorry, not the time to be hitting on you," Sam acknowledged.

  "You think?" Lorne snapped back, unable to keep the giddy grin off her face.

  "When you're facing a potential pack of wolves with anger issues, I guess it really makes you want to skip the small talk," he shrugged. Lorne noted what felt like a fizz in her chest, even in the circumstances, she couldn't deny the fact that Sam was cute as hell, and they were alone together at last.

  "I promise that when we've dealt with all of this, we can skip all the small talk," she responded, surprised by her own brazenness. Being this forward and this open, it wasn't like her. Maybe it was because he'd dumped a giant secret on her less than a minute after they'd met, but she didn't feel like beating around the bush. Or maybe he was right and it was the giant pack of wolves that were possibly hiding around the next corner.

  He grinned, but before he had a chance to respond, a distant sound echoed off the cliffs. His head snapped round, his expression suddenly fatally serious.

  "What? What is it?" demanded Lorne, desperately scanning the horizon and trying to figure out what bothered him so much.

  "The caves. They're in the caves." He froze stock-still, as if he could hide from them as long as he didn't move too much.

  "There're more than one?" Lorne demanded, taking another few paces forward till she could see into the caves.

  "Yep. And they're close. Don't get-"

  But before he could get the rest of his warning out, Lorne realized that he was right. She could see deep into the cave from this angle, and, stalking around the damp rock, she could make out three, maybe four, wolves.