Bearly Christmas

by Becca Fanning

  Still, as she reminded herself, this was something. And she knew that was a terrible way to think of it. It's just that she had done nothing but work, work, raise Abby, and work some more for the last seven, eight years, she hadn't so much as strayed past the boundaries of her hometown in longer than she cared to remember. It was typical that the first time she did, she ended up stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere attempting to fight off a group of psycho shifters, but still. This was the first thing she'd done purely for herself in years, and it felt…special. Memorable. As long as she got out of it, of course. There would be no story to tell if she didn't make it off the island alive.

  She looked over at the man once again, he was staring grimly out the window, squinting through the rain as if trying to make out something on the distant horizon. Iris had only met him the day before, but she was glad he was here. Something about his presence loosened her tension a little, made her feel safer, even though she knew he was probably just as frightened as she was. What was his name again? Toby? Yes, that sounded about right.

  When Iris had woken up that morning, she'd heard the rain and wind battering against the window, and she'd known that she would probably have to be stuck on the island a little longer, the airstrip was the only way off, and it would be shut down in the bad weather. A quick trip to reception confirmed her suspicions, and she immediately got on the phone to her sister.

  "Iris? What's up?" Her sister's harried voice came down the line. "I saw the weather reports today, is everything-"

  "Ellie, I'm going to be stuck here for at least another couple of days," Iris cut across her, her tone apologetic. She knew this would be a pain for her sister, but there was no way out of it.

  "Seriously?" Her voice was tinged with fear. "Everything's okay, though, it's just the weather?"

  "Yeah," Iris screwed up her face with confusion and glanced out the window. "Why? Did you hear something?"

  "No, no," Ellie brushed off the question. "Just a feeling I got."

  "Are you okay to look after Abby for an extra day or so?" Iris replied, blinking at her reflection in the glass.

  "Of course, of course, don't worry," Ellie's voice notably relaxed. "I love having her here, it's no bother."

  "Can I call later? Talk to her then?" Iris felt a pang of longing for a daughter, but knew she would be out at her soccer training for another couple of hours. Every minute of Abby's schedule was imprinted on to her memory, she always knew what her daughter was up to at any given minute of the day.

  "For sure!" Ellie chirped brightly. "I'll text you when she's back."

  "Thanks, honey," Iris sighed with relief. She knew that Abby was in good hands with her sister, even if Ellie could be a little flaky with everyone else, she was fiercely good with her niece.

  "Talk soon."

  The phone went dead in Iris' hand, and she stared vacantly out the window for a few moments longer. Ellie was right, there was something off. It wasn't just her mad, faux-psychic powers coming into play, Iris could feel it too. Maybe it was the storm closing in, maybe it was something else, but something felt severely out of place.

  It wasn't until later, when she went for breakfast with the rest of the bridal party to try and figure out how to deal with the storm, that Iris put her finger on what was wrong. As soon as she sat down at the table, she could sense something. She knew it would be ridiculous to take a guess, after all, her and Ellie did their best to keep their sixth sense, and the source of it, completely quiet, but she would be damned if she wasn't right. Inching towards the groomsmen's side of the table, she twisted her head towards the five guys crowding the bench, all of them exchanging looks or talking quietly. The tingle of the back of her neck grew stronger, what, all of them? Were all of them like that? Was this deliberate, and did Dina know about it? Before she had a chance to think about any of those questions in greater detail, Iris found herself face-to-face with one of the groomsmen she had been trying so hard not to catch the attention of.

  "Can I help you?" He raised his eyebrows at her, glancing down at the limited space between them as if to draw attention to it.

  "Oh," Iris suddenly realized just how close she was. Their scent, whatever it was, had drawn her nearer than she intended. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

  "Don't worry," the man shook his head. "There's plenty more going on to worry about just now."

  "The storm?" Iris nodded outside, and the guy observed her for a moment before responding.

  "Yeah, the storm," he agreed. "I'm Ian, by the way. You?"

  "Iris," she stuck her hand out. "You think there's something else going on here?"

  He glanced over at the rest of the groomsmen, and, before he had a chance to respond, a few of them jumped to their feet.

  "Wait, wait, what's going on?" Iris demanded, watching with a stab of fear as they glanced around the room, taking in their surroundings. It was clear they had sensed something, though if Iris was right about them, that wasn't much of a surprise.

  "I'm not sure…" Ian got to his feet and strode over to them. Iris tried to place him, she knew she'd seen him last night, but she'd been pretty heavy into the champagne by the time he drifted on to her radar. Who could blame her, it had been months since she'd last had a proper drink. Had they danced? It felt like they'd at least interacted. He was very much drunk-Iris' type. And sober-Iris, if she was admitting it to herself now, he was tall and built, with thick shoulders and long legs that looked as if they'd spent hours in the gym. She had always been a sucker for a guy with a good body, even if there was something about him that was prickling her senses and keeping her guard up.

  She glanced over at the breakfast buffet, it was too early for her to be hungry. Besides, something was going on, and she'd be damned if she wasn't going to find out what it was. She looked up to find Dina, and saw that one of the other bridesmaids was hustling her out of the room. Wait, what was that about? Everyone seemed suddenly to be on edge, and Iris was still trying to put her finger on why.

  Suddenly, it hit her. The sense that something was off, that not everyone in the immediate vicinity was entirely human. She usually only picked up on stuff like that if the shifters in question were a potential danger, and none of these groomsmen looked like much trouble at all. There was something else at play, other shifters. Nearby. And ones with hostile intentions. She felt her stomach drop, and hurried up to the door to find Dina, but she had already come back in, her face white as a sheet. She knew. They all knew.

  Before she had a chance to think any further, Iris sped past the crowds of guests milling in the lobby and back to her room. Her heart was slamming against her chest-it felt as if her blood was bubbling under her skin. That was one of the bad things about the senses she'd inherited, when adrenalin hit, it was hard, fast, and threw her into hardcore panic mode. When she had been giving birth to Abby, she'd almost ripped one of the monitors out of the wall and scared the shit out of all the nurses in the room. As she barrelled up towards her room, taking the stairs two at a time, she slammed straight into a figure she half-recognised. She looked up, and immediately felt her heart rate begin to drop.

  "Ian?" She wrinkled her nose up. Now that she had him by himself, she could tell that the bad vibes she had been getting down in the breakfast room were for sure not coming off of him.

  "Yeah, Iris, right?" He smiled. "Sorry I was so short before, it's all panic stations here."

  "Yeah, I think I figured that out," Iris blinked up at him, and saw that he had speckles of gold in his eyes, much like heir's. Ian cocked his head at her.

  "What do you thinks' going on?" He asked, as if trying to test her. Iris wasn't sure whether to play dumb or not, but quickly settled on being honest, if she was right, then everyone else needed to know too.

  "I think there are shifters on this island," she explained, lowering her voice to conspiratorial levels. "Bad ones."

  "Can you tell the difference?" Ian's eyebrows shot up under his hair, and Iris lifted her chin and nodded. />
  "Yeah."

  "Well, in that case, I imagine you could come in very useful," he took her hand, and she looked down at their interlocked fingers, with surprise, she realized how long it had been since someone had held her hand like that. She quickly pulled her hand free, and shook her head.

  "Look, I'd love to help, but I have a daughter back home," She explained, "I can't…I don't want to…"

  "Why didn't you say something earlier?" He took her hand again, this time leading her downstairs. "They're getting everyone they can, everyone who doesn't want to stay, on a boat off the island. You should go. Come on, hurry."

  Iris scurried down the stairs after him, picking up her feet and feeling a wash of relief. She would be safe. Everything was so chaotic, she still wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but she knew that the sooner she got off this island the better.

  By the time they got to the lobby, it was practically empty, Dina was chatting to one of the other bridesmaids, and Iris sprinted over to her, Ian close behind.

  "Dina?" She gasped. "Ian said…he said you were getting everyone off the island, and I need to-my daughter, if there's any way-"

  "Iris, fuck, shit, I'm so sorry," she shook her head. "We just sent everyone out. The boat's gone."

  "What?" Iris heart dropped again. "So I'm stuck?"

  "Until the storm lifts, yeah," Dina cringed. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

  Iris took a deep breath and glanced over at Ian; he had a dark expression on his face, as if he was already worried about her. But what had he said? That she'd be useful? Well, if she had no choice but to stay, she may as well lend all the help she could.

  "Dina, you need to tell me what's going on," Iris demanded, taking her hand and squeezing it. "You owe me that, at least."

  Dina looked between Ian and Iris, and nodded.

  "It's my ex. He's back on the island. And…he brought his pack."

  "He's a shifter, right?" Iris cut across her briskly. Dina squinted at her with confusion.

  "Yes, but how did you…?"

  "I'll explain later. What can I do to help?" Iris ran a hand through her hair, feeling that adrenalin pulse through her once again. But this time it felt more focused, less hectic.

  "Please, I don’t want anyone else going out there," Dina looked out across the wind and rain-soaked beach in the distance."It's too dangerous. Especially not you, with…you know. Abby."

  "Is there anything I can do while I'm still here?" Iris asked, scanning the room. It was almost empty, it was just the three of them, and the receptionist, who looked as if a bomb had just hit her. Iris didn't blame her, this was supposed to be a sweet wedding weekend, not some kind of epic young-adult shifter battle.

  "We need someone to stand lookout over the hotel," Ian suggested. "And with your…abilities, I imagine you're our best bet. "

  "Right. I'll stay here, try and help out where I can."

  "I'll keep you company," Ian agreed, and offered her an arm. "If you wouldn't mind."

  "Not in the least," Iris nodded, taking his arm and allowing him to lead her back through to the dining room. They took up a spot just next to the windows, and Iris tried to keep focused, all her senses prickling. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, until Ian turned to her and took a deep breath.

  "Look, you know I have to ask." He began, and Iris looked up at him.

  "Ask what? How I know?"

  "Well, yeah," he nodded sheepishly. "I mean, I can tell you're not a shifter, but-"

  "Yeah, I'm not," she agreed. "But my father was."

  "So…you're…?"

  "I'm a half-cut. Sometimes it's genetic and you get the whole shifter thing if your parent has it, but sometimes you just get…stuff." She explained with a shrug.

  "Is that how you can sense other shifters?" He leaned forward with interest. "Sorry, I don't mean to pry, I've just never met someone like you before."

  "Yeah," she looked him up and down. "That's how I know you're one."

  He inhaled sharply, and she could tell she'd taken him off-guard.

  "And that doesn't bother you?" He asked softly.

  "I'd be kind of a hypocrite if it did," she pointed out. "I don't care. I generally get a good sense of whether or not shifters are intending to do me or anyone else any harm. That's why I was running when you bumped into me, I got the feeling that there were shifters on the island who weren't there was the best reasons, and it freaked the shit out of me."

  "But with me…?"

  "Yeah, I don't get that feeling," she smiled reassuringly. "Unless you want to prove me wrong?"

  He laughed for the first time, the sound felt so dissonant to their situation, but it felt good to hear it.

  "Yeah, no, you're fine," he shook his head, still smiling. "But you think these other shifters…?"

  "They certainly don’t have the best intentions, no," she nodded. "But I think we already figured that out, considering pretty much everyone else went out to try and deal with them."

  "You think they're in danger?" He asked, a tinge of fear to his voice.

  "Not mortal danger, no," she shook her head. "I think your pack is stronger than theirs. By the way, how many of you are there? As soon as I sat down this morning, I got a big hit of it, but I couldn't be sure that the other lot weren't messing up my senses."

  "All of us."

  Iris raised her eyebrows in surprise.

  "Does Dina know?"

  "No, no, after everything that went down with Freddy, her ex, the one who's here, we figured she might be put off our type for life." He glanced over his shoulder, as if worried she was waiting there behind him, listening to everything he was saying.

  "She knows about my father," Iris shrugged. "She doesn't know about my…stuff, but she knows about him."

  "Did she ever meet him?" He asked, leaning forward.

  "No," she shook her head, and felt an uncharacteristic prick of tears behind her eyes. "He died before we moved to town."

  "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," he frowned, and reached over to touch her shoulder comfortingly. He was a touchy guy, more than she was used to, but she wasn't complaining.

  "No, no, it's fine," she shook her head. "I just wish I'd known about how he was before he passed."

  "He never told you?"

  "I think he was hoping it would never manifest itself in us. Living in denial, kind of thing, you know." She brushed off the question.

  "When did you find out?" Ian asked, glancing back out over the hills in front of the hotel.

  "My mother told us, me and my sister, when we started to notice stuff. We got feelings about people, and we couldn't figure out what it was, but my mother knew straightaway," Iris looked down at her fingers, fiddling with the jewellery she'd brought along to go with her bridesmaids dress. "He had warned her that it might come out like it did, so she was always keeping an eye out for it."

  "You said you had a daughter," Ian began tentatively. "Does she…?"

  "Not yet, at least, thank God," Iris shook her head. "I hope she never has what me and Ellie have. I mean, it's not as bad as…you know, it's not as disruptive as being a shifter, but sometimes it feels like I don’t have control over the things I feel or the way my body reacts to stuff. I'll just be out at the store picking up some stuff for dinner when boom, I'm totally on edge and my entire body feels like it's fucking vibrating."