Bearly Christmas

by Becca Fanning

  His eyes were golden, shimmering like all those of the Best shifter clan, and when he grinned shyly, his teeth were gleaming. He flicked a strand of dark blonde hair from his face, and gave a small, apologetic shrug.

  “That’s what you get for daydreaming on a ladder, I guess,” he mused.

  “Jane,” Elise said, a wry smile playing at her lips, “this is Hart, Dietrich’s cousin. I don’t think you’ve met.”

  * * *

  She could have stayed and talked to Hart, but the messages were plaguing the back of Jane’s mind. He was handsome, like all the Best boys were, but also boyish in his clumsiness despite being one of the eldest. Hartwin Best. Jane loved the German name. It was a wrench to excuse herself and head downstairs, seeking out a decent cell signal, but it had to be done. People in the city were depending on her, and she wasn’t the type to let them down.

  She walked several yards from the huge, ornate frontage of the Rangers’ Lodge, down towards the edge of the woods. It was mid-morning, which meant that the world of offices and phone banks Jane had left behind was just starting to get into full swing. She flicked through the emails on her phone, browsing for the ones which needed urgent replies. Then she stood with the cell glued to her ear, listening to voicemail after voicemail about this, that and the other. Which models were going to get the new Chanel campaign, what shoes should be bought in for the latest ingénue to wear. It was dry stuff, but it really mattered. It could be the difference between whether Jane still had a job this time next year or not.

  She made a few calls, wandering absently as she did so, until she realized that her voice was crackling on the line. Hanging up, she rattled her phone for a signal, only to discover that she had actually walked some way into the woods during her calls. Jane looked around, mildly alarmed by the sight of trees on all sides. There was a bright stream of daylight above her, and the greenery was thick and beautiful, but just a little too thick to see which way was the right one back to the lodge. Jane fired up her phone again, swiping to find Elise’s shining face.

  “I thought you were swamped with calls,” Elise said at once, the playful annoyance still palpable in her tone.

  “Yeah, well… Don’t laugh, but-” Jane began, and at once Elise chuckled. “I said don’t laugh. I wandered out into the trees, maybe only half an hour’s walk, but I’m not sure of the way back.”

  “Did you hear that Isaak?” Elise teased, her voice gentle. “Auntie Jane is lost in the woods already.”

  “Hey, little help here?” Jane pleaded.

  “Sure, I’ll send someone,” Elise said with another laugh.

  Jane thanked her ruefully, then looked around again with a little sigh. It was no use continuing to walk, in case she was walking herself even further away from the lodge, so she found a mossy rock and settled upon it. The signal was just about good enough to still get her instant messages, and soon she was deep into a chat with one of her many assistants about who they’d be sending to New York Fashion Week. It was during this heated debate that Jane thought she heard a few branches breaking somewhere nearby, as if under gentle footsteps. She looked up, hoping for the sight of Dietrich or one of his fellow rangers.

  Instead, she found that she was looking at a shabbily-dressed woman with long, dirty hair. The two women stared at one another for a moment, then the stranger put a lazy smile back on her face. She had a glazed sort of look in her eyes, as though half her mind was somewhere else entirely. The woman certainly wasn’t a hiker, and Jane tried to sound bright and helpful as she returned the woman’s smile.

  “If you’re looking to get out of the woods, I’m waiting for rescue right now,” Jane offered.

  “Get out?” the woman asked. Her voice had the same faraway quality as her glassy eyes. “No way, lady. I’m so good where I am. Like, so good.”

  The shabby woman spun on the spot like a child. She looked up into the foliage overhead, and Jane had a moment of panic as she watched the unsteady creature wobble and almost fall flat on her face. There was something wrong with her, and Jane wondered if she could guess what it was. The drug-users she met in LA were more the uppers and downers type, looking for energy all day and oblivion all night. This woman, Jane decided, had sought out a permanent chillax. The woman stumbled closer and, sure enough, a recognizable smell entered Jane’s nose.

  “Well, you’re enjoying your vacation, aren’t you?” Jane said, now vaguely amused.

  The stranger nodded gleefully, her matted hair flopping with a dull thud. She sat down on the floor in front of Jane, knees crossed like a schoolgirl.

  “You could use some, you know,” the woman mused, “you look all weird and tense.”

  Jane couldn’t pretend that the observation didn’t hurt her. She frowned, then frowned some more as the woman started rifling in the pockets of her shabby coat.

  “Oh no, really,” Jane stammered politely. “I don’t… I mean, I couldn’t take your stash.”

  “It’s no problem,” the merry woman said, still searching her clothes. “I got it gratis. Free sample from the Boys in the Wood.”

  Jane started at that.

  “In the wood?” she repeated. “Are you saying someone dealt drugs to you here, in the park?”

  The woman looked up with a wide smile.

  “Oh yeah,” she said proudly. “Grown here too. It’s good shit.”

  “Grown here?” Jane echoed.

  This was serious. If there was a drugs operation somewhere in the woods, the Best clan needed to know about it. Jane sucked up a breath, choking a little on the foul residue of pot smoke from the stranger, then she set her voice low and serious. It was the kind of tone she used with new interns back at the agency.

  “Listen, honey, you need to tell me where to find the Boys in the Wood, okay?” she coerced.

  “Ah,” the woman said with a giggle. “So you do want a fix.”

  “That’s right,” Jane lied calmly. “So where can I-”

  The question never got its end, for in that moment the shabby woman leapt up with a shriek. She held her hands either side of her head, eyes wide and crazed as she stared at a spot just behind Jane. When Jane turned, she too had a startled moment, for a huge grizzly bear had just emerged not three feet from where she sat. Unlike her addled friend, however, Jane knew what the golden gleam in the bear’s eyes meant. Even more of a giveaway was the strange satchel that the bear had thrown over is massive back.

  “Whoa,” the woman warbled. “I must be freaking or something. A bear with a bag? Am I seeing this right?”

  “I think you’re having a bad experience, honey,” Jane replied. “I, uh, well I don’t see anything there.”

  The woman continued to stare for a moment. The bear, for his part, kept perfectly still, as if he was listening to Jane’s words.

  “Perhaps you’d better go find somewhere dark to lie down?” Jane suggested.

  “Mmm,” the woman said with a nod. “Yeah, ‘kay.”

  The bedraggled stranger wandered off, and as she did so the bear came closer to Jane once again. He was huge and somewhat clumsy in his gait, with streaks of pale brown and dark mixed together, glittering in the sunlight. Jane watched as her savior passed her by and settled into a thick clump of bushes about three feet high. Then, to her amazement, he began to transform.

  She didn’t see much beyond the shrinking of the bear’s huge form, but she heard the pants and cries of strain that followed. There was a cracking sound that shook Jane’s stomach a little, but after that, she heard fumbling and the rustling of leaves. Then, after a moment, Hart popped up in the center of the bush. His torso was bare, and Jane couldn’t help her eyes from roving down his chest, following the dark blonde trail of hair that made a line on his stomach.

  “Sorry about that,” Hart said with a light chuckle. “Gimme a second to throw these clothes on.”

  The bag made sense then. It had looked ridiculous across the huge back of a bear, and it looked even sillier on Hart, with its too-long stra
p making it drag on the floor. But the bag had contained his ranger’s uniform, which he quickly slipped into before stepping out of the bush. He even had shoes to put on. Crazy as the whole thing was, Jane sort of admired his forethought and organization. It was the kind of thing she would have done if she had to shift from one form to another.

  “I didn’t realize they’d send you,” Jane said awkwardly.

  Hart gave her a winning grin.

  “It made sense,” he explained, “since I already had your scent from earlier.”

  “My… scent?” Jane replied.

  Hart stepped closer, and Jane felt the heat from his body as he leaned towards her face. At the last moment, his head deviated to the left and he took a deep breath near to her neck.

  “Carnations,” he mused, “very unusual. You’ve filled the air with beauty for miles.”

  It was a strange, poetic thing to say, and Jane had no idea how to respond to it. All she could do was grin, which seemed to flush Hart’s face with a pinkish glow. He let out that little chuckle again in a burst of nerves.

  “Well, I’d better get you back,” he mused. “Unless, you want me to find your friend? I think I frightened her a little.”

  “Friend?” Jane queried, and then she remembered the woman. “Oh, no, she wasn’t-”

  She paused there, sudden remembrance hitting her. The sight of Hart, she realized with some alarm, had totally thrown her mind out of sync. Not a good problem to have at all.

  “That lady told me that there are some fellas growing pot here in the park,” Jane began.

  Hart’s grin fell, his face turned serious. As they walked, Jane told him what she had discovered, even though she wished she could have spoken of happier things.

  * * *

  “I just can’t believe this is necessary,” Jane said, almost in a gasp, “I mean, he’s fifteen days old.”

  “Dietrich and I talked about it a lot before he was born,” Elise explained. “I’m ready. It’ll be good for him, for his strength, I’m sure of it.”

  Baby Isaak was settled in a wicker basket crib that was way too big for him. The crib was circular and lined with comfy blankets, at least eight feet in diameter. Surrounding the baby were his closest family, whom Jane had gradually been introduced to as the day wore on. Dietrich stood tall and proud beside Elise, his dark features glowing with pride as he gazed upon his son. Beside him was his brother, Ben, equally dark and handsome, standing hand-in-hand with his wife Layla. She had a baby bump of her own to pat down gently, and the sight of it gave Jane that wistful feeling once more.

  “Are we late?” said another voice at the doorway. “Dammit, I knew we were late. I would have bet you-”

  “Kurt,” said a second voice warningly. “Shush. You’ll upset the baby.”

  The voices belonged to Kurt Best, Hart’s little brother, and his girlfriend Stacey. The couple shuffled up to the circumference of the basket, cowed into silence by the occasion. They took up a place beside a wise old woman, who was beaming at the child below her with great admiration. She was Anina, grandmother to all five of the Best boys, and the matriarch of their shifter clan.

  “There, there,” Anina cooed gently. “That’s all your family here, baby boy. Hart, Reinicke, you step up too.”

  Jane watched as the remaining men of the Best clan did as they were told. Reinicke was a brown-haired man, a little taller and slimmer than the rest of his cousins. He wore a deadly serious look as he gazed upon the child in the basket. Hart, on the other hand was relaxed as ever. Across the circle, his golden eyes flashed up and caught Jane’s gaze. She was mortified for a moment to have been caught looking at him, but when he smiled, she managed to smile back. It was a long, languid moment before Hart broke their gaze.

  When Jane’s focus returned to the matter at hand, she could see Elise grinning at her from the corner of her eye. She turned to her with a ‘don’t you dare’ kind of look, and spoke in a hushed tone.

  “So, what happens now?” she asked.

  “The boys awaken the spirit of the bear in Isaak,” Elise explained. “When they transform together, the collective power will inspire Isaak to do the same. Waking his shifter powers ensures he’ll grow up strong, and bonded to the clan. They’ll always be able to find each other if they’re in danger.”

  It sounded like a pretty good security system, but the concept was still a little terrifying. Jane couldn’t believe that she was going to witness a baby turning into a bear, let alone that there would soon be five huge grizzlies in the ample lounge of the Rangers’ Lodge. Elise took her arm, gently guiding her back away from the men. Only Anina remained at the crib’s side, the other four women watching from a distance as the joint transformation begun.

  Some of the men were in clothes, which began to rip apart no sooner than their barrel chests expanded with sudden power. Hart, perhaps more sensible than the others, had worn a robe for the occasion, and he shrugged it off just as the transformation hit him. His lower half was once again obscured by the basket, and Jane felt a pang as she watched his perfect chest and abdomen fade off into fur. Her breath caught in her throat as she gazed around the room, snouts, teeth and claws materializing out of nowhere. Collected together at their time of transformation, Jane had to admit that there was a buzz of something truly magical in the air.

  Isaak began to gurgle, and Elise stepped forward to peer into the crib with concern. Jane found herself standing between the massive heaving forms of Dietrich and Ben as she too took a look at the baby. With a slow, gentle motion, Isaak’s tiny dark hairs were growing thicker on his scalp, then spreading gradually over his little body. He grew with gradual, well-measured amounts, until his face had shifted completely to that of a cub’s. His body soon followed, and the little bear sat up in the wicker basket, now at least fifteen times bigger than he was before.

  Isaak looked to his father, the largest and darkest of the bears, and gave a little grumbling growl. Dietrich returned the noise with a low hum of his own, dipping his nose into the crib to let the cub rub against his face. Each of the Best bears did this in turn, and Isaak bonded with them all gleefully. Even as a bear, he looked innocent and happy. Elise stepped forward, and Anina gave her a little nod.

  “Go on dear,” the old woman cooed, “it’s your turn.”

  Jane watched as Elise put her hand into the crib. Isaak seemed unsure for a moment, but when he ambled over to his mother’s hand, he let her stroke his head.

  “There you are,” Elise soothed gently, “there’s my big strong boy.”

  The bear cub gave another satisfied little grumble, and then Anina clapped her hands together gleefully.

  “All done,” she said, her frail voice brimming with satisfaction. “Let’s all get changed ready for dinner. Stacey and I have made it very special for tonight.”

  Elise’s turned to look at Jane, and her face had fallen just a little.

  “Sauerkraut,” she mouthed, mocking a grimace.

  It was then that the larger bears began to become human again. Jane watched for a moment, fascinated by their retracting claws and shrinking heads, until she realized that she was about to be in the presence of five burly, naked men. She looked away at that, admiring a landscape of Fairhaven on the lounge wall instead as the sounds of grunting and growling turned more human behind her.

  Then, a warm hand took hold of her elbow. Jane turned just a little, relieved to see that Hart had already put his robe back on. His touch sent waves of heat into her body, relaxing her usually-tense arm where he held her. She could feel the warmth of his breath as he spoke in a close, low tone.