The flames spread along the line of gas. The woman took off running toward the woods. Then, something happened that Kora could not believe.
As she watched, she saw the five men run out of the house. All of them charged forward quickly, angry with rage, heading for the building. She saw Amir, shirtless, and admired his bare chest for a split second until it vanished. Almost all at once, the men leapt forward and became bears.
Their skin sprouted thick fur, their clothing fell to the ground in shreds, and they roared. She looked back at the girl who’d set the fire, horrified for a moment that she was about to be attacked by five bears, but then the girl, too, changed. She became a bear and took off running into the woods.
Soon, they were all out of sight. Kora sat there, stunned, for a long time. She still held the phone in case they’d come running back, but the flames grew and spread.
She should call someone. 911, the cops, anyone. But tell them what? That she’d just seen six people turn into bears and run into the woods? They’d think she was crazy. She stopped filming and went back to the start of the video.
There was the woman, walking around, pouring gas along the building. Then the flames, then the men, then the bears. She hadn’t imagined it. She hadn’t been seeing things. Amir, his friends, and this girl, all turned into huge black bears and ran off.
Part of her thought she’d wake up any minute. This had to be a dream because people didn’t turn into bears. They just didn’t. Plus, there was a building on fire in front of her and she wasn’t doing anything about it. She watched the flames, watched everything Amir and his friends had worked for go up in smoke.
Then someone came back. She took out her phone again. One of the bears was there. He stood up, becoming human again. He was naked and ran toward the house.
Surely, he would call the fire department. They’d come. She had to leave. Now. If someone knew she was there, she might be seen as an accomplice. At the very least, she’d have to answer for why she sat there and didn’t call someone or try to put out the fire when it was still small.
She got up, tucked her phone into her pocket, and ran through the woods back to her car. She wondered, though, if they could smell her. How good was a bear’s sense of smell? Would Amir recognize her somehow? Would he know she’d been there? And what would he think if he knew?
She finally reached her car, got in quickly, and sped off. She was several miles away when she heard sirens and saw flashes of light, and firetrucks tore down the road. Good. At least someone was on their way to put out the fire. She hoped no one would get hurt and that there wouldn’t be too much damage.
She was starting to really like Amir. She may have asked him to coffee to get more info from him, but by the time they parted ways, she was hoping he’d ask her out again. He hadn’t, and she’d actually been disappointed by this.
But at least now she knew. The secret he’d mentioned? Wasn’t something illegal. It was something supernatural. Who cared about moonshine and tax evasion when there were… what? Werebears? Was that what you called them?
Of course she’d heard stories in her childhood. Who hadn’t? People that could shift into animals. Oh, maybe that was it. You called them shifters. Well, they were always portrayed as evil and all the books said if you came across one, you should kill it immediately. But who believed those stories? They were as bad as the ones that said you should stake a vampire.
This was the story. This story, of a group of men who turn into bears, and she had the video to prove it? This could win her huge awards. This was Pulitzer Prize level stuff. She thought about that for a minute as she turned into her driveway. Kora Lane, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist—the one who uncovered the truth about shifters and showed the world.
She’d be famous. She’d be rich. She’d get to cover every story she wanted and wouldn’t have to touch those she didn’t. People would love her. Value her. Esteem her. She could write books. People might even write books about her. This video was her ticket to everything.
As soon as she got in the door, she sent the video to her email, then copied it to her backup drive, then copied it onto her computer. She wanted to have many copies available, from wherever she was.
She sat at her laptop and watched it again, this time on the bigger screen. The picture looked grainier, but it was obvious what was happening. This was no Big Foot sighting video where it was all shadows, and you couldn’t tell what was really going on. You could make out faces. You could clearly see the transformation from human to bear. This was gold.
Kora watched the video again in the morning. It had all happened so late at night and she was so tired, she needed to make sure what she saw was real. As she watched, she was just as amazed as she had been the night before. They had really, truly turned into bears. Crazy.
The only thing left to do was decide what to do about it. Last night, she’d been so sure that she should release the video to the public. Fame and fortune would be hers. But then she’d thought about Amir and his friends and what that would do to them. They’d be hunted. Killed maybe. And for what? So she could be famous? That didn’t seem fair. Though, she had no real loyalty to him. She barely knew him.
She paced across her floor. What to do? Who could she even talk to about this? Not her boss. He’d make her go public. None of her friends would believe her probably. Or they’d tell her to go public, too. That’s what she would have told any of them to do. Give up all that for some guy she met twice and didn’t even know? That was crazy. So what was her hesitation? Why didn’t she want to expose him?
The only thing she could decide on was that she needed to confront Amir. Maybe he had a good explanation for all this. She got in her car and drove over to his house, wondering what she would find.
There were cars everywhere when she pulled in. The building that had been white the day before was now blackened. It still stood, though. It didn’t seem to have too much damage.
She knocked on the door and a man she didn’t recognize answered.
“Can I help you?” he asked. He looked tired and weary.
“Is Amir here?”
“Yeah.” He leaned back to shout into the house, “Amir! Come to the door!”
“Sorry about your building,” she said.
“Yeah.” He glanced out the door toward the building, then ran a hand through his dark hair.
“What’s up, Dax?” Amir said.
The man gestured to her, then held up a hand to wave to her as he walked away.
“Kora. Hi.”
“Hi. I know it’s been a long night for you, with all this.” She motioned toward the building. “But I really need to talk to you.”
He stepped out and closed the door behind him. “What’s going on?”
“Can we walk a little?” She’d worn her flats today, knowing this was her plan all along.
She waited until they were far from the house and the building and anyone’s hearing range.
“Is the building going to be okay?” she asked.
“They think so. It’s all cement block, so not much damage happened. We caught it fast. Did you see it on the news or something?”
“No, actually. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. But first, can I ask, how did the fire start?”
“Arson. Someone came in the night, poured gas around it according to the fire chief, and set it on fire.”
“Did anyone see who did it?”
He shook his head. “We were all inside asleep.”
“But then someone saw the flames and came running out?”
“Eventually. But it was too late.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “So, then, at what point did you turn into bears and chase after the arsonist?”
She’d been watching his face carefully. She wanted to catch any little response he made when she said it. But he just raised an eyebrow.
“I’m sorry?”
“I saw. Last night. I saw you change into a bear.”
He looked at h
er like she was the bizarre one. “Kora, are you okay?”
She put her hands on her hips. “Look. I realize it’s probably part of your shifter duty to keep it a secret and all, but acting like I’m the crazy one won’t work. I know what I saw.”
“And what did you see?” He crossed his arms and widened his feet in a set stance.
“I saw a woman set fire to the building. Then I saw all five of you and your friends run after her. Then, I saw all six of you turn into bears and run off into the woods.”
“And how in the world did you supposedly see all this?”
“There’s no supposedly.” Her tone grew a little sharp. She hadn’t expected him to readily admit it or to be happy that she knew, but this was getting ridiculous. “I was here. You had said something about having a secret and it made me curious. I told you, my boss thinks there’s illegal activity happening here. Moonshine specifically. I thought maybe that was your secret and I came to break in and find out the truth.”
He shook his head and set his jaw. “You were trespassing on my property and now you’re going to come here and make wild accusations?”
She took out her phone. She tapped the screen to go to the video. “Before I show you this, know that I have made multiple copies and backups.”
His eyes narrowed into a glare.
She turned the phone so they could both see, and hit play. When the video ended, she looked at him and waited. His expression was unreadable. Something of shock and panic, she thought.
“Well,” he finally said, softly, as he dropped his arms and hung his head. “Okay. So you know the truth. I can’t deny that. And you’re right. We do need to keep it a secret. Not just for our sake, but also for the sake of others. The world would go crazy if they knew shifters were real. We’d all be hunted, they’d do genetic testing, they’d try to recreate it, they’d try to make new shifters. It would be a disaster. It would destroy life as we know it. I don’t know what you intend to do with that video, but please. Don’t show anyone. Please delete all the copies and don’t tell our secret.”
She looked at him for a moment, considering. “You lied to me.”
“I know, but I had to. You want to know the truth? We do make moonshine, okay? We pay taxes, but maybe not all of them. We pay enough to avoid suspicion, though. We pay our employees, and everything on the honey side is totally legal. Moonshine isn’t illegal. It’s the taxes that get you.”
“Yeah, I know how it works. And now you expect me to take some little moonshine story when I could have the story of the century? You know this would win me the Pulitzer Prize, right? You know I would be totally famous forever? Go down in history.”
He nodded. “I’m sure you would. All I can do is ask you to please not do that. Not for me. If it were just me, I’d take the consequences of my actions and deal with it. But my friends were just trying to catch who did this. They don’t deserve to have their lives torn apart. Or any of the other shifters out there. There’s lots of us, you know.”
“There are?”
“There are. Thousands probably. And honestly, Kora. I’d be worried for your safety. If you exposed us all, they might come after you.”
“Oh, I see.” She crossed her arms and cocked her head at him. “So, now you’re going to try to scare me into silence? Why don’t you just go ahead and threaten me yourself? What will you do if I tell? Will you hunt me down and maul me? Make it look like just a bear attack?”
He shook his head. “I wouldn’t do that. I wouldn’t even threaten you, let alone harm you. Look, Kora, you’re going to do what you want. I get that. But know that this goes far beyond me and you or even my friends. There’s a whole world that would be affected by this. Just think about it.”
“You’re unbelievable. You think you can just lie to me, then make veiled threats and then make it seem like I’m the bad guy? I’m not the one who changes into a bear, Amir!”
He looked around quickly to make sure no one was nearby. “Keep your voice down. I know that, Kora. Like I said, I don’t want you to be hurt, but you should understand what you’re getting into. I would feel awful if I hadn’t at least warned you. If you’re going public, fine. I understand that fame is that important to you.” He shook his head and dropped his eyes. “It’s just a shame. I didn’t think you were like that, but I guess I was wrong. I really liked our coffee date the other day. I was even going to ask you out again. But now I see who you really are. Do whatever you need to do. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
He turned and walked away, leaving her standing there in the woods, alone.Kora took Amir’s words to heart that day as she considered what to do. She was pissed he’d lied to her. And that she hadn’t realized it. She should have known better. There should have been some sign or something. Great investigator she was. She walked into a den of shifters and hadn’t even noticed.
But more than that, she considered what he’d said about the others. Not that they’d come after her. That didn’t concern her much. If she went public, she’d hire a bodyguard and she’d made sure to publicize any threat. That usually worked. If she was as much in the media as she planned to be, it wouldn’t be an issue. No one would want to touch her, and they’d be more afraid of getting caught than she’d be of getting killed. And honestly, there were worse things than going down in history as a famous reporter who was then killed for releasing her story. Not that she’d get to enjoy it, but her fame would be cemented.
No, she did worry about what would happen. Would it really change the world so much? She thought it might. There was a TV show like that once, where vampires were made public and people knew about them. It caused chaos and fear and problem after problem. The vampires were controlled and uncontrollable. In the end, no one won, and they would have been better off staying hidden. Was this the same type of thing?
Would exposing the shifters create some sort of mass hysteria? Would people launch an attack on them? Or try to gather them and register them? Try to control them? She didn’t want to be responsible for the repressing of an entire people group. That was the opposite of what people like her, who believed in the truth and the freedom to express that truth, wanted to get out of life. They wanted to make the world freer and better, not to create more opportunities for control and prejudice.
This was not a decision she could make easily. She got in her car and drove. She found the highway and kept driving. For hours, she got lost in her thoughts and the road. She drove until she didn’t know where she was. She drove until her gas ran out and her bladder was full. Then she pulled into a gas station.
As she pumped her gas, she noticed a man pumping beside her. Thick hair stuck out the top of his tank top and the hair on his arms was dark. Amir was kind of like that. A bit hairy, which had to be because he was a bear. But on Amir, with his dark skin and jet black hair, it was sexy. Not so much on this man. Then a small girl ran to the man and hugged his leg. He reached down and scooped the child up with one arm.
What if this man was a shifter? These were the types of people she had to consider. People with families that might be drawn apart. People with real lives. Though, how many of these shifters hurt people when they changed? Were they like werewolves who were described as out of control and vicious? Did they mercilessly attack?
No. The more she thought about it, what she had seen last night disproved that. They seemed in control. Especially the one who’d come back. They didn’t come off as mindless. If they’d attacked the girl who set fire to their building, well, even humans might do something like that. Couldn’t blame them.
As she finished with her gas and looked one more time at the father and child, her heart gave a pang of longing. But it wasn’t because of what she might do to them if she exposed them. It was that she wanted a child of her own. And a man to love and build a life with.
Joel (BBW Bear Shifter Wedding Romance) (Grizzly Groomsmen Book 5) Page 57
