by Willow Wilde
One had slipped a hand across my bare leg, running the strong skin of his calloused hand up my smooth thigh. why couldn't THAT have continued on?
As I dropped to my knees beside the bookcase in my kitchen, popping open the box with the word “Cookbooks” hastily scribbled across it, I noticed one that I thought I had thrown away. It was this delightful cookbook-slash-memoir from an actress whom I’d always taken a liking to. It was part of a birthday gift I’d received about a year ago. As I briefly thought of that night, I felt a pang of anger.
Jim.
The asshole that I was supposed to spend my entire life with. The entire two years we had dated, I thought I had finally found a man who appreciated my curves, even with somewhat unfulfilling sex. Instinctively, I reached for the ring on my finger, feeling its absence as a harsh reminder of his deceit — and his filthy, soul-crushing lies.
Caught in bed with my best friend. The betrayal had crushed me. It hadn’t helped that she was seriously skinnier than I was, and it had the extra layer of pulling up every last insecurity in the book.
Was that why I was here? My gaze lifted from the books in my hands to stare across my house. I had been so upset that I barely fought being sent back to backwoods, rural Utah. After all those years dreaming my way out, two traitors caught in my bed had sent me spiraling right back into its welcome arms.
I set the books in my hands in their spots of the shelf, next to the others. Rising from the floor, I poured myself a glass of iced tea and sauntered towards the back patio again. Gazing over the edge of my glass as I sipped, I decided to myself that I was finally home. I wouldn’t let the past guide me anymore. All those miserable years here…the heartbreak after I had planned my entire life…all that wasted time. None of it mattered anymore. What was important was how I felt about where I was — this beautiful house being a major part of that.
No, all that matters is the present. And for that, well…this is my home now. I took another long sip from the iced tea, my eyes gazing out towards the trees.
For the slightest hint of a second, I thought I saw those faces again, grinning from the woods.
* * * *
A week later, I strolled into the house, ready to make myself something to eat. I was feeling a bit peckish, and had been meaning to try out this new recipe one of the women at the grocery store had told me.
That’s what I love about these small towns, I told myself. Everyone’s so friendly.
But the sound of something falling a few rooms over made me freeze, my head deep in the refrigerator. What the hell was that?
I poked my head out, gazing towards a hallway, and heard nothing else. Eager to figure out what was going on, I closed the refrigerator and wandered towards the source of the noise. This house IS pretty old, I told myself. Maybe something fell off the wall. Surely THAT’S it.
It sounded like it had been my bedroom-turned-office. Flicking on the light, I froze with a gasp.
The room had been torn apart. The drawers were pulled free from my cabinet; their contents were scuffled around the bed. The spare closet door was standing open, and the place was ransacked for whatever was available. The packed boxes on the floor had been ripped open, half-emptied and strewn about on the floor.
Someone’s robbed me! I shouted in my head. What other rooms have they hit?
“Get on the floor,” I heard from a gravelly, older voice. Instinctively I whirled around, coming face to face with the gun that was emerging from behind the door. Attached to it was a grizzly older male, a ski mask pulled down over his face. Tufts of shoulder-length, graying hair poked out from beneath the rim of his mask, but my attention was pulled immediately to his demanding eyes.
“Lady, I said get down on the fucking floor,” he repeated. My eyes immediately flew towards anything, anything within grasp, but I knew it was fruitless. By the time I had my hands around a candlestick holder or the handle of a knife, even if any of that stuff was in here, I would already be dropping to the ground with a few fresh bullets inside me.
I felt myself lowering down to the floor.
“Hands on your head,” he commanded, and I did as I was told.
“You're a...chubby little minx, aren't ya?” The robber told me, out of the blue. “Isn't that right?”
“...Yes,” I answered, shivering with fear.
“That's right, you are...maybe the floor ain't so good a place for you. Maybe I should take you to the bedroom, eh? Want to head in there for a little bit? Of course, my little friend here is gonna be around if you try any funny stuff...” He waved the gun around slightly to give me the picture.
“No, please,” I started to beg. “Take whatever you want. It doesn't matter. Just please don't hurt me.”
The assailant slipped down to a kneeling position beside me, the tip of his gun barely gracing my hair. I shivered in a mixture of fear and...what else? It couldn't be excitement…
With the gun in my back, he had me lead him towards the bedroom, which entailed going back through the main area – including the kitchen, right by the back patio access. As we passed by, something seemed to catch his attention.
“The fuck was that?” I heard him growl. Rising back up, he stumbled towards the glass sliding door onto my backyard, peering towards the woods. “Swear I saw a...a couple of...there's no way. Not near houses,” he muttered to himself.
The intruder was caught in some silent conflict, turning between the glass, holding back the darkness outside, and my thick, shivering body in front.
“Alright, something weird's going on, and you're going to help me get to the bottom of it.”
Are you for real? I thought to myself. His smoldering glare told me a quick, resounding YES, which was enough to rouse me to action. He motioned with the gun and nodded to the glass door, expecting me to go out first.
Did he really see something?
I trembled to the door and fumbled with the mechanism before pushing it open. The motion detector flickered the outdoor light on, and the backyard was as plain as ever.
“Go on,” he growled again, and I reluctantly obeyed. It was beginning to become an unfortunate habit with the unwelcome intruder.
I stepped out onto the patio, and heard the creak of the wood behind me as he followed. Every step further towards the woods sent chills down my spine – I was increasingly aware how easy it would be to dispose of me out there, and wondered how long it would take anyone to find me.
Was I about to become wolf grub? I thought to myself. Are there even wolves out there?
“Pick up the pace,” he irritably grumbled, and I started walking faster. My confidence was shot. Every footfall, I was now convinced, planted me firmer in my grave.
He's going to take me out here and rape me, and then he's going to kill me. Oh god, somebody please help me.
But no help came. I was at the edge of the woods now, and he was right behind me, the gun pointed towards my back. Any sudden movement and it was lights out.
“Huh. Guess it was nothing,” he suddenly murmured. “Alright then. Back inside you go.”
I began walking back towards the house, desperately hoping that he wouldn't open his mouth to command me otherwise. Anything could happen in these woods. But instead of his gravelly voice, I only heard footsteps behind me. That and a growl…
“What the fuck was that?” He shouted, whipping around. “I KNOW I just heard...what the fuck?”
I turned, and spotted what looked like four figures in the trees. I could barely make out their silhouettes, but there were DEFINITELY four tall, broad men, staring at us from the darkness of the treeline. In the shadows, they looked positively terrifying, and I wasn’t sure which party I’d rather have to deal with. But somehow, there was something reassuring about them…
“Who the fuck are you guys?” He growled, aiming his gun between them, unable to decide on a target. “You stay the fuck back, or else I'll shoot.”
“You'll shoot?” A deep, young voice replied.
“I
think our friend just threatened us,” came another.
“Definitely sounds like it,” the first said again. “All in favor?”
“Aye.
“Aye!”
“...Fuck it.”
The silhouettes disappeared backwards into the trees, and there wasn't a sound in the air. The assailant whipped the gun back and forth, clearly on edge. I didn't dare move from my spot, several strides behind him.
All of a sudden, something way back in the trees burst into a glow, and we heard the faint sound of something grinding and crunching in the distance. The glowing ended abruptly, and he turned back towards me, gun in my hand.
“You stay right the fuck there!”
I wasn't moving, but I froze as he bounded past me, desperate to reach the relative safety of the sliding door. It didn't even occur to me to bolt after him as I stood quaking with fear, listening to something lumbering closer and closer…
BEARS! All of a sudden, two massive bears lunged from the treeline, parting around me and diving towards him. He turned just in time to see them coming, and tripped backwards as he tried to raise the gun. The bear swatted the gun aside, apparently wounding him as he shrieked with pain.
How are the neighbors not hearing this? I asked myself stupidly, unable to fixate on the two large bears that were hovering over him now.
“Are you hurt?” The original voice from earlier asked. I turned to face a shirtless hunk of a man, easily a foot taller than me. He was gazing down upon me with concern painted clearly across his face.
“No, I'm...I'm fine, he didn't...what is going on?”
“I'll explain in a moment. If you'll excuse me,” he kindly replied before turning his attention onto my assailant. With a tranquil fury that I could almost FEEL, he marched towards the house, and the sobbing man on the ground.
“Oh God, oh God, I don't want to die,” he was babbling as he cradled his arm in the warm light of the motion detector. Unsure of what to do in light of all of this, I decided to follow the shirtless stranger as he approached the would-be robber.
“Of course it's you,” he mentioned offhandedly, before glancing down at the man's arm. “Oh. That's gotta hurt. You're going to need to get that checked out.”
“What the fuck?!” the assailant stammered, still at the mercy of the bears that were hovering over him. “Where the fuck did you—why aren't the bears--”
“Leave. Now. And never come back. I'm going to keep my eye on you...and if you try to harm anyone else in this town, I will be there, and I will personally ensure that we don't stop at your arm next time...do you understand?”
I was hanging back, away from the bears, but the man on the ground seemed to agree with this. The stranger offered him a hand up, but he instead stumbled to his feet and launched himself through the gate and out into the neighborhood.
The stranger sighed, turning towards me. “You should go back inside.”
“I need to thank you,” I blurted out. The bears seemed docile now, slumping onto their rumps and gazing around. “What happened? There were...four of you, and now...these bears, why are they following you?”
“We really should get going,” he grinned at me, and began walking towards the woods.
I stepped in front of him, placing a hand against his firm, hot chest. “No way. Tell me what the hell is going on.”
“I wouldn't do that if I were you,” a voice mentioned from behind. Pulling my hand free, I whirled around to face the new stranger, who had the same general features as this one.
He must have been one of the others in the woods, I thought to myself.
“These bears aren't acting normal,” I observed. “That guy was right. Something weird is going on. And I just want to know what it is.”
“Are you sure?” The first stranger asked. “Perhaps it would be best for you to go back inside and pretend that none of this ever happened...”
“Look...whatever is going on, I'm incredibly grateful. You just saved my life. But if I don't get some answers and all of you leave right now, I'll wonder about this for the rest of my life. And it's going to drive me insane,” I confessed. “Surely you can spare me that, too?”
“So demanding,” the last man to leave the woods answered.
“...I'll allow it,” the first stranger replied. I turned to face him. “My name is Harrick. These are my brothers.”
There were only two of them, plus the two bears. “Is that counting the...” I gestured towards them. They looked lazy now, observing with some distant curiosity. I was still reeling from the idea of two bears sitting bored in my backyard, let alone all the insanity that had just happened.
“Boys, it's time.” Harrick spoke, his eyes still locked onto mine. The two bears rose up, and within seconds they were glowing brightly, their bodies starting to contort as the air shimmered around them…and within seconds, I was facing a two more handsome, rugged strangers.
All four of the men stepped into line to the side, unthreateningly removing themselves from between the door and myself. “As I said, my brothers,” Harrick explained. “We are the Checker's Grove shifter pack. Either in our bear or human forms, we watch from the shadows of this town, protecting all who enter. As the newest member of the town, we were keeping an eye on you...until we spotted that man in your house, holding you at gunpoint. He won't be causing you any more trouble.”
“Shifter pack?” I was stunned. “How long have you been here?”
“In town? Generations,” Harrick explained.
“I...have to sit down,” I spoke, clutching my head. “Why don't you guys come inside? I just need a moment to think...”
* * * *
The four shifters, still as shirtless and handsome as ever, stood around my living room as I leaned against the counter. They looked exactly like the men in my dreams…and I figured that that was no coincidence, although I didn’t bring it up.
I was sipping a drink. God knows I needed something a little more hardcore than iced tea, so this time I hit the vodka and poured myself a screwdriver.
“So, you guys…the two elderly folks that owned this house before me…they knew about you?”
“Ben and Gertrude, yes,” Harrick thought aloud. It was clear that he was the talker of the group, as the others sort of lazed about. “We have been friends with them for a long time. I was sad to see them go – our father grew up with them before leaving to lead his life in the woods.”
“Your father?”
“Yes, a great shifter,” one of the others replied. “Mightiest there ever was. He defended this town all but singlehandedly. He was the strongest alpha in a hundred miles.”
I nodded thoughtfully. “So, what now? What am I supposed to do with all of this?” I gasped quickly, clutching my hand to my mouth. “No…you’re not going to hurt me, are you?”
They gazed at each other and laughed. Harrick smiled kindly at me. “Of course not. We promised our old friends that we would watch over you and protect you. We aren’t the only wildlife in the woods, and sometimes there are wilder still among your kind…”
I thought back to the burglar who had been so eager to take me hostage.
“…And we honor our promises. We have been keeping an eye on you since the day you arrived to see the house. Well…while you were here, at least.” The other shifters weren’t laughing anymore, but were smiling at me – sincerely, although I sensed something else there. “And it helps that you are tremendously beautiful.”
As soon as the words hit me, I blushed. “Beautiful? You’re too kind, I know you’re just saying that. I know that guys with your figures like something a little less…thick.”
“Do not sell yourself short. Werebears like us crave someone with substance. Skinny girls can’t handle us, nor do they satisfy us. We prefer someone with some meat on their bones…someone with curves. And around one, we go feral with need.”
My jaw dropped, and Harrick immediately looked away, regret in his eyes.
“I’m sorry…I do no
t wish to speak so untoward with you. Forget I said anything.”
“Feral with need, was it?” I asked coyly. “Is that true?”
They glanced between each other and nodded. My gaze turned between them, staring at their strong muscles, rugged beards, rippling bodies…
