Chosen: Gem Creek Bears, Book One

by Snyder, Jennifer

  That this—in the woods, alone—was how I died.

  A massive brown bear made his way straight for me. His gigantic paws pounded against the ground with so much force I could feel the vibrations in the ground. I attempted to get to my feet and make a run for it, my desire to live stronger than ever before, but I couldn’t move fast enough. My limbs were heavy and numb. Even if they hadn’t been, it wouldn’t have mattered because there was no time. The bear was on me in seconds.

  He sniffed my injured ankle, his hot breath rolling against my skin. I held my breath, trying not to move. My vision drifted in and out as whatever poison flowing through my veins pulled me under even more.

  I should play dead, right? Wasn’t that what you were supposed to do with bears?

  He inched his way up my leg, sniffing. A whimper escaped me and I squeezed my eyes shut as I waited for his sharp teeth to sink into me.

  It didn’t happen.

  Instead, the air around me charged with an unfamiliar energy. Was this what happened—what people felt—right before they died? The energy of death? I wanted to fight, to put distance between myself and the bear—myself and death—but I couldn’t. The pain in my ankle became all I could focus on. It made me weak. And it almost made me wish for death to come.

  My eyelids grew heavy, but I struggled to keep them open. To stay awake. A figure stood in front of me. The bear. He was on his hind legs. And then he morphed into a human. A man.

  That couldn’t be right.

  My eyes closed, refusing to remain open for even another second. The unfamiliar energy in the air evaporated as quickly as it had appeared and a hand touched mine.

  “Damn it,” a guy growled. His voice sounded familiar, but it was hard to tell who he was because my ears were still screwing with me.

  “Bear. We need to—” My words were too rushed. I couldn’t straighten my thoughts to form full sentences. My eyes fluttered open. All I saw were the leaves of trees above me before they closed again. “Snake.”

  Strong arms lifted me off the ground and into the air. My cheek pressed against the man’s bare shoulder, and as the darkness and pain of my snakebite raged through me, the scent of lemon cleaner floated to my nose.

  Chapter Eight

  I shifted around in bed uncomfortably. The sheets stuck to my hot skin. It had been a restless night of sleep. I’d dreamt of snakes, bears, and ghostly apparitions chasing me through the woods. The dream was so insane it was hard to figure out which way was up and which was down.

  Wait. Where was I? Whose bed was this?

  My heart pounded as I bolted into a sitting position. The bed was at least a queen and the room was small but airy feeling. The walls were made of wood planks stained a warm toffee color. Opposite the bed was a wall of windows. Two were open, letting in a breeze. There were no photos or personal items that I could see anywhere in the room to help me guess whose it was.

  Something tightly wrapped around my ankle captured my attention.

  I flung the sheets off and spotted a white bandage secured there with lots of tape. The sight of it jogged a memory of me in the woods, hiking to the waterfall. Something had happened. I couldn’t remember what. My mind was too fuzzy. I tried to think of myself starting up the trailhead for the waterfall. When that memory came, others did too.

  In rapid succession.

  Images of the trail, the beautiful waterfall, and the way things had seemed to freeze flashed through my mind. The spirits I’d seen came next. There had been an older woman who spoke to me.

  “In every generation a Mystic is chosen. In this generation, that is you. You are the next Mystic. The magic has chosen you, Tris. So be it, so it is.” Her words repeated through my head.

  What. The. Actual. Hell?

  It hadn’t been a dream. None of it. It was all real. I ran my hand through my hair. How? I’d seen some crazy stuff. An entire waterfall freeze. Ghosts. A bear sniffed my ankle. Hadn’t I also seen that same bear morph into a guy in two-seconds flat?

  No, that couldn’t be right. None of that was logical, which meant that it couldn’t be real.

  “Get it together, Tris,” I whispered to myself.

  I pulled in a deep breath and tucked my hair behind my ears. First things first, I needed to figure out where the heck I was. I scanned the room. Even if the bear I’d saw hadn’t turned into a man, clearly someone had been in the woods with me. They’d brought me here and bandage my ankle.

  I had to have been wrong about the snake that bit me having been a copperhead. I’d be dead from the venom by now if so instead of curled up in someone’s bed.

  My gut twisted, because I knew this wasn’t just anyone’s bed. A woodsy lemon scent clung to the sheets and I could guess whose bed it most likely was.

  Even so, I didn’t call out for Liam, because if I was wrong and some psycho had abducted me—which wouldn’t be the first time this week—I didn’t want to alert them that I was awake.

  Instead, I slipped from the bed and padded across the cool hardwood floors to the wall of windows in front of me as silently as I could. I needed to see where I was. As I tiptoed, I prayed it was Liam’s backyard I saw when I peeked out the windows. The sky was the first thing I noticed. It was streaked with bright orange and pink.

  Was the sun setting or rising? How long had I been out?

  I knew I’d started up the trail in late afternoon. It was possible I’d been out of it for a few hours. I scanned the yard until my gaze landed on a wooden stake in the ground with a plaque that looked familiar. The breath I’d been holding pushed past my lips at the sight.

  That was the trailhead for the waterfall. I was sure of it. This was Liam’s cabin, and I was safe. Thank God.

  I stepped away from the windows and crossed the room to the door. As I twisted the knob, I licked my lips. Knots formed in the pit of my stomach, and I wasn’t sure why. Before I stepped through the door, I pulled in a deep breath. This moment was going to be awkward, no matter what. I’d have to ask him if he’d been following me, a thought that should have freaked me out considering, but didn’t.

  As I stepped out of the room, I noticed there wasn’t a hallway but more of a landing area. There was a banister directly in front of me that seemed to overlook the first level of the cabin. Cathedral ceilings and a gigantic fan caught my eye next. I remembered what this place had looked like on the outside, small, and was surprised by how spacious the interior actually was.

  To my right, the landing continued. There was another door, which I assumed led to a second bedroom or bathroom, and to my left was a staircase.

  Voices floated to my ears from below. One stood out more than any other. Liam’s voice. I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but I knew it was him. I crept to the banister and glanced down into the open living room and kitchen area. People were sandwiched in.

  Liam stood in his living room, facing them all. I could see him clearly from this angle. He was dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a light blue T-shirt. His arms were folded over his chest and a serious expression twisted his face.

  Who were all these people, and what were they doing here?

  I scanned them. There were a few faces I could make out, like Rafe and Rhett, but the rest were either new to me or not facing my way so I couldn’t see their faces. My gaze drifted to Liam again. As though he could feel my eyes on him, he lifted his gaze to lock with mine. My breath hitched. His eyes were bright, weirdly bright, and his jaw was hard set. I couldn’t look away from him.

  I couldn’t breathe.

  Someone stepped to Liam and placed a hand on his bicep. He blinked and so did I, the spell we’d been under suddenly broken. I shifted my gaze to the person who’d snapped us out of whatever the heck that had been and spotted Dottie from the diner. She leaned in and whispered something to Liam before glancing up at me.

  What was she doing here? What was going on?

  Liam nodded to whatever she’d said, and a knowing smirk spread across Dottie’s face. I didn
’t smile back. Instead, I glanced at Liam. Everything about him had softened. His eyes lifted to meet mine again, and then he started toward the stairs that led to where I stood.

  A shiver crept up my spine as he sauntered toward me. His eyes never left me, not even when he ascended the stairs. I tried to read his expression, but couldn’t. The strangeness of the entire situation, and everything I remembered from my hike, was screwing with my mind.

  Did he look like a predator coming at me, or was I overreacting?

  Someone said something from within the group, and everyone filed out of the cabin. I averted my gaze from Liam’s intense stare and let it fall to those leaving. A guy with a moody expression stood near the front door with his arms folded across his chest.

  He had to be the Orsin brother I had yet to meet.

  Liam was almost to me now. My pulse quickened, becoming the only thing I could hear. Sweat built across my palms when he reached the final step to the staircase. I gripped the banister railing tight and shifted to face him. The brightness to his eyes was gone; they were back to their usual shade of brown, but there was still an air to him I couldn’t quite describe.

  “You should go back to bed,” he surprised me by saying. His voice was low, but soft still. The sound of it put me at ease and I released my tight grip on the banister even though he was clearly telling me what I should do. “You need to rest.”

  “I’m fine,” I told him.

  “No. You should still be resting.”

  I frowned. “I think I’m good,” I said. “Really. I’m fine.”

  He scrunched his face up and then relaxed it, as though struggling to remain calm. As though I was somehow being difficult. “I would feel better if you rested a little longer.” He stepped closer. “After everything you’ve been through, more rest would probably be a good thing.” His hand reached out to steer me back toward the bedroom I’d come from. Electricity zipped across my skin as soon as he made contact.

  Could he feel it too? If so, he didn’t let on.

  My feet propelled me in the direction he wanted, even though all I wanted to do was protest. The only thing I could focus on was the odd sensation of static electricity buzzing across my skin where he touched me.

  “What happened? And, who were all those people? What were they doing here?” The questions tumbled from my mouth as he led me back into the bedroom. “Was that Dottie from the diner beside you? What was she doing here?”

  My head hurt as more questions tumbled around inside it. One in particular had my stomach clenching: Had that been some sort of search party gathered to find me?

  “Dottie lives here in the campground,” Liam said. “In one of the RVs.”

  “What?” I asked, unable to help feeling as though I should have been told this at some point already.

  We’d talked about her, Liam and me. He could’ve said she lived here when I’d first mentioned her. Heck, Dottie could have said something when she’d mentioned this place or handed me the directions.

  “She’s lived in the campground for years,” Liam said. He was uncomfortable. It was written in his stance, the way he’d released his touch on me and folded his arms over his chest. The way he suddenly found it hard to meet my gaze. “The others too.”

  I moved to sit on the edge of the bed, exhaling a sigh. When I looked back at Liam, there was a satisfied expression on his face. I was right where he’d wanted me.

  Damn, I sucked at whatever game he was playing.

  Liam ran a hand through his hair and stepped to the wall of windows to peer out. Tension radiated off him, causing unease to coil through my gut. The silence building between us and all the questions swirling through my mind were driving me insane.

  “You brought me here, didn’t you?” I asked. He nodded, but kept his back to me. “How did you know where I was?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  Not the answer I’d been expecting. “Okay. Look, I don’t know what’s going on here, but I have a feeling it’s something strange and not something I want to be part of. I think I’m going to head back to my RV.” I glanced around the room, searching for my backpack and shoes. “Where are my things?”

  “What do you remember?” Liam asked, as he turned to face me.

  I licked my lips. “About what happened on the trail?”

  Images of the things I’d seen flashed through my mind. I couldn’t tell him most of it though because there was no way he’d believe me.

  Or would he?

  “Yes,” he said.

  I cleared my throat before beginning, still unsure of how much I should say. “I made it to the waterfall. On the way back, I was really thirsty. I remember pausing for a second to chug my water and then seeing the snake. I’m not good with knowing when one is poisonous. Clearly, because I thought the one that bit me was a copperhead, which are deadly, but yet here I am. Seemingly fine.” While my rendition wasn’t everything that happened, it was a good amount. At least of all the sane stuff.

  Liam stared at me, as though he was waiting for me to continue. Almost as though he knew there was more to say. Which wasn’t possible. He couldn’t know the things that happened to me while I was at the waterfall. They’d been in my head. I was sure of it. No matter how real I thought what I saw was at the time. It just wasn’t possible.

  Maybe none of this was real. Not Liam. Not this place. Maybe I was still in the trunk of Ezra’s car and had gone into some sort of shock.

  “I need you to be honest with me, Tris,” Liam said. The plea to his words grabbed my attention. “I need you to tell me everything that happened while you were in those woods. Everything that happened at that waterfall.”

  My heart pounded forcefully inside my chest. Something about the way he looked at me let me know that he knew I was hiding something, that I was omitting things.

  How?

  I stared at him, trying to figure it all out, but staring didn’t bring me any closer to knowing Liam in this moment, all it did was form more questions. “Did you follow me into the woods? Or is there another way you knew I was in trouble?” I asked. Even though I knew the answer to both questions. Liam had followed me. He’d been watching me on the trail. His eyes had been the ones I’d felt. I was certain of it.

  What I didn’t understand was why. Why had he been following me?

  “You know the answer to both of those questions,” Liam said, causing my stomach to harden. “I followed you for a good reason, though.”

  My heart pounded. “What reason would that be?”

  His eyes softened for a split second before he built another wall made of brick to hide behind. “I had to make sure you stayed safe.”

  I wanted to make a joke about how he’d missed the mark and point to my snake bite but didn’t. This didn’t seem like the time to make jokes. “Safe from what?” I asked instead.

  “Do you really want to know?” His tone was non-threatening, but alarm rolled through me at his words anyway.

  “Yeah, considering safety has been a real issue for me lately.” I motioned to my bruised cheek.

  “That’s who I was trying to keep you safe from.”

  My eyes widened. “Corbin is here?”

  “Tell me about the waterfall.”

  I bolted from the edge of the bed to stand, ready to run. My flight or fight response kicking in hardcore. “Did he say something to you? Is he staying in one of the RVs?”

  I had to get out of here if so. While I really liked this place, I couldn’t stay if Corbin was here. I froze as a thought rocked through me.

  Was that why Liam had hid me away in his cabin?

  “No. I would never let him stay here,” Liam insisted. His hands gently gripped my shoulders, and he shifted me to face him. “Never.”

  Staring into his eyes, I believed him; I knew he was telling me the truth.

  “But, you said you were making sure I stayed safe from him. Did he follow me?” I didn’t understand.

  “Tell me about the waterfall, Tris
.”

  I shook off his touch. My brows pinched together as irritation rushed beneath my skin. “What about it? It was a freaking waterfall. Rushing water. Prettier than the pictures I saw of it.”

  His jaw tensed. “What did you see while there?”

  I wasn’t about to answer him because it wasn’t his turn. He’d made the rules. He’d started this game. Not me.

  “If Corbin isn’t here, then who were you trying to protect me from?” I asked.

  “Anyone from his pack. No one is here though. Following you was just a precaution.”

  Pack? So, there really was something going on with him and the others he hung with, then. Something weird.

  “Now, tell me what you saw at the waterfall,” he insisted.

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I did.” I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. Knowing Corbin and the others weren’t here was a relief.

  “Try me.”

  He was serious. In fact, there was a part of me that thought he expected me to say something crazy, something impossible. Like he knew it was coming.

  “Weird shit,” I said.

  He grinned. “Care to elaborate a little?”

  “Right, sure,” I said with a smile of my own. It wasn’t there long. “The water froze—and everything else—when I touched it. Then people were behind me, reflected in the waterfall’s surface. A woman stepped forward. She said magic had chosen me, that I’m the next Mystic. It’s all nuts, I know. I told you that you wouldn’t believe me.”

  I averted my gaze from him, my cheeks warm. He probably thought I was certifiably insane. I didn’t blame him. I was still questioning my current mental state myself.

  “I need my stuff,” I said as I cut past him to the door. My things had to be downstairs because they weren’t in here. “I think I should get out of here.”

  Liam caught my wrist, forcing me to a standstill.

  “I don’t think you’re crazy.” His tone was gentle, but there was a sense of truth embedded in it. It had my eyes seeking his. “Do you believe you were bitten by a snake?”

  I arched a brow. What the heck kind of question was that? “Uh, yeah.”