by Kim Fox
He caught Beckett’s eye as he approached the group. Beckett was watching him with a tight expression. He was Lani’s brother and was by Matteo’s side when she left. He helped pick up the pieces to his shattered self. Matteo eventually put them back together but the cracks would always be visible. He had never been the same.
She smiled, lighting up the camp more than the bright sun behind her. Her dimples were deeper now that her cheeks had filled out. It was the smile that haunted him throughout the years.
She wrapped her arms around him and his bear purred, vibrating his chest in a way that he hadn’t felt in a long time. It took him by surprise and his body stiffened. Lani pretended not to notice. She pulled back and looked at his face.
“What is on your chin?” she asked, with a twisted mouth, looking at his goatee. “Go shave that thing off.”
She shoved her bags into Matteo’s chest and walked past him to the campfire. “I am pooped,” she said, plopping down into an Adirondack chair.
The rest of the Hudson Crew began approaching when they heard the new voice. Keene walked out of the kitchen with his hands on his hips.
“Look at the size of you,” Lani said with wide eyes. “Did you eat my little Keene?”
“I ate a lot more than that,” he said tapping his stomach. “Nice to see you Lani.”
“I know!” she said, looking around the camp. “I haven’t seen this run down place in years! It hasn’t changed at all.”
Matteo hung back, watching the interaction from a distance. It was like he was in shock after a car crash or on the verge of a battle. He just watched in silence with a tightness swallowing his body.
Ellis approached the campfire holding Alexi’s hand. “Alexi this is my sister Lani,” he said.
Lani jumped up and screamed. She hugged Alexi in an exaggerated show. “So you’re the one who snagged my little Ellis. We’ll talk later,” she said pulling away. “As an older sister I still have to give my approval.” She turned away and plopped back down in the chair.
“Keene be a dear and get me something to eat,” she said. “I’m famished.”
“Would you like to eat it on your way back to your hotel?” he asked.
“Oh you’re so funny,” she said, waving him away.
Ellis cleared his throat. “There’s more Lani. Alexi is pregnant. We’re having a baby.”
“Oh thank God,” Lani said, placing her hand on her chest. “I thought she was just really fat.”
Beckett and Connor were talking by the trucks. Connor was speaking animatedly with his hands and Beckett was shaking his head slowly as he spoke. Matteo couldn’t hear over the thumping in his head.
“Don’t put those bags in the dirt,” Lani said to Matteo. He jerked his head back and glanced down in his arms. He was still holding her bags. “My purse cost three thousand dollars and the bag is a limited addition Gucci. Guccio Gucci gave it to me personally on the set of my last movie.”
Matteo stared back not finding any words.
Amanda came out of the hangar with Finch and Jessica. “Who are those girls?” she asked, her eyes narrowing. “You guys have gone and replaced me?”
“Nobody could replace you,” Keene said. “Thank God.”
“Oh you’re so sweet,” she said, never taking her eyes off Amanda and Jessica.
Finch looked from Lani to Matteo about ten times. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
“I know! It’s such a nice surprise, isn’t it?” she replied.
Finch glanced at Amanda and Jessica. “This is Beckett and Ellis’ sister Lani.”
Amanda stuck out her hand and smiled. “Hi,” she said. “It’s so nice to meet you.”
Lani remained in her seat and looked away from her hand. “Finally the maids are here. A mochaccino and something to eat. Make sure it’s organic.”
Amanda stared at her with her mouth open and her hand frozen in the air.
“Are those two going to come over here or what?” Lani asked looking over her shoulder at Connor and Beckett talking.
“Is that Connor?” Finch asked.
Matteo’s throat was burning. It was like he was watching the scene from another dimension. He felt like a ghost, like he wasn’t really there. As if he was a passive observer watching the scene through a TV screen.
“Will you two come here?” Lani called out, standing up with her arms open, her gold bracelets clanging on her wrists.
Beckett wrapped his arm around Connor’s shoulder and they approached the group. Amanda gulped as the boys walked over. Jessica and Alexi watched with wide eyes as well. Alexi straightened her back and stuck her chest out, and Jessica ran her fingers through her hair as they got closer. Matteo smiled. Connor always had that effect on women.
He was charming, funny, good looking, athletic and always, always had his pick of the women. Matteo had always liked him. Everybody did.
Beckett introduced him to the girls, leaving Amanda for last. “And this is my mate, Amanda,” he said with a proud smile.
“You mated with the maid?” Lani asked. “Yuck.”
Amanda spun on her heels and glared at her with a look that could scare away a vampire. “No. He mated with the pilot.”
Lani shook her hand and smiled the fakest smile that Matteo had ever seen. “I should have known,” she said. “My brother was always attracted to butchy girls.”
Amanda’s face contorted and the veins in her forearm snaked out as she squeezed Lani’s hand with all of her strength.
Lani released her hand and shook out her fingers. “And who are you?” she asked Jessica.
Jessica stepped forward with a shy smile. “I’m Jessica. Finch’s mate. It’s so nice to meet you.”
Lani looked at her with an eyebrow raised. “She’s a little young for you isn’t she Finch?”
Jessica took a step back and took Finch’s hand in hers. “Our bears bonded,” she said. Jessica looked up at her mate and her eyes lit up. “We’re very happy. The age difference doesn’t bother us at all.” Finch leaned down and kissed her on the lips.
Lani rolled her eyes. “Well it should.”
Jessica flinched and opened her mouth.
“Where is Sander and Quint?” Lani asked, looking around in annoyance. “You must all be dying to hear about my life.”
“They’re fishing,” Keene said. “Lucky bears. I’m going to go see if they need any help.”
“You’re so funny,” Lani said, waving him off. “I have to shower. I must look atrocious.” She looked towards the bigger cabin, the alpha’s cabin. “Matteo put my bags in there. And Beckett change the sheets on the bed will you?”
“Actually that’s my bed,” Amanda said, breathing heavily. She pointed to the airplane hangar. “You can sleep in there.”
Lani ignored her. “Beckett you know I have back problems. I need a large bed.” She made a pouting face. “And I’m used to luxury. I stay in the nicest hotels in the world. I’m a regular in the Fouquet’s Barriere in Paris. It costs five thousand dollars a night and they know me by name. Even your place will be hard for me but I’ll manage.”
“You can stay in my cabin,” Matteo said, the words coming out by themselves. “I’ll sleep in the hangar.”
Amanda looked at him with disappointment. She looked like she really wanted to see Lani sleeping on the ground.
“Fine,” Lani said, rolling her eyes. “I guess it will do. There’s people starving in Africa I guess I can spend a few weeks in a small cabin.”
“A few weeks?” Amanda said coughing.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you guys,” she said, her face lighting up. “I’m going to be starring in next summer’s biggest blockbuster with Ryan Gosling.”
“Who is that?” Keene asked.
Lani’s shoulders slumped. “Only the hottest, biggest movie star on the planet.”
“I thought that was Sylvester Stallone,” Keene replied.
“Sly?” she asked, exhaling with her jaw tight. “Whe
n was the last time you got a TV signal up here?”
Keene shrugged.
“Sometimes I forget I’m talking with werebears,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You werebears are always a few steps behind the rest of us.”
“You werebears,” Beckett said. “Last time I checked you had a bear inside you too.”
Lani ignored him and continued. “I’ve been living the good life, hanging out with the hottest celebrities, billionaires, professional athletes and have gotten out of touch with the simps.”
“Simps?” Finch asked.
“Simple people,” she explained. “It’s what we in show business call the regular folk. My director, Marty Scorsese, said that I should go do some research by staying with some commoners and I thought of you guys.”
“Lucky us,” Amanda muttered.
Lani turned towards Matteo and his body stiffened. “Be a dear and put my bags in the cabin. I have to wash up.”
Matteo followed her like a little kitten, clutching her two bags to his chest. “Is that one still yours?” she asked pointing to his cabin. He nodded. “I guess it will do.”
She opened the door and grimaced. “Just leave them here,” she said, glancing at the bags. She stroked his arm when he dropped her bags and his bear grumbled from within.
“So your bear still has a thing for me after all of these years,” she said raising her eyebrow.
“Well once they bond with a mate it’s for life,” he said, wishing it wasn’t true.
“Funny that it wasn’t reciprocal,” she said. “I guess I’m just too human now. I don’t even think I have a werebear in me anymore.”
Matteo jerked his head forward. “What?”
“I haven’t phased in ten years,” she said proudly. “I’m pretty much a regular human right now. I don’t think I could phase even if I wanted to.”
“Ten years?” Matteo asked in shock. How could she keep a bear bottled up inside for a decade? She must be going mad. Well that would explain her behavior. “Lani that’s crazy.”
“No, I’m normal,” she snapped. “Being a werebear is crazy. You people are the freaks.” She slammed the door in Matteo’s face.
Why her? Of all the women on the planet his bear had to bond with her. Lani was rude, selfish and she acted like she was better than everybody. Why couldn’t his bear have picked a nice girl like Jessica or Alexi? Even Amanda would have been better. He didn’t always like her but even she would have been a vast improvement on Lani.
The elders always said that a bear can cut through a person and see the core of their true selves. They have vision. Bears will only bond to a worthy person. Evil will bond to evil, good will bond to good.
If Lani was no good did that mean that Matteo was no good either?
But she hadn’t always been like this. She was a nice kid. Kind and good hearted. Fun and playful. Matteo would always hang out with Beckett at his house just so he could be around her. She was a scrawny kid with curly brown hair and the nicest smile he had ever seen. She would release her bear all of the time and sneak up on Matteo, stand on her two hind legs behind him and roar in his ear. Matteo would scream and run away shaking while she phased back to her human form, dying of laughter.
Lani was very smart as a child and received a scholarship to an exclusive private school an hour away. The school was next to a rich suburban area full of CEO’s, politicians, doctors and lawyers. Their kids all went to the school and from what Matteo gathered there wasn’t one werebear in the group. Something in that school had changed her. After a year of going there she was no longer the fun, goofy kid that she was before. She was never the same again.
Matteo walked back to the group like a soldier walking back to the camp after a long, intense battle.
Connor was speaking to the group. The three girls were listening intensely. “I’m sorry,” he said, with his hands open. “She just walked into my camp and demanded to be driven to you.”
“You should have driven off a cliff,” Keene said.
“Hey you think you have it bad? I drove here from New Hampshire. I had to sit in the car with her for fourteen hours listening to her talk about all of the celebrities that she knows and all of the expensive things that she’s bought.” Connor jutted his head forward. “The first time she had to go pee she made me stop at three bathrooms because she didn’t like the toilet paper. I finally made her go on the side of the highway.”
Ellis chuckled. “I can’t imagine she liked that.”
“She didn’t speak to me for two hours. It was wonderful.” Amanda, Jessica and Alexi all burst out laughing. Beckett looked at Amanda with his eyebrow raised. Connor was always really popular with the ladies. He had charm, humor and looked like he should be traveling around the world on a runway.
“How is it going in New Hampshire?” Matteo asked. Connor had moved there three years ago to start his own business.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I run a kayaking excursion retreat in the mountains with two other bears. They’re good guys.”
“We should go visit,” Amanda said to Beckett. He furled his brow.
“Any ladies?” Keene asked.
Connor shook his head. “Not really. Mostly families or guys trying to get away from their families. Although we do have three city girls from New York coming in next week. They won the trip as a prize so who knows? Might be interesting.”
A bang came from Matteo’s cabin. Connor whipped his head towards the door. “It was nice catching up with you guys but I’m going to take off.”
“You’re not going to stay the night?” Ellis asked.
Connor stared at Matteo’s door with big eyes and shook his head. They said their goodbyes, the three girls hugged him a second longer than necessary, and he jumped in the car.
The door to Matteo’s cabin swung open and Lani walked out wearing a new, designer outfit. “Is Connor leaving?” she asked. “Connor come say goodbye,” she called out.
Connor revved the engine to his Jeep and peeled out of the camp.
“He must not have heard me,” she said walking back to the group.
“So,” Amanda said, with a mischievous look on her face. “If you’re such a big movie star than how come I’ve never heard of you or seen your face before?”
“Amanda,” Beckett warned.
“What?” she asked innocently. “I’m just curious.”
“Well I’m not surprised,” Lani said. “Look around this place. You are on the fringe of civilization. There’s nothing but trees, dirt and bugs. There’s no culture, no art. It’s a cultural vacuum. All you werebears are interested in is eating and shitting in the woods. It’s unnatural.”
“You werebears,” Beckett said. “That’s the second time you’ve said that.” He pointed a finger at her. “You. Are. A. Werebear.”
“I was a werebear,” she said.
“Huh?” Ellis asked. “What are you talking about?”
Matteo spoke up for the first time from the back. “She hasn’t phased in ten years.”
“What?!?” Beckett yelled. “Lani that’s crazy!”
She crossed her arms and shook her head. “No. Changing into an animal is crazy. I’m a human now. I’m normal.”
Beckett grabbed her arms and shook her. “Phase now,” he ordered. “You’re going to drive yourself insane.”
“That explains things,” Amanda said under her breath. Keene chuckled. Beckett flashed them a warning look.
“I’m a human now Beckett,” Lani said. “I’m not going to phase. I don’t even remember how.”
“Then come here,” Ellis said. “I’ll turn you back. I turned Alexi. I can turn you.”
Lani spun around and glared at him. “You turned her? How could you?”
Alexi rubbed her stomach. “I asked him to.”
“You what?” she snapped. “Why would you want to be a werebear? A freak?”
Matteo cringed. So that’s what she thought of him.
A freak.
He had h
eard enough. He turned and ran across camp, phasing in mid stride. He burst into a grizzly bear just before the tree line. His bear skidded in the dirt and turned, trying to get back to his mate.
But Matteo wasn’t having any of it. As hard as his bear pulled, he pulled even harder. His bear slunk his head down and headed into the woods.
Lani laid down on Matteo’s bed and stretched her legs out. Her welcome home wasn’t as warm as she had hoped, especially with that new bitch Amanda, but Matteo was still clearly in love with her and that’s what she was banking on.
She thought back in disgust at the open way that Matteo had just changed into his bear in front of everyone. No regard for the way it made him look. Like a savage. Like a freak of nature.
There was something wrong with these people. The way they just phased in and out, embracing their unnatural, genetic anomaly. It was sad.
Her bear grumbled faintly within. Oh you shut up! She screamed at it. She didn’t like the way that her bear had come back to life. Ever since she hugged Connor at that dreaded kayaking place. Her bear awakened and was getting louder inside her everyday. In New York City she would only hear it on the rarest of occasions. A faint echo of an echo. But now the voice was getting stronger. Louder. It was still controllable but at this rate she would be phasing like a circus freak any day now and all the work of suppressing it over the years would be lost.
She had to get out of here fast. It wouldn’t take long. Matteo was still in love with her and that’s all that she needed.
She would get what she came her for and then leave forever.
And be normal.
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