Guardian Bears: Karl

by Leslie Chase

  “Can it help me?” Allison’s voice was harsh, and her eyes didn’t leave Karl’s.

  “I don’t know. I know that it called to me when I was in Mayfair, and my brother spoke of it too. It made the shift easier for us. Whether that is a good thing for someone in your position, well, that’s the question, isn’t it? Drawing your wolf closer to the surface might make things worse, rather than better – but it will at least make things different, and if you can’t make your peace with her now, then you have to try something.

  “And meanwhile, I will try to send you what help I can from here. We are kin, after all. Maybe I can reach you.”

  “I’ve dreamed of the rocks,” Allison said, sounding a little less upset as she thought about them. She glanced aside from Karl, out into the darkness of the night. North, where the mountains rose from the desert. “I’ve always dreamed of them, they scare me but they call to me, too. And I think my wolf feels the same – at least, from what I remember of being in wolf form.”

  “Good.” Harper seemed happier now that there was a plan. Of course, either way worked out well for him, Karl could see. If Allison could learn to control herself, no doubt Harper would feel very pleased with himself. And if she couldn’t, if whatever force was out there amongst the rocks helped the wolf take her over, that still got the situation over with quickly.

  I haven’t wanted to punch someone so much in a long time, Karl thought, clenching and unclenching his fists. But he didn’t have any better ideas to suggest.

  “We’d best head out there as soon as we can, then,” he told Allison. “Before your wolf gets it in her head to go looking for more hunters. They’ll be after one of us soon enough, anyway.”

  Allison nodded, and picked up the phone. Without so much as a ‘goodbye’ to her uncle, she hung up on him. “One way or another, let’s get this over with.”

  19

  Allison stalked inside silently, not trusting herself to talk to Karl. She barely trusted herself to think, let alone speak – after what she’d learned today, she had far too much to deal with. I’ve got a whole family I didn’t know about. And they can turn into wolves. And they think I should die because I don’t know how to not turn into a wolf.

  She couldn’t think about that. And worse still was Karl, the one man in her life who’d seemed right for her, the man she had just come to trust, promising to kill her! A promise to her own uncle, no less.

  She simply didn’t know how to deal with that. Mostly, what she wanted to do was throw herself into bed and cry. Or maybe eat ice cream and cry. If only she had time for a coping mechanism like that.

  Karl followed close behind her. Not quite close enough to crowd her, but she couldn’t help thinking that he was keeping her in his sights in case he needed to – to do something in a hurry.

  “Will you stop stalking me like that,” she snapped, spinning around to face him. “I’m going to go and pack some things, and then we can go out to the rocks and try the stupid candle trick again. I promise I’m not going to flip out and turn into a murdering wolf if you take your eyes off me for a second.”

  Karl’s face was a closed book to her, aside from the sadness in his eyes. She much preferred the joy she’d seen there earlier, but she supposed that she should be glad he wasn’t happy about the situation. That would have been much worse.

  Storming into her bedroom, she left him behind to start packing her bags again. This time, at least, she had an idea of where she was going.

  From the back of her closet, she retrieved a sleeping bag, a memento of long-ago camping trips she’d never really enjoyed. The tent would be here somewhere too, but she didn’t make the effort to dig it out. The nights were warm enough, and she couldn’t face the idea of being out in the wilderness long enough to need a tent.

  It’ll be over soon, one way or another, she told herself. Karl will see to that.

  The thought made her sob, and for a moment, she looked out of the window longingly.

  I could try to get away. How long would he leave before he came to check on me? I might make it into town by then.

  But that wouldn’t do her any good. The hunters would be looking for her, even if they didn’t know that she was the werewolf – and they’d soon figure it out if they saw her trying to hitch a ride out of town. Even if they didn’t, she couldn’t imagine that she’d outrun Karl for very long. He was an experienced ex-military man who did this kind of thing for a living, while she’d never traveled let alone tried to hide her identity.

  Plus, she didn’t think she’d be able to hide from him even if that wasn’t true. She could feel his presence in the house, feel the strong manly energy of him through some connection that she couldn’t name or understand. The bond between them, between his bear and her wolf, was inescapable, and she knew with a bone-deep certainty that her wolf would always be able to find Karl, no matter what was between them.

  He’d be able to do the same. Running from him wasn’t an option.

  Besides, what if Harper’s right? I certainly don’t have any better ideas than his suggestion. Allison fumed at that as she closed the bag. We might as well try the rocks, because I’ve got nothing to lose. I don’t want to actually kill someone, and that’s where this is going to end up if I don’t do anything about it.

  The growling anger in her soul reminded her that she wasn’t being completely honest. The hunters who were after her, or the men who’d wronged her over the years, those she could happily see dead. Her lips drew back from her teeth at the thought of seeing Kirby dead… and then she snapped her head around to look in the mirror.

  “That’s not me,” she whispered. “That’s the wolf. I don’t want that.”

  Are you sure? I only want what you want. The thought floated up in her mind and she whimpered, pushing it down. Her reflection had a light in her eyes, cold and dangerous, and she forced herself to look away, hugging herself.

  “I don’t want this, I don’t need you!” Her voice was harsh as she whispered, trying to keep Karl from hearing. But whatever the wolf might have thought of her protests, it stayed quiet, letting her stew with her thoughts.

  Outside, she saw lights approaching on the road, and grateful for the distraction, she leaped to the window to see who was coming. There really wasn’t any reason for someone to drive this way at night, not unless they were coming to her place. This is not the time for visitors, she thought. And then froze.

  There were at least four cars coming in their direction, counting the headlights. And leading them was a police cruiser.

  Kirby was coming back for his revenge, and he’d brought friends.

  Piling up food that would be useful on the trip to the rocks, Karl made a list. It was good to have something to focus on while he waited for Allison to pack, and it was important if they were heading out into the wilds to have supplies. Water especially, he thought, very happy to see that Allison had several bottles of the stuff in her cupboards. In this heat, dehydration would be the biggest menace.

  He tried not to pay too much attention to her and what she was doing. Better let her have a moment to think about things in private, he thought. Once we’re headed North, we’ll be stuck together – and right now, I can’t blame her for being angry at me.

  That would only make things worse for her, of course, as she struggled to control the wolf. If she could get some of it out of her system before they left, all the better. He gave her space, trying not to listen in and remembering how he'd talked to his bear when he was a boy. It was only when she called out his name that Karl reacted.

  Leaping to his feet he dashed through to her bedroom, colliding with her in the doorway as she rushed out.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, catching her in his arms and holding her safely as he looked beyond her. No danger seemed to threaten, but she was shaking.

  “They’re here!” Allison didn’t have to say more. Karl could hear the cars approaching, and swore at himself for being complacent.

  On the other h
and, at least this is thoroughly in my skill-set, he thought. I’m a bodyguard, and now I have to keep my client safe.

  He put out of his mind the fact that he’d been hired to kill this particular ‘client’ rather than save her. That was something he didn’t want to dwell on, something that made his insides twist and fury rise in his heart. Having something else to focus on was much, much better.

  Swinging Allison around, he pointed her to the back door and thrust his bag into her arms.

  “Get outside, head towards the rocks,” he told her, letting his military training take over. “Keep low, stay quiet, and keep going no matter what. I’ll be right behind you.”

  Before she could protest, he gave her a push towards the door and turned away. If he let himself watch her go, he didn’t know if he’d have the strength to leave her – and he had to. Someone had to cover her escape, and that was the most important thing in the world to him.

  A small part of him considered the irony of it. Ten minutes ago, he’d never have thought that she would outlive him, but now it seemed like a definite possibility!

  Striding out of the front door, he looked at the cars pulling up outside. Behind him, he heard the back door swing shut and smiled. Allison was out of the building. Now all he had to do was keep the hunters’ eyes on him long enough for her to get some distance before he disengaged.

  “Evening, folks,” he called out, keeping his hands clear of his body and palms facing forward. As long as he was clearly unarmed and not threatening, they shouldn’t open fire – and the longer this could stay a conversation, the longer Allison had. His bear was awake and growling, aware that Allison was leaving and unhappy about it, but he ruthlessly suppressed the urge to shift and charge. More than anything else, he needed time.

  “Good evening, Karl,” Damian said as he got out from one of the cars. Around him, his hunters were hurrying out of their vehicles and taking cover behind them, rifles unslung. So far none of them were pointed directly at Karl, but that wasn’t any great comfort. They were all pointing near him.

  “Deputy Allen here tells me you’ve been defending our werewolf,” the lead hunter continued. “Says that if it wasn’t for you, Mayfair’d be free of the monster now. Why don’t you make up for that and give her up?”

  Karl glanced aside at Kirby, who was getting out of his own vehicle. The deputy’s face was covered in bruises, and his right arm bandaged up. His eyes were full of hatred as he swaggered over to stand beside Damian, shotgun in hand.

  “You send her out to us and I promise I’ll go easy on you,” Kirby said. His voice was rough, a raw whisper. Karl saw the angry dark bruises around the man’s throat and couldn’t help smiling a little.

  “Are you really asking me to hand her over to this mob, Deputy? They’ll kill her.” Karl gestured around to the gun-wielding hunters, keeping his movements slow and careful, not wanting to give anyone an excuse. “If you’re planning to arrest someone for a crime, why don’t you say so? If not, I’d say these folks are causing a disturbance.”

  Kirby’s face darkened under the bruises. “That girl’s a monster,” he spat. “She isn’t human, and she doesn’t get the protection of human laws. Now you step aside and let us deal with her, or you’re in a world of trouble.”

  Shouldn’t have stopped squeezing, Karl thought, looking at the marks on Kirby’s neck. Killing him would have been a mistake, he reminded himself, but his bear was growling in that I-told-you-so tone he hated. He had to admit it would have been satisfying to just tear the man apart.

  “So I told you to forget what you saw, and you went running straight to this band of crazies? How do you think this is going to look on video, Deputy?” Karl nodded past the group to where the hunter’s camera crew were setting up. Kirby just grinned a nasty grin.

  “My job is to protect the community, and taking out a monster is exactly that,” he said. “I don’t see a problem with getting it on camera, and besides, killing a werewolf on film is going to be great news. It’ll show the world that there are monsters out there, and that they can trust me – us – to deal with them.”

  Karl wasn’t sure whether he should be glad he had reacted like this or not. He’d hoped the man would be too cowed by his beating to get in the way, but at least Kirby was more interested in revenge and fame than enforcing the law. If he’d turned up here with the sheriff and some more deputies, this would have been a lot trickier. Fighting lawmen wasn’t good business.

  Taking a step forward, out of the door, Karl looked around at the semicircle of faces watching him. Rough, desperate looking men, all of them focused on one thing. Him.

  Good. As long as they’re watching me, they’re not after Allison. He was glad that their leader didn’t have the military experience he did – if this was a unit rather than a mob, they’d have had people surrounding the house by now, making sure that no one escaped. But these hunters weren’t thinking as a team, they were each operating on their own and that meant that one man could hold all their attention.

  Admittedly, that meant that he was looking at more than a dozen guns, all aimed at him, and he had no backup. Without the rest of his own unit watching out for him, this was a bad place to start a fight. Even a polar bear had limits.

  Time to turn the tables, he thought, smiling more broadly and looking directly into the camera behind the group. “For the record, there’s no werewolf here. And it’s private property, which you are not invited onto. I will defend it accordingly, so fuck off.”

  The crudity was deliberate, something to set off the hotheads as he turned his back and walked into the house. He walked slowly, casually, feeling the familiar itch between his shoulder blades the gunmen took aim. But no one fired.

  It’s hard to shoot someone in the back, for most men. And harder still, knowing you’re on camera. Hard enough that he didn’t think that they’d be able to take the chance. Instead, they shouted at him, a half-dozen speaking at once, talking over each other to demand that he stop.

  No discipline, that’s their problem, Karl thought as he stepped across the threshold and inside, taking himself out of the line of fire and staying beside the open door. Footsteps hurried after him, closing fast. No discipline, and no plan.

  I hope Allison has made it far away by now, because once this kicks off, it’s going to go fast.

  The first of the hunters leaped into the doorway, and Karl grabbed him, swinging him into the wall with a sickening crunch that left the man limp in his hands. Too much to hope that it would be Damian or Kirby through the door first, he grumbled to himself as he snatched up the man’s rifle and dove aside. Someone snapped a shot through the doorway, the blind shot narrowly missing him.

  Karl’s bear was fully awake now, catching the scent of these men who had come to hurt his beloved mate. He grinned, the last weight lifting from his shoulders as he focused on the fight. This was what he was trained for, what he’d lived for in the Army, and there was no doubt in his mind about right and wrong now.

  20

  The sound of the gunshot was sharp and clear across the desert, and Allison skidded to a stop, panting and turning back towards the house. Light shone from the windows like a beacon, and she thought she saw movement. Then another shot rang out, and another.

  Her hands went to her mouth, and her heart raced. She took a step back towards her home, and stopped again, uncertain. I have to go back for him, part of her demanded. I can’t abandon Karl like this.

  Don’t be stupid, she told herself. He would want me to go on, this is his plan. He’s trying to protect me. If I go back there now, then that’s been for nothing.

  The feral part of her soul wanted to run back, too. She felt her body itching all over, as though it was straining to take on a fresh shape. To charge in and attack the hunters pursuing her with tooth and claw. She fought down the urge with every ounce of her willpower, knowing that if she gave in that would be the end of her, one way or another.

  Even if she beat the hunters somehow, she�
�d never come back to herself afterward. Her werewolf soul would have won. Win or lose, Karl’s sacrifice would be for nothing.

  Before she could resolve the fight in her heart, she heard more shots, a rapid string of them, followed by a scream of pain and terror. A roar followed, deep and strong and loud, and she sighed with relief.

  He’s still alive and fighting, she thought. And I should make the most of the chance he’s buying me.

  Running further was out of the question. Allison was surprised that she’d made it this far into the desert at a run, but the adrenaline that had carried her had burned out. Setting off at a steady pace that she thought she could maintain, she groused to herself about the weight of Karl’s pack. The water was important, it would be a lifesaver once the sun came up in the morning, but complaining to herself about it took her mind off the fight that was happening behind her.

  It wasn’t easy to turn her back on the fight, and she had to wonder if she’d ever see her home again. Shut up, she told herself. That doesn’t matter. None of this will matter if I can’t get myself under control.

  Focusing on that task made it easy to keep from worrying about what would happen afterward. She could feel the teeth of her wolf-soul’s hunger nipping at her and tried to ignore that too.

  Her grim trek into the desert night was interrupted by a sound close behind her. With a shocked gasp, she spun around, half-expecting to see one of the hunters closing in. But instead it was Karl, far closer than she’d have thought anyone could get without her noticing.

  The first thing she saw was the grin on his face, the wild and joyful look of a man doing the thing he was best at and winning. It lit her soul on fire to see, and she found herself grinning back, the shadows of her worries banished by his presence.

  The second thing that she noticed was that he was naked. Again. I swear this man can’t keep his clothes on. Not that she minded. If she was going to run from homicidal hunters out for her blood, she might as well have a gorgeous view while she did it.