by Meg Ripley
I shifted to human form and stood tall. “Aiden, I assume?”
I watched the crocs, waiting. I ignored the fact that I was naked and standing in the park surrounded by crocodiles. It was a bad position to be in, but I couldn’t show any hint of fear or worry.
As I watched, one of the crocs whipped its tail, then shifted into human form. It was Aiden.
“We meet again,” he said.
“You want to tell me what all this is about?”
“It’s about time, Owen. That’s what this is about.”
I glared at him and balled my hands into fists at my sides. At least I knew that neither of us had traditional weapons. We were both stark naked in the moonlight.
“The crocs have lived under bear rule for long enough,” Aiden said. “We’re sick of it. You all think you run this whole area. You show up at our bars, you take our women, you try to control us, to keep us out. You’re affecting our business. We all just want to make a decent living, and yet, you and your bears won’t allow it. I don’t think we’re asking too much.”
The crocs around him hissed in agreement. Ezra let out a low rumble of a growl.
“The only problem is,” I started, “you think you own the bars that we all go to. You think you own some female that my bear hooked up with? Well, I guess she made her choice, didn’t she? And she saw that bears are the better option. We’re not in the way of your business, if you can call it that. I don’t like people getting scammed, and that’s all you do. But still, we’ve had a peaceful existence here, both of us living in the area. Well, that was until you killed a member of an endangered species and her nest for no reason. Until you got Addie involved in this mess. She has nothing to do with any of this.”
“Oh, yes she does.” His mouth stretched into a broad, toothy smile. “She’s our ticket to getting you to cooperate. You should know that right now, I have my entire clan of crocs surrounding her tent. It will take only seconds for them to move in, tear it down and devour her and her friends. Unless, of course, you want to give up your territory. Give up control of the park and let us run things. Then, your precious girl will be left untouched.”
“I’m not giving anything to you.”
“Then we have no choice.”
Aiden raised his fist in the air. He watched me, giving me every chance to change my mind. When his fingers started to open, I shouted to my clan, Now!
12
Addie
At first, there was just a rustling sound. I groaned. Had we left the trash or some food out for a raccoon to get into? I didn’t worry about animal attacks, especially not from such a small animal, but I didn’t want our things to be destroyed. And I’d hate to think we’d attracted bears or something big to the area where other people might be endangered.
I felt around for the flashlight. When I couldn’t find it, I crept to the edge of the tent.
“What’s going on?” Emma asked, half awake.
“Might be a raccoon outside. I’m going to check.”
“You’re crazy,” she mumbled, then fell back asleep.
The rustling had become louder in the time it took me to move closer to the tent door. I thought I heard voices, too. Maybe campers were setting up a tent nearby. Or someone out hiking had gotten lost.
I peeled down enough of the zipper to peek out, just a tiny bit since I didn’t know what awaited us. If it were something big, like a bear, that would require different actions on my part versus a raccoon. And if there were people out there…
I grabbed my knife and stuck it in my sock. When I pulled down the flap, I squinted in the darkness. Then I saw eyes. Many eyes.
Everywhere I looked, I saw crocodiles. I sat back down, my mind spinning. This was not right. Crocodiles didn’t group like this. They didn’t move into areas and surround people.
I heard the voices again. Were people out there with all these crocs? My heart raced as I peeled the tent flap back again. There was one voice I’d know anywhere. I’d spent years listening to it and years thinking of it. Owen’s voice spoke into the night.
I couldn’t make out what was being said, but he didn’t sound happy. Someone else was with him, someone he was arguing with.
“What are you doing?” Julie asked.
“Stay here. Something’s going on.”
“Don’t go out there!” she insisted.
“No, it’s okay. It’s…Owen.”
“Oh.” She fell back down on her sleeping bag. “Have fun.”
I’d been sleeping in sweatpants and a t-shirt. My flip flops sat right by the door and I quietly moved to slide my feet into them. Then, I unzipped the door even more, going very slowly. I didn’t want to wake Emma and Julie again, and I didn’t want to alert these crocs that I was here and awake.
As I stepped out of the tent, many scaly heads turned my way. I couldn’t count all the crocs surrounding me. My heart raced. What was going on? What would make them act this way?
Then, two men turned to face me, Owen and Aiden. What the hell?
“Owen?”
He looked terrified. Then I noticed that he was naked. And so was Aiden.
In that second, something clicked in my mind. I drew in a slow, deep breath, letting my instincts do their thing. I’d been stupid before. I hadn’t noticed. How could I not have noticed what was going on with Aiden?
Everything made sense now—well, not everything. But one thing was for certain: Owen and I were in a bad position. I didn’t know if I could protect us both. I knew I could take down many of the crocs myself, but I didn’t know if it would be enough.
Owen didn’t make sense to me at all in this moment. Why was he naked? He couldn’t be part of this. I’d offended Aiden, that was clear. Maybe he and Owen had had words after I talked with Owen and they were coming to confront me.
Aiden held out his arm to me, smiling. “Here she is.”
I glared at him. I looked at Owen for some explanation of what was going on. He mouthed, “Run!”
I had a decision to make, and many things ran through my mind in that split second. Several sides to consider, several people I might anger, depending on how I chose. Several lives I might endanger.
I could do as Owen said and run. That would leave him there to fight the crocs and would leave my friends in peril. If I followed my instincts, I could protect everyone—or try—but I would risk something much bigger falling apart.
I looked at Owen’s face, stretched in terror, and made my choice.
I threw myself forward, toward the ground. Before my hands landed palms down in the dirt, everything changed. My spine expanded, my limbs twisted, hair sprouted, and I stood tall, not roaring, though I wanted to. I didn’t want to wake my friends or scare anyone.
And I was most definitely scary in bear form.
I leapt at Aiden. My hind feet hadn’t hit the ground yet by the time he shifted. A dirty croc; I’d missed the scent. I must’ve attributed it to him always being on the boat and around all sorts of water animals. I was so new to this life, and much of it overwhelmed me. I thought I was better at recognizing fellow shifters, and I knew the members of my clan well, but when it came to other shifters, especially of another species, I’d missed it.
Aiden probably hadn’t, though. He must’ve known from the start that I was a shifter. That’s why he’d chosen me over my friends. He could sense the animal in me.
I spun and swatted at Aiden. No time to regret my lack of skills now; there was a fight. I didn’t know what it was about, but I wasn’t about to let Owen get injured by these crocs or because of me. He knew nothing of this life. I might have just endangered him by shifting in front of him. At least Aiden had, too. It wasn’t only on me.
Aiden ducked my swat and his tail came flying around him, whacking me in the side with a hard thump, and I let out a whimper. Behind me, a sudden, mighty roar rent the air.
My head snapped to the bear standing behind me; the bear that had been where Owen was a moment before. For a wild instant, I
thought the bear had attacked Owen. He was nowhere in sight. Then, I took a long sniff in his direction.
No. My mind seized and my body froze. Owen. Owen was the bear. The bear was Owen. Owen was…a shifter? Like me? We were both bears?
It took me too long to recover. In my shock, Aiden jumped on me. I felt his hard scales pressing against me, his teeth at my neck. I stood, and my height alone gave me an advantage against the smaller creature. With my claws extended, I swatted and caught his underbelly. Owen jumped at him, knocking him off me, and Aiden landed with a whine.
But he wasn’t the only croc attacking. The others converged, snapping their jaws and swatting their tails. Owen moved in front of me, protecting me. I wanted to cry, but I turned my back to him, pressed against him, and faced the danger from behind. Back to back, we fought.
I swatted at a croc who advanced. I heard Owen whimper and gashed my claws across the croc’s side. The croc let his jaw open and tried to bite Owen’s foot instead. I reached to claw the croc again and felt teeth at my own foot.
Then I heard two screams. Emma and Julie were awake.
After the screams, I heard roars. I allowed one second’s look away from the fight and saw a group of bears bounding toward us.
Owen stood tall and pounded his chest, and the bears immediately fell in line around us, forming a circle with me at the center.
I felt helpless watching them. I tried to move to the edge to help, but each time, a bear moved me back. They fought hard, and all the while, I kept my eyes on Owen. Even if they wouldn’t let me fight, I wasn’t going to just sit back and watch. I fought my protectors, punching through their legs and reaching past them to claw a croc.
Owen still fought Aiden. Right then, Aiden’s scent was clear as day to me, and I kept my gaze on him. Owen had injured him; I saw him bleeding and he began to limp. But Owen had been injured, too, bleeding from a wound on his back.
I didn’t hear any more screaming, and I hoped that Emma and Julie were okay. I couldn’t get to them, nor could I see them. Their scent lingered in the air. I didn’t pick up a hint of extreme fear or sweat, like they were running or fighting, but I didn’t know for certain if they were okay.
I let out a small whine and craned my head toward them, trying to see. I didn’t know how to communicate with bears like this. My clan was linked through thought when we shifted. But I couldn’t hear Owen or his friends.
I hoped they would understand what I wanted. When I made a move to try to break out of my circle of protection, to go to my friends, they blocked my way.
I heard Emma call my name; she sounded terrified. Owen and I both looked in her direction when she called for me, and it was just enough for Aiden to pounce and get his teeth on Owen’s neck.
The rage in me lit up. Not this asshole; he wasn’t going to kill the man I loved. I jumped more highly than I’d ever jumped in my life, sailing over Owen’s shoulder. I knocked him down with me as I hit the ground.
The three of us landed in a heap and I brought my claws down hard. I swiped a gash in Aiden’s stomach and he let go of his hold on Owen. I could have let it go at that, but I didn’t. I let loose, slashing and clawing at Aiden until he stopped moving.
I put my head near his; I couldn’t tell if it was just my heavy breathing or if he still lived. I wanted certainty, so I drove my claws into his chest and pulled down, tearing him open. When I moved back, my paws covered in croc blood, he was still.
The crocs around me chomped. Owen picked up Aiden’s lifeless body with one paw and held it high, and the bears roared together and lunged. A split second later, the crocs took off running.
As they ran, the bears chased them, but Owen stepped in front of me to stop me from following them. I looked back and saw that we were alone.
“Addie? Where are you?” Julie sounded as scared as Emma had.
I whined again and lurched toward them. Owen stepped in front of me again, running his nose along my neck and nuzzled into me. He circled me, sniffing. Where he found blood, he licked the wound clean. Then, he started licking me all over. From head to paws, he groomed me.
I stood very still, the shock of the event washing over me as I forced my brain to catch up and realize what was going on. Owen, in bear form, was grooming me, in bear form. It was unreal.
I put my head down into my paws; I needed the forest to stop spinning around me. I stumbled over to a tree and threw up for the first time in bear form. Although it was less violent and disgusting than doing so as a human, it was still a strange sensation.
Owen put his bear arms around me and pulled me close to him, his hair enveloping me in warmth. It was even better than a human hug with sharp joints and smooth skin. This was like falling into a huge, cuddly teddy bear of warmth and happiness, and I let my eyes close and didn’t move.
13
Owen
Got him!
Over here!
One more down.
I listened to their fight from a distance. They were doing fine; they didn’t need me. More than that, they knew better. They knew I wouldn’t leave Addie.
They’d all been there, linked to my mind the moment I’d seen it, and the shock crashed over me like a wave. They said plenty when it happened, but I didn’t hear a word of it. My ears were ringing.
When Addie shifted into a bear, my entire world turned upside down. Nothing was what it should have been; I was suddenly in a dream. I thought they’d killed me so quickly, my brain hadn’t caught up yet. I thought anything except that what I saw was real.
Ezra, thank god, had snapped me out of it. He’d said something like, “Dude, you’re an idiot.” The insult had made me see it. All this time, Addie had been a shifter and I hadn’t known? Yeah, I was most definitely an idiot.
As the fight moved and I was left there alone with Addie, the thoughts started to sort themselves out in my mind. How in the world could I have missed this? I took a long sniff of her. Usually, I could tell in an instant when another shifter was near. No matter if it was one of my clan, another bear, or any other shifter species. There was a certain scent that came with shifters. A sort of animal smell, but different: clean and subtler than a wild animal.
Addie’s scent was too familiar; that was the only thing that made sense to me. When I’d first become old enough to shift for the first time, when I’d learned about the shifter life and all that came with it, when I trained and learned what smells were what…all of that had happened when I was already with Addie. Whatever scent she had was something my nose had bypassed. Her deep spice was more like the smell of love to me. The scent of…my mate.
When we’d had sex in the past and the animal was stronger in the air from our sweat, I’d always thought it was me. God, I’d been so stupid. I was too new at it all to pick up the difference in the smell. I’d been too embarrassed, rushing to put on deodorant or take a shower, that I’d never stopped to really smell the scent and learn it and recognize it.
Even after spending so much time apart, she smelled the same to me when I saw her again. That hint of animal that I picked up on her, I’d mistaken for pure lust. Nothing more. I almost laughed at myself, thinking back on it. I thought she wanted me so badly that her lust smelled that attractive to me.
I sniffed every inch of her now, programming my mind to associate this scent I knew so well with a bear. To relearn what I knew of her body. When I put my nose to her neck and inhaled, at first, my bear brain said, “Want.” My body reacted in a lustful way. It was no wonder I’d thought that was all it was. But I forced myself to look at her, to feel her hair, and to keep smelling until my brain corrected itself.
Now, I smelled her sweat. Her bear sweat on her bear skin under her bear hair. And her human was there, underneath it, taking the more subtle place while in this form. I smelled the blood and dirt and cleaned her. I sniffed until I knew every inch of her in this way.
It’s over, Ezra reported. They all took off.
My clan returned to where we sat.
Thank you, all, I said. I…
We know. Ezra sent a wave of warm thoughts to me.
They were all happy, but surprised, to say the least. Everyone was still charged from the fight, but we’d won. The crocs had taken off and none of my guys had been injured too badly; the only one dead was Aiden. The conclave would get a full report and there would be an investigation. There was much to be done, but I wasn’t going to be a part of any of it.
Let me know if you need me. I’ll…be a while.
One by one, they sent me their congratulations. They’d witnessed too much of my despair over the last week to not understand what this moment meant to me.
I shifted back to human form slowly. For a moment, I held Addie, still in bear form, and then she shifted back, awkwardly sitting in my lap. We were both naked.
I pulled her close and hugged her tightly, letting the tears flow down my cheeks. The complete relief of it all washed over me and I kissed her. I kissed her and didn’t want to ever stop.
I was vaguely aware of the bears leaving. Not long after I shifted back, they started to drop off, returning home and back to whatever they were doing before I’d called them.
She cried, too and returned my kiss.
“Your friends are worried about you,” I said after a long while.
I hadn’t let her go to them before. It wasn’t safe, but now, they needed to know their friend was alright. If for no other reason than if they called the Ranger station, someone would come out, and things would get complicated.
“My clothes…” She’d torn everything when she shifted.
“They don’t know?”
She shook her head.
“Give me a minute.” I shifted back and called to Hailey in my mind, who responded quickly, so I shifted back and waited. A few minutes later, Hailey came walking out of the woods, a tote bag between her jaws. She dropped the bag and took off running back into the woods.
