by Laurie Ames
“He’s right, Amanda. We can just go down there now,” said Dylan.
Amanda felt tears stinging her eyes.
“I know, it’s awful,” said Dylan. “But if we go down there now, we’re just going to get ourselves found out, or worse, killed.”
Amanda looked back at Dylan and nodded in agreement. She knew he was right. So together, the three of them waited for nightfall.
Finally, the sun was beginning to set. The Kermode Bear had stopped pacing and was lying down in the snow. Its white fur made it appear to be almost camouflaged, Amanda thought.
The bear was magnificent and enormous. Amanda could see why someone would want it for a circus act. It was rare and people would pay good money to see it. All the better that the bear understood English and would follow commands.
She watched as the men went into their tents and settled for the night.
Jase signaled to the two of them that it was time to act.
They scaled down the little ridge and came around the side. They could see the tents and the sleeping Kermode Bear. Now came the tricky part, Amanda thought. If Edgar could understand them, he’d be easy to rescue, but if Edgar had been in bear form for too long, things could get out of hand really fast.
She had seen Dylan fight as a bear and didn’t doubt him one bit, but the less danger that he had to be in, the better in her mind. She didn’t want there to be any bloodshed as there had been during her last encounter with the other shifters.
Jase looked back at the two of them and motioned for them to come closer. “Okay, so here’s the plan,” he began. “I’m going to go up to Edgar and try talk to him and see if he can understand. If he understands me, great. I’ll untie him and you two can look through the campsite and see if you can find the antidote. If he doesn’t understand me, then Dylan, you’re going to have to shift. But be careful, because one of these guys could shoot you with the same gun they shot Edgar with, leaving you stuck in bear form. Amanda, are you ready for this?” Jase asked finally.
“I am,” said Amanda.
She looked to Dylan who nodded and they both took a deep breath.
They watched as Jase made his way up towards the large and sleeping bear. Amanda held her breath as Jase reached out to touch it.
The bear stirred slightly, and Jase leaned down to talk to it. The bear seemed to be listening and then got to its feet.
Jase began untying it but then it seemed like the bear fully woke up and didn’t like what was happening. It swatted at Jase, knocking him into a tree, which he hit with a thump, falling unconscious at its base. The bear roared.
“Shit,” said Dylan.
He let go of Amanda’s hand and stepped out into the camp. In the openness, he dropped to his knees and began the transformation. Amanda watched him shift from human to Kermode Spirit Bear in a matter of moments. When he was done, he panted and looked back at Amanda with a growl, as though telling her to get out of the way.
She listened and backed up.
By this time, the camp had come alive with activity. All four of the guys were out of their tents now. One of them grabbed a knife and came at Dylan.
“No!” Amanda shouted.
The other three looked at her. One of them ran towards her. She tried to get away but tripped clumsily on a branch. The one guy then grabbed her by the ankle. He jerked her up to her feet and pulled her face close to his own. She could smell his sour breath.
“Who are you, pretty girl?” he asked her.
She stepped down hard on his instep and he immediately let go of her. Before he could fight back, she grabbed a knife from the sheath on his waist. She held it menacingly up to his throat.
“Don’t move!” she shouted.
The man stalking towards Dylan stopped and looked at her. The other two men had stopped as well.
“Let them go and I won’t hurt you,” Amanda shouted.
“Listen to her!” the guy shouted as he drew a deep breath.
The guy who had been stalking Dylan started laughing out loud. While he was distracted, Dylan brought down a great paw on his head, knocking him to the ground with a sickening crunch.
Amanda cringed briefly and then focused again on the guy who was at the end of her knife.
“Show me where the antidote is,” she demanded.
“What antidote?” he sheepish replied.
Amanda pulled the razor-sharp knife tighter into his jugular vein.
“Okay, okay…take it easy.” The guy then pointed to the tents.
“Which one?” she asked.
“That one, the green one,” he said.
“Take me to it,” she said.
The guy started walking and the other guy in the camp ran off, over the embankment into the forest. Now there were only two of them. The second guy eyed Amanda suspiciously as she looked back and forth at them.
The second guy looked like he was about to get squirrely. Amanda didn’t have time to react when the guy who was leading her spun around and punched her in the jaw.
She fell to the ground and lost her grip on the knife. It went flying across the snow-covered forest.
Dylan roared and charged towards the two men. One of them had a syringed filled with something in his hand. Amanda knew what it had to be. It was the toxin that would keep him in bear form.
She scrambled to get onto her feet and stumbled into the tent, trying to find the antidote. She heard Dylan fighting fiercely out there and Edgar had joined him. Suddenly there were two more crunching noises and then Amanda heard the tent flap flying open.
She whipped around to see Jace, holding his head, peering in at her.
“Did you find it?!” he asked desperately.
“Not yet,” she said, going through bag after bag.
“We need it fast. Edgar doesn’t know who Dylan is and he’s about to fight him.”
“Can’t you hold it off?” Amanda asked.
“I can, but not for long! Hurry!”
Amanda went back to looking for the antidote as she heard Jase shift into his bear form. She heard him growl and join the fight. Finally, she came across a red box that looked like it had medicine in it. Inside there were five syringes. This had to be it.
In the corner of the tent, there was a dart gun. She grabbed it.
She’d never fired one of these in her entire life and had absolutely no idea how to work it. She fumbled loading it, trying to remember that scene in The Lost World where they sedate the Tyrannosaurus rex. It wasn’t helping very much. Finally, something clicked into place and she felt like it had been loaded. She picked it up and hefted it to her shoulder. It was heavier than she had expected.
Outside of the tent, she watched as the fight ensued.
Three white bears were tumbling back and forth in the snow. They became an indistinguishable mass of fur as they flew around, clawing at one another and growling back and forth. Amanda had no idea which one Edgar was.
She didn’t know who to aim for.
She watched them fight for a moment, hoping that maybe there would be some kind of sign that would tell her which one was Dylan, but she couldn’t tell them apart at all.
Finally, she yelled.
“Hey! Over here!” she called. “Guys! Change back now!”
The three bears turned to face her. The two on the outside seemed to have understood her because they stopped and looked directly at Amanda. Slowly, they began to shift back into their human forms. Two naked men were standing there.
In the center, Edgar reared onto two legs and then began to charge at Amanda.
She pulled the trigger and hit him squarely in the shoulder.
He was still coming.
She dropped the gun and started to run.
She could hear his roar changing into a scream and suddenly she was tackled from behind. She scrambled to get away and the guys came to her aid. They pulled a naked and confused Edgar off of her.
“Hey!” Jase said to Edgar.
“Jase?” Edgar asked, c
onfused.
“Yeah, man,” said Jase.
“What happened?” asked Edgar.
“Poachers got you, man,” said Jase. “I’ll explain everything. We’ve gotta get you out of here, though.”
Amanda unpacked three wool ponchos that she’d brought for the guys and they put them on and began their hike back to the cave.
Dylan took her hand.
“That was really brave what you did back there,” he said.
Amanda smiled at him. She herself didn’t quite know how she had gained all the courage. It was both terrifying and exhilarating.
“It’s nothing you wouldn’t have done for me,” she said.
Dylan smiled at her.
As they walked back towards the cave, Amanda wondered if there was anything she wouldn’t do for Dylan. She did love him. She knew that now. She wondered if he would ever give her the opportunity to say it back to him again. She hoped so.
They walked until they came to the cave entrance where Robert was waiting for them.
“Come in!” he said and helped them walk Edgar into the cave.
Dylan held Amanda’s hand as they walked back into the cave. Once inside, everyone got settled.
“How did this happen?” Edgar asked, still confused.
“You got caught one night while we were out in our shifted form,” Jase told him. “We were not sure what had happened to you until we followed some tracks.”
“Wow,” said Edgar. “I don’t remember any of it.”
“Well, they gave you something that made you basically forget what it was like to be a human,” said Robert.
Edgar shook his head.
“And who are you two?” he asked Dylan and Amanda.
Robert and Jase laughed.
“This is Dylan, and this is Amanda,” Jase said, pointing to each of them. “Amanda helped save your life. So did Dylan.”
“Thanks,” said Edgar.
“No problem,” said Dylan.
“So you’re supposed to know where Dylan and Jase’s other brother is?” Amanda asked, pointing out the elephant in the room.
Everyone grew quiet.
Finally, Edgar spoke.
“Yes, I know where he is,” said Edgar.
Amanda and Dylan waited for Edgar to speak as did the rest of the group.
“He is with the Kodiaks in Alaska,” said Edgar at last, but he seemed saddened.
“What’s wrong with that?” Amanda asked.
“The Kodiaks aren’t like us,” said Robert. “They’re very warlike. They like blood and they love to kill. They hunt humans for sport. And they’re huge. They’re impossible to defeat in physical combat.”
“Then what are we going to do?” asked Dylan.
“I don’t know,” said Edgar. “All I know is that your brother is there among them. For some reason, he believes he belongs with them. They must have him brainwashed. The last time that I saw him, he turned his back on the Kermode Spirit Bear and our ways. He’s grown cold. He’s different.”
They all sat in silence for a bit. Amanda debated on what to say.
“We’ll figure something out,” she said at last.
“I’m going with you,” said Jase with finality.
Dylan just nodded to him and then they embraced.
Chapter 11
Amanda and Dylan left to go back to the cabin. Dylan was buck naked, so she had to sneak him inside. They chuckled a little bit when they wondered how the hell they would explain to anyone as to why he is not wearing clothes. She did enjoy watching his broad shoulders, muscular waist and tight white ass as he tramped through the snow.
Once inside, Amanda tended to his wounds much like she had on their first night together, though this time he wasn’t nearly as bad. When they were done, she asked him if he wanted to enjoy the hot tub.
“Let’s go,” he said with a smile.
With the snow falling all around them, they climbed into the hot tub.
“Some adventure,” Amanda said.
“Some adventure, indeed,” said Dylan.
“Did you know they would be looking for you?” Amanda asked.
“I didn’t even know they existed,” said Dylan.
“Crazy, isn’t it? To think that you have a family you’ve never even met,” said Amanda sitting across from Dylan in the hot tub.
“Yeah, it kind of is,” he agreed.
He smiled at Amanda with that crooked grin of his, clearly indicating that he was done wondering about how crazy that was.
“C’mere,” he growled.
Amanda slid over onto the seat beside him and he put his arm around her. He pulled her close and rubbed his thumb over her shoulder.
“Dylan,” she said. “There’s something I want to tell you.”
Dylan stopped and grew stiff.
“No, it’s not bad,” said Amanda.
She turned to face him.
“I’ve been wanting to tell you something. Remember when you first said you loved me? I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure if I felt that way or if I was ready to tell you,” she said.
Dylan nodded with trepidation.
“What I’m trying to say is that I know now,” she went on. “I love you, Dylan.”
A smile came to his lips. He pulled her in for a kiss and slowly parted her lips with his tongue. Amanda kissed him back, passionately. She let him explore her mouth as though it were the first time all over again.
She pulled away for a second.
“Things are about to get crazy, aren’t they?” she asked him slightly sad.
“I think so,” he said.
“I’m going with you to Alaska,” said Amanda.
“No, could be dangerous. You really don’t have to do that,” said Dylan.
“I know I don’t have to. It’s something I want to do,” she said.
Dylan smiled and brushed some of her hair out of her eyes. He pulled her to his side and put his arm around her again, holding her tightly.
“Well, to tell the truth, it won’t be the same without you.”
They sat there in silence, enjoying the contrast of the ice-cold weather on their exposed skin and the heat of the tub underneath the water. Amanda leaned her head onto his naked shoulder and placed a hand on his chest under the water. She felt for his heartbeat and slowly began to count its beats. Things might have been about to change, but Amanda knew some things would always remain the same.
Chapter 12
Amanda had spent most of her summer in Mountain View with Dylan. She stayed at her parents’ cabin and Dylan came to stay with her there. Dylan’s brother, Jase, was scheduled to meet them the next day. He was from Vancouver and shared Dylan’s ability to shift into a Kermode spirit bear.
Most days Dylan would go to work and then come home to find dinner cooked, which he always devoured with zest, and then afterwards they would spend time in the living room, trying to make it through a Netflix show, but never quite managing to finish. Tonight, they were watching the X-Files.
“You know what, you kind of remind me of Mulder,” Amanda said to Dylan as she sat beside him, holding his hand. His thumb gently stroked the back of her hand.
“Oh, yeah? Is it my stunning good looks and charming personality?” he asked.
“Well,” Amanda began. “Those help, but mainly I was thinking because you made me believe in things I never thought were possible.”
“Like love?” Dylan asked, throwing a hand up to his forehead like a damsel in distress. He sighed dramatically.
“More like people turning into animals and then turning back into humans,” Amanda said with a giggle. “But we can go with the love thing if you want to.”
“It’s much healthier for my ego if we go with your version. You wouldn’t want my head to get so big I can’t make it in the door,” Dylan jested.
Dylan took the opportunity when Amanda was giggling at him to jump on top of her and start tickling her. She fought and laughed.
“I’m gonna p
ee my pants if you don’t stop!” she got out between laughs. She had almost lost her breath. He snuck both hands into her hoodie and tickled her sides just below her ribs. It had always been Amanda’s weak spot when it came to tickling. With Dylan on top of her she could hardly fight back. “Uncle! Uncle!” she cried out.
