Bear Brother (Bear Lodge Shifters Book 2) Read online

  Her fear started to ebb away as the timid, lonely, gentler side of him appealed to her. “Gray... there's a difference between being curious about something and being ready for it.”

  He rumbled softly with frustration and stared at her. “The scent won't wait. Not even for spring. I have to know.” He moved forward and reached out for her, and she felt her breath catch. “I need you to show me.”

  Footsteps sounded in the hall outside. Gray's nose twitched and he growled, then turned to her in frustration. “Please, Anna!”

  “I... what do you want me to do?” Show him? Show him what? How to touch a woman? How to make love to her without breaking her bones? Or does he simply want to know how it feels, and wants me because he saw me making his brother feel so good?

  Awkward — and arousing, all at once. The idea that she had some kind of power over this being who had once terrified her left her feeling vindicated. His desperate longings stirred her sympathy. And his desperate desire....

  The door clunked and her head turned. Jake pushed the door open with his passkey in his hand, smiling easily. “Hey, sorry I'm late, I had to make sure we won the challenge.” He paused. “You okay?”

  She looked around and then up, realizing that Gray had leapt back up over the fence so quietly and quickly that she hadn't even noticed when he had left. “I... oh, it's nothing, you just startled me a little. So how did it go?”

  “It's getting boring. Darrin wants to cut Gray in on some of the games for fun, but then I went and wrecked things by pointing out that Gray tends to break controllers. Guy's basically a big bull in a china shop.”

  “Y-you mean a big bear in a china shop.” She forced a smile, still wondering: what is it that Graypaw wants from me?

  They ended up simply cuddling and talking during their soak. Jake seemed a little disappointed, but mostly worried about her. She finally claimed her stomach was upset to deflect his worry to something more acceptable than what was rolling through her head. Apparently, the scent of the mineralized water was strong enough to cover Gray's scent, for Jake never asked about it.

  Chapter 6 - Fugitive

  Something was bothering Anna. Jake couldn't tell what it was, and he didn't feel like playing guessing games with her, with every other damn thing that was going on. He supposed that was a little negligent of him, but Anna was usually articulate enough to let him know if something was really wrong. He didn't know how their hot tubbing date had turned into a desperate bid for comfort in place of sex, but she had seemed to need it, and it wasn't like their life together was lacking sexually. But when he woke up later that night and found her sitting up in bed and staring out the window at the gorge, he knew something was up besides distraction and a bad tummy.

  “So, are you going to let me know what's going on?” he asked softly as he rolled over to face her.

  She looked down, then over at him. “I ran into Gray earlier today. He was... very agitated. He kept talking about a scent in the forest, in the area between the Lodge and Jackson.”

  He frowned. He had noticed that Gray seemed unusually interested in Anna. He knew that part of that was that she was the only human he knew, and Jake's mate — and that part of it was that he had hunted and terrorized her, and yet she still had chosen to reach out to him and help him.

  Jake had hoped he wouldn't have to step in and make Gray back off her, but he was starting to worry.

  “He mentioned the scent to me as well, but he wouldn't elaborate. It bothers me too.” He eyed her and asked carefully, “Has he been hassling you?”

  She went quiet — too quiet. He noted it and watched her, but she just shook her head and didn't spit it out.

  “Anna? Come on, now.”

  “I'm sorry,” she murmured. “He's... he's not hassling me so much as just...” A long hesitation. “I think that he wants me to teach him things I'm not sure he's ready for.”

  “Like what?”

  This was like pulling teeth. The more she hesitated, the more he wondered, and the more he worried. Graypaw had worked very hard and had done pretty well over the last month when it came to easing their minds about his intentions. But he was also unstable, still, and impulsive, and immature.

  “Anna?”

  She let out a hard sigh.

  “Has he been asking you a lot of sex questions again?”

  Oh. Well yeah, that must be pretty awkward for her.

  “Pretty consistently, yeah. I've started to dodge them, because he asks things that don't really have concrete answers. Like, well, foreplay. I had to explain to the guy that the way a woman likes to be touched varies from woman to woman, and that he'd have to spend time with any woman he's with to find out what she likes. He just got confused... frustrated.” He rubbed his hair back from his face and scratched his beard stubble. “The guy is pretty literal minded, and I'm not sure he has any idea what to do with a woman. But he sure is interested in them.”

  “Yeah,” she replied quietly, and a little worriedly. “I noticed.”

  His heart thudded uncomfortably in alarm and he leaned up on one elbow. “Wait a second, what has he been doing, Anna?”

  “He hasn't been doing anything. I mean, like, he's not grabbing my boobs or anything like that. But he wants to know about sex, about humans, about women, and about how to have sex with a human woman without, um, hurting her.”

  He didn't trust it entirely. “Any... particular... human woman?”

  She paused awkwardly, worrying him further... but then her expression turned thoughtful. “He does keep talking about catching a scent in the forest—”

  Someone banged on the door. Jake let out a grunt of annoyance and got up, pulling on his sweatpants as he headed for the door. “Yeah?” he called irritably.

  “It's Darrin. Got a little emergency out here, guys.” His best friend sounded tired, tense and resigned.

  Jake pulled the door open. “Emergency?” He could hear Anna hop out of bed behind him and go for her clothes, and hoped she wasn't giving Darrin an eyeful in the process. She seemed a little... distracted at the moment.

  Darrin glanced back over his shoulder, then nodded, rubbing his hands together in the predawn chill that even seemed to permeate the hallways a little.

  “It's Graypaw. Helga said he broke contact with her three hours ago, saying he had to find the source of some kind of scent out in the woods. She's been unable to call him back. I'm the best tracker they have had on hand, and since the three of us have been working with him, she wants us to go looking for him.”

  “Wait, what?” Anna came up behind him, and Darrin's eyes widened slightly before he looked away. Jake looked back and saw her tucking her purple turtleneck into her jeans as she went on. “Guys, when I asked him where the scent came from, he pointed to the forest between here and Jackson.”

  “What if he was pointing to Jackson?” Darrin mused worriedly.

  “That's miles and miles. Look, I know he has superpowers by bear shifter standards, but even Graypaw's nose can't be that good.”

  “Unless whoever or whatever it was is in the forest only part time.”

  It dawned on Jake first.

  Just a theory to start on, but it was a big one.

  “Guys... he kept asking about human women... and then he follows the scent out to the woods... and what's in that direction? A town. With human women in it.”

  “You don't think he's following a specific woman's scent?” Anna sounded worried and they exchanged glances. Scent was an important indicator to shifters of the identity of their true mates. Jake had flirted with her more than once at the start with comments on what he hadn't fully understood yet. You smell amazing, baby.

  “Maybe. Or maybe he's just horny and that's the nearest town.” Darrin scowled even deeper. “If he gets to Jackson, he'll be worse than a bull in a china shop. If he acts weird, if he shifts... there are a bunch of ways he could draw attention to the Lodge. And we would all end up paying for it.”

  “No helping it, then,
we've gotta get to him first.” Jake closed his eyes. “Darrin, should we even bother with trying to overtake him from this end? Or should we helicopter into Jackson and try to intercept him?”

  Anna stomped into her boots behind him. “We don't know for sure he'll make it all the way into Jackson. Or even, really, what he's after. But we need to cover our contingencies. Darrin, do you have any of your investigators living in Jackson?”

  “Nah, sorry sweetheart. The only one who did is tailing Aran McMasters, the finance guy who was part of Anthony's hunting crew. And he went to Florida for the winter.”

  Darrin leaned against the wall as she and Jake finished dressing, thinking. Figuring.

  Jake had an idea. But he really didn't like bringing it up.

  They had someone in Jackson who could keep an eye out for Graypaw for them. But former Army Specialist Mark Sanger didn't have any particular love for the bear shifters, as he had been one of those who had been grabbed off the streets to take part as prey in his father's hunt. He and Anna had been the sole survivors, in no small part due to his being incredibly competent as a soldier, security man and survivalist. He had chosen to stay in Jackson after Helga had offered him compensation for his ordeal, and claimed that he believed that the Lodge needed to be ‘watched’. Helga and the others had tolerated him up until now because she especially was confident the Lodge would not continue in any sort of troublemaking now that Anthony and his cohorts were gone.

  No problems meant nothing to set Mark off until he finally learned to trust them. But now, there was a problem. And he was the most prepared, competent help in the area that they could call on.

  Dammit.

  “Mark Sanger,” he said finally. Anna stopped tying her bootlace and stared at him; Darrin swore quietly. “Yeah, I know,” he grumped in reply. “But who else is there?” He turned to Anna, the only one of them who actually had a friendship with the man, and caught her thoughtful expression.

  Darrin, meanwhile, looked the most worried of them. “Hey now. Look, I like Mark, and he's really good. He really knows his stuff. No mistake. But this guy is a little on the unstable side when it comes to the Lodge and all us bear shifters. I am kinda worried that telling him about the problem and asking for his help will leave him up in arms about the Lodge endangering people again.”

  “Except that Graypaw isn't a danger to people anymore. I mean, maybe if they attack him—”

  Anna sounded very worried.

  Jake held up a hand briefly.

  “I know, baby, but do you really believe that Mark will understand that? He saw Graypaw at his absolute worst too, and that was after what was done to him. Graypaw is a monster in his mind, even more than he was to us. And he'll need even more convincing than we have. But if we can't figure out anything else... maybe you should call him.”

  Darrin shook his head.

  “We'd better figure out something else, then. This isn't gonna work out well if he finds out.”

  “So, what, then? Do we split up and some of us go ahead to Jackson while the rest track from behind?” Anna looked between them. “Will Helga be helping?”

  “She will be, now that she has found her hiking shoes,” Helga replied quietly as she walked up to join them, staff tapping on the wooden floor. “Though given that I am not the fastest overland, if a group is venturing into Jackson it might make sense for me to be among them.”

  The old shifter looked subdued — tired, and a little sad. Jake's mouth worked as he saw her like that. His brother had disappointed her.

  At least he did it without killing anyone. So far, anyway.

  “Okay then, who goes where?”

  Jake pulled on his leather jacket.

  “I am needed in Jackson; Darrin is our best tracker and will be needed in the field. Bears in good health can cover more land than humans, so I suggest that Anna comes with me in order to keep from slowing you down. We will begin the process of backtracking once we check Jackson. If Gray is in Jackson, we will call for you. If not,” Helga coughed into her fist, paling slightly, then smiled a thin little smile and went on. “If not, we will scour the area outside town and gradually work our way down to meet you. Graypaw will naturally come within range of mindspeech or scent detection somewhere in the process.”

  Jake looked back at Anna and opened his mouth to protest. But she was the one who spoke up first. “I really don't like being split up from Jake in emergency situations,” she said quickly.

  Helga nodded, smiling apologetically. “Normally I would do no such thing. But this is very temporary and born of the purest necessity. We must intercept Graypaw before he draws the wrong kind of attention to himself. Mark Sanger is the least of our worries if actual shifter hunters should discover the Lodge.” She squared her shoulders. “I promise, I shall make this temporary separation up to you later. But for now, I believe it to be needed.”

  Anna nodded resignedly, and Jake huffed a sigh and hugged her, then kissed her softly. “Make it up to you later myself, baby. Don't you worry.” I hate this. After what happened with the Hunt, Helga should know better. But at the same time, I can't fault her logic.

  After they both shoved supplies and a change of clothes into their backpacks and kissed goodbye, he watched her walk down the hall with Helga toward the helipad and shook his head. “Goddamn it.”

  “Yeah, I know. Why the Hell did that stupid kid have to run off like that? We were just starting to get somewhere with him.” Darrin scowled as Jake pulled the door shut and then walked out with him toward the lobby.

  Interesting that Gray has gone from a monster to a “stupid kid” in Darrin's eyes, Jake thought with a touch of hope. He just hoped that whatever crazy adventure Gray had run off on wouldn't end up with him... backsliding in some way.

  No, he wouldn't. He wouldn't kill without a damn good reason, not now. And he certainly wouldn't... eat.

  “I feel like he's hit puberty or something. All the questions about sex, being rebellious without ever actually hurting anyone, pushing at everyone's boundaries, the recklessness.” They went out into the cavernous lobby with its Norse carvings and whole-log outer walls, and Jake sniffed at the air for any scent of his brother. “I really hope this is all some stupid lark or stupider misunderstanding. I have no idea how things work with a guy who is more bear than human, but somehow the idea of him running off to Jackson to party doesn't really convince me.”

  “Me neither.”

  Darrin checked his pockets briefly — the typical geek pat-down for keys, smart phone and wallet — and then walked out the tall, arched front door with Jake.

  They went a quarter mile down the path before shifting into bear form. Jake blurred and swelled into his giant grizzly form, which was nearly as large as Graypaw's despite their difference in size as men. He felt the strength of his shift form flood him as he sat up on his haunches, sniffing the air again for traces of his strange half-brother.

  Darrin meanwhile blurred and actually shrank a little, into his smallish, dark shift form, a California black bear barely the size of a large dog. He shook himself, and snuffled at the air as well. This way, man.

  He turned and lumbered down a deer track which ran almost directly down the mountain on the side facing Jackson. They ran along the deer track, strong and almost tireless, Darrin pausing sometimes to sniff the air before running on. He's basically making a beeline toward Jackson. I really hope I'm wrong on this one.

  If you aren't, we have people waiting for him up ahead. I know he'll listen to Helga, and I'm pretty sure he'll listen to Anna at this point too.

  How can you be sure of that last one?

  Jake had to struggle to keep the irritation out of his mental tone. It wasn't really that much of a threat, but very obviously, Graypaw has a crush on Anna.

  The black bear sneezed as he toddled along at Jake's shoulder. Oh oops. Well, at least he hasn't done anything messed-up about it.

  Yeah, at least there's that. I don't know, though. I feel like the way he's r
eacting to Anna now and whatever this scent thing is that’s leading him into the woods, are somehow connected. He talks about the scent, and then he talks about sex.

  So... mating pheromones then?

  It was Jake's turn to sneeze. Darrin was a strict science guy when it came to talking about shifter mechanics and origins.

  It was his belief that the phenomenon known as true mating came about due to pheromones produced by the human half of the pairings. These pheromones indicated her (or his) genetic compatibility with the bear in question. It was a good enough explanation as any for the kind of sexual fixation that happened in a true mating, though not the love or the almost psychic connection.

  But the idea that it was happening to Graypaw, whose father had completely and deliberately alienated him not only from other humans, but also from the human aspects of his own nature, was... That's just crazy. He's more bear than human. Why would he have a true mate among human women?

  Well, maybe he doesn't. Maybe we're looking at all of this wrong. Maybe it’s a really nice female grizzly out there in the woods. You know, one thing leads to another, suddenly the woods are full of telepathic bears....

  ...that's even weirder than the idea of his having a human girlfriend.

  I aim to please. The smaller bear chuffed like a dog and scrambled ahead along the deer track, which showed signs of recent widening: broken branches, the odd uprooted sapling. The thin snow sometimes showed a footprint: sometimes a bear's, and sometimes a man's, huge and bare. Darrin sniffed at all of it as he passed, his sensitive nose processing information at a level Jake could only dream about. Darrin was born to be a scout and tracker, his fortune in computer engineering aside. Jake was the bruiser of the pair, but sometimes he felt jealous of Darrin's sheer... competence... at all of the other things Bears were supposed to do well.

  They ran on, and the path never wavered, altering only enough to go around the worst obstacles: gorges, cutoffs, a waterfall. And as they went, Jake thought of Anna, on her way with Helga to Jackson, where his brother might be heading. His reasons unknown, his manner nonviolent but insistent, his action coming at the end of a long run-up involving everything from mention of the strange scent, to endless questions about sex and women.