IMarriedaBear Page 6

  No one alive then expected Spark to return alive. But he came back all right, many weeks later, speaking in a cryptic way that declared him gifted or insane, depending on who you talked to.

  Since he'd taken off into the woods alone for good, he'd assumed the Shaman's role. We came to him for prophetic advice or to drop off food and offerings.

  His appetite certainly hadn't slowed in old age either. The pack on my back was filled with nearly a hundred pounds of choice caribou and salmon steaks. I hauled it through the treacherous woods, calling on my bear's strength to deaden the burn in my muscles.

  “James!” Laura's voice rang out behind me.

  She gestured to the stream and we stopped. I watched as she filled her canteen, trying not to get hard when she bent down, giving me a perfect view of her full, sexy hips.

  Gods, this woman made me burn. Last night was no different than the ones before.

  Going to sleep early had been a dream once she was under me, moaning in my ear as I ravaged her deep, reminding her who'd taken her heart.

  Shaman Spark had better confirm what I already knew in my blood. Laura was mine, dammit, and no walls made by Nature or politics would divide us ever again.

  She took a long drink from her canteen, refreshing herself after the long journey. When she paused and looked around, deep in the forest, I stepped up next to her.

  “What's out there?” I asked.

  “You ever feel like you're being watched? I can't shake it...like someone's peeking out at us.”

  I shook my head, letting a low growl slip. She wasn't totally wrong, and it was frustrating that the huge flood prevented us from smelling anything besides the dank, wet earth.

  “Probably just black bear or birds. Alaska's waking up this time of year. Folks from Denali rarely venture this far out. We're safe here.”

  She nodded, grabbed my hand, and squeezed. I had her trust, no matter how much paranoia nipped at us.

  We walked on.

  Several more miles, and we were on the half-faded paths leading to Spark's stomping grounds.

  A tremendous crash rang out behind us. Laura gasped.

  I spun, just in time to see several huge trees flattening. Instant thunder formed in my throat, and all my senses were on alert.

  My skin prickled, ready to sprout fur and claws if I needed to defend us. Grizzly attacks from real bears were rare, but nothing was impossible this season, when they were coming out of hibernation.

  Especially when I was hauling enough meat any bear could smell for smile.

  Laura screamed. I didn't have time to calm her down, standing face to face with six hundred pounds of big, furry bear. My knees bent, ready to fall to the ground and shift, when I saw the flicker of recognition in the animal's eyes.

  Not a wild one. This bear's one of mine.

  The bear stepped forward slowly. No limp, so I knew it wasn't Spark.

  “Whoever the hell you are, you better put your bear away now. Where the fuck do you get off startling us way out here?”

  The bear shifted quickly. Soft skin threw itself at me, replacing the furry flesh and sheer size that had been so menacing before.

  “What's she doing with you so far out, Alpha? She's up to no good. I can sense it.” A feral growl left Hannah's throat.

  She clawed at my chest, completely naked, wet strands of hair tangled over her shoulders. I held her back. Fuck, there was that urge to shift again.

  I wanted to go full grizzly and knock her in the mud. Too bad I was like three times her size. It was too easy to do serious damage by accident.

  An Alpha only used his full force when he had to, and this dumb creature didn't deserve it, no matter how annoying she was.

  Didn't like the way she was looking at Laura over my shoulder, though. Not one fucking bit.

  “Stop it!” I growled, grabbing her by the shoulders and giving her a good shake. “What the hell's gotten into you? You really think she brought me all the way out here to kill me?”

  Hannah pushed away, still snarling with hatred. “You're an amazing man, but you can't see it like I do. She's nothing but trouble. You were paired with her to keep the clan safe...now she's threatening us all by scrambling your head. Can't you see she's drawing you into something unnatural and evil, James?”

  I bared my teeth. Using my name rather than my title wasn't appealing to anything, and more than a little offensive coming from a fellow bear.

  No doubt about it – Hannah had completely lost her fucking marbles.

  “We came to see the Shaman, actually, and it's none of your business. I'm gonna give you three shakes of the claw to turn around, shift, and head back to Denali village where you belong.”

  Laura snickered behind me. I was glad her fear faded, but I was deadly serious.

  I held up one hand and threatened to begin the count.

  “Gods! You really can't see it, can you?” Hannah pointed an accusatory finger straight through me at Laura. “This stupid cat's going to ruin our clan!”

  “One...two...” My fingers went up, one by one.

  Hannah's wide eyes bugged out at me. Then her face curled in on itself, a sour sneer, and she jumped into the brush, throwing her hair over shoulders. Her shift came so fast and hard she growled.

  I didn't turn back to my girl until I heard the sound of twigs breaking under big bear feet.

  “What was that all about?” Laura rubbed my shoulders.

  “She's fucking nuts. Jealous. Ever since you showed up. She's wanted me to claim her for years, but Hannah's just not my type. Way too paranoid, for one thing...”

  Laura's eyes were filled with tension. I wondered why she looked so uneasy, like she was trying to hide her fear.

  But the kiss she pushed to my lips a second later wiped away those thoughts. My tongue plunged into her mouth and I pulled her flat against my chest, growling when my hands went to her ass.

  Took all my discipline to break away. Nothing would've been finer than throwing her down here in the brush and having my way with her.

  “Don't tempt me, baby. Spark's cabin's in sight. Save the honey for later.” I pointed.

  She followed my finger to the decrepit looking wooden house just beyond the tangled trees. At a glance, it would've looked uninhabited to wandering human eyes.

  I led the way, stopping at the cracked door to announce my presence.

  “Shaman? You in there? It's James, the Alpha. I've brought a guest and an offering...”

  Total silence. Laura looked at me with curiosity brimming in her eyes.

  I pushed the door open, almost wincing at the loud creak. It looked empty, but the thick smell of an old bear told me otherwise.

  Spark was deep in his cluttered den, sleeping in the corner near an old stone fireplace. He was in bear form, and didn't flinch when I dropped my bag loudly a couple feet from him. The big furry ball smacked its lips and continued to slumber, snoring like a wood mill.

  “Shit. Can't believe the old timers were right. Looks like he really does hibernate...”

  Laura smiled. I watched as she stepped past me and crouched down near the bear, speaking softly into his frayed ears. Years of frostbite out here in the harsh Alaskan winters had taken their toll on his body.

  “Wakey-wakey. We've come a long way to find out the truth...”

  Her soft, feminine voice must've hit a bell inside the old man's head. The furry lump beneath her suddenly jerked awake, towering up to the ceiling on two legs, one of them slightly crooked and deformed.

  Sparks let out a deafening roar. I threw myself in front of Laura, reaching into the bag for the salmon.

  Gods, I hoped he hadn't gone senile and let his bear take complete control over his human side. It rarely ever happened to old bears, but it was possible.

  “Shaman! Forget about her. Do you recognize me?” I stepped up to the old bear's drooling snout and held out the fish.

  He lowered his face, growling and sniffing my hand. A couple long seconds passed.
<
br />   The bear shrank slowly, transforming into a withered old man with a bad leg. Spark snatched the salmon packet from my hand with surprising strength, swept low to the ground, and threw his furry blanket on. He crouched on the floor, ripping through the plastic and feeding big fistfuls of pink meat to his lips.

  “Is he okay?” Laura asked, an oddly amused smile on her face.

  “Dunno yet. It's been a good two seasons since anyone from the clan came out here...he's not getting any younger.”

  That was the fucking truth. He looked like a man and ate like bear. If Laura wanted the brutish, bad mannered bear all tigers expected, then she'd found him in this beast.

  Spark looked up, smacking his lips. His brow creased angrily and he stood after swallowing the last big bite.

  “Careful, boy!” he thundered. “I was sending real grizzlies to the gods when you were in diapers.

  Why've you stolen my sleep?”

  “We've come to seek your advice, Shaman. Need to know what the gods are telling you about my mate.” The last word sent frustration, love, and fear rippling through my blood at once. “There's plenty more where that salmon dripping down your chest came from...”

  I unzipped the bag, pulled out the packets, and began throwing them up in a stack one by one. Spark watched with greedy eyes.

  No, the old man wasn't totally crazy. He knew how to command a steep price. Everybody who came out here for his wisdom said the offerings had only increased over the years. Several travelers who showed up with anything less than thirty pounds of fine meat were turned away with nothing.

  He started to shake. I reached out to steady him, but he bent to the little nest, and picked up an old cane with a large silver orb at the top.

  My ears rang with the sound of him tapping it loudly on the ground.

  “Your offering is sufficient. Ask your question.” Spark stared at Laura, his pale gray eyes holding a little of bears and men simultaneously.

  “Should I?” Laura looked at me, worry lining her face.

  “Do it. Our Shaman's a lot of things, but he isn't a judgmental bastard like all the others. He'll give you an honest answer. That's what we're here for.”

  Laura swallowed something hard in her throat. “I...I'd like to know what the future has in store for James and I. What's our destiny? Can you see?”

  Spark rapped his cane hard against the old floor. He closed his eyes tightly, his skinny arms trembling as the heavens reached into him. Denali people said he gave part of his soul each time he communed with otherworldly forces.

  “I see sin! A sick, unnatural sin!” Spark spat the words loudly.

  Laura smoothed one hand over her pretty face and clutched my arm. “I thought you said he wouldn't judge?” she whispered.

  “No!” Old Spark cut me off before I could answer. “Tigers...bears...skinwalkers...they're all the same.

  All children of the gods, brothers and sisters with men. You want to know your fate – your blasphemy?”

  He opened his eyes and looked at us. They were paler than ever, glowing with a strange energy brighter than an angry bear's.

  “We're ready,” I said, giving him a nod.

  My muscles tensed up something fierce. So did the hold my little tiger had me on. It was easy to laugh and dismiss the Shaman as a senile nut back in the village, but here, in front of him while he was working his magic...this was some serious shit.

  “Your love confounds the heavens. It's unwritten! White as the frost and snow!” he bellowed.

  “Destiny is never a certain thing, and neither are fated mates. Your destiny is infinite, blinding to our creators and to me. The Gods are fickle, fickle, fickle...”

  Laura gasped. The Shaman's nearly white eyes rolled up into his head.

  His shaking stopped. I watched as his wrinkled face rolled on his chest. His cane tapped loudly on the floor and then he was falling backward.

  I barely rushed forward in time to catch him before he went crashing to the floor. The old man was hot, clammy, like he had a bad fever.

  Laura helped me steady him on the mattress where we'd found him. She brushed his head while I covered him with the big furry blanket he'd used as a cloak.

  “He's burning up, James!” she said, drawing away her hand. “Gods...what if he's completely delirious and it isn't a message from the heavens?”

  “Don't test me, tigress!” Sparks jerked beneath her, his eyes flipping open. “You have the truth, and you'll see it in time. You two should go.”

  I crossed my arms. “I can't leave you like this when you're deathly sick, Shaman.”

  The old man bolted up, throwing off his covers. Laura jumped. He clutched at my leg, looking up with hard, wild eyes.

  “Touch me again, and pass me more salmon, boy.”

  What the fuck?

  Slowly, I reached out, if only to humor him. I was already wondering how we'd haul his scrawny ass to Denali for help, or else bring the village doctor here for treatment. Doctor Reed hated crawling out into the boonies.

  His forehead was weirdly cool. I gestured to Laura, and she touched him again, pursing her lips.

  “Strange. Could've sworn he was on fire a second ago...”

  “I control myself, as much as the heavens allow, girl. The same burden both of you carry. Now, the salmon!” He looked at me and licked his lips.

  The tremors and blazing heat on his flesh were gone. I reluctantly passed a packet of pink meat into his hands. He ripped it open with the same gusto as before, shoveling the meat into his face.

  We stood around for another half hour, watching him eat, wondering where it all went. I also wanted to make damned sure he wasn't about to vomit it all up again.

  “Go, boy. You're Denali's Alpha. Not mine. I've given you your answer.”

  Had he? What he'd given us needed a damned interpreter. Except the interpreter was supposed to be him, and if he was getting a dead tone from the heavens, then Laura and I really were up against stiff odds.

  I suppressed a low growl. Technically, he was right about this place falling outside my jurisdiction too. Seeing as there was no obvious danger, I took my girl by the arm and led her away.

  At least we had just enough time to get back to my cabin before sundown. When I reached the edge of the path where everything became wilderness again, I shifted, and waited for her to do the same. The journey would be much easier in our animal forms.

  My bear prickled and growled just a few steps into the forest. The flood's smell was still thick, but I sensed Hannah's scent too, angry and fearful after our last encounter.

  Too fucking bad, I thought. This trip was useless. If what Spark said was true, we're gonna make our own destiny, tigers and bears be damned.

  I'm loyal to my clan, but just as loyal to this curvy, captivating tigress.

  As if to underscore the point, Laura brushed against me, her orange tail flicking from side to side.

  Even in her tiger form, I saw the love in her eyes.

  We crossed the last of the flooded woodlands by dark.

  I saw the black shadows creeping around us when the sun was nearly down. They moved like

  wolves, and that's what I thought they were at first.

  But wolves would never attack a bear and a tiger. Certainly not when we were together, emitting the mixed scents of humans and predators these animals feared.

  Growling, I tried to get Laura to stop so I could circle around to the side and scare away whatever the hell was closing in on us. If anything threatened her, I'd stomp it with a thousand pounds of grizzly fury.

  My bear was fucking hungry for a fight.

  He'd been on edge all day after the weird meeting with the Shaman. The consultation hadn't done much to reassure her, and that pissed us both off.

  The bear fully took over, bowing up to protect his mate, throwing my human sense behind the mental curtain.

  The first dark shape lunged. It plowed right into me, obviously aiming for Laura instead.

  My roar ec
hoed through the whole forest. I threw my paws on the beast and bit down hard, hearing an unmistakable growl from the animal when my teeth sank near its spine.

  A raspy, fierce, and all too familiar roar.

  Tigers!

  Now, it was Laura's turn to roar. I heard her shrill scream behind me, alarmed at the intrusion of her own kind.

  Two more big cats closed on her. My bear went completely ballistic, and I flattened them with another roar before my claws landed on their backs.

  There were at least four, maybe five, and they started to fight back. I knocked one to the ground with a strong headbutt, only to feel another tiger sink his claws into my side.

  Kicking with my back leg, I caught his face and walloped it as hard as I could. The big cat went flying.

  Laura joined in, snarling and sinking her teeth into a tiger's tail. The male howled with fury and pain.

  Two more tigers scampered out behind me, but they didn't pounce like I expected, fleeing into the woods instead.

  I looked up, ready to give chase. My heart sank when I saw more dark shapes closing in, this time shadows moving on two legs.

  At least half a dozen men – tigers who hadn't shifted by their smell – threw something high into the air. It landed on Laura near perfectly and tightened around her. She shrieked and clawed, and so did I, snorting pure rage when I realized it was a net.

  She thrashed wildly in it, trying to cut her way out. The rope was too strong. More tigers lunged at me, snapping their jaws. I swiped them away with my claws.

  Barely had time to step on the very edge of the net. The bastards in the woods were pulling on it, reeling her in like a fish.

  Fuck no, you don't!

  I sat on the net's edge, throwing my bulk on it. There was a sound like thick rubber coming apart, and Laura's sleek orange and black body blurred by a second later.

  She was free. And now it was time to make the fucks who'd tried to drag her away like a fresh salmon pay.

  James the thoughtful, civilized leader went to sleep. James the twelve hundred pound grizzly bear went crashing into the woods like a train, pursuing the men and big cats running for their lives.