Bear This Heat (A BBW Shifter Romance) (Last of the Shapeshifters) (21 page)

“Yeah.”

Dylan looked around the restaurant. The ceiling fans overhead had ornaments hanging from their centers, and it meant that his view was partially blocked.

“What about over there?” Sasha asked. He followed her line of sight, saw a table for four with a young man and woman sitting opposite each other. He guessed that they were probably tourists, from the color of their skin, but they could also be local expatriates.

“Really?” he asked. “Next to the other tourists?”

“Do you see another open space?”

He shook his head. “Not for two.”

“Come on, they look like they could be a cute couple. Maybe they’ve got some interesting stories.” Sasha took his hand and led him through the throng of tables, weaving and sidestepping waitresses as they carried steaming plates of wafting off enticing scents of sweet and spice.

“Or maybe we could just ignore them, and they us.”

“Shush!” she said to him. When they reached the table, she asked, “Mind if we join you? The restaurant is full.”

The two looked up at them, and Dylan met the eyes of the man. He looked young, but his eyes wore a cloak of weariness. Dylan found that he was made uncomfortable by the man, but he couldn’t place why.

“No, please,” the young woman said, smiling, and gesturing at the two empty seats beside them. Sasha took a seat next to the man, and indicated for him to sit down opposite her.

Blinking, Dylan sat, and then returned his eyes to the man’s again. There was something strange about him. Something familiar.

Dylan returned his eyes on Sasha to find that she had a look of confusion on her face. She silently mouthed ‘what?’ at him, and he shook his head, but still unable to shake the feeling that something here was out of place.

Unable to suppress the urge to investigate, he cleared his throat. “Since we’re going to be dining together in such tight company,” he said, gaining the attention of the two strangers they were seated at the same table with. “I thought maybe we best introduce ourselves.” He looked at Sasha and widened his eyes, asking her to play along.

“Uh, yeah,” she said. “Sorry, we don’t want to be annoying, but we’ve only just arrived. I’m Sasha, and this is my, um, boyfriend, Dylan.”

Dylan caught the stammer. So it was official then, he thought, a wisp of amusement darting in and out of his thoughts.

The couple beside them looked at each other, and then the woman broke out into a wide smile. “It’s my first time here, too,” she said. She extended a hand to Sasha. “I’m Terry. The sour looking man opposite me is Liam. Don’t mind him, he’s not good with people.”

“It’s usually the other way around,” Liam said.

They exchanged a round of introductions, Liam less enthusiastically than Terry. He didn’t take his eyes off the antisocial man. There was a sense of camaraderie he couldn’t place, as though he’d known him in another life.

“Oh,” Sasha said, looking at the menu and snapping Dylan out of his thoughts. “The menu doesn’t have descriptions.”

“It’s a bit of a local place,” Terry said, a hand in front of her mouth. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“No, that’s fine. What are you having?”

“Beef rendang. It’s like a caramelized beef curry, or maybe a stew? It’s actually pretty good. Not too spicy, either.”

Sasha turned to him. “Want to try it?”

“Sure,” he said. “Smells nice.”

“So what are you two doing here in Bandar Seri Begawan?” Liam asked, naming the capital city of Brunei fluently, and in what sounded like the local dialect.

“Oh, just looking for someone,” Dylan answered casually.

“That’s an odd but interesting answer,” Liam said.

“Why?”

“Well,” he said, pausing a little. “We’re actually looking for someone, too. Strange coincidence.”

Sasha, having picked up on the tension between them, interrupted. “You said this was your first time here, Terry?”

Dylan didn’t take his eyes off Liam, but he heard the awkwardness in Terry’s voice. She had definitely noticed something was up as well. He felt at a distinct disadvantage, and hated it.

“Um, yes,” Terry said, stammering a little. “Um, but Liam’s been here before.”

“A long time ago,” Liam said. “Your first time here, Dylan?”

He nodded. “That’s right.”

“Ah. Lively place, isn’t it?”

“From what I’ve seen. So, the person you’re looking for. Friend of yours?”

“Not exactly,” Liam said, and his lips curled a little. “You?”

“Don’t know yet.”

Their table fell into an uncomfortable silence, and though Sasha was making eyes at him, he didn’t look at her. He didn’t let his eyes leave Liam’s. All the smells in the air were dulling his own sense, but he definitely had a suspicion. He wondered, distantly, if he was going to have to have another showdown with this person like he had done with Marcus in the desert. But that seemed an unlikely possibility. There were just too many people around, and why would someone else be out to hurt him for no reason at all?

Dylan decided to try again. “You sure we don’t know each other?” He inhaled deeply, thought he smelled something familiar, lingering beneath the spices, the garlic, and the herbs that littered the air.

“I’m sure,” Liam said. “But I know something about you…”

Dylan narrowed his eyes at the man, waiting for him to finish.

“
Young cub.
”

*

Liam: I remember thinking he was with Marcus, or that Marcus had sent him. I won’t lie, I thought something might happen.

Dylan: I thought the exact same thing. I was pretty much ready to throw down.

Sasha: Boys.

Terry: [Laughs.]

Caleb: Both of them couldn’t understand at the time that their meeting was not by chance.

Liam: No. We didn’t.

Anastasia: We were there, too. But out of sight.

Dylan: Lurking in the shadows, right?

Liam: What do you expect from cats?

Interviewer: So you all met up a little later?

Caleb: We did, yes. We crossed paths in the jungle.

Interviewer: Searching for Leon?

Caleb: Yes. Ana and I tagged along, curious about what we’d heard Leon could do.

Interviewer: Were you surprised when you saw him?

[Everybody nods.]

Dylan: It was disgusting.

Terry: Scary.

Caleb: Like nothing I’d ever seen before.

Interviewer: Can you describe him for me? When you first saw him? Can you try to do it using as few words as possible.

Caleb: Hmm, that’s tough.

Liam: It was like he had melted into the jungle.

Caleb: Yeah.

Interviewer: I don’t understand.

Caleb: You’d have to have been there, Circe. Words will never do it justice. But even so, you can’t shift, you’re not one of us. What we each felt when we saw him, the kind of horror in our hearts? [Touches his chest with a balled fist.] You’ll never truly understand.

Excerpt from full transcript of
Interview with a Shapeshifter
by Circe Cole. Printed with expressed permission.

*

My interview ends with the six shapeshifters each changing into their forms. I turn around while they undress. It seems the polite thing to do. I can hear it, though, and the sound of the shift is unpleasant. When it is once again silent, I turn around on my heels.

I see Anastasia, a beautiful central-Asian snow leopard; Caleb, the only surviving member of the extinct Bali tiger; Liam, a huge brown bear that captures his broody quality; Terry, a Tibetan sand fox with a lush and intricate coat; Dylan, a slim and efficient moon bear with rich black fur; and finally Sasha, a long, nimble snub-nosed puma.

The six animals stand before me, and they look at me, and I have to feign shock and surprise. They expect that I’ve never seen the shift before, and I have to keep up the charade.

Because I swore to my husband, also a shapeshifter, that I would keep his secret. He made me promise not to tell anyone, even another like him. And I keep my promises. Of course, everybody knows now…

The animals begin to look bored then. They sniff at each other, idly pace, and seem to be communicating to each other in a way that completely and utterly escapes me. Of course it does, I remind myself. I’m just an ordinary human being.

But the exclusive interview with this group of shapeshifters has unveiled a very interesting fact. A shapeshifter can be ‘made’, but only this almost mythical ‘Leon’ character can do it.

I know what I have to do next.

I have to find Leon.

- Excerpt from
I Married a Shapeshifter: An Autobiography
by Circe Cole. Printed with expressed permission.

To this reader,

Thank you for reading this short novel. I hope you enjoyed the story.

When I first conceived of this story, I was instantly in love with the idea of a wolf and a bear duking it out in the middle of the desert. Being so far out of their natural habitats, the clash was just very striking to me. That was basically all I started off with, but (to me, at least), it was too good an image to pass up.

Salty Springs is based loosely off my experiences in the desert city of Alice Springs, located pretty much smack bang in the middle of the Australian desert, and also of Australia, the continent. Of course, I've taken some creative license. In particular, crime is not nearly the problem in Alice Springs that it is made out to be in Salty Springs (though the former does have long-term and entrenched issues, sadly). The ‘suburban sprawl’ is also not quite as pronounced, though the city center really does consist of just a couple of competing supermarkets and a shopping mall!

When I was last in Alice Springs (I've only traveled there once!), I was amazed by just the simple experience of being in a desert. It is hard to describe just how the heat feels, especially when you're standing in the sun. Oppressive would be the wrong word; it's not unpleasant at first, though will definitely get that way if you're inadequately prepared! I was younger, then, and so I suspect that these days, I might enjoy it less.

If you read my last book, A Change to Bear, you’ll know that I’ve spent most of my life traveling. Part of it was out of necessity – my father traveled a lot for work. It’s left an undeniable impression on me, and it is quite evident that bleeds through into my writing. Unfortunately, the truth only extends to scenery, and not sexy men with unbelievable bodies who want to endlessly, um, well, you know...

Anyway, this is starting to sound a bit like a personal blog, so I’m just going to shut up now! If you liked the story, please do leave a review to let others know about it.

My best to you,

A. E. Grace

* * *

A.E. Grace would travel endlessly, and write even more, if that were possible. But traveling a little, and writing a lot, is something she's quite happy to settle for. With a particular fondness for the paranormal, Grace's stories are rooted in realism, always end on happy terms, and are often infused with her own traveling experience.

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Bear This Heat
Last of the Shapeshifters

By

A.E. Grace

Copyright 2014 by A.E. Grace, Grace Kincade Publishing

Kindle Edition

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All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author or publisher except for the use of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events or locales is purely coincidental. All characters depicted in this work are adults.

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Kindle Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.