BULL: MC ROMANCE (Forsaken Riders MC Romance Book 6) (87 page)

“I thought I was done for,” he continued. “But then, just when I thought it was going to go for my throat, the bear let go of my arm and just ran off. I considered myself incredibly lucky. A week later though and, some weird stuff started happening. I started having these night sweats, and these crazy dreams where I was running through the forest…only it wasn’t me running through the forest. I mean, it was me, but I was an animal or something. I felt different in the dream. Stronger…and more aggressive. And more free…It was weird and I woke up scared…but also totally alive. Anyhow that stuff kept getting worse and worse. I was waking up soaked. I had no idea but it was almost the full moon. Then one night it was the middle on the night and I awoke, but I hadn’t really awake…I mean I thought I was still in the dream, but it was even more vivid…more real. Well, I finally did awake and I was laying naked in the forest. I realized that the night before was no dream…I had become a bear…I had just been fighting it. Now, every full moon I have been changing. I turn into a bear. Somehow I always stayed safe…I have learned to deal with it. I always leave the house before it happens. I mean, it’s crazy I know, but it’s true. People began reporting seeing a bear and it began to cause a stir in my town…” He finally trailed off, his train of thought interrupted by a glance up at the moon, which was already beginning to show itself.

He was beginning to become a little agitated. He looked as though he was telling me the truth, but this was ridiculous. Beyond ridiculous. I loved picking apart hoaxes, and normally would have been all over some crazy story like this. I always questioned everything and would dismiss any claims that had no proof to back them up. I actually had a subscription to Skeptical Inquirer. And yet, somehow I believed him. Maybe it was just the oxytocin coursing through my veins. Surprised at how connected I already felt to this man, I looked around and realized that it was getting dark fast.

“I need to go,” he said, more anxious than ever, “before I turn.”

The sky was growing dark fast, and the moon had appeared through the trees. As I looked at him I could have sworn his complexion was darkening. I blinked and was further surprised to see that his forehead seemed to be shrinking…or was hair growing in? Suddenly, as I tried to comprehend what was happening, he tossed his head back and let out a bellow that was changing from a yell to a roar, even as it left his throat. In a voice that was already changing, he rasped, “Run! I don’t want you to seem me like this!” Even as the words were leaving his throat he began removing his clothes. I did run, but not far. I turned behind a tree 20 feet away and quickly looked back in his direction. He had somehow grown taller…his torso had stretched out and deepened, even as he had ripped through his underwear. His legs and arms had shortened and hair had spread across his body like a thick rug…a bearskin rug, I thought in wonder. The changes were coming so fast I couldn’t track what was happening first. Claws burst forth from what had once been human hands and he finally let out a full bear’s roar. As the shift finished and I stood there, jaw agape, he finally dropped to all fours. There was no trace of the man I had just been fucking all day. All I saw now was a bear. Briefly, he seemed to hesitate as he looked around for a moment. Then with one last glance, I could have sworn, in my direction, he took off into the forest. I just continued to stand there, staring at the spot where I had last seen his shape.

I didn’t bother doubting my eyes, or pinching myself. I knew what I had seen. I just saw a man turn into a bear. 

“How?” were the only words that escaped my lips. How could a bite from a bear turn you into one? There were so many questions, and yet I began feeling tears go down my face. That’s when I realized just how much I cared for this stranger. I also realized what a shock the whole thing had been to witness. But would I ever see him again? As I walked to my car, more tears began to fall. The whole thing was traumatic to say the least. I had just dumped my boyfriend for this guy too, I thought, and now he turns into a bear and runs away. I had to laugh at both the ridiculousness as well as the irony of it all. One thing was sure though, Eric was the best man I ever been with, and I didn’t care what kind of creature he was. It didn’t bother me that I had only been with four guys.

Chapter Four

The next few days, I felt pretty dazed and out of it. When people spoke to me, it took me a bit to respond. I was acting so weird my bosses started to worry about me. They also had my coworkers double check my work. When I fed the animals, a coworker would make sure I wasn’t feeding bloody steak to a kangaroo, or feeding grain to a wolf.

All the sex, tears and the trauma of witnessing what I had had worn me out. In the past few days I had been frantic to hear from Eric, but of course had no way to reach him. He had no phone, and I didn’t even know where he lived. I wondered if he was okay. Bears hadn’t been native to these woods in a century. If he got spotted people would freak out. And then they would try to capture him, or maybe worse.

Speaking of bears, I thought, there was still no sign of the bear that had escaped the zoo. Every time I passed the empty cage it retriggered my upset. I had lost two bears in a week. First, Barry the bear, and now my little wearbear. Well, he wasn’t exactly little, I thought. There was nothing little about him actually, I remembered fondly, as I felt a warmth spread between my thighs. I missed him terribly and was worried to distraction.

I looked at my phone, almost feeling a bit of regret over my sudden breakup with Josh. I felt like unblocking the poor guy and explaining myself, but I realized that he would never understand, no matter how much I tried. Besides that, I did basically cheat on him in a pretty hardcore way. I knew I had done the right thing, I was just feeling lonely I realized. I had always hated it when girls would only break up with one guy when another became available, and there I was backpedaling, and doing my best to be the same way. Well, I would just have to see what it was like to be alone again.

I couldn’t do anything about finding Eric, so I threw myself into my work. I did actually wander into the woods a few times, calling his name, but to no avail. Mostly, I just focused on the zoo, even doing a few double shifts until the day before my next Saturday off. Before I left work, I heard a few people talking near the break room, so I listened in.

“So, I heard that they spotted a bear in Green Tops Park,” one of them said.

“Green Tops? How could there be a bear there? It’s a dinky little park. I mean it must be our bear,” said the pimply faced kid, Peter.

“I know. Of course it’s our bear! They’ve been doing some searching the area, but there has been no sign of it. But people have been coming forward saying they have seen a bear recently, with most of the credible ones saying it was at night weeks ago. I’ve heard that they’re going to try to try and search by night and hopefully capture it.”

My heart began pounding. Eric was still around, and he was going to be caught! Or was it Barry? Or was it possible that…no, I thought. That would be too weird. When I left work, I floored it. My headed towards the park, just as the sun was starting to set. When I made it there, I managed to find a parking spot, and I began running through the woods, veering off the nature trail. I knew that I had to find him before they did.

I ran through the woods for what seemed like hours as the full moon began shining. I was thinking I would have to give up, when finally, as I was heading back toward a familiar trail, I heard leaves crunching behind me. When I turned around, I saw the outline of a bear, not fifteen feet away. I knew it was him.
Of course it was him
, I thought.

My heart began pounding, and I turned on my phone’s flashlight and shined it at him. As I did, the bear ducked its head, trying to avoid the blinding beam, but making no moves to either run away or attack. It had to be Eric. But now, close up, I was in for another shock. At this close range I had a better view of the bear than when I saw Eric turn before. I had assumed that this must be Eric, but when I looked the bear in the eyes, I gasped.

I recognized it by its eyes, its snout, and its fur. The bear standing before me was the same one that I had befriended at the zoo. This was Barry bear. Any naturalist or zookeeper will tell you that individual animals are as distinctive as humans, when it comes to telling one from another.  This was definitely the bear that had escaped. But did that mean that this bear was also … no, it couldn’t be. The thought had crossed my mind briefly earlier, but it just seemed too crazy. As if the idea of werebears in and of itself wasn’t crazy enough, could Eric really be Barry bear?

“Eric?” I asked the bear. It raised its head up, looking at me with its dark eyes. They reminded me too much of Eric’s. But still, how did this make sense? Eric was a human by day and a bear by night. I had seen the bear during the daytime, and if he turned into a human, people would have seen. I realized I didn’t know the first thing about werebears and how or when they turned or turned back.

I was unsure of what to do. If this was Eric, I needed to be sure the zoo didn’t catch him. Even if it was just a normal bear from the zoo, I almost didn’t want them to catch him, although I knew that in that case it was for the best. I just hated seeing animals in cages. Sure I worked at a zoo, but that didn’t mean I wanted all animals to be in them.

By now we had actually approached each other. I reached my hand out to pet it, and it began grazing my leg with its cheek. It was still so gentle. If it was really a werebear, I thought, it wasn’t doing a very good job of it. I mean I had heard of were
wolves
and they were supposed to be fierce and dangerous. It should have been biting my head off, not nuzzling me like a dog, I thought.

From behind me, I first heard voices and then lights began appearing dimly out of the darkness. I had to act fast. “Quickly!” I shouted to the bear. “We have to get out of here!”

I began running, and the bear began following me, like a giant golden retriever. Too bad it wasn’t normal for people to have bears as pets I thought in a quiet corner of my mind, as we raced through the trees. Thankfully we had gotten moving before they spotted us. They still had no idea how close they were. But then I realized that they were probably trying to swing around and flush the bear out toward some waiting trap. We had to slip through their line of searchers if we had any hope of escape.  First we had to get away, then we would worry about whatever came next. I vaguely wondered if I should try getting him to my apartment. That didn’t seem feasible without being discovered, I thought, so I let the idea go. But where could we hide?

I had my eyes out for a hiding spot that would allow them to pass us right by without seeing us. They would not be looking too closely, as any normal bear would flee the light and sound they were making. In fact, that was exactly what they wanted and expected the bear to do.
But where could we hide?
, I asked myself again. Suddenly the bear veered to the left a little. I was about to tell him that we had to find a place to hide, when I saw that he was trying to get my attention. Once I let him know that I was watching, he ran ahead a little more, looking over his shoulder intermittently to be sure I was keeping up. Finally he seemed about to head right into the face of a rock outcropping, but instead just disappeared into it. That’s what it looked like, at least. Even as I got near I couldn’t see where he had gone to, until his nose appeared out of thin air in front of me, and I realized he had found, or more likely had led me back to a cave that he already knew of. I crawled inside, parting the bushes that covered the tiny entrance. I had no idea how he had fit inside. I used my phone’s light to see around as the cave opened up a bit further inside. To be safe, I headed to the deepest, darkest corner of the cave and sat down. The bear approached and curling up right next to me. It was just like a dog. Only ten times the size. This had to be Eric. We waited, my heart pounding. If we were caught, the bear would be forced to live at the horrible zoo again, and I’d definitely have some questions to answer. Lights flashed across the entrance, and my heart began pounding even faster.

“It’s hopeless!” Someone shouted from outside. “We’re just chasing a ghost at this point. I bet that bear’s in Alaska by now, feasting on salmon and laughing at us. That roused a few laughs outside as the searchers moved past.

“It bet those sightings were all B.S.” someone else called. “With all the media I bet they just wanted to get on the news.”

The voices continued discussing their wild goose chase as they went past us, until first their lights, and then their voices faded completely. Then we were left again with just the silence of the cave and the scant forest sounds that entered through the opening. It looked like we would be ok, but I knew that we needed to wait until morning. I looked at the bear and saw that it was already fast asleep. Had the bear decided to just walk out of there, I would have had no idea what to do, I realized.  I imagined myself jumping on it Mowgli-style, and laughed to myself. I didn’t think it was going anywhere, and I decided to just cuddle up to it. In that moment, all the stress and worry that I had been carrying just melted away. I felt safe with it I felt safe
with him
I realized, even in this form. The whole thing probably sounds nuts, but it all made sense to me. We were meant to be together. Finding him in the forest was proof of it. As soon as my head came to rest on his soft fur, I was asleep.

When I woke up, I felt myself lying against something furry. It took me a second to remember where I was, and as I got ready to open my eyes, I was fully prepared to see my new pet bear. Only it wasn’t a bear, it was Eric. My jaw practically unhinged. This was going to take some getting used to.

As I looked at him, he opened his eyes.

“Good morning,” was all I could think of to say, as I was still trying to recover from this latest shock.

He was completely naked, and upon realizing this, he sat up abruptly, instantly realizing what must have happened.

“So you know,” was all he said. It was ten percent question and ninety percent statement

“You were the bear I took care of,” I replied, my words barely escaping my mouth. “But how? And yes, I know you are a werebear…you changed before my eyes that day, don’t you remember?”

“Yeah, right…it’s coming back. And yes, I was that bear you took care of. I still remember how you called me Barry. I almost said ‘I’m Barry’ when we met. I felt like I already knew you.  As to how this is all possible, I have no idea. And I imagine you figured out by now how they caught me and put me in the zoo. It was about a month before you arrived. When I first turned I had no idea what I was doing. I was totally wild. I was not as in control of my bear-self as I am now. I actually went into the forest to protect everyone else. Of course I had to get away from people to protect myself as well. Eventually I guess enough people saw me and they eventually tracked me down. I think they put three tranquilizer darts into me before I fell.”

“So why didn’t you change back?” I asked.

“I don’t know. For some reason I stayed a bear, and I began gaining better control over myself. The time in that cage was critical actually. I learned to master my bear side, at least a little bit. I think that at some level I did not change back to a human because I knew it wasn’t safe to do so. As time went on I sort of woke up inside my bear-self, if that makes sense. I became more docile, and more aware of my surroundings. I listened to you every time you talked and even now remember what you said. You know, it was you who saved me. When you finally pet me, that last day in the zoo, something happened. There was something in your touch. A few minutes after you did that, I knew I could turn back into a man at will. It’s like you helped me wake up fully. So as I sort of came to my senses, I remembered that I had seen a uniform left just outside the cage door and I instantly knew that everything had aligned to make my escape possible. When I saw there was no one around I moved near the door as a bear and only then changed form. I was a little disoriented, but I knew what I was doing. I had learned the door code, so I was out in a moment. It was actually perfect to do it while the zoo was open so that I could blend in with the crowd and walk right out the front gates.”

After he finished his story he turned to me and said, “In truth, I really wanted to thank you for being the only one who really cared about me in there. You used to talk to me like I was a person. Or maybe you were just talking to yourself, but there was enough there for me to figure out where you lived. That’s how I found you. I hope you don’t feel stalked.” He looked a little embarrassed to have spilled his guts so completely.

I stood there, quite shocked. “You really felt that way?” I asked.

“Felt what way? Oh you mean that I liked you? Of course. I had actually fallen in love with you while I was still a bear. I hope that doesn’t sound too crazy for you.” I gave him a look that said that nothing he could say could be any crazier than what had just happened in the last few days. He continued, telling me “I wanted to make you feel good for all you had done for me. I managed to find some clothes near a Salvation Army bin, and I made myself look as presentable as I could. I waited for you outside your apartment, until I finally I finally saw you just and ran in front of your car, and well … here we are,” he ended with a laugh. “I guess I could have been more subtle, he added.

A chuckle escaped me. “You did all that for me? I’m not that special, I promise.”

He smiled. “Oh, you are to me.”

“So I may have helped you to realize that you can turn back into a person, but you still turn into a wearbear,” I replied.

He nodded. “Granted, but at least now I’m a gentle bear, when I want to be, of course. But I have no idea what this is, or how it works. I’ve been trying to find answers, but can’t find anything useful, not even in folklore.”