Page 4 of A Bear's Journey

Chapter Two

Jasper

When Jasper turned back around,the girl was literally running away, down the brick path that led out of the garden.

Chase her!his bear roared, but he quieted the animal down. He knew better than to think he could go chasing girls through gardens — particularly when he was giving two of his father’s biggest donors a tour of the attractions of Granite Valley.

Instead he stood there, her book in his hand, and watched her go.

Deep down, he knew it wasn’t over.

It was her. He couldn’t believe it. Her! Here! Sitting on a bench and reading, of all things. He and Craig had been totally certain that they’d never find her again, not that they hadn’t been trying.

“Jasper, that’s just the feral girl,” Lois said behind him. “Haven’t you seen the news?”

The feral girl?

“I guess not,” he said. He collected himself, turned to face them, and put on a smile. “I’ve been in Redding most of the time, with the campaign.”

“Ah, that explains it,” Alice said. She stepped up to him and took him by one elbow, holding her body close to his.

That was one of the things about his job: when someone on Senator Sargent’s staff had to spend time with campaign donors, the older ladies tended to request his son, Jasper Sargent. Lois and Alice’s generation — both women were in their late sixties — had a lot of shifters who hadn’t been able, for whatever reason, to live in a happy triad. Usually, it was social pressure keeping the union to just a man and a woman, both yearning for a third to complete them, but unable to consummate if they wanted to keep their social standing among humans.

A lot of those couples split, and Jasper didn’t blame them. He couldn’t imagine knowing who your third was supposed to be, and having to pretend that they meant nothing to you. Thirty years with that kind of stress could do anyone in.

His own father, Senator Sargent, hadn’t acknowledged his male mate William until after Cascadia was granted statehood. It had been the topic of more than one fight in their household when Jasper was growing up.

Alice’s hand gripped him a little harder, and Jasper looked down at her, smiling.

“It began ten years ago,” Alice heard, keeping her voice conspiratorially low. “A couple towns over, this girl, Olivia, goes missing. Her family used to live in Granite Valley, so we knew them pretty well. Nice people.”

“Don’t forget about the son,” said Lois. Not about to be left in the dust, she took Jasper’s other arm and held herself close.

Jasper wished that she were Olivia, but he didn’t make a fuss. It was his job, after all. Sometimes a Communications Manager had to communicate in creative ways.

“I’m getting there, Lois,” said Alice. “So Olivia goes missing, and there are a couple sightings of her, in bear form, for a year or so, and then she’s just gone. We thought she’d been poached or something.”

Lois made a sad clicking noise with her tongue.

“How awful,” Lois said.

“Her brother just about lost his mind looking for her,” Alice went on. “Joined the army, got sent to Afghanistan, he was discharged for shifting in combat or something.”

That sounded vaguely familiar to Jasper. His father had been one of the sponsors of the bill that ended the army’s policy on shifters, and he was fairly certain that the brother’s story had come up at some point.

“He comes back, still looking for her,” Lois volunteered. “But in the meantime, she’s gotten into it with the wolves, somehow.”

“Allegedly,” said Alice.

Lois rolled her eyes behind her glasses.

“Allegedly, she killed two wolf shifters,” said Lois.

Jasper’s eyebrows went up. “Why?”

Alice lowered her voice to a whisper and looked around. The three of them were no longer walking, just standing in the middle of the path, gossiping.

“She says she doesn’t remember it,” Alice whispered. “There’s no proof it was really her, of course, but who else would have done it?”

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