Page 10 of Laid Bear

“Didn’t plan on it,” Heath said before taking another sip of his coffee.

“I don’t see why not. After we’ve talked, of course.” Gavin offered that sexy smile again, but this time Zora wouldn’t be distracted by it.

Refusing to be deterred, she crossed her arms over her chest. “I’d much rather go now if it wouldn’t be too much of an inconvenience.”

Gavin shook his head with an apologetic smile. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

Zora bit her tongue to hold back an angry retort. “Thanks for letting me stay here while I…recovered.” She gripped her purse tightly and strode outside. Pissed. Gavin had already said the closest town was a half an hour away which she assumed meant by car. She’d be walking for at least a few hours. Bastards. Well, so be it. What was a little hike through nowhereville? She was thankful to have a pair of comfortable walking shoes.

When all either one of them did was give her a smug grin, Zora shifted from side to side uncomfortably. Both men remained silent as she gave them an awkward wave and headed out the door.

Once outside, she realized the cabin was surrounded by forest with no clear-cut path. How the hell was she supposed to get out of here?She had a sneaking suspicion they knew she’d have trouble finding her way off the property, which was why they hadn’t tried to stop her. Well, she’d show them. She’d find her way out of here, even if it took her all day.

Zora refused to panic. There had to be a way out. It stood to reason that the guys made it to the cabin by some sort of vehicle. How else would they transport their supplies? She walked around the house in hopes of seeing a garage or some way out, and was rewarded with the sight of two large SUVs and a pickup truck. Scoping the site out once more, she noticed a worn trail. This had to be the way out.

She whispered a silent prayer of fortitude and began to follow the path. She’d made it several yards when she thought she heard a low growl behind her. She shook her head, convinced she was hearing things. Zora continued on, determined to make it to civilization by nightfall. As she took several more steps, she heard the low rumbling sound of an animal, the same one, but closer. Zora never considered herself a skittish person, but maybe she should head back to the cabin. The thought of seeing the smug looks on Gavin and Heath’s faces convinced her to go on. Whatever made the sound was probably a harmless creature, more interested in its own activities than her.

Squaring her shoulders, Zora started walking again, but this time she halted in her tracks when a voice growled in her head, “You’re not going anywhere.”

What the entire fuck? Did she bump her head so hard when she crashed her car that she now heard voices? Zora didn’t have time to dwell on her next course of action before she heard a rustling in the bushes, quickly followed by the appearance of the largest animal she’d ever seen. A bear. It was roughly the same size of the creature she’d hit with Christine. Was it the same bear? Had it tracked her down to seek revenge?

It stood on its hind legs and let out a loud roar.

Zora, paralyzed with fear, released a scream from the depths of her belly. The animal stilled, cocking its head to the side as if responding to her fear. “I won’t hurt you. But you’re not going anywhere.”

Those words filtered in her mind as if the bear had spoken them. Zora clutched her head to shake away such a ridiculous thought. Of course the bear hadn’t communicated with her. Perhaps she really was losing it. When the bear dropped down on all fours and slowly stalked toward her, she was galvanized into action. Her legs finally cooperated with her brain. She spun around and took off as fast as she could.

Zora didn’t get far before she crashed into the hard wall of a very muscular chest. Strong hands shot out to grip her forearms, holding her in place. “Going somewhere?” It was Heath, with the same cocky smirk he’d sported earlier.

Zora didn’t have time to analyze why he was so damn calm in the face of a possible animal attack. All she knew was she needed to put some distance between herself and that monstrosity of a bear. She pulled against him, trying to break free of his effortless hold on her.

“Let go!”

“Not a chance, honey.”

The nonchalance in his voice served to further irritate her. “Don’t you see that big ass bear behind us?”

“You mean Logan?”

“No. A bear. Look!”

“All I see is Logan.”

Zora risked a glance over her shoulder to see a very naked Logan standing where the bear had been. The animal was nowhere to be seen. She locked gazes with Logan and the look in his eyes was eerily similar to the…no. Common sense told her it wasn’t possible. Things like this didn’t happen outside of books.

She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. “How… What happened to the bear?”

Logan shot a narrow-eyed stare in Gavin and Heath’s direction. “You two haven’t told her yet?” he practically growled the words. It occurred to Zora that Logan’s voice was nearly identical to the one she’d heard in her head only moments earlier. Again she dismissed it, not willing to accept what the little voice in her head was trying to tell her.

Gavin cleared his throat. “Well, we were actually going to get to that, but Zora wanted to take a walk first.”

A dark blond brow shot up. “Looks to me like she was trying to leave,” Logan pointed out.

Zora realized Heath had relaxed his grip, enabling her to pull away from him. “Tell me what? And don’t you own any clothes? Or are you guys into some kind of freaky nudist ritual?” Logan began to advance and Zora held up her hands to ward him off. “Don’t come any closer.” She turned her head away to prevent her eyes from straying below the waist. She remembered what happened the last time she’d been caught staring.

Logan snorted. “Since my cousins haven’t told you, guess it’s up to me. I—”

Gavin shook his head. “Wait, Logan, not this way, we have to break it to her gently. This would be a lot for anyone to take in, let alone someone who’s already suffered through major trauma.”

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