Page 8 of Heir

It was dark, but the lights of the city still blinded me and even though I had incredible night vision, all the zooming cars and flashing street lights fucked with my eyes. I growled and kept to the shadows, meandering carefully under overpasses and sticking to culverts when I could.

News of a bear in the city would bring out the idiot humans with tranquilizer darts. Then I’d be relocated, and it’d take me even longer to reach my mate.

I could shift into human form too, which would be easier. I would, but I moved faster in bear form and had a better sense of smell.

It’d been a while since I’d been to any city.

I fucking hated cities.

I fucking hated people.

Cars too.

The forest was more peaceful, quieter. There was less pollution and destruction too.

Less selfishness and danger.

Being at the top of the food chain, very little scared me. But humans were fearful creatures and if they saw me, they’d bring out their guns—and guns scared me. Too many of my relatives were killed by guns. By hunters out for a trophy, for a bearskin rug, or a stuffed animal to decorate their home.

My mate’s scent was strong now, bringing forth a primal growl deep in my chest. I ached to meet her. To claim her and mate with her. What did she look like? What color was her fur? A light tawny brown? Or a deep chestnut like mine? What would our cubs look like?

Maybe she was one of those rare spirit bears—I’d only ever met one in my life—a blonde, almost-white grizzly. Our cubs would be beautiful, no matter what.

Sniffing the air, I turned west, heading toward the ocean. Her scent mixed with the briny, pungent smell of the sea at low tide, along with the damp pavement as it started to rain.

A group of loud men blasting music from a speaker passed by, so I froze and hunkered down in the shrubs. A car drove by, the sizzling sound of its tires on the wet road competing with the men’s obnoxious tunes.

The group passed, so I kept moving. My mate was about two miles away now. But the bushes and trees I could hide in grew thinner and thinner. I’d need to shift, soon.

The smell of garbage with three-day-old pizza and half a club sandwich, pulled my attention. My stomach gurgled.

No.

I needed to get to my mate.

Too much time had already passed. She was probably wondering what was taking me so long. I couldn’t keep her waiting any longer. I couldn’t disappoint her before we even met.

I told my stomach to shut the fuck up and padded through the park until the trees ended and it was just a big open grassy field. A baseball diamond sat at one end, flanked by dugouts and bleachers.

Such a stupid game, baseball.

Humans did such stupid things.

Grizzly ball was much better. Much more dangerous too. We didn’t wear helmets, or cups to protect our genitals. We played with bare paws, teeth, and claws out. Humans would shrink in terror if they ever saw a grizzly ball game. I snorted at that thought as I walked beneath the bleachers, stepping on fallen popcorn, queso from nachos and something sticky—probably part of a candy bar. I licked my paw.

Yeah, it was a candy bar. Not a very good one though. I wasn’t a fan of Turkish delight. Give me something with honey any day of the week.

After the bleachers, it was nothing but concrete and buildings. I would have to shift.

With a deep sigh of reluctance, I stood up on my hind legs and let my body do its thing.

My toes and fingers shrunk back to human length, my mandible retracted, along with my canines. My spine straightened, and my fur burrowed back beneath my skin.

Now nobody would try to shoot me.

I walked the last mile to my mate until I found myself in some hipster borough, standing on the sidewalk below a warehouse converted into loft apartments. The name of the building was the Reinvention. Ugh.

“Hey!” someone called out to me from up the street. “Put some damn clothes on!”