Page 6 of Fated to the Grizzly

It clicks into place reassuringly.

I draw back the string, and?—

Crunch!

Branches break right ahead of me. Like something heavy just crashed through the trees. Then something even darker than the night plunges into my path.

I raise the torch I’d forgotten I had… and gasp.

A bear! A massive one. I make out huge, bristling shoulders and long white teeth.

It’s going for the rabbit, too.

I should be scared. Hell, I’m petrified.

But maybe because my stomach is rumbling like crazy, I’m also mad.

That’s my rabbit.

It won’t even make a dent in a bear’s appetite.

I swing my bow toward the bear. Is the arrow even capable of piercing a bear’s thick hide? It was designed for killing small prey.

The bear lets out a sound. I swear it sounds surprised.

Then it lunges for me.

My fingers release the arrow.

Thunk.

It hits a tree, just above the bear’s left ear.

The bear lets out an angry roar.

Fuuck!

I turn and run. Suddenly the prepper house doesn’t look so bad after all. I sprint toward it with everything I’ve got.

I’m going flat out when my foot catches something.

Oh, heck.

I’m no longer running, but in suspended animation. Then flying headlong toward the forest floor….

Then everything goes black.

3

Orion

Ishove my beast back inside of me, but it’s too late. She’s sprinting away from me at full pelt.

Feisty little human. She’s barely half my height and a tenth of my weight, but there was a challenge in her eyes. Shewantedthat rabbit. And she was willing to fight for it—as that goddamn stinging at the tip of my left ear testifies.

She’s quick, too, arms pumping, long blonde hair streaming out behind her…

Then her foot catches on a vine, and she goes downhard.

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