Page 11 of Bear Facts

It rose two stories, walls sided in polished wooden boards, with a wraparound porch on the first level. Curtains hung in all the windows, and a porch light, shining in the dim winter morning, welcomed them.

Freya stilled in surprise. She’d pictured a rudimentary cabin in deep woods, battered and abandoned. Shifters weren’t allowed lovely homes on the side of Mount Charleston.

“Our Shiftertown leader’s mate, Iona, owns it,” Shane said as though understanding her confusion. “Technically, her human mom does, but Shifters are welcome to use it whenever.”

He stepped up to the porch, retrieved a key from a niche high in the wall, and shoved the key into the polished lock.

“Come on in.” Shane threw open the door. “Make yourself at home. I won’t bite.” He grinned, his mouth full of white teeth. “Much.”

Chapter Four

Shane stepped inside and flicked a wall switch, flooding a comfortable-looking living room with warm light. Tempting her, like he knew it would.

She should not go in there, Freya’s wolf warned. She should spin around and flee, let Shane catch her if he could. Bears were strong, but wolves were fast.

On the other hand, Freya was tired and hungry, and Shane was right. She was a mess. Traveling to Las Vegas, looking for Rolf in all points between, had taken longer than she’d thought. She’d had to resort to living rough as her wolf when her money ran out. Not having a bed to sleep in for a few days had taken its toll.

“Bathroom is upstairs, right off the landing,” Shane was saying as Freya made her feet cross the threshold. He dropped his backpack on the floor next to the door, as though not wanting its dirty canvas to touch the living room’s pristine rug. “Clean towels in the bathroom cupboard. Bedroom on the left has some clothes that might fit you. Iona’s Feline though, so if the scent bothers you, well …” He opened his hands in an apologetic gesture. “That’s what happens when your Shiftertown leader, his sister, his mate, et cetera, are cats. You gotta put up with the smell.”

He spoke as though being locked in a Shiftertown with a leader who wasn’t even his species was one big joke.

Freya hesitated at the foot of the stairs, wondering if Shane would rush up behind her and drag her to a bedroom to do what Shifter males did to fair-game females.

Then again, why would he bother with a bedroom? He could take her to the floor now or do it on the stairs. He also could have ravaged her in the woods, when he’d won their fight.

He had won, though Freya wouldn’t admit it to him. He’d pinned her, and she’d never have been able to get away if he hadn’t let her go.

Without looking at her, Shane unzipped his backpack and dumped its contents onto the rug. He pulled out a pair of sweatpants, which he quickly pulled on. Then he moved to the fireplace, where he knelt to light kindling that had been left waiting with carefully laid logs.

Freya couldn’t stop herself gazing at Shane’s well-muscled back, which bore scars from long-ago battles, plus a few more recent scratches she hadn’t made. That and his nicely formed backside, now covered with the thin fabric of his sweatpants. The human in her appreciated the sight, and a basic need awoke.

She made herself turn away, clutch the carved newel post, and launch herself up the stairs.

The bathroom, as promised, was the first door at the top of the staircase. Freya skimmed inside and shut the door behind her. In the living room below, she heard Shane start belting out a Stevie Ray Vaughn tune in a loud baritone.

Freya had to smile. Shane’s voice was warm and rich, but damn, he couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket.

Freya locked the door, though the flimsy button lock wouldn’t stop Shane if he wanted to burst in. She heard him continue to sing downstairs—or what passed for singing—even after she turned on the water in the glass-doored walk-in shower stall.

A shower had never felt more luxurious. Bath products lined up on the shelf ranged from generic men’s shampoo and soap to scented body wash, shampoo, and conditioners for women. Freya lathered up guiltily with fine-smelling soap, hoping Eric’s mate—Iona, Shane said her name was—wouldn’t mind.

Shane had mentioned Iona’s mother was human. Did that mean Eric was mated to a half-Shifter? Freya had met a few half-Shifters in her travels, who kept their Shifter identities fiercely secret. They’d feared Freya when she’d realized what they were, but she would never betray them.

A half-human woman had decided to mate with a Shifter and go live with him in a Shiftertown? Was she nuts?

As much as Freya loved the hot water on her sore body, she finished as quickly as she could. The towels she’d found were thick and fluffy, more luxury. The floor of the shower was now covered with the mud and dead leaves that had been on her body, so she spent a few minutes cleaning that.

A peek out the bathroom door showed no Shane in sight, though his voice still carried from somewhere downstairs. Freya nipped into the bedroom next to the bathroom, closing and locking that door. Clothes hung in the closet, as Shane had indicated, jeans and shirts, shorts for warmer weather, and sweatshirts and pullover sweaters.

Freya chose things in sizes closest to hers. She didn’t want to wear another woman’s undies, so she pulled on the clothes over her bare, damp body. She’d retrieve her own things soon enough.

By the time Freya exited the bedroom, Shane had switched to crooning The Lion Sleeps Tonight in a crazy falsetto. The big goof.

Trying to disarm her, Freya’s caution told her. Making her laugh so she’d not notice her danger until the chains landed around her.

Freya found an unused hairbrush in the bathroom drawer, along with a few toothbrushes still in the package. For guests? How many of those did Shifters entertain up here?

Still, it was nice to comb out her hair and brush her teeth. Now she was clean, refreshed, and ready for her appointment to maybe learn of her brother’s fate.

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