Page 13 of Bear Facts

“With whipped cream.” Shane popped a blackberry into his mouth.

“Figures.” Freya fell silent as she finished her first sandwich and started another. Shane followed suit.

“You can stay here a while, if you want,” Shane said after a time.

Freya stilled, sandwich in mid-air, and stared at him in incredulity. “What?”

“I said, you can stay?—”

“I heard you. I’m having a hard time believing you’re offering out of the goodness of your heart.”

Shane shrugged. “Why not? The place is well stocked, as you can see. Eric and Iona won’t mind, once I explain?—”

“No.” Freya half rose in her vehemence. “You’re not telling Eric anything about me. You never met me, never saw me.”

Shane made a show of adding another slab of cheese to his sandwich, as though paying no attention to her reaction. “Who are you running from? I guarantee that Eric will protect you. I will protect you.”

“I don’t need protecting.” The answer was automatic, as though Freya said this often. “Why would you anyway? You’re not my pack or clan. You’re a bear.”

“I’m a tracker. Also, I’m my mom’s second. That means I help take care of all Shifters in Shiftertown.”

Freya sat back down, her apprehension high. Shane kept on eating, as though they weren’t discussing anything important.

“I’m not from your Shiftertown,” Freya pointed out.

“Doesn’t matter.” Shane tried another casual question. “What Shiftertown did you get assigned to?”

Freya tapped her bare throat. “No Collar, remember? I decided Shiftertowns weren’t for me.”

Shane hid his skepticism by tossing a few more berries into his mouth.

A Shifter didn’t decide whether to join a Shiftertown or not. Humans had rounded up all known Shifters, documented them, Collared them, and assigned them to a collection of houses known as a Shiftertown. Freya hadn’t been given a Collar, which meant she hadn’t been rounded up, but she’d dropped hints that she knew what Shiftertowns were like. Curious.

She had to have been on the run ever since. She’d try to pass for human, but she’d have to move on as soon as local humans grew suspicious at her very slow aging. Shifters lived a long time.

“Our Shiftertown isn’t so bad,” Shane said. “Well, wasn’t until Graham came along, but it still is pretty good. Okay, except for this morning, which was why I decided I needed a break. Graham’s a good leader, if you can get past his attitude.”

Freya started when Shane mentioned Graham’s name and bowed her head over her meal as he went on, very carefully not looking at him.

Made sense that she’d have heard of Graham, as she was a Lupine. The entire Lupine world must be aware of Graham McNeil, who thought he was in charge of said world.

Shane expected Freya to state her opinion of him. Most Lupines wished Graham at the bottom of the ocean.

Freya pretended to not be interested at all, to not have noticed that Graham’s name had even come up. Huh.

Freya popped the last crust of her last sandwich into her mouth and checked the digital clock on the microwave. She finished the bite and rose.

“Thanks, Shane. This was nice of you. I’ll return the clothes when I can. I have to go now.”

She was out of the kitchen and at the front door before Shane had time to blink. Reminded him how fast Lupines could move.

Bears could move rapidly too, when they chose. Shane was a step behind her when Freya’s hand touched the doorknob.

“Why the rush?” he rumbled.

Freya glanced back at him. “I’ve got places I need to be. Shifters have lives outside of Shiftertowns, you know.”

“Sure, they do. But you’ve been living rough for days, you said. Don’t be in such a hurry to leave. Rest here for a while.”

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