Page 19 of Bear Facts

Her intervention calling him her ex was brilliant, and heartwarming. She’d been worried for Shane. Pretending he was a harmless irritation, not a threat, was her way of protecting him.

“Shane is a good fighter,” Freya said to Althea. She put just enough grudging respect in the statement, making Shane want to laugh. “Do you think it would be a fair match?”

Ewan scoffed. “Don’t worry about me, honey.”

Shane said nothing. Althea fixed her attention on Freya alone, ignoring the bantering of two males trying to out-alpha each other.

This contest was entirely between the two women. Had nothing to do with all the guards or even Shane and Ewan. This was Freya’s audition.

Shane was also aware that no matter what happened, things would not end well for him. If he fought Ewan and his fake Collar didn’t go off, these humans would learn that it was possible for Shifters to somehow get around their Collars’ restrictions. They might capture Shane to study this effect or betray him to Shifter Bureau if Althea thought this beneficial.

Or, Shane could suppress his instincts, let Ewan kick his ass, and wait for Althea’s mercy—or Freya’s if Althea continued her tactic of making Freya decide. Althea’s calm assurance that no one would know what had happened to Shane if she had him killed was chilling.

He could also play along and let Althea recruit him, if that was Freya’s choice. He could find out about this so-called private security firm and then report to Eric once he got away.

But Shane wouldn’t leave unless Freya came with him. He didn’t trust this human woman with her cool voice, her tamed Shifter, and her guards with too many weapons. Shane had only met Freya this morning, and she was a Lupine, but she was more vulnerable than she knew.

While Freya debated what to do, and Ewan watched with the arrogance only Felines could manage, Shane made his own decision.

He couldn’t indicate his plan with body language because Ewan would suss that immediately, so Shane simply acted.

He barreled forward, forcing his shift as he went, until he was charging at Freya in his half-bear, half-man form.

The sudden appearance of a massive half-Shifted bear, clothes tearing from him, gave Shane the seconds he needed. The guards hesitated a hair too long, and even Althea snapped no orders. Freya watched him come, open-mouthed, more astonished than afraid.

She had spirit, his lady. Shane ran smack into Freya, lifted her from her feet, and hurtled with her into the woods.

Did Freya scream and flail like a damsel in an old movie? No, she seized his giant arms and demanded, “What the fuck are you doing?”

Shane didn’t waste breath answering. He heard Althea cursing behind them, her cool finally splintered. Clicks told Shane the guards had rifles ready. Ewan was laughing, which broke off into a furious snarling—maybe Althea had told one of the guards to tase him.

A quiet thunk of a tranq gun going off was followed a split second later by the sting of a dart pricking Shane’s side. He pulled the dart out of his fur, tossed it to the leaves ahead of him, and crushed it with his powerful foot as he ran on.

It took a lot of tranquilizer to bring down a bear, especially in his man-beast state. Althea’s goons had probably loaded enough to knock out a Lupine or Feline—non-Tiger ones, that is. Bear hadn’t been on the menu today.

Even so, the small amount that bit into Shane slowed his stride.

“Second time today,” Shane growled in his half-beast’s guttural tones. “Damn it. I should have stayed in bed.”

“I wish you would have,” Freya grappled at his giant paw-hands. “Are you going to put me down anytime soon?”

“No can do, sweetheart.”

Shane heard pursuit, but unless Ewan shifted and sprinted after them, Shane would easily outpace them. He headed away from the resort down a trackless slope between the trees, where the big SUVs couldn’t follow.

A bullet twanged against a tree, bits of bark showering down. Althea’s voice rose in fury at whoever had fired. She wanted Freya alive, apparently. Probably didn’t care too much about Shane, though.

Freya continued to struggle, but she wouldn’t make a dent in Shane’s strength if she didn’t shift. Shane kept a tight hold on her as he wound along an ever-varying route back to his pickup.

He wished now he’d taken Cormac up on his offer of his big F450. With his own truck, Shane would have to stick to graded roads and hope that Althea and her gang didn’t figure out which ones. Not that there were that many ways down this mountain. Speed was their biggest ally.

As the noise of Althea and her men faded, Freya ceased fighting, but Shane didn’t loosen his grip. He suspected she was conserving her strength to get away from him later.

Shane sensed no wildcat loping after them, so Althea must not have ordered Ewan to pursue. Didn’t mean she would give up the chase, only that she saw no point in using Ewan, who might not be that easy to control.

Shane’s pace began to slacken. The tranq, on top of the one he’d taken this morning, was encouraging his body to wind down and take a nap. It became harder to hold on to the frustrated Freya, but he didn’t want to release her, not yet.

Somehow, he’d have to shove her into the truck and keep her there. Short of zip-tying her feet and hands and locking her under the cover in the truck’s bed—both of which she’d escape from in a heartbeat—he’d have to trust her to sit quietly in the cab while he ran around to the driver’s seat. This would be tricky.

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