Page 6 of Bear Facts

It was dangerous for a Shifter to deliberately turn away from powerful alphas like Graham, Eric, and Nell but no one tried to stop him. He figured they must understand his frustration, and a small part of him felt some gratitude for that.

Cormac, thank the Goddess, had shucked the pink robe and was in jeans and a sweatshirt by the time Shane returned. Cormac’s dark hair was damp, indicating he’d recently stepped out of a shower. He looked Shane up and down with his sharp blue eyes but made no comment on his unclothed state.

“I heard Nell fire,” Cormac said. “I figured she has it under control?”

He voiced the question confidently enough, though Shane sensed his need to rush out and make sure his mate was all right. Shane admired Cormac’s self-discipline to let Nell go be her bad-ass self without running protectively after her.

“She does. Eric and Graham are out there too.” Shane began to calm under Cormac’s good-naturedness.

“Want breakfast?” Cormac offered. “I’m ready for some pancakes.” Apparently, a whole box of cereal hadn’t been enough to curb his appetite.

Shane let out a breath. “I’m not hungry anymore. I’m going for a run. Tell them not to come after me.”

Corman gave him a sympathetic nod. “You want to be alone.”

“Damn straight.” Shane moved past Cormac to his tiny bedroom where he pulled on clothes from his used pile. It was laundry day, and the shirt and pants he’d shredded outside had been his last clean ones. At least he always kept clean underwear on hand for emergencies such as these.

Re-dressed, he filled a small backpack with what he’d need, then returned to the kitchen and grabbed a giant bottle of water from the refrigerator.

“Want to take my truck?” Cormac offered. “It’s good for off-roading.”

The man would melt Shane with his generosity. “Nah, I’m not going far. See you, Cormac.”

“Be careful, Shane.”

The advice was offered in all seriousness. Shane grabbed his keys from the set of hooks where all the vehicle keys were kept in this house and headed for the back door.

“I’m always careful,” Shane told him. “Don’t wait up.”

Before Shane could exit, he felt Cormac’s warmth behind him. Without warning, the big man enfolded Shane into his embrace. Shane stiffened at first, then began to soften under the magic of Shifter touch.

“Waiting up is what parents do,” Cormac said, voice muffled by Shane’s big shoulder. “Even stepparents.”

Shane’s heart swelled with the love his family constantly surrounded him with, one that made a valiant attempt to cool down his inner bear. He hugged Cormac in return, then the two parted with a mutual thumping of backs, and Shane was gone.

Mount Charleston was a short drive from Shiftertown, but it might have been a world away. Shane soon left the dry desert of creosote, Joshua trees, and dead winter grasses, and began to wind his way through white-boled aspens, bristlecones, and ponderosa pines.

The air was sharply cold but scented with the comforting odor of pine forest. Snow lay in patches between the trees and formed low walls on the sides of the plowed road. Clouds, gray with unshed precipitation, scudded overhead, hugging the highest peaks of the Spring Mountain range.

Eric’s mate, Iona, had a cabin in the area she let other Shifters use. Tempting, but Shane was finished with anything civilized for the moment. The cabin was a house with all the comforts, a sweet place to take a load off, but Shane was too restless for that this morning.

He had his own secret spaces up on this mountain. He slowly bumped his small pickup down a single-lane road, making for his favorite spot. This road had been only cursorily plowed, and Shane’s truck banged over hard ruts and slid on icy patches.

He could have taken Cormac up on his offer of the larger, higher-clearance pickup, but that would mean worrying about getting the vehicle home soon in case Cormac or Nell needed it. By driving his own truck, Shane could stay out here for days if he wanted.

He’d have to check in if he wasn’t returning for a while, though. Once upon a time, a goon had kidnapped him and upset his whole family, so Shane would definitely text Nell if he wasn’t coming home today. He didn’t need his mother freaking out and Shiftertown searching for him en masse. Again.

When Shane reached the end of the road where his favorite hiking trail began, he parked the truck, climbed out, and inhaled deeply. Silence met his ears as the scents of the forest filled him.

Now this was more like it.

Shane stood still for a time, enjoying blissful solitude. This tiny road was way off the beaten track and officially closed in winter. A quick scan told him that no humans were nearby on a back-country hike. The woods were empty, giving Shane his much-needed privacy.

He lifted his backpack from the passenger seat, shouldered it, locked the pickup, and struck out into the woods. Shane always put distance between himself and his vehicle before he undressed and shifted. That way, if a park ranger waited at his truck when he returned, the ranger wouldn’t see a naked man racing toward him, cursing because he’d left his only clothes in the pickup.

Shane trudged along the faint track until the trees well obscured him from the trailhead. There, he set down the backpack and began to strip. Stupid wolves owed him a shirt, he growled to himself, regretting the loss of the comfy one they’d made him ruin.

Shane stuffed his clothes into the backpack, buried it deep beneath dead leaves and pine needles, and straightened up, stretching in relief.

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