Page 10 of Bear Facts

Shane had no idea why he admitted this last bit of information. If Shifter Bureau ever found out Shifters had learned how to substitute Collars with fakes, they’d lose what little freedom they’d carved out for themselves. If they weren’t simply terminated as a danger to the public.

But for some reason Shane wanted to reassure Freya. Prove he wasn’t an asshole Shifter bowing to Shifter Bureau’s dictates.

“I don’t want your houses or your rescue,” Freya declared.

Her eyes told Shane differently. She was searching for something, though this wolf wasn’t pathetic and whimpering. She might be dirty and disheveled, but she was strong and able. Likewise, she had immediate hunger but wasn’t starving.

“There’s no one at the cabin, I promise you,” Shane said. “My leader doesn’t even know I’ll be going there.” Not quite a lie—Cormac would have guessed, but he’d only tell Nell and Eric if there was absolute need. “I’m offering because, sweetie, you really need a shower.”

Instead of growing offended, Freya sent him a sardonic glance. “Well, no shit.”

“How long have you been running around up here?” Shane tried to keep the question casual, as though they were acquaintances who happened to bump into each other, naked, in the woods.

“None of your business.” Freya again clapped her mouth closed, studying him as though debating what to do. She could easily spin around and sprint off into the trees, and Shane might have a hard time catching her. Lupines could be fast, especially if they had a head start.

After a time, Freya heaved a sigh. “All right. Show me this cabin where I can shower.”

Shane noted Freya didn’t say take me there. That would imply she was under Shane’s power, being led where he wanted to go. Show me indicated that she was in control, telling Shane what to do. The words also implied that she would decide, once there, whether or not to go inside.

Shane shrugged his big shoulders as though he didn’t care one way or another and gestured for her to walk beside him. Not behind him—he wanted to indicate he didn’t regard her as a submissive, and besides, this way he could keep an eye on her.

He was slightly surprised when Freya fell into step with him without further argument. She had some kind of agenda, he knew, and going along with him now just became part of it.

“Where are your clothes?” Shane asked. “Mine are on my way to my pickup. But the cabin isn’t far. We can walk.”

He added the last part hastily as Freya’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. She was not about to get into a vehicle with him.

“I know where I left them,” Freya said. “Cabin first.”

Okay, interesting. She trusted following Shane to an unknown cabin more than she trusted him with the location of her stuff.

Shane would have to figure out why later. For now, she needed a clean body, a quiet place to rest, and food to eat.

Who she was, why she was here, and what she was up to would keep. Shane, as much as his bear growled at him to shake answers out of her, had learned the value of taking his time.

“Suit yourself,” Shane made himself say.

He continued through the trees to the place he’d left his backpack, ready to march the mile or so beyond that to Eric’s, leaving his truck to wait patiently for his return.

Freya wasn’t certain why she chose to follow this Shifter, this bear, deeper into the woods. But his mention of a shower and a meal had the tired wolf inside her salivating.

She justified her response by the fact that Shane obviously wasn’t the feral thing she’d scented in the woods with her. When Shane had come along, she’d thought he was the terrifying animal roaming this place just out of sight, and in her agitation her wolf had attacked first.

Freya had realized at once that he was a Collared Shifter, anything feral in him quashed long ago, but it had been too late for her to release him and race away. He’d never have let her, anyway.

At least Shane hadn’t immediately tried to kill her. He could have—she’d felt that power in him. Nor had he dashed for the nearest cell phone to call Shifter Bureau and have her picked up.

Freya traveled without identification. Well, she had a fake driver’s license a guy in San Francisco had fixed her up with a long time ago, but it wasn’t Shifter identification. She had nothing that indicated her clan or her pack, or even her family, who are long gone anyway, she finished with familiar pain.

But Shifter Bureau was canny. They’d come up with an app—so Rolf had told her—that let them figure out if a person was a Shifter or not, and then which Shifter they were and where they were supposed to be. Showing up on the app as an un-registered Shifter would get her arrested, if they didn’t kill her outright. Then what would happen to Rolf, wherever he was?

She’d decided to take advantage of Shane’s gullibility to clean herself up and eat, so she could reach her appointment fresh-smelling and clear-headed. She’d find some way to elude him when she was ready. Freya had spent a lifetime hiding out from Shifters, and she wasn’t about to stop now.

Shane moved deftly along, light on his bare feet as he followed no discernable path. He’d retrieved a backpack he’d hidden but didn’t stop to dress. Freya wasn’t noticing his tight backside and firm body at all. Was she?

She couldn’t afford to get involved with a Shifter, no matter how good-looking he was. He was a Collared Shifter, and not even a Lupine. Her enemy in all respects.

Shane abruptly halted. Freya forced her gaze past his muscular body and saw a house set among a thick stand of pines.

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