Page 4 of Marked By the Possessive Polar Bear
But then a helicopter passes overhead and he gets distracted.
He roars at the sky and then breaks off into a run, following it into the thick Montana wilderness.
The helicopter quickly disappears into the distance, but Magnus’ bear doesn’t return.
After a long while, we phase back into our human forms and spend several minutes keeping our eyes on the mountains where Magnus ran off to.
“What the hell was that?” Julian whispers under his breath. “Where did he go?”
“And when is he going to come back?” I say. The trees and mountains look so calm. A car passes in the distance. A hawk flies overhead. It’s like that quick, violent episode never even happened.
“I don’t know, but this is going to keep happening until he finds his mate.”
I sigh as I cover my exposed chest with my arms. “Let’s hope he finds her soon then.”
We both feel so defeated as we walk back into the destroyed shop. “What a mess,” I say as I grab my shredded clothes off the ground and put them on as best I can. Julian does the same.
“I guess I’d better cancel my dinner date with Lainey,” Julian says, kicking the busted-up couch.
“Yup,” I say as I look at my shredded tattoo sketches on the ground. “It’s going to bea longnight.”
Four days pass before we hear from Magnus.
He calls the shop on a Friday afternoon. I’ve been so worried, I’ve barely slept.
“I’m so sorry, Victoria,” he says, sounding like he’s in tears. His voice is all rough and raspy like he’s been through a hell of a four days. Cleaning up the shop was a lot of work, but it was probably nothing compared to what he’s been going through.
“It’s okay,” I say. “Are you okay? Where are you?”
Julian hears and hurries over even though he’s in the middle of tattooing a lady. “Is it Magnus?”
I nod as he puts his ear to the phone.
“I’m in New Mexico.”
Holy shit. He ran across three states?!
“My bear wouldn’t let up,” he says. “He ran for four days straight. I was finally able to slip out when he was trying to break into a food truck for a meal.”
“We can send you money,” I say with my mind racing. “Or pick you up. What do you need?”
“I can’t come back like this,” he says, sounding like his heart is breaking. “I’m too dangerous to be around.”
“You’re not,” I tell him, my heart breaking too. “Just come home. It will be okay.”
“It won’t,” he says. “My bear… This is different. I need some time.”
Our shop, Heat & Ink, doesn’t work without Magnus. He’s the one who got us all into tattooing when he bought an old tattoo machine at a yard sale when we were kids. He’s theone who found the location, designed the shop, filled out the paperwork, and put up the most money to get us started. He was the one who believed in us. He’s the one who keeps us going with his steady leadership and kind words. It’s not the same without him.
“You can’t leave us now,” Julian says, grabbing the phone. “The summer is right around the corner and we’re booked solid. It’s about to be our busiest season yet. This is what we’ve all been working for!”
“Julian,” I snap, grabbing the phone back. “It’s okay, Magnus. You take as much time as you need. We’ll make it work.”
“I have someone coming to help you out with the workload,” he says. “I called in a favor.”
My whole body is tingling as I grip the phone. “Who?” I ask, although I think I know who it is.
“Adrian. I asked him to come.”
