Page 42 of Wild in the Woods
This was freaky.
“You’re feeling suddenly possessive over her. Like, you’ll gouge the eyes out of any man who dares get too close. Am I in the ballpark?”
Fuck. “Ok, yes. What’s happening? Why is this happening?”
Jett sounded relieved. “I’ve been through this twice now, remember? I know what I’m talking about. It means she’s your mate, man. Congratulations!”
Fox shook his head. “No, no, that’s not it.”
“You want to feed her, and make her a little nest, and protect her because your bear is ready to make some cubs, and you need a protected, well-fed, happy mate for that, don’t you?”
No, no, no.
Watching Lulu as she approached the tree line, he put a fist to his lips, then raked his hand through his hair again. “How do I make it stop?”
Jett laughed. “You’re funny. You can’t make it stop. Mother Nature and the fates have spoken. You may have to convinceher, but deep inside, you already know it’s true. Don’t you?”
That was the biggest problem. He did know it, but he didn’t like it. Not at all. After a pause, he tried to keep emotion out of his voice.
“You know I can’t take a mate, Jett. You know how my dad was.”
“Come on, Fox. You’re nothing like him.”
People have been saying that his whole life. He looked like his dad, was built like him, had the same genetics. He was more like that terrible man than people wanted to admit. It was one of the reasons he rarely shifted into his bear. He was afraid that side of him would do terrible things, like his father’s.
“You know how many times I’ve heard that? Saying it doesn’t mean it’s true.”
Lulu disappeared into the trees. A prickle went down Fox’s spine and he immediately headed toward her. She shouldn’t be going into the woods without him. The back of his neck prickled, and his bear snapped to attention. It growled furiously, shaking Fox on his feet.
“I have to go.”
Nearly dropping the phone as he slammed it into his pocket, he started running toward Lulu. He caught a quick flash of her jacket right before she screamed.
Chapter Sixteen
Hesmelledthebear.
It was a grizzly, and by the fullness of the scent, a male with a serious chemical imbalance.
Fox’s joints ached as his body prepared to shift. He didn’t fight it, and with each foot of ground he covered, his primal rage grew. Running full tilt, he winced as his knuckles cracked and his neck bones spread. His ribs separated, his sternum popping as the ligaments grew. Crying out in agony, he didn’t slow his pace as his body twisted and morphed, creaked, and expanded. A ripping sound cut through the air as his clothing burst apart, his boots went flying, and he shifted fully into his grizzly. Slamming down on all fours, he raced the last yard of grass and burst into the trees, homing in on the other bear just as it approached Lulu.
She hid behind a tree, her face a mask of terror. The other male rose on his back legs, only a few feet away from her, and sliced a front paw in the air.
Lulu heard Fox coming, looked, screamed again as he crashed into the grizzly. They toppled and rolled, coming to a stop against a tree. Jumping up, Fox rose on his back legs and dug his front claws into the other male.
Claws clashed and fur went flying. Fox kept the upper hand and moved in for a fatal blow by driving his canines into the grizzly’s neck. But his opponent moved at the last second and slammed his head into Fox’s. Spinning from the impact, he went down on all fours and shook himself violently. In that split second, the other male turned his attention back to Lulu. She’d managed to get a large stick, wide enough that she had to hold it with both hands and held it in front of her.
His chest swelled with pride at her attempt to fight back. The branch would be no match for the bear, but her instincts to fight for survival were solid. Fox lurched forward and dug his teeth into the bear’s hind leg just as Lulu swung the branch. It knocked the bear upside the head. He roared in pain, stumbled, then fell as Fox pulled his leg back. Flipping the male onto his back, Fox raised his massive front paws to go in for the kill.
Then he sensed something.
The grizzly was sick. Something stirred inside the animal’s blood. An infection, maybe. Fox’s father would have killed this bear just because he could, but Fox didn’t want to be like that. For wild bears, food was food. Only shifters recognized that people weren’t on the menu.
Pinning his opponent, he roared.Not the human!
Nature would take its course with this grizzly, and he didn’t want to be the reason the beast died today. Moving back, he watched closely as the male got to his feet, shook himself, and with a long look at Fox, lumbered off.
Lulu raised the branch again. Her arms shook violently, and she looked about ready to throw up. Tears streaked down her cheeks. Concern and guilt welled inside him. He didn’t want to scare her. He should have watched her more closely instead of talking to Jett about nonsense.
