Page 15 of Grumpy Special Ops Bear: Ep. 1
Both bears took a step back and then stood on their hind legs. Their bones popped and snapped as they changed from large furry beasts into their human forms of Cutter and Grant.
Grant smoothed down his white hair while eyeing me. “Something’s happening at the camp. The group cleared out after the woman went down to the river. I think something might have gone wrong.”
My body stiffened. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, she yelled at them, something about missing gear. She wasn’t happy and looked like she was about to beat the shit out of Price.” Cutter smirked. “I wish she had. It would have saved us the trouble of knocking him the fuck out.”
I glowered. “Or she would have gotten her hand bitten off. Missing gear?” I arched a brow. “They must have stolen it from her. I’m getting the feeling she’s not part of the reason we’re after Price.”
Cutter and Grant nodded in agreement.
“From the way they acted,” Grant added, “they were furious about her yelling. It showed disrespect, if she were one of them.”
I concurred with his assessment. “No matter. We’ll move in tonight.”
Cutter glanced at me with a tilted head. “What’s wrong?”
“What do you mean?” I replied.
“I can smell your uneasiness. Is it about the woman?”
I glared at him, even as my inner bear whined obnoxiously in my head. The whining grew louder until I winced, fighting the urge to hold my head. Mercifully, after a while, it died down. I took a deep breath in through my nostrils, hoping the other two wouldn’t notice, but from their wide-eyed stares, I knew they had.
“No, it has nothing to do with the human,” I snapped. “Why do you ask?”
“Fuck, bro.” Grant grabbed his bundle of clothes. “No need to get all ornery. It was just a question.” He strode away without a backward glance.
Cutter snatched his clothes too.
Grant was right. I was acting like a snappy asshole.
“Shit. I meant nothing by it.”
“We just worry about you sometimes.”
I glanced at Grant’s back and then at Cutter. “Meaning what?”
“Meaning you’re at your prime to find a mate, and you have yet to seek one out. The clan’s worried about you, especially your aunt Kristine. We all just want to make sure your alpha bloodline continues and the clan remains strong.”
“Well, you all need to mind your own damn business,” I snapped. “Get back to your positions. We’ll move in soon enough.”
Cutter stared at me long and hard until I snarled, “I’m fine, Cutter.”
He raised a brow and replied, “Sure you are.” He took a long sniff of the air. “Do you smell that?”
I barely moved my head in acknowledgment as I stepped toward the south. The scent was there, just a hint in the wind. A herd of elk was moving through the area, close to where we stood. I hadn’t eaten all day, and neither had Cutter and Grant.
A snarl echoed around my head, and my teeth snapped in response. “Let’s go,” I told Cutter. “Before we take out Price and his group, we should let our beasts feed.”
Cutter grinned darkly and sprinted away after Grant, shifting mid run. Then a large grizzly bear was lumbering through the trees.
Quickly, I removed my gear, stripping out of my clothes. The air was chilly as the sun was going down, but I barely felt the change in temperature. My skin was naturally warm from the beast raging within me.
As I stepped forward, the shift took over my body. A shooting pain raced through me as my inner beast rushed forth. Bones rearranged under my skin, expanding and stretching. The fur grew, covering my entire body, as my feet and hands spread and thickened. A few snaps of ribs later and a monstrous grizzly stood in my place, roaring in the night.
My dark chestnut fur rippled down my body in waves. Along my back were streaks of golden fur, a trademark of my bloodline, marking me as the alpha male of my clan. It was a position I had taken seriously for nearly ten years. When my uncle had passed, I had taken part in the contest to become alpha, and I’d won over the rest of the males in my family. Since that night, I’d led my clan with a firm hand. The position was challenging but rewarding.
As bear-shifters, we were notoriously territorial and loners. We preferred to live in isolation from others, but bear-shifters were diminishing because of the females having breeding problems and wars with wolf-shifters over territory. So now it wasn’t uncommon for bear-shifters to live in clans under the leadership of an alpha to ensure the survival of our species.
