Page 29 of Bearing North
Pumping the brakes did nothing, and Alex felt her heart pounding in her throat. It was all downhill from here, with hairpin turns. On one side was a ditch that would roll the truck at this speed. On the other side was an insufficient-looking guard rail and a steep drop into a ravine. Could she scrape the truck along the guard rail to slow them? If it failed, that was the deadly side of the road. Should she try the emergency brake? Could she control the truck if she did? They were going so fast now that any crash was liable to be deadly. Turning off the truck would only kill the power steering and any control she still had, as well as the visibility that the windshield wipers provided. She downshifted, and the engine screamed, but the truck didn’t noticeably slow.
“Dammit, dammit, dammit!” Alex needed more time to consider her options and didn’t have any. The brake pedal continued to do nothing, no matter how she pumped it. There was no safe place to steer them off, nowhere to go, and another semi was starting up the bottom of the hill toward them. Alex wasn’t convinced she could keep them in their own lane as they gained more speed, and a head-on crash would be deadly.
There was one thing she had to do as she fought the steering wheel and the slippery gravel. “Orson, I love you. If we get out of this, I’ll marry you.” Alex wasn’t going to die without him knowing that.
“I love you, Alex,” he said promptly. “Do you trust me?”
That earned him a swift glance. “Yes.” Alex had never trusted anyone like this in her life, but she wasn’t sure why he’d ask thatnow.
To her astonishment, he unbuckled his seatbelt and then hers.
“Steer for the ditch,” he advised. Then he was reaching over her to open the door as he shifted into a massive bear that filled the truck’s cab. He wrapped her into a fur burrito and leaped out into the rain, dragging her with him.
Alex gave the steering wheel one final yank and let go, letting him enfold her in powerful arms.
She had to trust him.
And she did.
25
ORSON
Orson wasn’t entirely sure his plan would work, but he knew he had to try. Humans hurtling out of a truck into a ditch full of rocks at top speed would have been incredibly stupid…but as a bear?
Despite her brave words, he could tell that Alex thought they were done for, and Orson couldn’t lose her now. Shifter strength and healing ability might save him from a fatal crash, but surviving without her would destroy him.
His thick fur coat and substantial layer of fat did a lot less to protect him than he hoped. They tumbled end over end down the ditch as the truck barreled on without them, rolled over, and crashed with a shriek of steel and roar of shattering glass.
Orson’s only goal was to shield Alex. He cradled her in his arms as they tumbled, tucking her close and absorbing every hit. He met every impact with his shoulder, more invested in keeping Alex safe than in using his limbs to stop their downward progress. He could take a beating and did, concentrating on keeping his claws from scratching her fragile form or letting her slip from his grasp.
The bottom of the ditch was full of rainwater, and it ran around them as they finally came to a stop.
Orson peeled his aching arms away when the world stopped tumbling around him, desperate to see if his precious burden had been harmed.
“Shit,” Alex said breathlessly, lying on his furry belly. “Are you hurt? Orson?”
Orson realized that he was lying still, not sure what was broken, and shifted. “I’m okay.” She was much heavier when he was human, and she scrambled back off of him in alarm.
“Orson, oh my God. That was insane. Did you break anything?” She knelt beside him, running her hands gently along his sides.
Orson sat up with effort, wheezing. “Maybe a rib. I’m not sure. It should be fine soon. Shifters heal faster than humans.” he tested this limbs. An ankle might be sprained, and his elbow was on fire. His clothing was torn in places, and absolutely filthy. “Dammit, I don’t think I’m even going to get any manly scars out of this. But what about you? Are you okay?”
Alex laughed weakly and kissed his forehead. She was shaking, and Orson wrapped her arms around her before he realized he was, too. They trembled together in shock and relief. The rain had slowed to the barest cool drizzle.
“We should get some more clothes on before we get hypothermia,” she said, drawing away. “Do you think the truck will explode?”
“That only happens in movies,” Orson scoffed. “And I’m more worried about mosquitoes.” As the rain let up, the hungry insects moved in on the arms that his T-shirt left bare.
“Let’s get our rain gear,” Alex said practically. She stood up and nearly fell over again. “Oh, ouch. That’s probably sprained.”
Orson surged to his feet to try to catch her. They ended up supporting each other and limping awkwardly to the truck, each of them with one good ankle.
The truck was not on fire, and what was left of the engine made creaking noises as it cooled. The sight was sobering; it was a crushed, crumpled wreck of a vehicle. No one inside could have survived. Not even shifter strength would have saved him.
Orson would have been a lot more maudlin if he wasn’t being sucked dry by voracious mosquitoes and drenched. “Raincoat, please!”
He had to shift into a bear and rip a door off to get into the back seat. A semi roared by, heading up the hill as he crouched behind the vehicle as a bear.
