Page 17 of Stolen Mate

Growls and snarls reverberating through the encroaching darkness, the two bears engaged in an intense confrontation where both knew there would only be one victor. What started as posturing soon became a fierce battle for dominance, the baby, and survival. Teresa and her rival swiped with lethal claws and sank teeth into vulnerable flesh, each seeking to overpower the other and emerge victorious.

The ground beneath their feet shook from the thunderous movements of each bear. Both got on their rear legs, rising up and slashing at each other with claws and teeth. The snarling, growling, and sheer magnitude of the fight must have awakened her clients as she could see them in her peripheral vision. She had a can of bear spray; he, at least, had a gun. There was an old saying about bringing a knife to a gunfight. It was analogous to the bear fight—you don’t bring a can of spray to stop two enraged bears, you bring a gun.

The couple’s emergence into the clearing distracted Teresa’s opponent and gave her the only opening she needed. She lunged forward, sinking her teeth into his throat and ripping it and his jugular open. The scream of rage and pain died as his blood soaked the ground. Teresa turned on the couple, growling at them to make them go scurrying back to camp.

With a dawning realization of horror at their intent, she saw the husband slowly raise the 12-gauge shotgun, aim, and pull the trigger. It was almost as if she could see the shot she knew would end her life. She felt the impact as it entered her body. It wasn’t nearly as painful as she thought it would be. Crying out, Teresa forced her bear to retreat as she collapsed on the ground in the midst of the shift.

“Oh my god,” cried Mary. “It’s Teresa.”

Dimly, she could hear them rushing forward. She didn’t have the energy to raise her head. They reached her and knelt down.

“The baby… my daughter… you must protect her.”

“We don’t understand,” said Mary.

“I’m not like you,” said Teresa, “and neither is she. If the other bears find her, the best they will do is kill her. The same is true of any government. You must protect her. Raise her as your own. Tell no one. Promise me.”

The words came out in a jumble. Teresa reached for Mary’s hand. “Swear to me.”

“I swear.”

Teresa nodded. “Then leave me. I will shift back. Take my baby and leave Alaska. Do not ever return.”

The stunned couple moved away, and Teresa used the last of her life force to shift back so only the corpses of two bears would be found. Teresa believed with all her heart that the couple who had killed her would honor their vow. She had done right by her daughter. She would survive. She could feel her life ebb as the last spark of life deserted her body, and she was welcomed to the great beyond where she could watch over her daughter for all eternity.

* * *

MARY

“What just happened?” her husband asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t understand it either, but somehow that bear is also Teresa. Remember that weird picture we saw a long time ago about an ancient group of people that could shift from black leopards to humans and back again? I think Teresa was one of them; only she changed into a polar bear.”

“That’s ridiculous. That can’t happen in real life.”

“And yet, we both just witnessed it. We saw a ferocious polar bear, and when we shot her because we thought she was going to attack us, she shifted to her human form to tell us to care for her child as if it were our own.”

“The baby must have relatives of some kind…”

“Apparently Teresa believed they would do her harm. We need to pack our gear and leave. Now. Before anyone finds these bears or even begins to look for a baby. We need to slip back into the States and raise the baby. We’ll tell people, and the baby when the time comes, that she is ours.”

“She doesn’t even have a name.”

“She does now. We’ll call her Tess—for her mother.”

* * *

TESS

Present Day

The black shroud that surrounded her brain started to lift like a curtain in an old vaudeville show. Strange images flashed before her mind’s eye of two polar bears fighting. Had she seen that? If so, had she been hurt? Tess didn’t feel any pain, so either she wasn’t hurt, or it had just been some weird dream. Opening her eyes hurt—well, not the act of opening them, but the light, itself. The light hurt. Only it wasn’t all that bright in the room.

She’d been wrong. The more she came to wakefulness, the more pain she had. Everything ached, except her head. Her head just hurt. As she opened her eyes fully, two things became readily apparent: it was dark outside, and there was some gorgeous hunk of man with a ballcap emblazoned with ‘Mystic River Sheriff’s Department’ across the front sitting in a chair across from her, observing her quietly.

Neither of them said a word as she realized she was in a big bed, a really comfortable one with the softest sheets. Someone—perhaps the guy with the ballcap—had tucked her in. She wasn’t dressed in her clothing and couldn’t see it lying anywhere. Tess lifted up the covers to realize she was completely naked.

The pain in her head was accompanied by the same strange buzzing sensation that had been plaguing her all day. Tess shook her head to try and dispel the sensation. It hadn’t worked earlier in the day, and it didn’t do so now.

---