Chapter 3
ASHER
“You’re going to do what?”
I glanced up from sharpening my knife to find Anita, the Alpha’s daughter, staring at me. Our pack tended to stay away from towns and any other place where humans congregated.
“I’m going to Bramble Woods.” I tested the blade’s edge against my thumb. Good, it was sharp enough. “There’s a human scientist nosing around and asking questions about the polar bear den up north.”
“And that’s your business how?” She crossed her arms. Anita had inherited her father’s direct manner of speaking. “You haven’t been near the den since you were a cub.” She leaned closer and waggled a finger. “Your stepfather tried to kill you.”
I took a deep breath because it was hard to explain that I still felt some loyalty to a den I hadn’t been a part of since I was a child. And yes, an attempt on my life was the reason my contact with the den had been severed.
“It doesn’t matter.” It did because I never intended to meet my stepfather again. But I couldn’t dismiss the instinct that insisted I look for my den mates. I slid the knife back into its sheath. “They’re still my kind, and humans mean trouble.”
The pack taught me that humans were unpredictable and dangerous but not with claws and teeth.
They carried guns and cameras, and when one of their kind arrived, more followed like a swarm of ants.
If the scientists started poking around the den, they could discover “abnormalities,” leading to the discovery of shifters.
“They never came looking for you, so how can you care what happens to them?”
There was a defensive tone in her voice, and I got it. The pack rescued me and raised me. Anita thought my loyalty should be to the pack.
It was my father’s mate who wanted me dead, not the den or Father.
“In all ways that matter, I am pack. This is where my heart is, but I can’t deny that I am not a wolf but a polar bear, and if someone threatens my den, I will protect them.”
She nodded but muttered that I didn’t owe them anything. She thought by having anything to do with the den, even if I never went near them, that I’d leave and renounce my affinity to the pack.
“This is where I belong.”
But instinct didn’t care about logic or debts, and my bear was urging me to protect our kin. We couldn’t allow humans to wander into bear territory with tags and tracking collars and make the den members their slaves.
Besides, there were also wild polar bears in the area. They needed protecting too.
“I’ll be back in a few days. Don’t worry.”
She sighed but ended the argument. She understood I’d probably win, as I’d beaten her in debates at the pack school.
I’d heard the scientist was staying in Bramble Woods, but the place hardly deserved the title of town.
It was a handful of buildings clustered around a main street, hemmed in by forest. There was one tiny family-owned restaurant, a general store, town hall, and a B&B that was just a large house where the owner rented out rooms.
It was a place that people passed through on the way to somewhere else.
I parked my car at the edge of town, not wanting to draw attention, and wandered along the main street. My bear complained about wood smoke and motor oil, underlaid by the scent of humans.
The B&B was an imposing house of three stories and painted yellow. It was on a corner lot, giving the occupants an excellent view of everything happening in town. Maybe it should be named Gossip Central because the town thrived on it.
I shaded my eyes against the weak sun and studied the workers on the roof. They were hammering and talking to one another, and judging by the scent that wafted down on the breeze, they were both human.
A bell above the door jingled as I opened it, and I staggered over the entryway. Leaning against a wall, I was thankful there was no one at the small reception desk. I grabbed the doorframe as my bear was close to the surface, determined to shift.
Our mate is here.
My bear had no qualms about announcing we’d found our mate or were close to discovering him. Every breath he took inside me was too great a distance from our one and only, and he was determined to find the one person meant for us.
I was a tad more wary because humans both owned this place and stayed here, but instinct overtook my concerns, and like my bear, I needed to search every inch of this house until I found the guy.
“Are you all right, son?”
An elderly man stood behind the desk, and his brows were drawn together as he studied me.
“I’m fine.” I cleared my throat. “It’s cold outside, and I just need to warm up.” I rubbed my hands together.
What sort of excuse is that? my bear spat out.
It was ridiculous considering I was a polar bear shifter.
“Come in and close the door.” He beckoned me closer. “I’m Bobby, and you must be looking for a room.”
I wasn’t because I’d been going to confront the scientist and return to the pack. But if he hadn’t backed down, I’d have maybe lured him into the forest and shifted so he freaked and took off, never to return. That was a last resort, but perhaps desperate measures were necessary.
But I had to find my mate first and deal with the scientist later.
We have to stay and can’t leave until we find him.
“Yes, of course, that’s why I’m here. My furnace broke, so I need a place to stay until it’s fixed.” The lie came easily.
Bobby’s face lit up, and I suspected he enjoyed company. “That’s a shame about your furnace, but I have a room for you on the top floor.”
He turned around and grabbed a key hanging on a hook.
“Had another guy, a little older than you, check in yesterday. Maybe you two can meet up because this town doesn’t see many people your age.” He pulled out a ledger. “How long were you thinking of staying?”
My mate’s scent was stronger now that I was inside. He was either staying on one of the upper floors or he was a guy working on the roof. But they were human, and polar bears always mated other shifters. There had to be another bear around here somewhere.
“Ummm, a week. That’s how long they said it would take to fix.”
My head was spinning with details about why another polar bear would be in Bramble Woods. Maybe it was someone from the den, here for the same reason I was. I couldn’t order my thoughts logically as to whether that was a good or bad thing.
“That’s fine.” Bobby was writing in his book. “I’ll put you in room four. It has a nice view of the mountains. I do breakfast at eight, though I'm flexible if you need it earlier. Coffee's always on.” He looked up. “Can I have a name for the register?”
“Asher.” I managed to pull out my wallet, though my hands weren't steady.
“Well, Asher, welcome.” Bobby filled out the paperwork. “Are you from around here?”
“I live north of here.” I hoped he wasn’t going to probe for details because there were few towns in that direction. “I don’t get to town much.”
“You picked a good time to need your furnace fixed. The town’s always quiet this time of year. Though we did have some excitement yesterday with Dr. Morris arriving. He’s the scientist I mentioned. He's here studying polar bears, can you imagine? I didn't know we had polar bears in this area.”
We didn't, but the wild polar bears had followed my den when we splintered off from a group generations ago. Many shifter clans didn’t know we existed either.
And that made Dr. Morris even more of a problem.
“Polar bears,” I repeated. “That's interesting.”
“He's got all sorts of equipment.” Bobby took the completed paperwork and tucked it away. “Do you need help with bags?”
“I left them in my truck.”
It wasn't true, but I needed an excuse to leave and get my bear under control. The scent was making it impossible to focus on anything else.
I thanked Bobby and headed outside. My bear was furious at me for leaving, but I needed to think.
Someone in that house was mine, probably a polar bear from the den.
That included complications I wasn't ready to face.
And somewhere in that same house was a human scientist who wanted to put tracking collars on my kind.
I'd come here with one mission, but now I had two. I had to find the scientist and convince him to leave and find my mate.
My bear snarled, and his claws pricked the inside of my skin.
We’re going back, but I need to get away from the scent to clear my head.
It’d been twenty years since I’d had contact with anyone from the den, and now my fate might be wrapped up with theirs.