Chapter 4 #3
“She doesn’t like anyone new,” Mr. Max drawled. “They’re unknowns, and she likes to keep things safe and contained.”
Becca couldn’t fault her for that. That was her usual choice as well. But there was nothing contained about bear shifters. Meanwhile, Marty headed for the door. “Come on,” she said over her shoulder. “If you want something in your belly before you go out, you gotta get it now.”
“I’m right behind you,” returned Mr. Max, though he didn’t leave. Instead, he stood by Becca’s side, a large, overwhelming presence that didn’t understand the words “personal space.” He waited until Marty was out the door before he spoke. “You okay?”
“Nope,” she answered honestly. “But I’m dealing.”
“You’re doing better than anyone else I’ve seen. The last two outsiders had to be sedated.”
“Great. So you make a habit of kidnapping people.”
He chuckled. “Only distraught mothers. But both their kids came through like champions. You’ll see. Theo will, too.”
She took a breath, holding on to that thought with everything she had. Not the idea that he’d already abducted two other women. Just that their children were fine. “So we just wait now.”
“And watch.”
“And eat stew.”
“If we’re lucky,” Mr. Max said with a grin. His expression had turned wolfish and Becca started at her own thought. Could a were-bear look like a wolf?
Becca shook off her glib thought. Mr. Max was working extra hard to be charming, even if he did stand almost possessively close, but she needed to learn more about this world before she started trusting anyone or anything.
So she kept silent as they headed out the front door, down the walk to the main circle.
Camp Max was built on the edge of the state park and a couple miles from Gladwin village.
It sat on an oval road a quarter mile long.
At the top sat Mr. Max’s big home and the access road to the main highway.
At the base was a cafeteria where everyone ate their meals.
To the east were the usual camp fun buildings: swimming pool, basketball court, baseball field.
To the west were two small dorms and the parking lot.
And in the center of it all sat seven beautiful apple trees barely showing their spring foliage.
As they moved, Becca started thinking, doing what she always did when she felt unsettled.
She walked herself step by step through everything that had brought her to this moment.
It was too far to go all the way back to when Nancy had gotten pregnant.
Instead, she stepped herself through last night’s fight with Theo, through today’s worry-baking, and on all the way up to the present.
“Tell me about other guy who was at my apartment.” She felt Mr. Max stiffen, and his answer came out more as a grumble than a name.
“Bryn?”
She turned to face him for the next question. She wanted to see his face when he answered. “He’s really a werewolf?”
“Yeah.” He didn’t evade her eyes when he spoke, but she got the sense that he didn’t like talking about the man. His body seemed to bulk and his hands shifted restlessly where he’d shoved them in his pockets.
“And he was checking up on Theo?”
“No, he was just in the neighborhood.”
She looked at him steadily, trying to notice every detail of his face and body.
Something about his ears fascinated her.
His hair was short enough to show her the curve of each lobe where they tucked tight to his head.
But as she watched, they seemed to move slightly.
Maybe she was imagining things, but they seemed to perk up, and he lifted his nose higher, as if scenting the wind.
“You’re not afraid anymore,” he said, satisfaction in his tone.
True, but how did he know that? “I’m grappling with reality. There’s no room for fear.”
His lips curved, as if he were pleased. “Nothing is going to hurt you here.”
She was more worried about Theo than herself, but that was good to know. Meanwhile, she didn’t like that he’d distracted her from her earlier question. “Why was Bryn in my neighborhood?”
“You’re like a dog with a bone, aren’t you?”
“Is that a werewolf joke?”
He snorted. “More like an insult.” Then he touched her arm, gently but firmly pushing her to keep walking.
She went along. Honestly, she had little choice given his strength.
But that didn’t mean she would give up her quest for information.
“I don’t distract easily,” she said. “So why was he in the neighborhood?”
“It has nothing to do with Theo.”
“Are you sure? Absolutely one hundred percent certain?”
He wasn’t. In just a few hours, she’d made a study of his expressions. She was starting to see that when his gaze shifted away and his shoulders bulked by a tiny fraction that he was being evasive.
“Just tell me. I’ll go insane worrying.”
He shook his head and gestured to the cafeteria door.
“Not now.” And with that, he pulled the door open, calling out to the couple dozen of people milling around there.
“Hey, everybody!” he bellowed. “Help me give a warm welcome to the newest member of our family. Becca Weitz, meet the Gladwin Shifters. Or at least half of them.”
And just like that, she joined the ranks of the crazies.