Chapter Thirteen
“Someone’s here,” he said.
Poppy didn’t see or hear anything out of the ordinary.
“How do you know?”
He was already ushering her down the hall, his sense of urgency palpable.
“Wilder. What’s happening?”
They stopped in front of the forbidden room. He held both her shoulders, looking her in the eyes. “I don’t have time now. I need you to stay in the room. It’s the safest place in the house, completely reinforced.”
“In there?”
“Please, Poppy. Just trust me on this.”
She wasn’t going to argue with him, even though the thought of hanging out in that nightmare room was the last thing she wanted to do.
He opened the door and rushed her inside before sealing the heavy door shut.
She didn’t even have time to kiss him or say goodbye.
By the time she turned, the door was closed and he was gone.
At least there were lights because the windows were boarded up with metal. She wrinkled her nose at the smell.
Had the poachers crossed onto his property? Was it the bear? She was desperate to know what was going on out there. She chose the cleanest spot on the floor without blood or fur and sat down, hugging her knees.
It was hard to hear anything from inside the reinforced room. Not even muffled sounds.
Poppy wasn’t sure how much time passed, but she guessed about an hour had gone by when she stood up to stretch her legs. How long was she expected to wait? What if Wilder needed her help? What if something happened to him? Her imagination was on overdrive again.
She began to pace, looking around at things she hadn’t noticed last time.
There were marks along the doorframe, like those used to measure a child’s height each year.
She wondered what they were. Near the door, there was an antique timer of some sort with a red push button.
She’d never seen anything like it, and she imagined Wilder built it from old parts like he did with a lot of things around the house.
The red button was a temptation. She ran her fingertips over the top of it, trying to figure out what it could be for. The room was old, so it probably didn’t do anything. And she was bored. And curious by nature. Poppy figured what’s the worst that could happen and pushed the button.
Immediately, iron bars dropped down in front of the door, making her scream and jump back.
She looked around, nothing else seemed to have changed.
Her heart was racing in her chest, and a bunch of fresh dust floating in the air from the bang.
She cautiously approached the bars, holding them with both hands.
Poppy felt like a monkey in a cage, and the panic started to set in.
There was no way out. The bars rattled as she shook them, gentle at first, and wildly as she began to freak out.
“Wilder!”
What the hell was this room for? Why would the button to trap the bears be on the inside? He’d be trapped inside with them. Nothing made sense, and now because she couldn’t mind her own business again, she was trapped.
As time passed, desperation set in. If something happened to Wilder, she’d die in here. There was no way out, he’d made sure of that. She had no food, and in her panicked state, felt like she couldn’t breathe.
“Help!” She reached through the bars, banging on the main door with a closed fist. “Wilder!”
She decided to try the window. Maybe there was a way to get the metal out, a level something. As she tried to pry her fingers under the thick metal, the massive claw marks made her shudder. Whatever was trapped in here had tried to escape, just as she was now.
The loud sound of the metal gate made her spin around.
It was Wilder, lifting up the bars, locking them back into place high above the door. She cried and ran to him, a mix of relief and turbulent emotions. Poppy wrapped her arms around his waist and he held her head against him.
“It’s okay. I’m here.”
“I’m sorry. I pushed the button.”
He chuckled softly. “I should have expected that.”
She leaned back, glancing around the room. “Wilder, this place. What was this room for?”
“Me.”
Poppy shook her head. “I’m serious. Whose room was it?”
“Mine.” He held her wrists, and she didn’t pull away. No more jumping to conclusions.
“I didn’t want to kill a deer, a hiker, or someone’s dog because I couldn’t control myself yet.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked. This was not sounding good, and she found herself holding her breath.
“Since I was thirteen, I locked myself in here every full moon. I couldn’t trust myself. Couldn’t control ... my bear.”
“You had a bear?” So, she was right. He was hurting wild bears in here.
“No, Poppy. I am a bear.” He looked down at her, no hint of humor in his voice.
Why was he saying dumb things like this. Was he crazy?
The sound of breaking glass had him pulling away.
“Smoke,” he said.
She smelled it, too.
“Get the fawn and the dogs in here. Understand?”
She nodded rapidly, rushing out after him. The smoke was pouring into the living room. All his beautiful antiques and plaid furniture, everything he’d built was going to get destroyed. She felt fear and anger and sadness all while madly ushering the animals back to the safe room.
Wilder threw something back out the window. He had no weapons. How would he stop them from coming in and killing her?
There were gunshots outside and she screamed, scaring Milly.
She scooped her with her other arm and carried her the rest of the way.
Once she settled the fawn and the three dogs safely in the room, she sealed them inside by closing the heavy door.
Poppy put the key in her pocket. She returned to the melee. The men were trying to get inside.
“Oh my God, Wilder.”
They were breaking down the front door, the frame was splintering and giving way.
Then the entire door fell inward, crashing down on the wooden floor with a heavy thud.
It was hard to see with the smoke and darkness.
One of the men took a step inside and immediately shot Wilder.
He grunted. She screamed so loud she startled herself.
“Wilder!”
Poppy started to run to him but he held out his arm barring her way. “Stay back! Stay behind me.” Then he turned around to look her in the eyes. “Whatever you do, don’t scream.”
He was bleeding, his shirt stained red, blood dripping onto the floor.
She couldn’t lose him. The same poacher aimed his gun in her direction, but Wilder rushed forward, struggling to disarm the man.
Other men started pushing into the little house to help their friend.
Wilder was outnumbered and gravely injured.
Then everything changed.
Wilder squatted down, yielding, or so she thought.
His shirt started to rip, right down along his spine, his back changing, growing.
He slowly began to rise, not because he was standing up, but due to his size.
Hair began to replace skin, and the energy in the room changed.
Within seconds the huge grizzly she’d seen by that campfire was standing in the living room.
And he was angry.
****
Wilder bound forward, using his immense size and strength to overpower the human males. He slashed and tore with claws and teeth, not holding back because he was the only thing between them and his mate. None of them would be left alive to be a threat to her again.
His wound was already stitching together, the shift aiding in his healing. If he’d stayed in his skin, the gunshot could have killed him. Right now, no pain in the world would stop him from protecting Poppy.
The room became quiet. Only the scent of gasoline and smoke wafting in the air.
He’d killed the men who’d entered his home, their bodies lifeless, and there was no chance they’d survive their wounds. His bear was still hyped up on adrenaline, grunting as the bloodlust overpowered him.
Then a voice came from outside in the darkness.
“Wilder. I know who you are.”
The bear and human fought in his mind to make sense of this. How did this stranger know his name? Why weren’t they running in fear?
He headed to the door, not wanting any more threats to enter the house. Everything he loved was in there. He walked out the broken doorframe and stepped onto the soft earth. There was a male near the tree line. Alone.
“I knew about your parents. A shame that was. But what you’re doing would have them rolling in their graves.”
His bear tested the air. The man talking wasn’t entirely human. He must be a shifter. He kept moving toward him, fully intent on ending his life.
“You know she’s human, yet you’ve claimed her. We’re a dying breed, but you’d willingly dilute our bloodline. Don’t you understand the importance of keeping our shifter blood pure and not diluting it with humans?”
This was confusing him. He was expecting poachers wanting to kill his mate because she’d taken photos of them. This shifter knew too much, and he needed to know what was going on. Wilder wasn’t fully healed yet, but he shifted back into his skin to communicate.
“You call it love. Every traitor calls it love. That’s the lie that always comes first. Then come the mixed litters, the forgotten traditions, the empty dens. I’ve seen it happen,” the man said.
“Who the hell are you?”
“My name’s Alder. Those men you killed were just humans on my payroll.”
“What payroll? Poaching bears?”
“This isn’t about poaching or vengeance. It isn’t hatred. It’s surgery. You cut away rot before it reaches the heart.”
“You’re fucking crazy. I saw that sow you killed. For what purpose?”
“That wasn’t me. My men were instructed to find the beasts of the forest. She was just collateral damage. What matters is that your ancestors bled to keep our kind hidden, to keep our blood our own. You throw all of that away because one human smiled at you?”
“She’s my mate.”
Alder laughed. “Don’t speak to me of the mate bond. Fate isn’t holy. It’s blind. Wolves have leapt off cliffs chasing instinct. A wise man knows when to deny the beast.”
“I’ll never give her up, and I suggest you don’t push me on it. Take one more step toward my mate, and you’ll learn exactly how far I’ll go to protect what’s mine.”
“You weren’t chosen to protect her. You were chosen to protect us. You forgot which oath mattered,” Alder said.
“I’ve been on my own since I was twelve years old. I never took a fucking pledge of allegiance. Leave. Right now. Because the next words out of your mouth are going to decide whether you walk away from this.”
He shrugged. “Fine. Have your fun. Play with your human toy. Make sure you don’t breed with her, or I’ll be back.”
Alder shifted into a bear and disappeared into the forest.
Wilder hadn’t seen any bear shifters since living here in the wilderness, just wild bear. Right now, he wished it had stayed that way. He waited, staying rooted in place until he was certain the shifter had left.
Then he remembered Poppy. She had to be terrified. He rushed back to the house, entering through the hole in the front. He was surprised to find her in the exact same spot.
“Poppy?” She must be in shock. He approached her and tilted her chin up.
It took a few moments before she said anything. “The room was for you. So you couldn’t escape and hurt anyone. Those claw marks and blood were yours.”
He nodded.
“Now I understand.”
“I should have told you sooner,” he said.
“Probably.” She almost smiled.
Silence settled between them.
“Say something,” he said.
She studied him. “You’re a bear.”
“Yeah.”
“An actual bear.”
He swallowed. “Poppy, I understand if you’re scared.” What he needed was for her not to decide he wasn’t mate material anymore. What if all this was a turn off or deal breaker?
“I’m not,” she said.
“You don’t have to lie.”
He exhaled. “You just found out the man you’re sleeping with turns into a six-hundred-pound predator.”
“Is it six-hundred pounds?”
He blinked. “I don’t know. Probably closer to seven.”
“Wow.”
Wilder rubbed a hand over his face. “I thought you’d be scared. That you’d want to run when you found out.”
She stepped closer, placing her hand on his chest. “I’ve watched you care for bee colonies, find a cub a new home, and mend an injured fawn. That tells me who you are.”
“The bear is part of who I am.”
“I know.”
“You don’t understand,” he said.”
“Then explain it.”
“My bear is instinctive. Protective. Territorial. Because if someone threatened you...” His voice turned rough. “I don’t know where the line is. I’d tear them apart before I thought twice.”
“Would you ever hurt me?”
He answered without hesitation. “Never.”