Chapter Seven
“How Long Has There Been Trouble in Paradise?”
Man or bear?
The question reverberated in the depths of Melissa’s mind. It was a question her colleagues had asked her a couple of years ago ,as they all sat in a café during lunch—who would she prefer to be trapped in the woods with: a man or a bear?
Melissa had been too busy bemoaning a dog she’d had to put down that morning to give an answer or listen to what her colleagues were saying.
In retrospect, she probably should’ve paid more attention, because right now, she was trudging through Paradise Woods with a companion who was both man and bear.
“Just a bit longer,” Cal said. “I’m sure we’ll find something.”
He walked just ahead of her, his large back filling her line of sight.
Melissa looked around. She’d seen Paradise Woods from a distance multiple times, but being here felt so much different.
The forest was beautiful, several dozen acres of trees and undergrowth stretching up the mountain that towered over the town.
The air felt so much fresher up here, and she thought she could hear the gentle trickle of a nearby stream.
Other than that, the woods were deathly quiet. Melissa had seen only a few animals in the half hour since she and Cal had been scouring the woods, in case another creature had been injured.
“Not a single deer in sight so far,” she remarked. She tried for some humor. “How long has there been trouble in Paradise?”
Cal didn’t laugh, which was probably her sign to steer clear of stand-up comedy. He shrugged his broad shoulders. “A couple of weeks, give or take.”
“And you haven’t figured out what’s leaving carcasses all over these woods?” A thought occurred to her. “You think it’s an animal?”
“Regular animals don’t go on rampages like this. Whoever’s behind this knows exactly what they’re doing.”
“But you said you found bite marks on some of the carcasses you found.”
“So?”
“I don’t know...an animal that knows what it’s doing? What do you call that?”
Cal stopped in his tracks so suddenly she almost bumped into him. He turned to face her, annoyance creeping onto his face. “Are you saying a shifter did this?”
The temperature around them seemed to drop for a second, and Melissa felt a slight chill travel down her spine.
She wasn’t scared of Cal, per se. At least, she didn’t think she was.
Should she be afraid? Maybe. But honestly, it was what he was that terrified her.
Shifters shouldn’t exist. They shouldn’t be possible.
“I’m saying it makes perfect sense,” she said, standing her ground. “It’s not exactly a far-fetched possibility, and—”
“You’re wrong.” His expression hardened slightly. “Shifters don’t kill animals mindlessly. If anything, that’s a human flaw.”
He resumed walking without another word.
Melissa stared after him for a few seconds, stunned by his response, then followed him uphill.
Was he seriously upset that she’d concluded what any reasonable person would?
A human couldn’t have bitten animals to death.
That left only one possibility, and he didn’t seem ready to accept it.
They walked a little longer before either of them said another word. To her surprise, it was Cal.
“How long have you been a vet?” he wanted to know.
Melissa shrugged. “A few years.”
“Never imagined you’d be working with animals. Or treating them, for that matter.”
“Yeah, well, I decided to go back to college, get another degree. I’ve been patching up animals ever since. Whenever an animal needs me, I’m there.”
His shoulders stiffened, and she couldn’t help wondering what he was thinking. I wasn’t there for the bear when he needed me most. No wonder he hates me.
Then again, Cal wasn’t just a bear.
“What about you?” she asked. “Last I checked, you were a mechanic. Never really pegged you for an animal rescuer.”
“I’m a shifter,” came his response. He pushed aside a low-hanging branch, holding it out of the way until she walked past him. “My kind understands animals better than any human ever will. We’re better equipped to rescue and look after injured or endangered creatures.”
“Does that mean the other workers at the sanctuary are shifters like you?”
Cal gave no answer. Melissa moved ahead, aware of his large body just behind her.
She thought she could feel his gaze washing over her, and her nipples sprang to attention in response.
She cursed silently. Ten years should’ve been enough to get over this man.
Yet here she was, getting turned on by him, like they hadn’t been separated for so long.
Ten years. So much must’ve happened in his life since then. A man like Cal would’ve had dozens of women throwing themselves at him. Jealousy instantly flashed through her, searing hot. Did he have a girlfriend?
Before she could stop herself, she said, “So...seeing anyone these days?”
There was no response from Cal at first, and Melissa felt her gut clench. It certainly had been much less unnerving to walk behind him. He was still staring at her, she knew. What was going on in his head?
“No,” he replied finally, “I’m not.”
“Me either.” She wasn’t sure why she’d felt the need to say that. What did it matter? It wasn’t like she and Cal were getting back together.
They trudged on in silence, Melissa burning with mild embarrassment, Cal moving surprisingly nimbly behind her. It wasn’t until minutes later that he stopped, pointing at something to her left. Melissa squinted, then saw what he was referring to.
A horse lay on its side at the base of a tree, its insides spilling out onto the earth from a huge gash in its belly. From the look of it, the creature had been dead for hours. The horse’s eyes were glassy, its body unmoving. Around it, the ground had darkened with blood.
“Oh, my God.” Melissa clamped a hand over her mouth, her gut twisting with horror. “What could’ve done something like this?”
Next to her, Cal stared ahead, his expression grim. “Wait here.”
He stepped forward, approaching the carcass, and dropped onto his haunches. When he rose, turning to face her, there was a squirming animal in his arms. It was a foal, Melissa realized.
“This one’s alive,” Cal said, drawing closer to her. “Looks slightly injured, but I think he’ll live.”
He looked at her as if waiting for her to confirm that.
“We need to get him to the clinic.” Melissa glanced once again at the dead horse and looked away. “I don’t think I can stay here a moment longer.”
“Me either. Let’s go.”
***
They wasted no time getting out of Paradise Woods, heading straight for the clinic at Green Sanctuary. With Cal’s help, Melissa cleaned and sedated the foal and stitched up its wounds. When she was done a half an hour later, the animal lay calmly on the operating table.
“He’ll live,” she assured Cal. “Just needs some more rest.”
His features immediately seemed to relax. “Thank you.”
They stared across the clinic at each other for a long second. Melissa’s stomach growled. She’d been so busy thinking about meeting up with Cal that she’d completely forgotten to eat breakfast.
Cal’s gaze dropped to the hand she’d placed on her belly. “If you’re hungry, I can whip us up a couple of sandwiches in the kitchen.”
“That’d be great. Thank you.”
He left the clinic, heading for the main house. Melissa spent the next couple of minutes cleaning up, then followed him. By the time she arrived in the kitchen, he’d already laid out some bread on the table and was smearing peanut butter and jelly on the slices.
She took her seat, unable to take her eyes off him as he worked. Cal had always been a hard worker, even when it came to the simplest tasks. It was one of the many things she admired about him—that, and how gentle he was.
The memory of him standing between the trees, cradling the injured foal in his arms, slowly surfaced in her mind. For such a large man, he could be so tender, so caring. She loved him for it.
Then why did you run? The thought swept through her mind, almost searingly. Because he can turn into a bear?
In her defense, she was terrified. She did what pretty much anyone else in her situation would have done. But what if she’d been too hasty? Why didn’t she stay a little longer?
Then again, when faced with a bear, you didn’t stay and wait to see if it would hurt you or not.
You ran. And with Cal, things were a lot more complicated.
Just being in his presence was enough to leave her feeling beyond tense.
It wasn’t even just the fact that he could turn into a grizzly bear.
It was the way he made her feel, the way he’d always made her feel.
“Melissa?”
She blinked. Cal was frowning at her, holding up a sandwich.
“Huh?”
“I was asking how many of these you’d like.”
“Oh.” She felt her cheeks burn. “Two should be fine.”
He handed her the sandwich and began preparing another one. She bit into it, still staring across the table at him, at the way his powerful arm muscles flexed slightly with each movement. Melissa swallowed hard. Those arms had easily lifted her multiple times while they were still an item.
That was a long time ago, she reminded herself, somberly taking another bite of her sandwich.
She decided to distract herself, glancing around the kitchen instead of at Cal.
Her gaze landed on a photo on the wall to her left.
The man in it looked close to Cal’s age, but she suspected the photo had been taken a long time ago.
He was square-jawed, with grey streaks in his dark hair, gray eyes seeming to stare back at her.
“Who’s that?” she asked, pointing. “I didn’t see him when I came here the other day.”
Cal followed her gaze. “That’s Theon Gardener. He’s the founder of Green Sanctuary. Our boss. He’s out of town right now. Won’t be back for a couple of weeks at least.”
He set the other sandwich on a plate and slid it over to her. She stared at it for a moment before looking back at him.
“I’d have preferred a ham sandwich. Are you vegetarian now?”