I glance over my shoulder, watching as they go, and when they disappear around the curve in the trail, I look up at Luka.

  “I know you’re pissed, but—”

  “That was weird,” he says, letting out a long sigh. I narrow my eyes at him.

  “Yeah...” I tilt my head slightly, not understanding how his mood changed so quickly, like the flip of a switch. He’s shaking his head, as if he almost can’t believe it either. As if he’s really struggling with something in his head.

  “I’m either completely losing my mind or having a stroke, but... you know what we need to do,” Luka says, and I do know exactly what we need to do, but I wasn’t expecting him to be the one to mention it. In fact, I thought I was going to have to present it to him in a way that made it appealing. Even if what we’re about to do could help us and our entire pack, I didn’t expect Luka to be okay helping Jensen to do it... but I guess I was wrong. Something tells me Jensen is on our side, and I know I can’t be sure about that, but the fact Luka is getting the same impression, whether he wants to help Jensen or not, only makes me feel better about my own thoughts.

  So, instead of responding, I tug my shirt over my head and move off the trail to hide my clothes when I finish taking them off. Luka does the same, and when we’re both undressed, we give ourselves enough room to shift into our bears, then disappear into the trees towards Jensen and the human.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Jensen

  I hurry after this hoity-toity, suit-wearing fuck, hoping like hell Jordy and Luka understood me. I tried everything I could to give them hints without tipping off Ridgway. Even if Jordy and Luka were my mates still, we couldn’t communicate through the bond unless we’re in our animal form. It’s nice and a reprieve at times because it can be so overwhelming when someone is having a bad day, but now it really would have been helpful.

  It doesn’t take me long to catch up to Ridgway and he’s walking taller than he was before, a little straighter, and way too fucking confidently. I grit my teeth and hold back the growl rumbling in my chest. This asshole suddenly isn’t afraid of being out here, and thinks it’s okay to just take homes from hundreds of shifters and thousands of wild animals?

  He’s a special kind of asshole...

  And why is he even here?

  I clench my jaw tighter as my conscience tries to blame me for this, but I won’t take full blame. Yes, I’m here. Yes, I agreed to survey this land for a client. However, that client wouldn’t know about this land at all if it weren’t for my slimy-ass brother.

  The one who is trying to save his pack lands because he has a baby on the way.

  I drag a hand down my face and bite back my groan, sure to keep a few steps behind Ridgway so he doesn’t see my annoyance.

  “So, where are we going?” he asks after walking for about five more minutes. “Do we keep following this trail or what?”

  I stop for a moment and look around, trying to gauge how far we are. I wasn’t paying attention as we went, so it takes me a few moments to figure it out.

  “Actually, we should probably go back a bit. We missed the trail we ne—”

  “Nonsense,” he says with a smirk over his shoulder and lifts his arm to point to a trail that is most definitely an animal trail. “We can take this one.”

  I stare at him blankly. “You want to take that trail?”

  “Yeah, why not?”

  I look from the trail to him and huff out a laugh. “Have you seen what you’re wearing? That trail isn’t a walking trail. It’s—”

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine.” He takes a step forward, ducking under a large branch. “Besides, if I ruin my shoes, I’ll just buy another pair with the money I get for being here.” He keeps moving forward and I curse under my breath.

  I’m not getting paid for being here, and that just pisses me right off. I mean, I know that’s how my job works sometimes, but damnit, I should have told Norwick I wanted something for this bullshit.

  Without hiding my annoyance this time, I let out a frustrated sound and move after this dickwad, hoping he falls into a fucking ditch or happens upon a family of hungry coyotes. Hell, I’d be happy if he stepped on a wasps’ nest. Maybe a snake will get him. Jesus, the possibilities are endless, but of course, with my luck, this fucker will get out of here without even a speck of dirt on his Brunello Cucinelli suit.

  It doesn’t take long for me to hear the snapping branches and crunching leaves, but I ignore it at first because I’m not going to get all up in arms about an animal. We’re in the woods and it’s expected. It’s unlikely any of the animals out here will harm anyone. They can sense more of us are shifters and aren’t here to harm them. All the animal attacks in the papers are fake...

  They’re just stories made up by the folk in Kierheart to keep the humans from getting too close. They’re brave enough to come visit and hang out, but with constant animal attacks, none of them want to make a home here. It’s worked for years, but people seem to be getting braver and braver as the days go on, though that’s probably because they can just throw a lawsuit at someone when something doesn’t go their way.

  I glare at the back of Ridgway’s head, hoping it’ll explode or spontaneously combust. Maybe there’s a hunter out here who’ll mistake his mop of hair for a foxtail and shoot him right through the skull.

  I can dream, can’t I?

  I hear the rustling again, this time closer. I’m cautious with my steps and focus on what I’m hearing and realize it isn’t just one set of footsteps, but two, and they’re close.

  Big animals, so it has to be bears.

  Two big bears.

  Did Luka and Jordy actually catch my hints?

  Of course they could be here to kill me. Perfect timing, I think. When I’m all alone with a human. Two birds with one stone and all; get rid of me, scare the human away from their land. I could shift and fight back, but then Ridgway would know what I am.

  Although, Jordy and Luka don’t know I’m keeping that from him. At least, I don’t think they do.

  The snap of a large branch echoes around us and everything else goes deadly quiet. No birds, no nothing.

  I see the hesitation in Ridgway’s next step, so I stop.

  “Not good,” I say softly.

  “What’s that?” he asks, looking over his shoulder and only stopping when he notices I have. His eyes are wide, and he starts to pale.

  “Don’t you hear that?”

  He tilts his head up, looking around. “I don’t hear anything.”

  “Exactly.”

  He raises a brow. “What the hell are you—”

  I hold my finger to my lips to shush him before taking a few careful and quiet steps towards him and speak in a very low voice. “When you’re in the woods, my friend, it isn’t the noise you should worry about. It’s the quiet. When you hear nothing, like right now, it means there’s a predator around. All the animals are quiet to not give away their location, and I suggest you do the same.”

  His eyes widen further and his entire body stiffens. I watch as his face completely drains of color the way it does in those cartoons, and I try not to laugh at the image.

  I sometimes spend my entire Saturdays lounging on the couch in front of my damn TV, and cartoons are a guilty pleasure. Especially the classics. That cat making it his life’s mission to kill that mouse, only to get bested each and every time, is one of the most entertaining things I’ve ever watched.

  “What do we do?” Ridgway whispers so quietly I almost don’t hear him.

  I lean in a little closer while darting my eyes around. “Depends what it is. Regardless, we should go back.”

  He nods once and slowly spins on his heel. I do the same, and just as I take my first step, the animal footsteps get louder, closer together, and I know they’re almost here now, just a little ahead actually, and if I take just a few more steps, we should—

  I bite the inside of my cheek to hold back the laughter bubbling up at the high-pitched shriek that leaves Ridgway the moment Luka steps across our path in bear form.

  The tug of my shirt from behind is so harsh it has me jerking backwards and I shrug a shoulder to pull out of it, spinning around and speaking low. “Calm down,” I growl.

  “What do we do? What do we do?” he hisses, panic all over his face. “Jesus, he—”

  “Calm the fuck down,” I growl again, but keep my voice low. “And shut up!”

  He nods vigorously, his hands clasping the clipboard so tightly they’re white. I’m about to turn around and put on a show for this guy when Jordy moves out behind Ridgway and somehow, he pales even further.

  “Oh my god, it’s there, isn’t it? There’s another one, isn’t there? Please tell me there isn’t another b-bear behind me,” he pleads, his eyes watering. “P-p-please.”

  “If I did that, I’d be lying,” I simply say. I widen my eyes, just to put on a show, and bring my hands up in a stopping gesture. “Just don’t move,” I tell him. “Don’t. Move.”

  He tries to nod, but it’s more like a convulsion with the way his body is trembling.

  Jordy, like the curious bear he is—it’s always amazed me how certain attributes of our personalities are more prominent in our animal form, such as Jordy’s curiosity—walks right up to Ridgway on all fours and starts to sniff his calves and then his thighs.

  Ridgway’s shaking gets worse, and his mouth is moving a mile a minute, probably saying some kind of prayer to himself that he thinks will save him. His eyes squeeze shut and I see tears lining his lids. Jordy nudges him and he jerks forward, letting out a squeak, and I shush him.

  “This isn’t normal,” I tell him. “Bears don’t usually travel together.”

  And that’s true. Bears tend to be solitary animals, it’s why most of our pack bears have only one mate. A few have two, and there is a history of people with three or four, but as the years go on and our numbers fade, the less and less there are at all. As for other animals? I knew a wolf when I was a teenager who had eight mates. Yeah, eight. There aren’t even enough holes for all those dicks, I mean what the f—

  Luka lets out a deep roar and I glance over my shoulder, finding him standing on his hind legs. I allow him to see the smirk on my face and he winks at me before taking a step forward. I drop to the ground, landing on my stomach.

  “Get down, get down, get down!” I say quickly.

  Ridgway lets out a string of incoherent sounds and drops to the ground, his face not too far from mine. “Spread your legs,” I tell him. “Cover your head, and play dead.”

  Ridgway keeps whimpering and I turn my head away, unable to hold back the smile on my face any longer. This is easily one of the funniest things I’ve ever witnessed, and I know I’m going to laugh about it for years to come.

  I lie there, keeping still, just listening to what’s going on. I hear Jordy move closer, and when there is a louder-than-normal whimper from Ridgway, I know Jordy is messing with him. The crunching of the leaves tells me he’s trying to turn him over.

  “S-stone... H-help m-me. P-p-please.”

  “Just stay still,” I tell him. “They should leave.”

  “Sh-should?”

  “They could be hungry...”

  “H-hu—”

  “Shhh!”

  Luka is hovering over me now and gives me a pat on my hip, trying to roll me over. He does it again, only this time his big paw presses right on my ass, and it feels as if he’s almost massaging it. I roll my eyes and shift slightly to look at him, and I swear it looks like he’s laughing. There’s a gleam in his eye I wish I could see in his human form, but he rarely allows it to shine.

  Why the hell is he suddenly being so playful?

  And then it hits me.

  Because that’s how he is in his bear form. Jordy’s curiosity takes over, while Luka’s playful side comes out. It’s almost like your opposite attributes are what show their faces when you’re your animal.

  Luka gives me one more swat on the butt before bending down and nuzzling my head, sniffing my hair, and then he stands up and steps over me. It has my chest warming, which only confuses me.

  His footsteps move down the trail and when he’s a good distance away, I notice Jordy starts to do the same thing, but not before I hear the ripping of fabric—I can’t wait to see what that’s all about.

  “Are they g-gone?” Ridgway asks, his voice a raspy mess.

  “I don’t know. Just stay still for a little longer,” I reply.

  I count to sixty, knowing a minute is going to feel like forever right about now.

  Finally, I lift my head and look around, noting no animals in sight, so I get to my feet.

  “Let’s go,” I say in a rush. “Now! Let’s go!”

  Ridgway gets to his feet. I start to run, and he chases me. By the time we break through the trees and end up on the road, he’s panting so heavily I think he’s going to pass out.

  I can’t hold it back at that point, and I break out into a laughing fit, bending over with my hands on my knees. I know I can chalk it up to the “near-death experience” we just had, even though all it has to do with is how much of an idiot this guy is, which is why I don’t even care about tilting my head back and letting out the best laugh I’ve felt in a long, long time.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Jensen

  It’s late into the night.

  There isn’t a clock in my room that works, but I assume it’s somewhere around one in the morning, and there’s no way for me to know for sure unless I go downstairs, considering my phone is still broken. Ridgway is long gone, staying at a hotel a few towns over. It took him a while to find someone to bring him and then it was a bigger issue when he realized he didn’t have his wallet.

  Apparently, that curious bear tore it right from his pocket.

  I’ll get it from Jordy and hang onto it for a day or two, then return it so Ridgway can catch his flight home. I don’t want him to be here any longer than he has to be.

  We had a good conversation on the way back to the inn, where he promptly told Redd he wouldn’t be staying and didn’t even care about a refund.

  While walking, he straight-out told me he wasn’t sure if this is the best area for the resort they are looking to build, as the wild animal problem may cause an issue with lawsuits and whatnot.

  I agreed with a nod of my head because if I had opened my mouth I would have asked why the fuck he was more worried about lawsuits and not people’s lives.

  Does this mean Norwick will change his mind? No, absolutely not, but it’s a start. If both Ridgway and I tell him what happened, it’s likely he’ll agree. I mean, he did send Ridgway here for a reason. I assume he’s going to trust his judgment, if not mine.

  I don’t know if it’s the excitement from the day or just my mind going nonstop, but I can’t sleep. Not that it’s an issue since I don’t plan on being anywhere tomorrow. What’s the point in continuing my survey of the land if I don’t have a phone to take photos and I’m going to convince Norwick to go elsewhere? I may as well just turn the rest of this week into a vacation. Maybe I’ll hide away in my room and enjoy some peace and quiet for a change. Or I can try to catch a sooner flight out of here and go home.

  The less run-ins I have with Skye and the guys, the better. I fixed the problem my brother caused, as I normally do, and now I can go home and leave them to be the happy little family they were before they saw me again.

  An ache forms in my chest, and I ignore it by rolling onto my side, bunching up the pillow, and trying to get comfortable. I force my eyes shut, even though they want to be open, and eventually, I fall asleep.

  At least, I think I do.

  When I hear a knock on the door, my eyes shoot open and my body acts as if I weren’t sleeping at all. I wonder if it was a dream and my mind waking me up just to be a dick, but then there’s another knock and I know it’s real.

  Not having a clock really fucking sucks. It’s weird to think I went years without caring about the time, and now it’s all I ever think about, constantly worried about being late for something or someone.

  I throw the blankets off and get out of bed, the old wood cold beneath my feet sending a chill up my spine. It’s late into the summer, but it’ll start getting cold soon—the temperature at night is already dropping. The warmth doesn’t last long here either. We get maybe a month of good heat, then that’s it.

  There is no peephole on the door, so instead, I pull it open and hope it isn’t someone with a gun, and maybe just a drunk person who’s lost and supposed to be in the room across the hall.

  When I find Luka and Jordy standing there, I close and rub my eyes before opening them again, just to make sure I’m not dreaming.

  “You gonna let us in or what?” Luka asks in that cocky tone of his. Instead of answering, I step aside and they walk in. I shut the door after them and scratch my head as I stare at the two of them, noting how much room we take up and wondering why they’re here at all.

  “Did we wake you?” Jordy asks with a frown, as if he actually cares. Honestly, he probably does.

  “Nah,” I say, shaking my head.

  “Liar,” Luka says with a smirk that only confuses me more.

  “What time is it?” I ask, walking over to the corner of the room where I keep the bottles of water. I take one and hold it up, silently asking if they want one.

  “Two,” Luka answers, holding up his hand for a bottle of water. I toss him one, then give one to Jordy when he nods, before taking one for myself. I guzzle half of it before capping it and placing it on the end table.

  I lean my back against the cool wall and cross my arms over my chest, keeping my eyes on the two guys, trying to figure out what it is they want and why they’re here so fucking late. When they don’t say anything after a long moment, I do.

  “So you going to tell me what you’re doing here at this time of night?”

  Luka pulls something from his pocket and tosses it to me. I catch it at the very last second, noting it’s Ridgway’s wallet. I smirk and place it on the table. When I look up, my smile turns into a frown. “What?”