9781631054747HerstoBearHoffa (6 page)

If however, the men in the woods turned out to be from HUNTS
there was no reason they couldn’t just ‘disappear.’ His bear murmured his
approval.

Bern turned his attention back to his computer and the
invoices. The day passed quickly and before he knew it the alarm on his
wristwatch was dinging, three o’clock.
Time to go and pick up
his pretty Jenna.

* * * *

John
Reed drove deep into the Smokey Mountains. The location of the research
facility was hidden from everyone, it couldn’t even be found on satellite as it
was buried deep underneath the mountain. He wanted to check on the status of
the wolf cubs they had acquired, aka kidnapped, one last week and one a month
ago.

He
pulled up to what looked like a solid rock wall and stopped his truck. Exiting
he found the hidden panel and entered the code that opened the wall. The
shifters knew of the existence of HUNTS, but what they didn’t know, what most
of the members of HUNTS didn’t even know, was that a secret branch of the
government was funding the organization. They had their own agenda, and John
was part of that plan. A former Special Forces operative, he knew the secrets
others only dreamed about, or found in their worst nightmares, depending on
your perspective.

A
massive compound thrived inside the mountain. John parked just outside the
elevators to the lower levels. He swiped his security pass and descended to the
seventh level, Doctor Montrose’s laboratory.

The
elevator doors swung open to reveal a pristine laboratory, complicated machines
and gadgets covered every surface, gleaming stainless steel tables, and glass
fronted cabinets. White coated technicians scurried about, doing who knows
what, but what drew John’s attention were the glass cages along the wall
containing the specimens he and his brethren had collected.

Six of
the cages were now
full,
they needed a total of ten to
complete the testing. Doctor Montrose looked up from her microscope and spotted
him. “John, how good to see you.”

“Hello,
Doc. How are things going?”

“Wonderful,
the testing is going well. I think we are really on to something this time,”
she replied.

“No problems
with the new specimens?” he asked.

“Oh,
the usual.
We are keeping them sedated at the moment. How are you coming on the
acquisition of the bears?” she asked.

“We
should have them within the next week,” he answered.

“Good,
good. That will only leave us in need of the lions. Do you have a lead on where
we can acquire them?”

“Yes, I
have found a Pride in Arizona. We will be heading there when we leave West
Virginia,” John said.

“That’s
wonderful.”

“So,
you’ve made progress on the serum?”

“You
know I’m not at liberty to discuss the results of the tests in progress with
you, John,” Doctor Montrose said with a note of censure.

“And
you know what I want to know, Elizabeth! Have there been any more
accidents
?”

Doctor
Montrose flushed bright red. Whether in anger or embarrassment it was
impossible to tell. “No, John. No more accidents.”

John
nodded. “I’ll be going then. I’ll be back in a few days with the bears.”

He
drove back to his camp deep in thought about what was to come.

Five
men sat around a camp fire ten miles west of Honey Corners. They didn’t bother
to hide their
location,
if anyone came by they would
claim to be fisherman on a camping trip.

John,
addressed the men, “What did you find out last night, Scott?”

“Nothing
we didn’t expect. We are definitely not going to be able to get ahold of a kid outside
at night. I swear they roll up the sidewalks in this town at dark. Mr. and Mrs.
Bear sit on their front porch drinking tea and rocking in their chairs, while
Johnny Bearcat is down at the lake spooning with his girl and the three little
bears are tucked up in their den watching TV. It’s like a rerun of fucking
Mayberry RFD. It isn’t fair that these
abominations
are out here living the American dream while I had to watch my beautiful
wife die of ovarian cancer at thirty-five! Why don’t they get sick? Why do they
live so long? It just isn’t fair!”

John
patted him on the back. “I know friend. I know.”

Scott
looked up at him with tear filled eyes. “But I don’t want to turn into one of
those monsters. I don’t want to be an animal or, God forbid, one of those
mutant creatures that the first experiments created.”

“Yeah
or die,” Kyle muttered.

“That’s
not going to happen,” John said. “It has to be an antibody in the blood, not
something in the DNA
sequencing,
we just have to
isolate it. I know the team of scientists we have put together now can do it.
Soon we will eradicate cancer from the world.”

“And
those degenerate shifters too,” Scott murmured.

“In
time,” John agreed. “We have to make sure we have all the answers, before we
eliminate the source of the antibodies.”

“Okay,
so what’s the plan?” Kyle asked.

“We’ll
stick with what we did in the wolf den. Gas the house while the bears are
sleeping, and be done before they wake up.”

“Do you
have enough of that scent blocker to cover our tracks?” Scott asked.

“I’ve
got plenty,” John replied. “Let’s do a recon mission into town tomorrow and
then we can plan the abduction. Maybe we can even pick out a target.” The man
was practically rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

He had
been planning this mission for two long years and nothing was going to stand in
his way. He was going to capture a shifter child and they were going to find
out the secret to these shifters long lives and health if it was the last thing
he did on this earth.

Chapter Six

As the
students filed out of the classroom at the end of the day, Sarah came up to
Jenna’s desk. Her brown hair was fashioned into long braids on either side of
her round little face, freckles sprinkled across her pert nose. She looked down
at her Maryjanes and rocked from heel to toe.

Jenna
squatted down so they were face to face. “What’s up, Miss Sarah?”

“My
mommy said you’re gonna be my new aunt, Miss Raynes. That you’re Unca Bern’s
mate, is that true?”

Jenna
laughed a little self-consciously.
“Um, yes.
Your
uncle and I are mates. Is that okay with you?”

Sarah
beamed up at her. “That’s super cool! I love Unca Bern, he’s my favrotist. All
my other
uncas
are only my aunt’s husbands, ya know,”
she whispered. “Unca Bern is my
real
unca.”

Jenna
wasn’t quite sure what to say to this revelation, she certainly didn’t want to
get into family politics already, or step on any toes. Thank goodness Bern
walked in the door at just that moment.

“Well,
lookie here, my two favorite girls, in one place,” he said, walking over and
kissing Jenna sweetly and then hoisting Sarah high in the air and twirling her
in a circle. She threw her arms around his neck and peppered kisses all over
his face.

“I
loves
you, Unca Bern.”

“I love
you too, sweet Sarah. Where’s your momma?”

“I
don’t know, she must be late.
You know she’s
always
late,” the little girl replied.

“That
she is,” Bern said, turning to Jenna. “Julia was even born late. I swear that
woman is never on time for anything.”

Julia
rushed into the room, a toddler on her hip, a diaper bag and a purse hanging
off her shoulder, her hair falling out of a messy bun on the top of her head
and looking like she’d had a day from hell. “Oh my God, Miss Raynes, I’m so
sorry! Jimmy is sick and I was at the pharmacy picking up his medicine. The
line was terrible. I hope I didn’t hold you up.”

“Not
at all.
Sarah and I were just chatting until Bern got here, and please call me Jenna.”

The
baby in her arms started to fuss and Bern reached out and plucked the boy from
her hip. “What’s the matter little man? You
not feeling
well?” Bern arched a brow at his sister.

“He’s
teething.”

“Oh,
that explains it. Little bears have some big teeth to come in at his age. I
know you’ve met before, but Jenna, this is my sister, Julia.”

“I’m so
happy Bern has finally met his mate, and I couldn’t be happier to welcome you
to the family. We’ll have to all get together soon and have a big family
dinner.”

Bern
bounced Jimmy on his hip and the baby seemed perfectly happy now. Seeing
him
with Sarah and now Jimmy made her think he’d be a
wonderful father. Whoa, slow down girl, let’s not put the cart before the horse,
but she couldn’t help smiling at the thought of Bern holding a tiny baby in his
big bear paws.

“That
sounds great. Call me later in the week and we can set up a date.”

“Wonderful.
Bern would you mind helping me get these two out to the car?”

Bern
looked at Jenna, she nodded.
“Sure, no problem.”
He
linked his free hand with hers and they strolled out to the parking lot.

Bern
strapped Jimmy into his car seat while Julia loaded Sarah into hers. He kissed
his sister on the cheek and patted the top of the SUV before she drove away.

“Are
you ready to go?”

“Sure,”
she said.

“Well,
I’m not.” He pulled her into the shadow of a tall oak tree and crushed her body
to his. Capturing her head in his hands he held her in place as his mouth took
possession of hers in a most carnal way. His tongue swept in, stealing her
breath, he tasted of brown sugar and maple. She melted into him, sliding her
arms around his thick neck to twine in the long hair at his nape.

When he
finally came up for air, she was panting for breath and could barely stand on
legs that felt like over-cooked spaghetti. “I’ve been waiting to do that all
day, little one. God, how I’ve missed you,” Bern growled.

“Wow, a
girl could get used to a hello like that, big guy.”

“Mmm,
you better,” he said, with another quick peck to her lips, “because I plan to
kiss you like that every day for the rest of our lives.”

Now
that was a promise Jenna certainly hoped he kept. Bern stepped back and took
her hand. They started walking toward the outskirts of town. She wondered if he
owned a car, he seemed to walk everywhere, just like she did.

They
walked for quite a while in silence, but it was a companionable silence. The
fall day was beautiful, cool but not cold. Colored leaves covered the trees and
drifted to the ground, crunching under their feet occasionally as they walked
along.

The
trail began a steady uphill grade, until finally they reached the top of a high
hill. There sat what Jenna could only describe as a mansion.
A
sprawling Tudor mansion, with massive oak front doors, surrounded by beautiful
forest.
It was perhaps the most beautiful house she had ever seen.

She
stopped dead in her tracks and her hands came up to cover her mouth.
“Oh my God.”

Bern
turned to her, worry evident on his face. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s
beautiful,” she said in an awed voice. “You really live here? It’s a freakin’
mansion.”

Bern
shook his head. “It’s not a mansion. It’s just a house.
A big
house, yes, but just a house.”
He tugged her hand to get her moving
again. “Come inside and let me show it to you.”

Jenna
hesitated, pulling against his hand. “I don’t know. Maybe I should just stay
here and look from outside. I don’t want to break anything.”

Bern
cocked a brow at her. “Are you kidding me? I am a ten foot grizzly bear, if I
haven’t broken it
already,
you certainly aren’t going
to break it.”

Jenna
laughed. Bern knew how to break the tension. He was right, she was being silly.
She followed him into the house and tried her best to keep her exclamations of
awe to herself, but
damn
, this place
was something else.

From
the stained glass windows in the foyer, to the kitchen that looked like
something out of Better Homes and Gardens magazine, Jenna was completely out of
her element. Her parents weren’t poor by any stretch of the imagination, they
were middle class, but this…this was, well she wasn’t quite sure what this was,
but it was definitely high class and then some.

Bern
seemed to sense her nervousness and he led her into a cozy den.
Ha ha, den for a
bear,
I think I’m getting slaphappy.

“How
about a glass of wine?
I’ve got a nice white zinfandel in the fridge.”

“That
sounds good,” Jenna said.

Bern
crossed to the bar on the side of the room and reached into the small
refrigerator, he pulled out a bottle of white zinfandel and using a corkscrew
from on top of the bar uncorked the wine. He poured two glasses and crossed to
Jenna with the glasses in hand.

He sat
beside her on the small couch and placed the glass in her hand,
then
he clinked their glasses together. “To a life time of
nights together,” he said as he brought the glass to his lips.

Jenna
hid her smile behind her glass as she took a sip. How did she get so lucky? She
was really waiting for the guy from
Candid
Camera
or
Punked
to pop out and
tell her this was all a big joke, because the too big, too fat, awkward girl
just didn’t get the hunky guy, who by the way just happened to be the freaking
alpha of a bear clan. In what universe did that happen? Maybe in the
Twilight Zone,
geeze, she really needed
to stop watching late night television.

“I’m
gonna go scrounge us up some snacks,” Bern said, he flipped the stereo on as he
left the room and his customary country music flowed from the speakers hidden
somewhere in the room. Jenna snuggled down into the couch and let her mind
drift with the music as she sipped her wine. She was going to get to see Bern
shift tonight. She was a little nervous, but a lot excited.

She’d
never seen a shifted bear up close. Enough was enough, as soon as he got back
she was going to ask him to shift, the anticipation was killing her. She was
never going to be able to relax until after he shifted.

Bern
came back into the room carrying a tray of cheese and crackers. Her stomach
growled. Okay, maybe she would eat something before she asked him to shift, and
make sure he did too, she certainly didn’t want a hungry bear on her hands.
Jenna stifled a giggle and Bern gave her a curious look. Jenna chose to pretend
she didn’t notice and dove into the cheese and crackers he had placed on the
coffee table.

She
crunched a few crackers and took a few sips of wine. Bern lounged at the
opposite end of the sofa doing the same, but watching her intently. Finally she
had enough. “What? Do I have cracker crumbs on my mouth or something?”

“No,
but you are hiding something. What’s going on in that brain of yours, little
one?”

“Is
this more of that mate bond thing? Because if it is, I don’t think I like it.”

“No,
it’s not the mate bond. I’m just getting to know you, and I can see the little
hamster wheel turning in your head.”

“Hey, I
resemble that remark!”

Bern
moved so that his knee was touching hers on the sofa and kissed her temple.
“I’m sorry, little one. I was only teasing. You have a big, beautiful, brain.”
He punctuated each word with a kiss. “I only meant I can tell something is
bothering you. He cupped her face in his hands and stared down into her eyes,
“Tell me, what’s wrong?”

Jenna
felt like a stupid fool. “Nothing is wrong, per se. I’m just nervous about
seeing you shift.”

“I
don’t have to shift today.”

“No,”
she practically shouted. “I’m sorry. I want you to shift. I really want to see
your bear. I’m just a little scared. I know it’s stupid. I know it’s still you
when you shift…”

“Yes,
it is, but I am different too. There are a few things I want to tell you before
I shift.
First and most important.
Don’t run from me.
While I still remain in control of my human thought when I shift, I also
have…baser animal instincts. My bear, he wants you very much. If you run, he
will chase you. He would never hurt you, but he will give chase, and I don’t
want him to scare you.”

“Okay.”
Jenna nodded.

“Second,
obviously I won’t be able to talk to you when I shift. After we are mated and
you change we will be able to communicate telepathically when we are shifted.”

Jenna
gasped. “I didn’t know you could do that.”

“No,
most humans don’t.”

“Wow,
that’s really cool.”

“Yes,
it is a wonderful gift. Anyway, I won’t be able to talk to you now, and I won’t
be able to shift back for a few minutes. It takes a lot of energy to shift. So just
sit quietly with me and wait. Okay?”

“Yes.”

“Are
you ready?”

“Yes.”

Bern
stood and pushed the coffee table to the side of the room,
then
he started to strip out of his clothes.

“What
are you doing?”

“Taking
my clothes off.”

Jenna
could feel the blush coloring her cheeks. “What the hell for?”

“Because
if I shift with them on I will either shred them or strangle on them.”

Duh, Jenna you are really not
thinking tonight
.
“I never thought of that. I guess I thought maybe they just disappeared and
reappeared when you shifted back.”

“Damn,
that would be a nice trick. It would have saved me from a lot of embarrassing
situations in the past too, I can tell you, but no, doesn’t happen.”

Jenna
cleared her throat and looked at the floor. “You’re not going to see me change
if you’re looking at the rug,” Bern teased. “It’s not like you haven’t seen me
naked before, you know.”

“That
was different,” Jenna grumbled.

Bern
laughed. “Well it’s your choice, but don’t complain to me if you miss the
show.”

Jenna
looked up and glared at him. Bern looked smug, the bastard, and in the next
moment her big bear of a man was…well a big bear. There was no cracking of
bones or noise, like she expected, no flash of white light, in fact it was so
fast, if she’d have blinked she’d have missed it. One minute he was a man, the
next he was a bear.
Magic.