Guardian Bears: Karl (5 page)

T
he parking lot
outside the motel was busy when he arrived. The camera crew was there along with a lot more people than he’d seen at the Blackrock Bar, clustered around a map spread on the hood of a car. They all looked like hard men, dangerous, with an air of violence about them. Karl parked as far from them as he could, though there wasn’t much space, and took a moment to watch them.

Most of the newcomers were armed, hunting rifles slung over their shoulders. And there was a kind of grim celebration to their mood as he watched them. Damian was in the middle of them, talking and laughing with some of the new arrivals, but when he saw Karl he left the conversation and walked over.

Maybe this time he wants a fight,
Karl thought almost hopefully as got out of the SUV. The evening’s heat hit him like a hammer as he stepped down, and though he tried to be grateful that the day was cooling a little, it did nothing for his temper.

“I figured I’d see you again, but not so soon,” Damian said, smiling and stopping just out of arms reach. “What’s your interest in our little hunt?”

Karl looked around. There were a dozen or so men in the parking lot, most armed, and all paying attention to the conversation.
I wonder if he’s set this up to intimidate me? If so, he’s got a lot to learn about scaring a bear shifter.

With the frustrations of the day and the heat getting to him, Karl would welcome a chance to get them out of his system.

“I don’t care about your hunt,” he said, walking on. “I’m here for my own reasons, not yours.”

“Then why did you stop us talking to that lady?” Damian didn’t move, just stood square in Karl’s way. Karl stopped, frowning, considering just picking him up and throwing him aside.

“Look, hunt your werewolf if you like, that’s nothing to me. But going after people is different. If you hassle her again, I will tear off your arms.” He smiled, or at least bared his teeth. “Fair warning.”

Hearing the threat, the rest of the hunters drifted closer, and in the background, Karl could see the cameraman quickly getting ready to film.
Okay, I’m
not
going to pick a fight on camera,
he told himself. The men were all close enough that he was sure he could take them if he had to – surprise and a bear’s speed and strength had carried through against worse odds – but he would have to shift. Being caught on film doing that would be the worst outcome imaginable.

Damian’s smile was smug, irritating, and an invitation to wipe it off his face with a punch. Karl didn’t rise to it, much as he wanted to.

“We’ll hunt down the werewolf,” Damian said after a pause, looking disappointed that Karl hadn’t taken his bait. “No matter what it takes. And whatever your interest in this is, you can either help us or keep out of our way. If you want in on proving that werewolves are real, feel free to sign up and do your part for history.”

Karl snorted. “No thanks. Any group that gets what it wants by bullying women isn’t one I’m interested in supporting. And there’s no such thing as werewolves.”

Not that I’m going to let you find out about, anyway.
The whole reason that Harper had asked him to come down here was to keep the existence of shifters quiet, and the presence of the hunters made that even more important, as well as more difficult. Karl wondered if Harper had known they were going to be there. That would be another good reason for him to offload the work onto the Guardian Bears, since this way he couldn’t be blamed if it went wrong.

At least it’s me and not Marcus or, heaven help us, Lucas facing these guys. Their tempers would have snapped by now.

On the other hand, they wouldn’t be suffering nearly as much from the heat.

Meeting Damian’s eyes he slowly moved forward. The other man let him pass this time and Karl stalked away to his room, leaving the hunters behind him. They watched him silently until he was inside, and then went back to their planning.

I’ve got to get ahead of them,
Karl told himself.
Whatever happens, I need to find the wolf before they get to him or her. But how? I’ve got nothing to go on.

He’d planned to take his time, investigate the sightings and attacks carefully until he could figure out who it was. The hunters weren’t going to give him long enough to do that, though. They had the manpower to cover a lot more ground than he could, and he couldn’t risk them getting lucky.

I guess I’m going to have to go hunting the old fashioned way.

* * *

N
ight fell
, and the air cooled. Not enough for Karl’s comfort, but at least it was something. He let himself out of his room carefully, making sure he wasn’t seen by any of the hunters. Fortunately, they had their own plans and hardly any of them were still at the motel. Karl had heard them leaving in small groups as he waited for the sun to set.

Now he just hoped that they weren’t going to get lucky before he could. But he had a trick that they didn’t.

Once he was clear of the motel, he set off into the night at a brisk jog. It was a shame to leave behind the car with its air conditioning, but for what he was planning, he wanted more freedom of movement. The prey he hunted wouldn’t be traveling by road, and so neither would he. The ground was uneven underfoot as he headed away from the road, getting some distance before he stopped and looked up at the night sky.

It was a bright night, the moon hanging overhead nearly full and the stars twinkling. For all that the temperature was uncomfortable, he liked it out here at the edge of the desert, the night sky so wide and clear above him.

Maybe I can admire it later. Now, to work.

Taking a quick look around to double-check that no one was in sight, he slipped out of his clothes and shifted. The heat went from uncomfortable to unbearable as his bear rose to the surface and thick white fur covered his body. His great mouth hung open panting, trying to cool himself. Everything was too hot, the air around him and the ground under his paws.

But he only needed a few seconds in this form. He inhaled, focusing on the smells that drifted on the air around him, separating them and tasting them one at a time, looking for the scent he wanted.

A polar bear’s sense of smell is remarkably good, and Karl was used to sorting through a lot of information from it. There were human smells, both the natural sweat and the smell of machines, oil and smoke, cooked food and cars in motion. There were animal smells too, many different kinds. But he was looking for one scent only, the distinctive smell of a wolf shifter. The mixture of wolf and human that could only mean one thing.

There were traces of it on the wind, but nothing fresh. Not yet. He took another breath and let it out, tracking direction and strength before letting his body relax back into human form, sitting down hard. The heat was punishing, and he needed to rest, but he had something to go on. It wasn’t much, a day-old scent he was sure came from the Blackrock Bar, but at least it confirmed where he could start looking. If he was lucky, he’d catch the scent of wherever the wolf had shifted back to human form. From there he’d be able to track down the unlucky werewolf, whoever it was.

* * *

A
llison paced around her house
, restless and exhausted at the same time. The day had been long, and she’d hardly gotten any rest last night, but she didn’t want to sleep.
Or maybe I’m afraid of it
, she thought. Whatever had happened last night, she didn’t want a repeat of it.

But sleep called to her, and she couldn’t focus on anything else. She’d tried reading, only to find the words swimming in front of her eyes. Watching TV was no better, she’d had no idea what was going on after ten minutes of a show.

The moon shone bright through the window, illuminating everything with its silvery light. It made Allison want to go out, to do something.
That’s probably the sleep deprivation talking,
she told herself, but the urge was very real. She wasn’t usually one for going out at night, let alone
running
in the dark, but tonight she found it hard to fight the desire.

For some reason that made her think of Karl and his infuriating help. She hadn’t asked for that, and she resented needing it, but he offered and hadn’t demanded anything in return. Not even to know what he’d saved her from, though he clearly wanted to know. She wasn’t used to men respecting her privacy like that, and liked it. She found herself looking at the card he’d given her, and wondering if she should call him, or even go and visit.

Don’t be ridiculous, Allison! What would that look like?
But the idea was appealing, even though she knew she’d never do it. She looked out of her window at the silvery landscape and smiled at the scene she imagined. Knocking on his door, Karl answering, his huge body filling the doorway and towering over her. Not intimidating but protecting. Maybe he’d have taken his shirt off, getting ready for bed.

She smiled at the thought, letting her eyes shut as she imagined him. Her mind drifted, and her eyes flickered open again, seeing the landscape rushing past her.
Must be dreaming,
she thought blearily.
I’m at home asleep
.

Something in her was awake, though, awake and hungry and hunting as she raced across the desert. She couldn’t tell what she was looking for: was it Karl, was it the monster hunters, was it something or someone else? Allison didn’t know, but she didn’t need to. Her body was taking her where she needed to be.

The logic of the dream escaped her. She didn’t care: after the long and stressful day, after being threatened and being rescued, she enjoyed being able to relax and let someone else worry about where to go and what to do. Above her the night sky burned bright, the moon calling to her and illuminating the desert she raced through on her way to… wherever it was the dream was taking her. She didn’t know where it was, only that it smelled familiar. The scent brought feelings of fear and anger into her mind, and she retreated from it, drifting away from the dream into a dark and warm place where she didn’t have to see what was happening.

A
fter his third transformation
, Karl was starting to rethink his plan. Not that he doubted it would work – he’d caught the scent of the wolf he was looking for each time he changed, and the last time it had been a fresh scent blown on the faint wind. He knew that if he kept going, he’d find his prey. But the cost was brutal.

I’m out of practice,
he thought. He was sitting on a rock, panting for breath and trying to cool down. The water bottle he’d brought with him was empty already, and the heat had settled over him like a smothering blanket.
Okay, this isn’t like it was in the Army.

Back then, he’d had other bears to watch his back, people who understood. Even if the others didn’t feel the heat as much as he did – he’d been the only polar bear in their squad – they did suffer enough that they could sympathize. That made it easier than trying to work on his own like this. And for all that it was hot where they’d served, this felt worse. Karl didn’t know if that was true or if he was imagining it.

On the other hand, he
did
have a scent to follow now, and a direction to go. Taking a deep breath, he pulled himself up and started North, further from the road and in the direction his bear senses told him the prey was. The heat might be punishing, he knew his body could take it, and his mind was too disciplined to let the temperature get the better of him.

His biggest worry was that he might not be the first to encounter the werewolf. He and his prey weren’t alone in the night; the other hunters were out there too. He could smell the lures they were laying. The scent of fresh meat was strong, along with the smell of humans and their cars. A couple of the hunters’ off-road vehicles were out, and one was near the path that the wolf was following. It was hard to tell who’d reach them first, him or the werewolf.

I don’t know what I’ll do when I get there, but at least I can do something.

Rocky hills rose ahead of him in the darkness, and Karl slowed to approach cautiously, staying low to the ground. If the men saw him, they might take him for the werewolf they were hunting. He’d gotten the impression they wouldn’t take the time to investigate before shooting.

Fortunately, he had plenty of experience in hunting men in rough terrain. In the Army it had been terrorists and militants, but the skills were the same. He took his time, cautiously circling and keeping low and slow to make himself hard to see. The hunters had left their car by some rocks, and as he snuck closer to it, he could make out the quiet noises of a man trying to keep still. They had a hide not far from the car, from the sounds of it.

Karl crept closer, considering his options. He couldn’t let these men catch or shoot the werewolf, of course. They’d learn too much, and if they had a camera they might film their victim shift back into human form. That would be
very bad
, the exact thing he was here to stop.

But how to stop them? He didn’t want hurt them if he didn’t have to – aside from anything else, that would just draw more suspicion. It was a tricky situation.

Best thing is if the wolf doesn’t show up
, he thought as he dropped behind a rock. He was still a dozen feet from the men and their car, but he was close enough that he could make them out against the stones they hid behind.
If I make a big enough noise, that’ll keep their prey away. And if it pisses them off, I can take it.

He never found out if that plan would have worked. Just as he was about to stand and put it into action, he heard one of the hunters whisper something, and froze, straining to listen in.

“- see? Over there!” The man’s voice was quiet, tense, barely audible at this distance. The two men turned slightly and Karl followed their gaze to see what they were looking at.

Down the slope, ignoring the staked out hunk of meat, he could see a magnificent gray wolf stalking closer. Karl was impressed: the wolf had ignored the meat they’d left out on the open ground as bait. Instead, the animal’s focus was on the hide the hunters were in, and it was doing a tolerably good job of sneaking up on them – but it hadn’t quite made it close enough. Not enough to rush men with guns who were aware of its presence.

The wolf seemed to know it, too. It froze, head rising, and Karl could see it made a perfect target for the gunmen lying in wait. He only had a split second to react, and no plan.

Before he knew what he was doing, he leaped the rocks he was hiding behind and charged, shifting and roaring as he went. The speed of a charging polar bear would frighten even someone prepared for it, and the hunters had no reason to expect his attack. A rifle fired with a sharp
crack
but the bullet went nowhere near either him or the wolf.

One of the hunters screamed something, Karl couldn’t make out the words. The quick dash in the heat dragged him down before he reached them, and it took all his focus to stay on plan. His bear was panting, exhausted and burning up, and just wanted this to be over. Karl reached the off-road car and slammed into it, grabbing and lifting. Metal screeched in protest as the vehicle tumbled between the hunters and their prey.

The wolf looked up, meeting his gaze. For a moment they were both still, then the hunters broke the silence.

A shot cracked out and whistled past his head as one of them started to swear wildly. Karl’s head snapped around to look down at the two men struggling to get away from the monster that suddenly towered over them. As soon as he lost eye contact with the wolf it bolted, running for the concealment offered by some rocks. Karl snarled a warning at the hunters and lashed out, his paw smashing rifles from the men’s hands before he, too, ran into the darkness.

He didn’t get far before the heat became unbearable. It was bad enough standing still as a polar bear in the desert, but when he exerted himself, he boiled. Throwing himself over the rocks he’d hidden behind he let his body shift back to human, rolling as he struck the ground.

He could barely think. The heat had settled into his body, and he couldn’t cool down fast enough.
What the hell was I thinking?
He didn’t stop to answer his own question, just grabbed his bag and ran away as fast as he could, vanishing into the night. There wasn’t time for anything subtler, he just had to hope that the men wouldn’t be too eager to give chase after their close encounter with him.

* * *

K
arl was still feeling
the effects of his burst of exertion when he made his way back into the hotel. Glad that he’d taken the trouble to pack a spare set of clothes, he at least wasn’t naked when he returned. He did his best to avoid the hunters on his way inside.
Don’t want them to get any ideas about where I was when the ‘monster’ attacked their friends
, he thought as he stumbled into the office.

Marty looked up, surprised and then worried.

“Karl! You don’t look well, what happened?” The old man put down his novel and sat up. Karl forced a laugh and waved off his concern.

“I’m just not used to these temperatures, that’s all,” he said, leaning on the desk. He could feel his body fighting against the heat, and knew that he must look awful. He’d be pouring with sweat, but in this dry heat it evaporated as quickly as it formed

“Yeah, the heat can get to you if you don’t know how to handle it,” Marty said, shaking his head and frowning. “Might be you want to see the doctor, it can be real dangerous.”

“I’ll be fine,” Karl answered firmly. “Just need a little ice to cool off.”

“Sure, sure,” Marty said, looking Karl up and down and frowning. “Yeah, I’ve got a freezer full of ice cubes back here. But heat stroke isn’t something to fool around with, it can be a straight-up killer. You sure you don’t want to see the doc?”

Karl couldn’t see that going well. Best case, the doctor wouldn’t do anything. But if he decided to keep Karl under observation or something, then that would really get in the way of his job. And his condition came from being in bear form in the heat. He didn’t know what that would look like to a doctor who didn’t know about shifters – the doctor was likely to play it safe.

No, the only safe way was to take care of himself. Luckily, he had a lot of experience doing just that.

“I’m sure,” he said, focusing his will to keep himself steady as he straightened. “I’ve been through this before, when I was in the Army. I know what I’m doing.”

“If you say so. It’s your body, after all.” Marty didn’t sound convinced, but he didn’t bug Karl about it. Instead, he showed Karl the way to the freezer full of bags of ice and opened it for him. “Here you go, friend. Take what you need, and look after yourself. Remember to drink, too. Lots of people don’t realize how much water they’re losing in weather like this.”

“Thanks, Marty,” Karl said, pulling a couple of the big bags out. The touch of the cold was blissful, and he already felt better. But he could feel the pain hanging around the edge of his vision, still – this was going to take some time to recover from.

I don’t even know why I did it
, he thought, shaking his head as he hauled the heavy bags back to his room. He didn’t have to worry about being seen now; who’d question someone grabbing some extra ice in this weather? In fact, having the hunters see him around the motel might keep them from connecting him to the attack.

The hunters were too busy to pay much attention, though. He could see a group of them gathering in the parking lot, heading out in different directions as Damian barked orders at them. The men he’d hit must have made it back, or radioed in – and their encounter with a monster had stirred up the rest.

Karl growled to himself as he kicked his door shut behind him. No time to think about the hunters and what they were up to, and his pounding headache wouldn’t let him focus on it anyway. Hurrying to the bathroom he tore the bags open, emptying ice into the bath before pulling off his clothes and jumping in with them.

Oh God, that’s better!
The cold seeped into him, leeching the terrible heat from his bones and leaving him feeling a lot better immediately. He smiled and lay back, feeling the ice cubes crunch under his weight. For a blissful moment he could ignore the heat, and he felt himself waking up as the cold cleared his mind. Finally, he could think clearly again, and he found himself replaying the encounter with the wolf in his mind.

His bear rumbled contentedly too, enjoying the touch of cold ice. Reaching up, he turned on the cold tap and let the bath fill around him, icy water embracing him as he remembered the look in the wolf’s eyes, the shock as their gazes had met for a moment that seemed in his memory to last forever. There was something familiar about those green eyes, but he couldn’t place it.

I hope she got away,
he thought as he let his eyes drift shut.