Bear Fur Hire (Bears Fur Hire #2)

Bear Fur Hire (Bears Fur Hire #2)

T.S. Joyce




Chapter One


Lena Rhodes screamed as the plane dipped violently.

“Hang on, I’ll get us higher,” murmured the soft-spoken man piloting the small, four-seater bush plane. He eased them up toward the dark, churning clouds.

Lena closed her eyes and clutched her camera bag against her stomach. She’d made a huge mistake taking this job, but when the president of Bucks and Backwoods magazine offered a lifetime opportunity to photograph some of the most dangerous animals on the planet, how could she refuse? This was the jumping point of her career, right here, in the passenger seat of a death rocket shooting through the air right under a building Alaskan storm. But this wasn’t even the most terrifying part of the trip. If she survived the turbulent plane ride, she was going to photograph an animal that had only visited her nightmares. The elusive Alaskan brown bear.

She let off a shuddering moan as her stomach dipped again.

“We’re almost there, lady.”

“Tobias, is it?” she asked, desperate to take her mind off the horrifying storm swirling above them.

“Mmm,” he said, barely audible over the rumbling engine.

“H-how long have you been flying this thing?”

“This thing? One month.”

Her eyes flew wide, and she nearly choked on air, but the smile on his face said there was a joke in there somewhere.

“The plane is new, but I’ve been flying for ten years.”

“Oh, my gosh,” she said on a relieved breath. “That wasn’t funny.”

“You don’t like flying?”

“I like flying on big commercial jets just fine. They serve alcohol and don’t hit turbulence like this.”

“Am I your first bush plane flight?”

Panting in panic and squishing herself against the seat, eyes on the ground far below, Lena nodded in short jerks.

“Well, stop your worrying. I’ve never had a crash, and I fly all the time.”

“Do you always fly clients out to Silver Summit Outfitters?”

“No, I don’t. I run deliveries all over Alaska, but on occasion, I fly people out here on a favor.”

“A favor to whom?”

“My brother.”

Lena dragged her attention from the lush greenery below to the man sitting next to her. “Your brother works at Silver Summit?”

The man placed his hand on his chest and said, “Tobias Silver, at your service.”

“Whoa, both hands on the wheel!” She drew a long steadying breath. “Your brother owns the lodge?”

“Co-owns it. Have you picked out a guide yet?”

“Uuuuh,” she murmured, fumbling for the pamphlet in the satchel at her feet. “I was waiting for a recommendation from my boss. I’m hoping he’s left me a message by the time we land.”

“What are you here to photograph?”

“Grizzly.”

Tobias’s dark eyebrows jacked up, and he took his green eyes off the dark sky in front of them to stare at her for way too long for her comfort. “You’re going to willingly trek out into brown bear country to photograph them?”

“Y-yes.”

“Do you know how to shoot?”

“I’m not bringing a rifle, if that’s what you mean.”

Tobias scratched his neck in what looked like irritation, and when he glanced over at her again, the expression on his face had darkened considerably. “Jenner Silver. Reserve him as your guide.”

“Oh, but I checked on him already. He’s booked right now, and I was thinking of Chance Dawson or Dalton—”

“No ma’am, you want Jenner. He’ll be worth the wait. He can keep you safe.”

“Safe how? Because I’m not okay with hurting the animals I photograph.”

Tobias huffed a laugh and cast her an are-you-serious? look. “I think you’ll feel differently when you actually encounter a charging grizzly. And as for my brother’s qualifications—let’s just say he has a way with the bears.”

“What does that mean?”

But Tobias Silver was done talking apparently because he pursed his lips into a thin line and didn’t say another word until they reached a long, asphalt landing strip in the middle of nowhere. Only when they were safely on the ground and at a complete stop did her pounding heart rate settle.

Tobias slid out of the plane and jogged around the front as she gathered her belongings. He helped her out and strapped himself down with her bags, equipment, and luggage.

“Thank you for your help,” she said.

But Tobias took off into the piney forest without so much as a “you’re welcome.”

The giant of a man didn’t seem to need any directions as he hiked this way and that, following thin, intersecting deer trails through the thick brush until he came to a clearing. But while he strode toward the massive log cabin at the apex of the open field, Lena skidded to a stop in shock.

She’d traveled all over the world and photographed animals in the most beautiful places imaginable, but this right here had her pulse quickening with its beauty.

The lodge was rustic, covered in cedar logs and topped with a red tin roof. A sprawling porch surrounded it, and across the front yard, about a hundred yards away, was a massive deck overlooking a winding, fast-flowing river. On top of the wooden surface were rocking chairs, a wooden swing, and a set of reclined lounge chairs positioned around a wide built-in fire pit. There were snowcapped mountains in the distance, and the clearing was encased in the greenest, thickest pine forest she’d ever seen. Off to the side of the gargantuan lodge was a barn with a trio of horses trotting around a corral.