Tracking the Bear (Blue Ridge Bears Book 1)(21)

But that thought had led me to others as she snored peacefully by my side, and it had struck me again while she showered in the morning. She hadn’t lied to me about the accident that had crippled her leg, either. In fact, the only time I’d ever sensed a lie in her voice was when we’d bathed together the night before. She’d asked about Freyr, and then lied when I’d asked why she needed to know about him.

It hadn’t really crossed my mind then, and with my mate so warm and distractingly naked nearby, I hadn’t given it much thought. Now though, I had to wonder what had been the catalyst for the question. Lucy seemed to have no idea who he was before I’d told her. It wasn’t altogether surprising, considering the size of the high school she’d probably attended. A lot of schools didn’t teach mythology and those that did usually only taught classical Greek. So where had she pulled the name Freyr from, if she’d had no exposure to myth? She certainly hadn’t heard it in a book. I’d heard that much in her lie.

We were well on our way to the Blue Ridge Mountain Range in Virginia where I was supposed to meet with four local bears to divvy up our respective search areas. It still left miles upon miles of thickly wooded terrain for us to search, but it was a less arduous task than if I were to undertake it alone.

Conversation seemed to come easily to us now, with most of the barriers cast aside after what we’d done the night before.

“Come on,” she coaxed, popping a fry into her mouth with a smile. “Spill it. Exactly how many women have you slept with?”

“I don’t really think it’s pertinent. You’re my mate. I won’t be sleeping with anyone else.”

“Then why sleep with anyone else at all?”

“Hormones. I assume that’s why you dated in high school, as well.”

“Fair point,” she conceded with a nod. “So, what does this mate thing entail? Do you have to um…bite me or something?”

“No.” It came out louder and more sharply than I’d intended. She flinched, recoiling from the sudden anger in my tone. “Sorry. I mean…no. I don’t have to bite you. And I wouldn’t expose you to my world like that. I won’t turn you into a monster.”

“You’re not a monster,” she protested.

“That’s debatable,” I mused, turning the knob for the radio. An upbeat pop number came through the speakers. I was a bit disappointed. We’d been turning it on periodically, listening for updates on Luke Elmsong. I hoped someone would find and apprehend him, on the off chance I’d been wrong about his location.

“It’s not,” she argued. “You’re a good man. You’re trying to do what’s right, and from what you’ve told me about your life, you always have.”

That wasn’t exactly true, but it felt too good coming from her lips for me to argue the point.

“So, you’re really planning on dumping me in a cabin in the middle of the woods?” She slumped a little in her chair. “That’s not really fair.”

“I don’t know what else I can do,” I said. “I have to keep you-”

I cut off, as my airway constricted suddenly. I gripped the steering wheel too tightly and heard the wheel creak dangerously. I was going to rip it off if I wasn’t careful. I knew this feeling. I’d had it once before when I was fifteen. I jerked the wheel hard to the right, sending us careening off the road at highway speeds. I pushed desperately at the brake. I needed to slow the car down before we went rolling down the steep embankment on either side of the freeway.

“Chance!” Lucy shouted, a note of hysteria in her voice. She was clutching her armrest for dear life and her eyes were suddenly huge in her pale face.

I slammed my foot down on the brake and we screeched to a stop a few inches from the guardrail that marked the beginning of the off ramp. Several cars honked their horns as they passed us, and I saw a few one finger salutes. I didn’t pay attention to them. I couldn’t. I scrabbled for the door handle and stumbled from the car.

“Chance!” Lucy called after me, as I staggered toward the edge of the embankment. “Chance stop, you’ll fall!”

I couldn’t listen, though. I hadn’t had this happen since I was fifteen years old and I’d been stupid enough to disturb a Native American Burial ground when I’d visited Washington State to spend Thanksgiving with my cousins. I knew what it felt like to have a smack down match with a God. I didn’t know which one I’d pissed off enough to put my balls in a vice, but I knew that I was safest anywhere but on that highway.

“Chance!” I heard her car door slam as well and I knew she was following.

My spine slithered weirdly, swaying like a snake before a charmer. Apt, with someone forcing this unwanted change on me. My teeth no longer fit comfortably in my human mouth. I tried to speak, but the words came out guttural.

“Stay back,” I growled. I bit my tongue as I tried to articulate the words, and that was the last straw. As soon as the metallic tang of my own blood washed over my tongue in the tenuous half state I was suspended in, I lost the battle to maintain my shape.

My nails lengthened into claws. My bones cracked and reshaped themselves, and my mind shifted into the simpler thoughts and desires of my bear form. I only had seconds left of rational thinking, before the warrior spirit of my bear took over. It wouldn’t hurt Lucy. Even the Gods couldn’t force it to do something that against its nature, but any of the cars passing on the freeway would be fair game.