Page 375 of The Cowbears of Curvy Bear Ranch

“Greg?”

A branch snapped, closer than thelastone.

“Come out here so we can talk,”shesaid.

Two luminous eyes appeared from within the brush. She advanced with her hands onherhips.

“You’re acting completely immature right now. We should be able to talk about this like adults,”shesaid.

The bushes parted to reveal the face of a large grizzly bear. Its tattered fur clumped around its face, giving it a feral look that sent a little shiver down her spine. She’d never talked to him while he’d been in his bear form before, so maybe he couldn’tunderstandher.

“Can you please shift back so we can talk?” sheasked.

When he didn’t respond, she huffed. The bear took another step toward her. Its eyes raked up and down her body. If she didn’t know better, she’d think the beast was checking her out. How ridiculous. He was far too angry to be thinking of sex right now. Right? Or maybe not. Maybe that’s all he thought about when he was a bear. There was so much she still didn’t know aboutshifters.

As the bear continued to advance with stealthy steps, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Something wasn’tright.

“Why are you doing that?” she asked. “Stop trying toscareme.”

Behind the bear, another snapping sound echoed through the woods. As a second bear appeared slightly behind the first, her stomach plummeted. Two bears. It didn’t make any sense. She’d just left his parents at the house. Could the second bear be his brother orsister?

She retreated two more steps as the second animal moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with the first. A horrifying realization struck her. What if this wasn’t Greg? What if these were real bears? Or other shifters whodideathumans?

Adrenaline flooded her limbs. Without stopping to question her instinct, she turned and ran. The bears crashed through the forest behind her. She screamed and pumped her arms and legs faster. But even at top speed they were gainingonher.

She glanced over her shoulder to find the bears less than ten feet behind her. As she faced forward, another bear appeared in her path. She skidded to a stop and dropped to her knees. She curled into a ball and cupped her hands over the back of her neck. They were going to tear herapart.

The third bear raced toward her, then leapt over her body. The rush of wind over her back chilled her soul. She waited for the bear to land on top of her. She waited for claws to shred her flesh and for monstrous teeth to sink intoherback.

When nothing happened, she twisted her head to glance behind her. The third bear roared and pounced on top of one of the other animals. It snapped at the beast’s neck, slashing through its thick fur and drawingblood.

She crawled forward as the bears fought behind her. Although the third bear was outnumbered, it battled the others with ferocious intent. The first bear crashed off into the woods, leaving its companion to fend for himself. The third bear lifted a huge paw and swiped it across the other animal’s nose. The bear roared and scrambled to escape. It dashed through the thicket and rushed deeper into theforest.

The victorious bear turned and padded toward her. She rolled onto her back and crab-walkedback.

“Get away!” sheshrieked.

The bear stopped and cocked its head to one side. It regarded her with a quizzical expression. Her heart thumped in her chest as fat rain drops fell from the sky. The heavens opened, dumping a deluge of rain downonthem.

The bear stepped back. A cracking sound reverberated in the clearing as the bear’s spine snapped and twisted. Her eyes went wide as the bear shifted. When it finished, Greg stoodbeforeher.

Rain streamed down his face. His expression was unreadable in the growingdarkness.

“Are you hurt?” he asked as he rushed toherside.

“No. You…they were going to… yousavedme.”

“Let’s get out of here. I don’t know how many others are lurking around,”hesaid.

“Arethey…”

“Shifters? Yes. They’re part of a very dangerous motorcycle gang. I’ve never seen them this close to the house before,”hesaid.

She burst into tears. They would have killed her if he hadn’tintervened.

“Come on, hon,” he said. “Let’s get outofhere.”

When they’d returned to the house, Betty rushed out of thekitchen.