Page 1 of Caught Bear Handed

ChapterOne

Kayla

“That’s a wrap on Kayla!”the director announced.She smiled at me warmly as the sound guy approached to unclip my mic.“Great work.See you tomorrow, bright and early.”

I groaned playfully, but the truth was, I was thankful for my seven seasons onThe Wolf’s Moon.Likehashtag blessedto be an actress with such a rare, steady gig.The cast and crew had become my family, but it didn’t mean I wasn’t excited about an early escape.Just because I’d only had one scene scheduled on the call sheet didn’t guarantee a short day.Shooting schedules changed constantly, and sometimes the simplest scenes took forever to film.But this one had been quick, and I was free.

As I headed to the hair and makeup trailer, I made a reservation for hot yoga.I grabbed a warm towel to clean my face while my stylist took my extensions out.Once I was out of my costume and back in comfy clothes, I headed out to the van waiting for me outside my trailer.

“Hey, Jimmy.Boy, am I glad to see you,” I called out as I arranged my bags in the backseat and buckled my seatbelt.“These short days always make me feel like I’m getting away with something.”

Jimmy simply grunted and didn’t wait for me to settle before he drove off.

Odd.

He was usually a chatterbox.We’d spent a lot of time together over the years as he drove me to and from set, and I loved listening to his stories about his recently retired wife, his son who was training to earn a spot on a Continental Football Association team, and his granddaughter who’d recently been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.I’d only seen pictures of her on his phone, but he’d told me enough about her that I felt like her honorary auntie.

“Is everything okay?”My heartbeat sped up as I worried something had happened to that sweet little girl.I lifted my sunglasses and took a good look at the driver.“I’m sorry, you’re not Jimmy.”

First rule of set: Make friends with all the teamsters.Some of the drivers were a little rough and tumble, but they could also be the world’s biggest teddy bears.If they liked you, they had your back through thick and thin.

I’d never seen this guy before.

“Jimmy had something he had to take care of,” he muttered.

That didn’t sound good.“Not Ella, I hope.”

“Who’s Ella?”

Okay, something was wrong.Anyone driving Jimmy’s van would know the name of his granddaughter.He had a picture of her taped to the dashboard.Her little smiling face was still there.This was definitely his van.

“Who are you?”It came out more hostile than I’d intended, but my hackles were standing on end.My wolf’s intuition was never wrong.Right now, she was telling me to hold off on my apology and get ready to fight, a sentiment that sent a shiver down my spine.

“I’m Mike,” he said.

I gave him a moment to elaborate, but he seemed to think that was enough information to share.

“How long have you worked onThe Wolf’s Moon?”Even though something felt off, I’d give him the benefit of the doubt.We were a family on this show.Which meant we welcomed all kinds of personalities.

Something’s not right about this guy, my wolf cautioned.His energy is weird.

“Just started.”Those words were a little more eloquent.

He must have come highly recommended to already be trusted driving the cast to and from their homes.Not that I thought of myself as a big deal, but we had some huge names on this show—Logan Mathis and Amelia Barrett regularly drew fans from all over the country, hoping to catch a glimpse of them in action.

The GPS urged Mike to get on the freeway.

“I hate to tell you how to do your job, but this isn’t the way to my house.”I chuckled nervously.

“It’s a shortcut,” he retorted.

“We’re headed north, but I live south of town.”Maybe he got the addresses mixed up.Some of the cast lived up here.He probably confused me with someone else.

I wanted to make this make sense.

His only response was to press down on the accelerator.

I told myself it was because he’d merged…oh what the hell was I doing?My wolf was practically screaming at me.Something was wrong, and I was worried about hurting the new guy’s feelings as he got into the fast lane and sped past the first exit.