Page 40 of Felix

Suddenly, four bears bounded out of the trees, coming directly toward her. Fear consumed her, but it was internal. She’d never seen a bear in her life. She did not detect a threat from them.

Nevertheless, she howled loud enough to vibrate the air around them. Birds fled from the trees. Small animals scampered away.

Khloe braced herself, leaning back and sending the most menacing glare toward the bears she could conjure before howling again. She realized she was alerting anyone in the area—friend or foe.

Two of the bears rose up on two legs and growled. Two of them remained on four legs and stepped in front of their comrades.

Khloe tipped her head back and scented the air. Two wolves were about to join them. Two more were also approaching. She recognized the second pair as Erza and Elias. The two she did not know bounded into the small clearing. They glanced around and then stepped between the bears and Khloe and Felix.

Everyone stopped moving. An eerie silence ensued. Khloe wasn’t sure what was going on as she watched one of the wolves—a female—slowly approach the bears. She stopped, seeming to stare at them.

That’s when Khloe remembered Olivia could communicate with bears telepathically. This had to be Olivia. She was speaking with the bears.

The two bears who were behind started growling menacingly as they slowly crawled forward. They were staring at Khloe, teeth bared.

Khloe rose to her full height as Felix jumped in front of her. She didn’t like him getting between her and the bears. It was an odd sensation. She was larger. She wanted to protect him, not the other way around. But she didn’t have the skills to fight four bears, and even though she was incredibly large for a wolf, the bears were still bigger than her.

Felix howled.

Elias and Ezra arrived.

Khloe didn’t even glance at them. She knew they were to her right as they crept closer and joined the others in front of her.

The wolf she assumed was Olivia rose up onto her hind legs and surprised Khloe by shifting. Her human form looked so very out of place standing in the woods between the faceoff of giant animals. She held out both hands—one toward the bears and one toward the wolves. “Stop. All of you. We must talk. Everyone please shift. There is no need for this standoff. No one needs to get hurt today.”

The wolf next to Olivia shifted first. He immediately wrapped his arms around her from behind and pulled her against his chest. He had to be Damon.

Two of the bears shifted next, as did Ezra and Elias. That left Khloe and Felix in wolf form as well as two of the bears. Even though there were six wolf shifters and only four bears, the wolves were severely outnumbered. In animal form, they were much smaller, plus only four of them were Alphas. The other two were female mates.

Olivia turned to face Khloe. It was obvious her eyes were unseeing, but she spoke in that direction. “Khloe, shift. Show them you are a regular-sized human. They need to see.”

Felix shifted in front of Khloe and turned to face her. He buried his hands in her fur and looked into her eyes. “Shift, Little mate.”

She drew in a deep breath and finally let her shift take over.

The two bear shifters now in human form gasped, eyes wide. “Holy shit,” one of them said.

The remaining bears growled several more times before also shifting. They were slightly older than the first two but both male, and they stepped forward, extending their full height and thrusting their chests forward. “What is the meaning of this?” one of them shouted.

“Stop!” Olivia yelled. “Everyone calm down and listen.”

“She’s unnatural and must be destroyed,” one of the older men screamed.

Felix grabbed Khloe and held her behind him. “If you lay one hand on her, you will all die.”

Khloe trembled. She grabbed her Daddy’s waist, but she did not cower. She stood her full height slightly behind him. If these bear shifters thought they should attack her, she would shift back in a heartbeat and do everything in her power to ensure she did at least as much damage as they intended.

One of the younger, apparently more sensible, bear shifters held out both hands, keeping his comrades behind him. “Stand down, Drow,” he said to the man next to him. He glanced the other direction and narrowed his gaze at the other elder bear. “You, too, Firat. There is no need for violence. No one among the wolves has posed a threat to us. We will listen to what they have to say.”

Olivia also stood tall in front of Damon. “Thank you, Surge.” She nodded toward the other man. “Thorn.”

The two younger bears—who were apparently named Surge and Thorn—stepped closer to Olivia. She was the one they communicated with. They appeared to respect her.

Surge held out a hand toward Damon. “We come in peace.”

Damon scowled as he took Surge’s hand. “It would appear your comrades do not agree.”

Surge stepped back and shot a look toward Drow and then Firat. “They will listen,” he insisted, perhaps more for the bears’ sake than the wolves’.