Page 2 of Fennick’s Fortune (Sentinels of Apollo #2)

While we could mate and have cubs with any bear, it wasn’t very likely we’d meet a female of our kind.

That had been a depressing thought until Apollo gave me a tiny glimmer of hope.

There weren’t many Precious Ones, which was the vibe I got from the god, and there would be tons of competition to win one’s heart, the same as if an elusive female bear appeared out of nowhere.

I did want a family. I believe most of us did.

The years had made me doubt I’d ever be so lucky.

I was only a couple of years away from being four hundred years old.

It was past time to have a mate and cubs.

Would I ever be so fortunate? Half my life was over.

The average bear shifter lived to be eight hundred.

If I were ever blessed with any, I wanted as long as possible with my mate and cubs.

I tried to determine which scents made up the fragrant medley.

Every type of shifter or supernatural had a distinct scent to them.

However, if you’d never encountered one, you wouldn’t know it.

That happened when we ran into the crow shifters in Tonopah, Nevada.

They hadn’t known what several of us were either.

It was fun to see their faces when they learned.

I continued to patrol the general area surrounding my vehicle, checking if anyone was sneaking up on me.

My bear had been extra uncontrollable since I’d woken up this morning.

He was always tough to keep calm and not let him out to run whenever he wanted.

For a shifter, our animal form was always with us.

It was like having another voice with its desires and opinions talking inside your head.

Yes, it would sound weird to humans, no doubt, if they knew about them, but to us, it was normal.

Most of us were aware of and communicated with our inner animal from a very early age.

The animal was the one to tell you its name.

You didn’t name them like you would a pet.

I had no idea how they came up with their names.

My bear identified himself to me at the age of two, and his name was Ripper.

Bears in general were swift-tempered, sometimes surly, and eager to fight.

It took tremendous control to keep that part of yourself satisfied enough not to become a berserker and kill everything in its path.

One sure way to trigger the berserker’s rage was to endanger what it loved the most. If that happens, look out and hide.

Over the centuries, I’d seen a few bears go into berserker mode and be unable to regain control.

When it occurred, they had to be killed.

To not do so would leave countless people and shifters in danger.

Any crossing paths with that bear meant they were in mortal danger.

My mind shied away from thinking more about that.

“Hey, we’re close to where your position was? Still there?” Royal’s voice invaded my mind, startling me.

“Yes, I’m about a quarter mile from my truck. Meet you there. ETA?”

“Five minutes,” he answered.

“I’ll be there.”

I didn’t waste time getting back to my vehicle.

I wasn’t there long before I saw their vehicles approaching.

They were in Brax’s truck and Keir’s game warden work truck.

Keir must’ve just gotten off work, because he was still in uniform when he got out of his vehicle.

The others were dressed in casual clothes.

Perhaps having two of us in uniform would be helpful.

I wished Brax were in his, but then again, shifters were wary of anyone seen as law enforcement, so maybe it would be better if we were all in plain clothes.

They came up and gave me a man-hug and mumbled greetings, which I returned.

Once those were out of the way, it was down to business.

“Tell us what you’ve found so far?” Royal asked.

“Just what I told you. I ran across the scent trail of a large group of shifters. Due to the variety and number, I can’t get a fix on how many or what kinds are in it.

I thought it wise not to allow them to see me.

You know how skittish we are. I haven’t noted them guarding their backtrail.

If they are, they’re not doing it far enough.

” I quickly updated them. They all scowled.

“How do you want to approach this?” Brax asked.

That was what I loved about our group. We were all strong alpha men.

Despite it, we could work together, and no one took the lead over the others.

We shared it. Sometimes, we would butt heads, but we resolved those issues and then moved on.

This business was my call since it occurred in my area of expertise, and I’d been the one to find them.

“I think that we make our approach stealthily, yet not so much that they become scared of us, thinking we’re up to something.

That means we break into three groups, but approach cautiously with all three visible.

No hiding behind rocks or anything that provides shelter.

We come from three directions, and if it goes south, there’s a chance one group can hold them off to allow the other two to escape. ”

They knew I wasn’t exaggerating with my precautions. They knew how volatile our kind could be, especially if they felt threatened. However, they objected to the running part.

“There’s no goddamn way we’re sacrificing anyone to save the rest of us. If it becomes a fight, we fight together,” Gunnar snapped.

“I second that,” Royal said.

The others added their agreement, one after the other. I knew they wouldn’t run, but I had to try.

“Anything else?” Keir asked.

“I think we should remove our uniform shirts, and we can’t go in there with our guns. If we do, they’ll assume the worst and react accordingly,” I added.

There were grunts of assent. As we disarmed, Keir and I got rid of our shirts. It was still daytime, so the temperature was in the mid-fifties and hadn’t dropped to the thirties. Not that it mattered. We ran hot, and we both wore an undershirt.

We set out immediately, not wanting to lose the light, and it got dark early in December. I was in the central group with Banner and Brax. To the left were Nico and Keir. On our right were Gunnar and Royal.

The closer we got, the stronger the scent grew. My nose was overwhelmed with the clash of smells, and my friends reported the same.

“Too many to tell, but I smell wolf,” Brax said.

“Same, and there are cats,” Keir added.

“Some birds, but not sure which kind,” Gunnar stated.

“I think there’s at least one vampire, but they’re trying to mask themselves,” Nico reported.

It became clear that the group had stopped, as their scents were quickly growing stronger. Reaching out with all my senses and Ripper’s, I tried to calculate how far they were ahead of us. We’d zeroed in on the area, just not the distance.

Not too long afterward, we cleared a large rock outcropping, and that’s when our eyes spotted what our ears had already detected.

It was a decent-sized group of a dozen or more people.

They were sitting around, taking a break.

There were no tents out, so I assumed they weren’t intending to spend the night in that spot.

A few were milling about, but none were standing perimeter guard.

They should know better! I thought to my friends.

I saw a couple of small children among them.

A swift count showed fifteen in total—two children, one of each sex, seven men, and six women.

It was the children who spotted us first and shouted to the adults.

Instantly, they all became alert, and their bodies stiffened.

Aggression spread through the air. The kids and women were herded to the center of a circle of men.

Good idea, but they should’ve already had them like that, and had the sentries on the perimeter.

The men pulled out weapons. We continued our slow approach. I called out to them.

“Hello, it looks like we found you. Sorry to startle you. We’re not here to harm anyone. We’d like to talk.”

“Why were you searching for us?” an older man, I’d say in his fifties, asked. He was slightly in front of the circle, holding a shotgun.

“May we come closer so we don’t have to shout? It would make it easier to explain, and it’s not a short answer,” I replied.

I read the distrust on his face and that of the others.

Again, I didn’t blame them. Not all groups were trustworthy, not even among the shifter ones.

We had our rogues, too. That was why the Sentinels existed—to stop and bring in those guilty of breaking our laws.

We’d advanced another thirty feet before he answered.

“Stop right there. We have some questions first. Why didn’t you all approach us as one group?” the older man questioned.

“Sir, I can’t do that. I understand you’re protecting your bunch. Well, I’m doing the same. Until we all agree to talk like civilized individuals and put away all weapons, that won’t happen,” I informed him sternly.

He hesitated a moment, then gave a short head nod. “Okay, I can understand that. Just all of you stay still. Who are you and what do you want?”

“First, may I ask whom I’m speaking to?” I asked.

“My name is Asa. Yours?”

“I’m Fennick. Sir, let me start by repeating that we’re not here to harm anyone.

I came across your scent while patrolling.

I asked my friends to join me so we could speak to you about something vital.

I’m one of the park rangers out here. You’re in a section that’s for the wildlife.

Did you get lost? If you want, we can take you to the nearest campground. ”

“We’re not lost, nor do we need a campground,” one of the men beside Asa stated. His tone held a bit of a bite. I chose to ignore it. Ripper, not so much.

“Let me out and I’ll show him manners,” he growled, rousing himself.

“No, you stay out of it. You’ll make it worse.”