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I get him halfway before he swipes me with a massive paw, sending me flying backward, crashing into the drywall. The picture frames I hung up fall and shatter on the ground as my bear forces its way up onto our shaky legs.
There’s no recognition in Magnus’ golden eyes as he sprints toward me to finish the job.
My bear thinks fast and rushes out the door. Magnus follows her out, followed closely by Julian’s grizzly.
I hope we don’t have any walk-in customers arriving because they’re about to see three vicious bears fighting in our parking lot. Luckily, there’s no one. And we’re far enough from the main road, surrounded by trees and mountains, that there isn’t anyone around to see us.
Magnus’ grizzly jumps on my back and my bear somersaults forward with the heavy beast on top of me. My girl puts up a hell of a fight, snapping and biting and thrashing her claws. But Magnus’ bear is like an onslaught of power and no matter what I throw at him, he keeps me pinned down.
Until Julian’s grizzly joins the fight. He crashes his shoulder into him, knocking him off.
My bear is already out of breath and panting as she stands back up. But she’s not giving up yet.
Julian stands beside me and we face our brother’s feral bear down.
Magnus’ bear lowers his head and snarls. His long black claws—claws that have just pierced my skin in several stinging spots—sink into the ground as he gets ready to attack again.
But then a helicopter passes overhead and he gets distracted.
He roars at the sky and then breaks off into a run, following it into the thick Montana wilderness.
The helicopter quickly disappears into the distance, but Magnus’ bear doesn’t return.
After a long while, we phase back into our human forms and spend several minutes keeping our eyes on the mountains where Magnus ran off to.
“What the hell was that?” Julian whispers under his breath. “Where did he go?”
“And when is he going to come back?” I say. The trees and mountains look so calm. A car passes in the distance. A hawk flies overhead. It’s like that quick, violent episode never even happened.
“I don’t know, but this is going to keep happening until he finds his mate.”
I sigh as I cover my exposed chest with my arms. “Let’s hope he finds her soon then.”
We both feel so defeated as we walk back into the destroyed shop. “What a mess,” I say as I grab my shredded clothes off the ground and put them on as best I can. Julian does the same.
“I guess I’d better cancel my dinner date with Lainey,” Julian says, kicking the busted-up couch.
“Yup,” I say as I look at my shredded tattoo sketches on the ground. “It’s going to be a long night.”
Four days pass before we hear from Magnus.
He calls the shop on a Friday afternoon. I’ve been so worried, I’ve barely slept.
“ I’m so sorry, Victoria ,” he says, sounding like he’s in tears. His voice is all rough and raspy like he’s been through a hell of a four days. Cleaning up the shop was a lot of work, but it was probably nothing compared to what he’s been going through.
“It’s okay,” I say. “Are you okay? Where are you?”
Julian hears and hurries over even though he’s in the middle of tattooing a lady. “Is it Magnus?”
I nod as he puts his ear to the phone.
“ I’m in New Mexico .”
Holy shit. He ran across three states?!
“ My bear wouldn’t let up ,” he says. “ He ran for four days straight. I was finally able to slip out when he was trying to break into a food truck for a meal. ”
“We can send you money,” I say with my mind racing. “Or pick you up. What do you need?”
“ I can’t come back like this ,” he says, sounding like his heart is breaking. “ I’m too dangerous to be around. ”
“You’re not,” I tell him, my heart breaking too. “Just come home. It will be okay.”
“ It won’t, ” he says. “ My bear… This is different. I need some time .”
Our shop, Heat & Ink, doesn’t work without Magnus.
He’s the one who got us all into tattooing when he bought an old tattoo machine at a yard sale when we were kids.
He’s the one who found the location, designed the shop, filled out the paperwork, and put up the most money to get us started.
He was the one who believed in us. He’s the one who keeps us going with his steady leadership and kind words. It’s not the same without him.
“You can’t leave us now,” Julian says, grabbing the phone. “The summer is right around the corner and we’re booked solid. It’s about to be our busiest season yet. This is what we’ve all been working for!”
“Julian,” I snap, grabbing the phone back. “It’s okay, Magnus. You take as much time as you need. We’ll make it work.”
“ I have someone coming to help you out with the workload ,” he says. “ I called in a favor .”
My whole body is tingling as I grip the phone. “Who?” I ask, although I think I know who it is.
“ Adrian. I asked him to come. ”
I feel heat in my cheeks and a prickle along the back of my neck.
Adrian…
It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that name. Too long.
He’s the only boy I’ve ever loved. He was eight years older than me and off-limits since he was Magnus’ best friend, but I loved him fiercely anyway.
When I was thirteen, he suddenly left and never came back. Magnus would never tell me what happened even though I asked a gazillion times.
From what I pieced together, he got into bad trouble with the wrong people or something. His house was set on fire for reasons I never found out. Whatever happened, I never saw him again.
But he’s coming back…
“Adrian Cross?” I say, my voice like a tiny mouse. “He’s coming here ? When?”
I hear banging on the other end of the line and then an older lady’s voice complaining that it’s her turn to use the phone booth.
“ You’ve been too long ,” she whines. “ And where is your shirt and shoes? I’m going to call the police. ”
Magnus lets out a low growl.
“Magnus,” I say as more banging hits my ears. “Is it really Adrian Cross?”
I hear a bear roaring, a lady screaming, and then the phone line goes dead.
Julian and I stare at each other in shock.
“I hope she can outrun a grizzly,” he says, cringing nervously.
“Yeah,” I say, although my mind is fixated on something else.
Adrian Cross.
In my shop.
In my world.
And I’m not thirteen anymore.