Page 5

Locke

“What is it?” I flailed my arms and legs to untangle them from the covers when someone knocked and then entered my room in the dead of the night. When that person didn’t immediately answer, I growled. “Who is it?”

“It’s just me,” Zeph answered, chuckling.

“What are you laughing at?” I stepped into a pair of pants and tried to collect my thoughts. Goddess, he’d woken me out of one of those dead sleeps. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“I’m sorry. I did knock several times.”

“Shut up.” I flicked the lamp next to my bed on and took in his blue-light-blocking glasses and oversized hoodie. A sure sign he had been pulling an all-nighter in the security room. We’d set up cameras at strategic locations around the property in case someone decided to breach our borders or came by looking for shelter. Not all of the people who came to us knocked on the front door. Some got here by the skin of their teeth or, worse, with soldiers on their tails. “Wait, why are you here?”

“I came to report activity on the border. It’s a bear, but he’s not moving like one.”

“What does that mean?”

“Just come. You have to witness it for yourself.”

We went to the security room, and I plopped down in a chair next to Zeph. He used the mouse to turn back time on the camera feeds, and I watched closely. It was probably just a regular bear, though Zeph didn’t have a reputation for jumping at spiders.

“There.” He pointed to the screen. The screen was darker since it was the middle of the night but, sure enough, a form came onto the screen, its movements hurried but defensive in nature. Checking all around him. Raising his muzzle to sniff the air. Usually bears displayed lazy movements almost on the verge of clumsy. Zeph was a panther, and he said we moved like bowls of Jello but somehow got to our destination.

“What makes you think…” I leaned forward to get a better look. The bear was missing some hair. And this bear had blue eyes.

Bears didn’t have blue eyes.

But shifter bears did.

“How long ago was this?”

“Fifteen minutes or so, but he’s still there. He dropped to the ground the second he crossed our borders. He’s fast asleep, I think.”

I grabbed my cell, thankful I’d brought it with me, and called the others. “Let’s go.”

We sprinted through the house toward the area where the bear was, and everyone shifted at once. We ran toward our target under the light of the full moon, but, once we got there, the bear woke up.

I shifted back to two legs and put my palms out. The bear let out an ear-splitting growl, rising up on his hind back legs to show me how big and bad he was.

Scars marred his belly, and there was more than one tuft of hair missing. Bears weren’t a species that tore their hair out, even when feral. His nails were sharp, and his teeth didn’t appear in the best shape.

This bear was a survivor.

“My name is Locke. You’ve entered our sanctuary.”

“It’s pack, Locke. Just admit it. We’re a pack.” Zeph’s outburst caused the bear in front of me to huff out a warm breath and growl again, this time more menacing.

“Knock it off, Zeph. Hey,” I called out. “You’re safe here. Let us help you.”

Another growl but this time guttural, right from the center of his chest. A warning for me to stay back. In my experience, when these fugitives appeared, backing down was the last thing we needed to do.

“Locke, try your alpha power.” Markus walked up. He hadn’t shifted with us, so it took him a few minutes longer to get here. When I didn’t respond, he continued, “No one’s talking about your role in this community, but you are an alpha, and you have the power to command him. We need him to shift so we know what’s going on.”

I let my bear come forward, only in my consciousness. “Shift. Now.”

Nothing.

“I command you to shift.” I pushed more power into my voice.

“He’s not responding, man. We don’t know how long he’s been like this. He’s got crazy eyes.”

“Funny,” I snapped. Rob didn’t say much but when he did, it usually was snarky. Some would say rude. It was me. I said rude. “That’s what we said about you when you barreled in, trying to kill all of us.”

He shrugged one shoulder. “All right. What do you suggest, alpha?”

Rude.

I stepped toward the bear with no fear in my heart. There was something about him. I wanted to care for him. Keep him. Interesting. I hated the words that were about to come out of my mouth. “We need to dart him. As much as we hate it. It’s the only way to save him.”

“I’m on it.”

The bear crumpled to the ground, one of our darts in his neck. His blue eyes lulled back in his head and his breaths slowed.

“All right, everyone. Let’s get him to the holding cell.”