Second Chance Bear Read online

  “There.” Winnie pointed to a rocky ridge, where, sure enough, a large grizzly bear was making its way toward them.

  “What do we do?” Joanna asked Marcus.

  “Nothing, we just stay here and stay quiet and it will pass right by.” Despite his words, Marcus looked nervous.

  “Should we go back and warn the others?” Reece asked as he shielded his eyes against the sun as it rose in the sky.

  “No, they’ll avoid us,” Marcus spoke with confidence and experience. “We will all be fine.”

  “Are you sure?” Joanna asked nervously as two more bears joined the first.

  “Yes. Absolutely.” Marcus stared at the bears as if willing them to look at him.

  Joanna stared, too, wanting to trust Marcus and yet the need to grab hold of her family and run back down the mountain was almost too strong to ignore. However, before she had a chance to make a decision, Kylie’s voice reached out. A cry for help.

  They all turned in the direction of the cry, the bears momentarily forgotten.

  Until a terrible thought hit Joanna. What if there were more bears? What if the Caulfield family had been attacked? “What’s wrong?” Joanna asked Marcus, her hand gripping his upper arm in panic.

  “Did they get attacked by bears?” Winnie asked fearfully.

  “No,” Marcus told them quickly. She turned to look at him. His eyes burned with a need to say more. “Come on, let’s stick together.”

  “Because of the bears?” Winnie asked, looking in the direction of the three bears on the mountain.

  But instead of three bears, there were three people hiking down toward the place where Kylie’s cry had originated from. Joanna squinted, trying to focus a little more, then she gasped in surprise. Those three people were Luke, Sage, and Patrick.

  As Marcus’s radio crackled and Joanna heard Luke’s voice, a wave of confusion swept over her. It was as if the bears had been replaced by three humans. How was that possible?

  It wasn’t. But Joanna had a sneaking feeling the impossible had become possible here on the mountain. Was this Chance’s secret?

  If so…how? Why?

  And what the hell had she gotten herself and her family into?

  Chapter Twelve – Marcus

  “Did you hear Kylie scream?” Marcus asked Luke over the radio.

  “We heard it, but we couldn’t see anything. We’re on our way there now.” Luke’s voice was tinged with worry.

  “We’re heading there, too,” Marcus told his brother.

  “Great. Meet you there. And Marcus, be careful.” Luke’s last sentence infected Marcus with fear.

  “I thought you didn’t see anything?” Marcus checked that Joanna and the children were staying close as they walked at a fast pace across the open terrain.

  “I didn’t…but I sensed something. For a moment I sensed there was something else out here with us.” Luke’s words chilled Marcus to the core.

  “Keep your ears and eyes open.” He paused. “And your other senses.”

  Placing the radio back in his pack, he increased his pace. He had to get to the Caulfield family and save them from whatever might have attacked them.

  “Do the others know what happened?” Joanna asked breathlessly.

  Marcus looked over his shoulder. Winnie and Reece were running to keep up, but he didn’t dare slow down. “No.”

  “Could one of them have fallen?” Joanna asked as the ducked under the scrubby bushes that would bring them into sight of the Caulfield family.

  “No. There is nowhere to fall around here. It’s why we hike over this area, it’s safe.” At least it was usually safe. But if Luke had sensed something…

  “What’s that?” Winnie’s high voice, filled with awe, asked the question they were all thinking.

  “Is it a snow leopard?” Joanna asked, leaning around Marcus who had tried to block their view.

  “It’s nothing.” Chuck strode toward them, his arms outstretched as Kylie and the boys crowded around what was most definitely a snow leopard.

  “It’s okay, Chuck,” Marcus told him gently. He approached with his arms outstretched as if he was trying to quieten a frightened animal. Although Chuck wasn’t so much frightened, more like protective.

  He’s protecting his cub, Marcus’s bear told him.

  Of course, he was. Which mean that Tabitha was a shifter. A snow leopard shifter.

  The secret he was trying to share with Joanna had just been unleashed on the mountain in the form of Tabitha.

  “We can handle it,” Chuck told Marcus.

  “I can help,” Marcus told him gently.

  “I don’t think you can.” Kylie approached them while Stu and Jude hung back, with what he guessed was their sister after her first shift.

  “Tabitha is stuck, right?” His question caused a quick exchange of worried glances between Kylie and Chuck. “I can help. I helped Luke and Sage when they first shifted.”

  “Shifted. Is that what it’s called?” Kylie asked, looking over her shoulder toward her children.

  “Yes, it is.” Marcus wanted to reassure them it was all perfectly normal, but he knew it was not going to be easy for them to accept this as anything close to normal.

  “I don’t understand what’s happening,” Joanna asked from behind him. “What is a shifter?”

  Marcus turned around and took two paces toward where Joanna was standing with her children behind her. “A shifter is a person who can change from a human to an animal.”

  Joanna gave a short laugh. “A what?”

  “A human to an animal,” Marcus repeated.

  “Like a bear or a wolf?” Winnie asked behind her mom.

  “Or a snow leopard?” Reece added.

  “Yes.” Marcus nodded at the children before he fixed his gaze on Joanna. “It’s an inborn ability.”

  “And you have it?” his mate asked.

  “I do,” he confirmed.

  “And so does your family?” Joanna asked, looking over his shoulder as Luke, Sage, and Patrick approached from behind Stu and Jude.

  “Yes.” He closed his eyes briefly, scared she would freak out. This was not how he’d pictured the moment of his big reveal would look like. He’d imagined it would be more intimate, not an announcement made in front of so many people.

  “And Tabitha?” Chuck asked, half turning toward his daughter who was sitting down on the ground looking morose.

  “One of her parents must have been a snow leopard shifter,” Marcus explained. “I don’t know if Tabitha knew that.”

  “Why has this never happened before?” Kylie asked as she wandered back toward her children.

  “A child doesn’t shift until around puberty. If Tabitha lived with her parents, they would have been aware of it and watched for the signs. They would also have taught her how to cope when the first shift takes over. Unfortunately, it can take you by surprise.”

  “Tell us about it,” Chuck agreed ironically.

  “So you can help Tabitha shift back to her human form?” Stu asked.

  “I can, yes. I just need to talk her through it.” Marcus ducked around the protective Chuck and hunkered down next to the young snow leopard, who cowered behind Stu’s legs.

  “She’s scared,” Jude told him.

  “I know. It is scary the first couple of times you shift.” Marcus reached out his hand to Tabitha but didn’t touch her. The connection was up to Tabitha to make. He didn’t want to force her into being petted, she wasn’t a domesticated animal, she was a wildcat who was capable of tearing his flesh if she chose to.

  “Don’t worry,” Luke said as he approached with Sage and Patrick. “Marcus is good at this. He taught me and Sage.”

  Stu nodded, looking serious as he watched Tabitha stretch her neck just enough to touch her nose to Marcus’s fingertips. He held his palm flat and she rubbed her head on it, before she shuffled forward, her big eyes wide with fear.

  “It’s okay, little one,” Marcus crooned. “You just nee
d to get the hang of shifting back and forth.”

  “How does she do that?” Jude asked.

  “First, you have to relax a little.” He titled his head and watched Tabitha’s long tail as it twitched angrily. “Then you have to imagine yourself. The human you.”

  “And then what?” Chuck asked, his face contorted in concentration as he listened to Marcus’s instructions.

  “When you have that picture of yourself in your head, then you have to let go of your body and step into the image.” Marcus’s instructions sounded simple enough, but it was scary to let go of who you were and imagine yourself as something else. The moment when you slipped out of this reality and into the unknown was scary at first, it was as if you were letting go of your very existence.

  The small snow leopard shifted her weight and her eyes crossed a little as if she was trying to concentrate really hard. Too hard. Her tail twitched as she failed to change back into a human.

  “Just relax,” Sage told Tabitha gently as she sat down in the dry dirt. “It’s okay, we’re all here for you.”

  The snow leopard looked around her, staring at the faces watching her. Then she looked down at the ground, her body drooping. A crackle and fizzing filled the air, and for a moment Tabitha slipped out of focus. Almost immediately the air stilled, and the outline of the snow leopard came back into focus.

  “Nearly there,” Marcus encouraged. “Don’t be scared, you will come back, we’ll all be here waiting for you, Tabitha.”

  “We are not going anywhere.” Kylie knelt before her daughter and reached out a tentative hand. Tabitha rubbed her soft fur on her mom’s hand, and tears welled in Kylie’s eyes. “You are so beautiful.” She leaned forward and kissed her daughter on the head. “I know you can do this.”

  With renewed concentration, Tabitha tried once more to shift back into her human form. This time the air shimmered around the snow leopard and the cracking and popping were louder. Kylie gasped and reached out for her daughter as she slipped away into nothingness.

  “She’s gone,” Stu said, reaching out to the place in space and time where his sister had been sitting only moments earlier. Then he jumped backward as a small, shadowy shape appeared. Slowly the air cleared, and the image of a frightened girl stood before them.

  “You did it!” Kylie pulled Tabitha into her arms and hugged her close.

  “I don’t know what happened.” Tabitha sobbed as she clung to her mom.

  “You were awesome, you came around that rock and when you saw us you turned into a snow leopard!” Jude told his sister excitedly.

  “I was scared I was in trouble,” Tabitha admitted.

  “Which is why your snow leopard appeared,” Luke said. “A first shift often happens like that. It’s like instinct takes over.”

  “So it will happen again?” Tabitha asked. “I’ll…shift…again?”

  “Yes.” Sage stroked Tabitha’s back soothingly. “It’s nothing to be frightened of, you just need to learn to control it.”

  “I’m a freak.” Tabitha buried her face in Kylie’s shoulder.

  “No, you are not.” Kylie pulled back from Tabitha and brushed her daughter’s hair away from her damp face. “What you are is special. Just like everyone is special in their own way. Never forget that.”

  “I think you’re awesome,” Winnie admitted. “I’d love to be able to shift into an animal.”

  “Me, too,” Reece admitted.

  Tabitha gave a faint smile and wiped her tears. “I’m sorry I came up here alone. I thought I’d be back before you all missed me.”

  “We missed you as soon as we woke up,” Chuck told her. “You’re our daughter, one of the family, we were worried.”

  Tabitha hung her head. “Sorry. I didn’t want you to think I was careless with the locket you gave me. I never noticed it was missing until last night. I thought it must have fallen off when I showed it to Reece, but it wasn’t on the ridge, so I had to backtrack until I found it.”

  “You found it in all this undergrowth?” Kylie asked, impressed by her daughter’s actions.

  “It was weird, when I couldn’t find it I thought about what it looked like and then I could…smell it.” She gave a wry smile.

  “Enhanced senses,” Joanna murmured.

  “It’s a shifter thing,” Marcus admitted as he turned his attention on his mate.

  “Is there anything else we need to know?” Chuck asked the other shifters.

  “We mate for life,” Patrick told them, taking the hand of his pregnant wife and pulling her close.

  “We have one true mate, our true love if you want to call it that. When we find them they become the most important thing in our lives.” Sage looked up at Patrick adoringly. “It’s a very special bond.”

  “Unbreakable.” Marcus gave Joanna a lopsided smile, hoping she would read the truth in it.

  “The person who is a mate to a shifter is a lucky man or woman.” Kylie’s words were aimed at Joanna, who blushed, the color spreading across her cheeks only heightening her beauty in Marcus’s eyes.

  “Very lucky.” Joanna ran a hand through her hair. “I think we should all go and get something to eat and drink. We’re all exhausted.”

  “We should,” Sage agreed, rubbing her hand over her swollen belly.

  “One more thing,” Chuck began. “Is this whole shifter thing a secret?”

  “Sort of,” Patrick replied.

  “So what do we do?” He put his arm protectively around Tabitha’s shoulders.

  “We have a contact with local social services who can help you. She’s an expert at this. Karen Sayer also knows about shifters. And we’re always here to help.” Marcus placed his hand reassuringly on Chuck’s shoulder. “You aren’t alone in this.”

  “We are all here for you,” Sage confirmed. “Every step of the way.”

  Joanna stepped forward and hugged Kylie. “This is all new to us, too, but we’re here for you.”

  “Thanks, all of you,” Chuck said as Kylie sobbed with relief. “When we saw Tabitha shift, we thought if you saw her you would try to take her away. You know we’ve all seen those movies.”

  “You wanted to protect her. That’s understandable.” Marcus watched his mate as she comforted Kylie. Could it be possible that this crisis with Tabitha had enabled his secret to be revealed in such a way that Joanna saw how normal it was? Okay, not exactly normal, but in supporting and protecting Tabitha and her family, Joanna was willing to accept this twist of fate.

  “Are there many shifters around here?” Winnie asked from behind him.

  Marcus turned around and then walked toward her. “In Bear Creek and the surrounding areas, yes.”

  “But not all over?” Jude asked.

  “Not so much in the larger towns and cities.” Marcus thought for a moment. “I guess it’s because shifters like to live where they can roam free. Like on the mountain here.”

  “Perhaps our family might need to relocate here,” Chuck mused as he watched his daughter. “If Tabitha needs the open skies above her head and the dirt beneath her paws, then this is where we should live.”

  “You would do that for me?” Tabitha asked in shock.

  “Sure we would, pussycat,” Stu answered.

  “We’re one big family,” Jude reminded her. “It’s only the same as if Stu needed to attend a certain school, or I needed to have medical treatment. We would move. Chuck and Kylie told us that when we moved in with them. We’re a family unit.” Jude sounded so grown up as he shared his wisdom with Tabitha that Kylie was taken over by a fresh wave of tears.

  “We would love to have you guys as a new addition to the neighborhood,” Sage told them. “It’s a great place to live. And one day if you are really lucky, you might just look up and see a dragon flying over the mountain.”

  “There is no such thing as dragons,” Reece rolled her eyes.

  “You thought there were no such things as shifters until we saw Tabitha,” Winnie told her brother. She was so re
ady to believe that it made his heart swell with love. How amazing would it be to share Christmas with children who believed in Santa?

  “We need to get back,” Patrick reminded them. “Nana and George can only hold things together for so long.”

  “Yes, let’s go back,” Tabitha looked relaxed and confident as she led the way. “I’m starving, do you think there will be something left over from breakfast?”

  “I’m sure there will be and if not, I’ll rustle something up for you,” Sage said as they all followed the young shifter back down the mountain.

  The day had gotten off to a surprising start, and as they wandered back down toward Chance Heights, Marcus could only hope it would end happily.

  Chapter Thirteen – Joanna

  People could turn into animals.

  That was going to take a while to get her head around. Although, Reece and Winnie appeared to be excited about the discovery, so that was something.

  People could turn into animals.

  Nope, even with her kids being so accepting, it was still a weird concept she needed time to get used to.

  “Are you okay?” Marcus asked.

  They were sitting down for their evening meal after a day of activities. Activities that included learning that people could turn into animals.

  Joanna shook her head almost imperceptibly. “I just… It’s not something I ever expected to see. Or even hear about.”

  “It’s freaked you out.” Marcus pushed his food around his plate, his expression unreadable.

  “Freaked is too strong a word.” Joanna took a sip of ice cool water that reminded her of the mountain stream and the way Marcus’s lips had felt on hers.

  “Is it something you could get used to?” he asked quietly. “Given time?”

  Joanna’s gaze flicked up and lingered on Tabitha and her family. They had accepted their daughter and her quirky gift without question. So why couldn’t she accept Marcus?

  “Is the part about a mate for life true?” Joanna didn’t dare meet his eyes, she was scared of his answer.

  “Yes. It’s true. Shifters can wait their whole life to meet their one true mate. Some never do. There are no guarantees where fate is concerned.” He forked his food into his mouth and allowed her time to process his reply.