Gray Back Ghost Bear(10)

Furious, Jason shrank back into his human skin with a grunt at the blinding pain. Blood poured from his neck and arm. Pit pat, pit pat across the leaves, staining the ground crimson.

“Change back!” Creed roared as Matt shoved off Easton’s limp body.

Easton’s Change was immediate, and painful looking. The forced ones always were.

“Fuck, man!” Jason yelled. “I was asking you for help. That’s all.” He stood and swayed as warmth streamed down his chest. “I wasn’t challenging you!”

Easton scrambled up, clawed and bloody. “We aren’t friends.”

“Yes, we are!”

Easton’s hard eyes faltered, then looked uncertain as he glanced from face to face. He dragged his fiery green eyes back to Jason, shook his head, and said softly, “We aren’t.”

Jason jacked up his eyebrows and leveled him with an honest look. “We are. I was just asking for help. I didn’t mean to put you on her radar. I was just trying to figure out a way to get her to leave me alone.”

Anger rippled across Easton’s face as he looked at something over Jason’s shoulder. When Jason turned, Tessa was there, wiggling her fingers at Easton with an empty smile.

With a growl, Easton turned and disappeared into the woods.

“Let him go,” Creed said when the red bear moved to follow. “He’ll be no use on the landing today.” Creed sighed heavily and looked troubled as he swung his attention to Jason. “I think it’s time you tell me what’s really going on.”





Chapter Five




Georgia was looking forward to the meeting with Damon Daye and his daughter, Diem. This was the first job she’d ever taken where she didn’t work with a partner, and it sure did get lonely out here by herself. She was independent by nature, but at night especially, she wished she had someone to talk to about her day.

Moving around so much made it hard to keep friends, so she’d quickly learned not to get too attached to anyone. But even if she was only giving Damon the breakdown of what she’d found this week, at least she was talking out loud to another person and not to herself.

The ranger tower was actually a treehouse Damon had contracted one of the bear shifters who lived around here to build. It was high in the canopy on the side of a mountain where she could see for miles in front of her. It was a simple setup with a ladder that led to a small porch. Inside was a one room station with a desk that housed the phone and maps of the area. And against one wall was a sturdy cot where she slept at night. Cooking was done over the fire down below, and there was no plumbing, but every few days, a drum of fresh water showed up at the base of her tree, delivered while she was out and about in the woods. She even had her very own outhouse. She didn’t mind rustic living and had forgone conveniences over the years. Her mom hadn’t understood her fascination with keeping peace and property management, but Georgia felt at home in the woods. Her soul was happiest away from the masses. She’d stopped trying to figure out what that said about her long ago. Still, the loneliness did creep in, and lately, it felt like there’d been a cloud hanging over her head when she was usually bright and chipper. She couldn’t understand it. She would always love the challenge of outdoor living and depending only on herself, but in recent days, all she could think about was how nice it would be to talk to Jason again. Bear shifters seemed marginally less scary when she wasn’t near them.

With a steadying breath, Georgia studied herself in the mirror. Freckles, blue eyes with gold middles, and curly hair, all gifts from her father. Gifts she hated. Genetic presents that reminded her every day that she was the daughter of a broken man. She ripped her eyes away from her reflection and wished she could hold her own gaze better. If she were tougher, she could get over everything that had tainted her life in Big Canoe. She could call her mother and not feel like she’d let her down. She could visit her dad in prison and tell him she forgave him. Not for him, but for the health of her own soul. Instead, she told herself she was strong, over and over, in hopes that someday it would be true.

She hurried to put on eyeliner and lip gloss, then fluffed her long curls. She’d worn them down today. After she visited Damon and Diem, she was going to find her bravery and visit the Gray Back Crew. In the week since Jason’s kiss, she’d met the Boarlanders and Ashe Crew. They’d all been kind and easy to talk to. She’d only managed to embarrass herself in front of the Gray Backs—the crew that felt the most important for some reason she couldn’t discern.

Georgia locked up the station and climbed down the ladder. Onto the passenger seat, she tossed her satchel with all of the notes she’d taken over the past week tucked safely inside. The engine to her trusty Jeep roared to life, and she puffed steam in front of her face as her warm breath collided with the cold November air. The first snow would fall soon, and she would need to track down a more permanent residence than the station. It wasn’t built to live in, after all.