Preface
A rumble shook the earth, sending small creatures scurrying through the underbrush. The forest was quiet in the dark before dawn. But then the rumble came again.
A hawk took flight, the only one to see the twelve foot creature standing on it's hind legs.
It dropped to all fours again and was gone.
<3<3<3<3<3
One ~ Cassie
I hoisted the unfamiliar weight of the backpack over my shoulders. Calling it a backpack was laughable though. The huge thing strapped to my back had about as much in common with a regular backpack as a two speed had in common with a tank.
Packed tightly inside this behemoth was a portable water filtration system, two weeks worth of dried meal packs, a thermal sleeping bag, a boat alarm (to scare away wild animals or signal for help), biodegradable toilet paper, biodegradable soap, a flare gun and god knows what else.
Add all that to the weight of my camera equipment and laptop, along with a solar charger, and it was one heavy load.
But according to the guidebooks, it was 100% necessary when camping alone in Yellowstone Park. In fact, being there at all, as a woman was unadvised. But this was a job and the chance of a lifetime, so there was no way I was letting a little, tiny, fear of being hacked to bits by a serial killer or torn to bit by a wild animal deter me.
Basically most of my fears had to do with winding up in bits.
But I was prepared (as I kept reminding myself over and over again)! I also had stuffed into the bottom of my pack a bottle of wolf piss to spritz around the campsite. That was supposed to deter most wild animals. Of course if any of it spilled on anything I owned, it would also deter everyone else.
Including men.
Especially men.
Not that I was beating them off with a stick as it was.
It had been a while since I had a decent date, let alone a decent boyfriend. I'd moved to New York where pretty but chubby girls were not the rage. When I walked into a room there, I barely even caused a ripple.
I was no fool. I knew what was happening when all the skinny girls at the ad agency befriended me. I became everyone's favorite, ‘non threatening in terms of competition for guys' best friend slash art director. Being funny, smart, talented and nice (minus the occasional snark) only added to my appeal.
I was happy there.
Well, happy-ish.
But when the chance to go out on my own came up, I leapt at it.
Photography hadn't been my major in art school but it was always my not-so-secret passion. I'd spent more time in the lab than at the bars with my friends. Or studying. Or even swimming in the University's Olympic sized lap pool. I really really loved to swim. But time in the lab or out with my camera trumped everything.
Basically I was a loner.
So becoming a field photographer for National Geographic was basically the dream job of a life time. It was beyond my wildest expectations. Still I took the chance and applied, even though my portfolio was mostly non professional work.
And then I forgot about it. Months went by. I went on a few dates. Always set ups. And always ending with a polite kiss on the cheek. New York can grind you down to a place where just existing is enough. And without any romance to break up the monotony, you start to forget there even could be more.
So you settle. You tell yourself it's enough. It has to be.
But it wasn't really. Deep down, I knew that.
So when the offer came, I jumped with both hands.
Wait, that's not right.
It's grabbing with both hands and jumping with both feet. I'm always mixing my metaphors. Regardless, I took the job.
And now here I was.
Scared out of my mind but invigorated.
Ready.
I grabbed onto my shoulder straps and started up the trail the park ranger had suggested for the best 'bear watching'. I was headed to the most remote area of the park, though it would take me a full day of hiking to reach it.
Of course the ranger had also begged me to reconsider going out there alone.
But what was I supposed to do? Wait until I had a big burly boyfriend before I got the shot? And go back to living in my cubicle? The tiny apartment, the tiny office space, it had started to make me feel like a damn hamster.
So fuck it.
I could be waiting forever. And that just wasn't my style. I was more of a 'barreling toward earth without a parachute' kind of gal.
Here goes nothing.
<3<3<3<3<3
Two ~ Max
I stood on the front porch of my cabin. Calling it a cabin was a bit of a stretch of course. It was a mansion. A rustic mansion but a mansion all the same.
With raw timber and stone forming high arches, it was an incredible example of the sort of craftsmanship that hadn't been seen in well over three hundred years. Even for it's time, it was remarkable. The wood was hand planed, carved and joisted. The stone, hewn one chip at a time. The hand blown glass thick and softly wavy.
It had been my home for almost three hundred years and I loved it.
But today it felt like a prison.
Today, I could feel the change coming.
Deliberately isolated, the house and proximity to Yellow Stone was all there to keep other safe.
From me.
For all my culture, ideals and learning, I had no doubt of what I was.
What I am.
A monster.
A well read monster with good intentions, and better manners, yes. But that did little to change the horrifying beast that I turned into when the moon was full. The beast who owned me. Who I had no control over. Nor had my father, or his father before him for thousands of years.
Maybe even a millennium.
Our people were known as Bears. Regal, imperious, undefeated in the Shifter Kingdom.
There were less of us now. The modern age had made it harder to hide. Harder to find a mate.
My stomach clenched. To have someone to share this with- my wealth, the magic that kept us and our mates alive for so long, the horror of waking up with blood on my hands. Yes, even sharing that would be a welcome relief.
If I could find someone who could love both man and beast...
I snorted. It was unlikely. Maybe in my father's day. He'd found an unsophisticated farm girl to love. My mother had grown up with myths and superstitions. Over time, her fierce intelligence had developed but in that first blush of love- she'd been less surprised by the truth than a modern woman would be.
You see, back then they knew the monsters were real.
How funny to think that a girl who'd travelled less than ten miles in the first twenty years of her life would know more than a PhD...
<3<3<3<3<3
Three ~ Cassie
I woke up suddenly, reaching instinctively for my lantern. It would make it obvious where I was but it was better than staring fruitlessly into the darkness. That's what I told myself anyway.
Something had woken me. But what?
I tensed, hearing a loud rumbling.
Something big was moving just outside my camp.
I'd set up my tent in a clearing far from the path. Truthfully, I'd been more concerned about human predators than animals ones. But the noises that were coming from the bushes rapidly me convinced I had been wrong. I should have been focused on the wild life after all.
I was pretty sure I was about to encounter something big. Not human. Probably a meat eater.
It had to be a bear.
A very, very, very big bear.
And if it saw me, it very well might eat me.
Slowly.
I unzipped my tent and stared around frantically. There was a tree not far from my tent. Maybe I could climb it?
But bears could climb too.
Couldn't they?
The noises got louder.
Hell with it.
I darted barefoot across the clearing for the tree. I could hear the animal getting closer. It sounded like ten animals.
Elephants maybe.
The rough bark of the tree scraped my skin as I climbed up it. I was moving fast. Faster than a big girl could usually move.
If only Suzy could see me now. Suzy was a perky blond that I'd blown my Christmas bonus on. She was the personal trainer I'd hired back in New York to whip me into shape. She'd been tougher than a damn drill sergeant.
I was on the verge of hysterical laughter as I heard her voice in my head.
"Again! Squeeze those buns or no one else will want to!"
I did laugh then, out of relief. I'd finally found a branch that was big enough to perch on. I looked down, realizing I was ten feet off the ground.
Camping was not for the faint of heart.
Or the faint of bladder.
Right now I was about to pee myself.
But I was also pretty damn proud of myself for getting up this high. Who knew I could climb so damn fast? Or so high?
A better question might be, how the hell was I going to get back down again?
And then all thoughts left my mind.
Something was in the clearing.
A very, very big something. I couldn't see it clearly but something about it was strange. Off somehow.
Wrong.
It leaned over my tent for a while making snuffling noises. I leaned forward slightly, curiosity getting the better of me. What was it doing?
Oh my god.
It was sniffing the fabric of the tent.
And... licking it.
After a while it seemed to get inpatient and started batting at the top of the tent with its paw. With a loud roar it tore the top of the tent open and dove inside. My eyes were adjusting to the dark so I saw it when it stood up, cradling my sleeping bag like a baby.