except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, 2015
Pincushion Press
http://pincushionpress.tumblr.com/
Chapters
One ~ Alana
Two ~ Jake
Three ~ Alana
Four ~ Jake
Five ~ Alana
Six ~ Jake
Seven ~ Alana
Eight ~ Jake
Nine ~ Alana
Ten ~ Jake
Eleven ~ Alana
Twelve ~ Jake
Nine Months Later
For My Bear
A solitary owl stood sentinel over the dark woods of the Black Hills National Forest.
Her wide eyes blinked. Once. Twice.
She twisted her head to the side, listening.
Then she spread her wings and was gone.
Something large was moving through the underbrush, making all other animals flee from it's path.
In the moonlight it stood on it's hind legs, taking the shape of a man.
One ~ Alana
It had been less than a week since the night I walked in on Jordan. I was supposed to be working but a fire in the restaurant had closed the bar early for the night.
I'm not just a bartender. I'm an artiste, a true mixologist. My drinks create emotions. Some might even say I'm a witch with magical powers, creating moods and magic with my cocktails.
I like to bake as well, but generally I'm the only one who eats it. Jordan has always been obsessed with his body and physical fitness. He's a trainer. That's just one of the reasons I should have seen this coming.
Of course, I was surprised as fuck when I walked into our one bedroom apartment in Queens to see him screwing one of the tall, leggy blonds from his gym.
It only made it worse than she was thin.
He'd always claimed to like my curves, to encourage me to eat. He never tried to make me work out with him. In retrospect, I think he just liked the security of having a chubby girl at home.
Plus he probably liked the variety.
Suddenly it had all made sense. The way the house was a mess most nights when I came home from my shift. The way he never touched me on those nights, even though he usually woke me up for sex at least once a night. The way things just hadn't seen right.
The worst part?
They didn't even stop when they saw me. They were too far gone. Too close to cumming.
I stood in shock as they finished. Then I packed as he begged me not too. The blond got pissed off when she heard him say he loved me.
She left in a huff.
I was right behind her.
I couldn't take all my books and stuff. I'd deal with that later. I grabbed my supplies and enough clothes and shoved it all into a couple of boxes and a duffle bag.
The other thing I left behind was my one carat diamond engagement ring.
I left that in the toilet, where it belonged.
<3<3<3<3<3
Two ~ Jake
I groaned and flexed my shoulder. I'd been out all night, prowling. Images flickered through my mind. Images of the forest, the sky, the full moon.
I could see other animals, their eyes full of fear as they ran from me.
As well they should.
Because I was a monster.
And since the death of my Grandfather two years before, I was the last of my kind.
The last Bear.
I run my hands over my face. Stubble, not fur. It always takes some time. This coming back to myself.
Becoming human again.
I stumble into the bathroom, feeling hungover. I stare into my warm brown eyes in the mirror. The eyes belong to a man. What's behind them however, does not.
I slip into the shower and let the warm water sluice over my sore muscles. It always takes it out of me. The change is taxing and exhausting, as much as it is a release. Thankfully I've gotten experienced enough that I know when it is coming and I can make arrangements in advance.
To check the area for hikers before hand.
I don't want to accidentally kill anyone after all.
It's always a relief to wake up without blood on my face or hands. The wild animals of the Park deserve better than to be torn piece by piece just to feed the beast that lives inside me.
Quickly I shave and wash my hair, clean beneath my nails. There's always dirt there. Loamy and dark from the forest floor.
I do five hundred pushups before getting dressed. By the time I'm finished, my skin has dried. It amuses me to do this. To save the towel. Plus my skin is so hot, I like the feeling of the cool water droplets on me.
Waiting to evaporate.
I slip into my uniform and grab my hat and keys from the hooks near the front door.
It's time for work.
As a ranger, my work is solitary. I like it that way. Less people to interact with. Less folks to ask questions. Less people to notice that I haven't aged in twenty years.
Or fifty.
Or a hundred.
Sometimes it's hard to be alone.
Sometimes I want more.
<3<3<3<3<3
Three ~ Alana
The cabin had been in our family for years. Of course it was neglected now, but my mother hadn't raised a sissy. I knew how to do things, and do them well.
Nobody knows I'm here and nobody would care anyway. I'm an orphan more or less. I have a sister in California and a niece or nephew on the way. But now without a fiancé, I am truly alone.
For the moment, it's exactly how I want it.
The door creaks open spookily after I turn the key in the rusty old lock. Inside it's dusty but intact. Nothing has broken in and the roof hasn't leaked.
Out here in the middle of nowhere, it's more likely to be an animal that gets inside, than vandals. The cabin was built over two hundred years ago, before the area became a National Park. My little cabin and the acre surrounding it was grandfathered in. Nobody else could build out here if they wanted to.
Not that anybody would want to.
I tossed the keys of my new, junky car onto the table, sending up a plume of dust. First things first, I needed to clean up and then see about stocking the place. It was fall and I needed to be prepared to get snowed in.
Just in case.
You never knew what the weather would be like out here. The was running water but the electricity was run off a generator in a shed fifty feet behind the cabin. I wasn't even sure it still worked.
I hadn't been here since after my parents died six years ago. I'd just started college when I got the call. It was devastating. They'd been good parents, more or less. I loved them.
Thank goodness they'd left me this place. My sister had no interest in it at all, signing full ownership over in exchange for my dad's old muscle car. We'd sold the house and split everything else down the middle.
But the cabin had always called me.
I was lucky as hell that the place was still standing at all. It could easily have been swallowed up by the forest. Or claimed by a pack of raccoons.
But it wasn't. And now it was home for as long as I needed it to be. At least until I wanted to interact with human beings again.
That could be a very, very long time.
I opened up the windows and got to work.
<3<3<3<3<3
Four ~ Jake
I took my route on foot most days, easily running it in less than four hours. Most rangers took an off road vehicle and stuck to the paths.
But I had my own routes. I was special.
Of course, I didn't want anyone else to know just how special I was.
Still, I made sure to show up after eight hours looking tired.
Not that I usually was. My body was far stronger and bigger than the average human.
But not the average Bear.
I ran through the familiar woods, my watchful eyes looking for hikers and animals that might need help. Trees about to fall. Signs of vandalism.
The little cabin was coming up on the right. I stopped in my tracks, staring at the unfamiliar sight of a car parked out front.
There was smoke coming from the chimney as well.
Someone was here.
I had to shake myself a little. My first instinct had been to charge in and attack. Less than twelve hours ago I had been a wild beast so it was understandable.
Plus I'd always been a bit attached to the cabin.
I waited to calm down before approaching.
And then I smelled it.
Her scent.
A woman was inside. And not just any woman.
My woman.
The one I'd been waiting for all his life.
My grandfather had told me that's how it would be when I found her. That somehow I'd just know. Of course I had been skeptical. I was almost three hundred years old and I hadn't found my one true mate yet.
Why here? Why now?
But the scent was unmistakeable.
So was my physical reaction to it.
I was hard.
Really, really hard.
I didn't even decide to move. I was just there, on the covered porch, lifting my hand.
All in less than thirty seconds.
I knocked on the door.
A woman answered it. She was petite in height but the rest of her made up for that. Her breasts were more than a handful even for me. Her tiny waist and bountiful hips called out for a mans hands. And mouth. And... other things.
Her flaming red hair framed a face of almost indescribable prettiness. She was femininity to the billionth degree. Her wide green eyes blinked at him in surprise.
I pulled off his hat and smiled, trying not to look like I wanted to eat her up.
Which, of course, I did.
"Hello Ma'am."
<3<3<3<3<3
Five ~ Alana
I stared up at the big, remarkable looking man standing in front of me. His brown eyes crinkled into a friendly smile. But the reaction I was having to him was far from friendly.