Grizzly Flying High (Air Bear Shifters 1) (7 page)

Sawyer took several deep, calming breaths as he quickly left Amanda behind him. He had to focus on his clan right now, and trust that if destiny really did want Amanda to be his, that destiny would find a way to bring her to him.

Amanda watched Sawyer walking away, and shook her head in confusion. What was this guy’s deal? He had seemed happy to see her again, even though he had obviously pissed her off earlier that day at the diner. But he had quickly shut down after she told him about the grizzly, and he had taken off without even commenting on the situation, other than asking her if the bear had seen her.

Had he had a bad experience with a grizzly at some point? That was the only reason Amanda could think of for the way he had acted. One moment he had been making fun of her for acting like a tourist, and the next he had been backing away like she had just held a gun to his head or something.

What a weirdo.

And, yet, Amanda couldn’t get her mind off of that weirdo. As she walked back to her hotel room, making mental plans to prepare for the hike she had signed up to take the next day, his face insisted on constantly popping up into her mind. She tried her best to push it away as she began packing her backpack of supplies and double-checking her gear to make sure she had everything. But she barely succeeded in making it more than a few minutes at a time without thinking about him.

When she finally lay down to get some rest for the night, thoughts of him flooded her without stopping. She tossed and turned, and finally let the tears of frustration and anger fall. What was she doing? She was supposed to be finding herself, but nothing really spoke to her at this moment other than the idea of Sawyer and her together. It didn’t make sense, did it? He lived in Alaska, and had no plans to leave as far as she knew. She loved this state, but was she prepared to move here if things with Sawyer really were meant to be?

As soon as Amanda asked herself the question, she knew the answer. Deep down, she really wanted to live somewhere like Alaska. She wanted to be surrounded by nature and the tranquility of a life removed from the rat race atmosphere so present in big cities. And, more than that, she wanted to be with someone like Sawyer. Someone funny, interesting, and unbelievably gorgeous. And someone who obviously cared about her deeply, despite how much of an asshole he could be about showing it.

Amanda hopped out of bed and began packing all of her stuff, not just the stuff she would need to go on a hike. She wasn’t going to do the group hike tomorrow. Instead, she was going to check out of her hotel and find a way to get to Frost Peak. She didn’t know if Sawyer would be back yet when she got there, but he would be back eventually. That’s where he lived. She didn’t know anything about Frost Peak except that it was one of the smaller towns around. But she would find a way to fly there and then get a hotel room. Beyond that, her plan involved finding Sawyer and telling him that she had changed her mind. Again.

He couldn’t be mad at her for randomly showing up and declaring she had feelings for him. Not after the way he had acted at the diner this morning, and out near the water this evening.

Maybe, just maybe, they could finally get their feelings in sync and make something of this awkward dance they were doing.

* * *

Amanda soon discovered that getting to Frost Peak wasn’t as simple as she had thought it would be. Despite the fact that she had a credit card that she was very willing to hand over, most of the pilots she found balked at the idea of dropping her off in Frost Peak.

“What are you going to do there?” one of them asked. “Take a tour with Frost Peak Tours? I thought they were all booked out right now?”

“I just want to see the town,” Amanda had replied with a shrug, not understanding why it was such a big deal.

“Do you have a place to stay?” the pilot had asked.

Amanda had shrugged again. “No, I figured I’d just drop into a random hotel when I got there. There’s got to be something around.”

The pilot had frowned, and looked at Amanda as though she came from another planet. “Look,” he said. “I’m not sure who put the idea in your head that Frost Peak is a cool place to visit, but it’s not. They have one of the best tour companies in the area, so it’s a great starting off point for a lot of amazing tours. But no one just goes and
stays
in Frost Peak. I don’t even know if they have a hotel there. The people in that town are a weird bunch. Nice and all, but weird. I’d trust my life with any of their pilots, but I sure as hell wouldn’t want to go to Frost Peak itself for vacation. I hardly ever even drop people off for tours there. Usually, one of their guys comes in to Kodiak to pick up their guests.”

Amanda had been unfazed. “Look, I don’t care if they’re weird. I really want to go there.”

Finally, the pilot had agreed. “Alright, fine. I’ll take you, because I’m not one to turn down easy money. But don’t say I didn’t warn you. And it’ll have to be tomorrow. I’m already booked out with an air tour today.”

Amanda hadn’t been happy about waiting another day, but she hadn’t had much of a choice. The thought had crossed her mind that she should try to track Sawyer down in Kodiak instead of going through all of the trouble to get a flight to Frost Peak, but she had no idea where to start looking. She didn’t have a number for him, and she had no idea which hotel he might be staying at. For all she knew, he might have already flown back to Frost Peak, anyway. Reluctantly, Amanda spent one more day in Kodiak. At least she had found a pilot willing to fly her to Sawyer’s town.

The next afternoon, as the small plane Amanda was riding in neared Frost Peak, the pilot tried to make contact with anyone who might be in charge of air traffic control for the small Frost Peak airport. The “airport” basically consisted of a runway and an airplane hangar, and, no matter how many times the pilot tried to make contact, no one replied. He finally decided to just land, his face set in a tight line.

After he touched down and taxied off the runway, he turned to Amanda.

“The place looks deserted,” he said. “Are you sure you want to stay here? I don’t feel right about leaving you alone in the middle of nowhere.”

Amanda sighed. “I’m not alone. It’ll be fine. I actually know a guy here. Sawyer Williams. He’s expecting me, so I’m sure he’ll be by the airport soon,” she lied. She did know Sawyer, but he wasn’t expecting her. In fact, Amanda had a feeling he was going to be beyond shocked to see her.

“You know Sawyer?” the pilot asked, his face visibly relaxing. “Why didn’t you say so? That guy is legendary. Probably one of the best pilots in Alaska, and we have some damn good pilots here. He’s one of the more normal ones from Frost Peak, as far as I can tell.”

Amanda smiled and shrugged, not wanting to say anything to ruin the pilot’s sudden change in attitude. The pilot dropped her off and handed her the large backpack filled with her belongings.

“Do you want me to wait with you until Sawyer shows up?” the pilot offered.

“Naw, I’m sure he’ll be here any minute,” Amanda lied again. “I don’t want to hold you up.”

The pilot glanced around uncertainly, but nodded. “Alright,” he said. “Take care.”

Amanda watched him get back into the plane and head back to the runway. It was only after he had taken off and disappeared from view that she turned to head into the hangar.

Surely, someone must be in there, even if no one was manning air traffic control for the airstrip. There must be a receptionist or something like that in here. It was the height of tourist season, after all. She couldn’t imagine that an air tour company was completely deserted in the middle of the day.

But when Amanda stepped into the hangar, completely deserted was exactly what she found. There were two airplanes parked inside, and a small desk in one corner of the large building. But no one was here, as far as she could tell.

“Hello?” she called out. Her voice echoed off the walls of the nearly empty room, but no one replied. Amanda frowned, unsure of what to do. Maybe their main office was somewhere else. She left her heavy backpack next to the desk, and decided to just walk into town and ask whoever she came across whether they knew Sawyer and where he was.

Amanda started walking, passing rows of cabins that were completely quiet. The town seemed like a ghost town. No one stirred in the windows of the buildings, as far as she could see. There was no noise, and a stillness hung heavy in the air. For the first time since she landed, Amanda started to truly worry. Why wasn’t anyone here? Had everyone left town for some reason? She hadn’t planned on spending time alone in what was basically the middle of nowhere. Amanda frowned and quickened her step. Something weird was going on here. A heavy, almost unnatural tension hung in the air.

As Amanda rounded the corner to head down another deserted street, she suddenly heard a loud chorus of roars. She froze, and looked around in horrified desperation. She wasn’t sure what kind of creature made that kind of angry roar. A bear, perhaps? Whatever the creature, it sounded like there were a lot of them.

Images of the giant grizzly Amanda had seen flashed across her mind, and, without thinking about it, she ran to take shelter on the enclosed porch of one of the cabins. As she crouched behind the wooden railing and looked out at the empty street, she was suddenly startled by a small voice.

“You’re not a bear.”

Amanda jumped, nearly losing her balance completely at the unexpected sound. She looked over to find a little girl, who must have been barely older than five, sitting in a dark corner of the porch. The little girl’s eyes were large and dark brown, and they eyed Amanda suspiciously.

“No,” Amanda said, trying to keep her voice as gentle as possible. “I’m not a bear. I’m a person. My name is Amanda. What makes you say that? Did you see a bear?”

Amanda crouched lower, attempting to look as nonthreatening as possible. Perhaps this little girl could shed some light on where everyone in town had gone, and why it sounded like there was a circus full of bears not too far away. To Amanda’s surprise, the little girl rolled her eyes.

“Of
course
I saw a bear. Everyone here shifted to bear form for the fight. My daddy said Sawyer is going to whoop Simon’s ass, but I don’t want to watch,” the little girl said, then suddenly clamped her hand over her mouth. “Oh! I’m not supposed to say ‘ass.’ Please don’t tell Daddy.”

Amanda stifled a giggle at the girl’s serious, worried tone. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone. But what do you mean everyone shifted to bear form?”

The girl looked at Amanda as though she had just asked the stupidest question possible. “They all let their bears out. For the fight. It’s tradition. But I didn’t want to watch, so I pretended I was going to the fight with my aunt and hid under my bed instead until Daddy left. He won’t realize I missed it until the fight is over.”

Most of what the girl was saying didn’t make much sense to Amanda, but Amanda hadn’t missed the fact that the girl had mentioned Sawyer’s name.

“Do you know where Sawyer is?” Amanda asked, deciding to gloss over the weird stuff the girl was saying about people letting their bears out.

The girl gave Amanda the same look as before, her expression telling Amanda that she couldn’t believe how stupid the questions she was asking were. “Sawyer’s at the fight. Duh.”

“Where’s the fight?” Amanda asked. She had no idea what ‘the fight’ was about, but hopefully Sawyer was there like the little girl said, and Amanda would be able to find him.

The girl let out a long sigh, as though answering all of Amanda’s stupid questions was really wearing her out. “The fight is in the town center, like all the big events are. Don’t you hear everyone roaring?”

Amanda nodded, pausing for a second to listen to the loud roars. She wasn’t sure what this girl was talking about, with all the mentions of bears and fights. But she had to admit that it did sound like there were bears somewhere out there, and it definitely sounded like there was a fight happening. She had no idea if Sawyer was actually in the middle of whatever action was going on, but she had to go find out. She had no idea how she would help if he was being attacked by bears, but she at least had to try. She stood up to leave, turning to face the little girl one more time.

“What’s your name, sweetie? I forgot to ask you.”

“I’m Silver.”

Amanda smiled. She loved the unique names she had come across in Alaska. “Silver. That’s a pretty name. Are you okay here by yourself?”

Silver nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just please don’t tell my daddy I said ‘ass.’ I already got in trouble for it once today.”

“Don’t worry, Silver. I won’t say a word. I’m just going to go find Sawyer. I need to tell him something.”

Silver nodded, but didn’t say anything else as Amanda bounded down the porch steps and started walking in the direction of the roaring.

She hoped she wasn’t walking into a bear fight, like Silver seemed to think, but the ominous roaring filling the air sounded undeniably like a group of angry bears.

Amanda quickened her pace, her heart clenching in fear. Just keep moving, she told herself. Don’t think about what you might find in the town square.

And definitely don’t think about the fact that you’re worrying about Sawyer the way only a woman in love could worry.