The Island Of Bears: A BBW Paranormal Romance (3 page)

With his brows furrowed, Holden shook his head. “No. You weren’t attacked.”

“And you know this for sure because...?”

“Because I know exactly what happened to you. But I think it’s going to come as quite a shock, so maybe we should find a place to sit down first.”

“I don’t think so. I’m heading back to the museum right now. So if you want to tell me what you think happened to me, you’ve got about five seconds to do it.”

Holden drew his brows even closer together. “I don’t even know your name. And I feel like I should, before I deliver such serious news to you.”

Again, I hesitated in responding, unsure of just what exactly this guy’s game was. “My name is Haley Miller. And now please go ahead and tell me whatever it is you want to tell me before I head back to the museum.”

“You can’t go back to the museum.”

“Oh, yeah? You have plans to tackle me again?”

“If you have plans to take off running toward Black Lake again, then yes, and like last time, it will be to protect you. But the possibility of me tackling you again isn’t the reason you can’t go back to the museum.”

“Then, what is?”

Holden searched my face for a long moment before responding. “You can’t go back to this museum because you’re not on Ellis Island anymore. You’re on Black Lake Island now. You’re very, very far from home.”

“All right. I don’t know what the hell kind of game you’re playing, here, but it’s not funny. Not in the least. I want you to point me in the direction of the museum and then let me be on my way.”

“I can’t do that, because like I said, you’re not on Ellis Island anymore.”

“Right. I’m on... What did you say it was called again? ‘Black Lake Island?’”

“Yes. And it was very fortunate that I happened to be taking a hike through the jungle and saw you when I did, because you were heading straight toward Black Lake itself, and straight toward—”

“Danger. I know. You said.”

“This isn’t any kind of joke, Haley. There’s much about this island you don’t know, and that’s putting it very lightly. The lake is a dangerous place where creatures called the Gray Forms live. If you were to have gotten any closer to it—”

“Tell me, Holden, do you do a lot of drugs?”

Although his exceedingly healthy physique showed no outward signs of addiction, the things he was saying were giving me some strong suspicions. However, he didn’t even dignify my question with a response.

With a shaft of bright sunlight filtering through the treetops making his lightly tanned skin seem to glow, he ran his strong, long-fingered hands over his face, sighing, before looking at me again. “The best I can figure, you ‘fell’ through the fountain, which is a portal that I use to go from this island to Ellis Island, then from there on to the city, then back home through the fountain portal again.

I thought it was well-hidden enough that no one would ever discover it. And if they did, I didn’t think anyone would ever be curious enough to clear away the debris and try to make the water flow. And if anyone ever did
that
, I didn’t think they’d ever reach into the water. I should have known it’d happen eventually.” Sighing again, he paused. “No small wonder you were oblivious about the lake. This is a whole new world for you.”

I really didn’t know what to say. Suddenly, I was profoundly tired. I was so far beyond bewildered and confused that I’d almost circled back around to not being either of those things. Though honestly, not quite. But at any rate, the events of the day, from Gary, to apparently fainting or being knocked out, to everything that had happened with Holden and everything that was happening with him currently, had led me to feel absolutely bone-weary.

I didn’t know what to think anymore. Thinking was starting to feel like an exercise in futility, because no matter what I thought, nothing was making any sense. Anything making sense was beginning to feel impossible.

Falling into my bed at home was something I wanted so much to do.  My tiny little shoebox-sized apartment in Manhattan was now seeming like a dream, like a palace of respite. I just wanted to go there. I just wanted to get inside, lock the door, go to bed, and wake up with the world seeming normal. I’d never visit Ellis Island again, that was for certain.

Sighing, I looked at Holden. “I’m just done with all this. I’m just done. I’m confused, and I’m tired, and I just want to go home. I’m going back to the museum now; I know I’ll find it eventually. The island’s not that big. Please... I beg of you... Whatever your game is, just please don’t follow me. Just please leave me alone.”

With that, I turned from him and began ambling down the path in the same direction I’d been running. Immediately, I heard his voice behind me.

“Not so fast, you little freak.”

I whirled around, balling my fists. “Excuse me?”

Holden’s eyes twinkled, and when he spoke, his voice held a hint of amusement as well. “I
thought
that would perk you up a bit.”

“Go to hell.”

I turned and began walking down the sandy, stony, sun-dappled path again, but within seconds, Holden stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. “Look, Haley. I know you are probably scared and confused, and very, very understandably so. I’m sure you’re in a state of shock. But I can’t let you go. Like I said, I’m the chief in these parts, and I can’t let you just walk straight into danger on my watch.”

Fuming again, I shrugged his hand off my shoulder. “What you
are
is a liar. You’re just trying to scare me or trick me for whatever stupid reason I can’t even imagine. You’re not a chief; you’re just a liar.”

“Are you sure about that? Are you absolutely positive?”

I didn’t respond. For some reason, I couldn’t.

Holden continued in a low, quiet voice, his expression resembling one of sincerity and concern. “Are you
sure
that I’m just a liar? Or have you noticed things about this island that might indicate that what I’m saying is true. Have you noticed the tropical birds and all the palm trees in this jungle? I know they don’t have any parrots and palms on Ellis Island. Also, when I first saw you, I caught a glimpse of you trying to use your phone, but it didn’t seem like it was working. If you were still on Ellis Island, don’t you think it would be? Don’t you think you’d be getting at least
some
reception?”

I suddenly wanted to run from Holden again. I wanted to run from him until my legs gave out beneath me. But I knew by now that he’d catch me. So instead, I just glared.

“I think you’ve drugged me or something. You gave me some kind of crazy drug that’s altered my perception of reality. That’s why I’m hearing tropical birds and seeing palms. I’m probably high as a kite right now from whatever you gave me. Because everyone knows that people don’t just ‘fall’ into ‘portals’ and end up in completely different geographic locations. Obviously. But you wanted me to
think
this is what’s happened to me, which makes you a complete sicko. It makes you a person who should be locked up for life. And actually, I’ve changed my mind about pressing charges against you. Now I’m going to. I’m going to tell the police all about Holden Grant and how he drugged me and tried to make me believe all sorts of crazy things as some sort of a sick game.”

With his expression still radiating something that resembled genuine concern, which just baffled me further, Holden shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you walk away. I can’t leave you here. I have to take you back to my village with me, for your own safety.”

“Oh, right. Like you actually care about—”

“I do. And if I leave you alone out here tonight, you’ll die. You’ll be killed. And it’s only ten minutes or so from early evening right now, so we should be off. You can either walk with me, or I’ll toss you over my shoulder. Your choice, but we
are
going.”

“If you dare lay a single finger on me, I will bite you, and I will claw you, and I will beat you to a bloody pulp.”

“Well... You can try.”

“Don’t you even dare. If you so much as—”

“I’m sorry, Haley, but this is to save your life. I think later on, you’ll understand.”

“If you think I’m voluntarily walking with you anywhere, then you’re crazier than—”

“So you’ve made your decision, then. Over my shoulder it is. Up you go, now.”

“I swear to God, Holden, if you even... Oh! Hey!”

As he’d said he would, he’d scooped me up and tossed me over his shoulder. Like some sort of a caveman.

I immediately began beating my fists on his back with all my might. “How dare you! How—”

“You might as well settle in and get comfortable up there, because my village is close, but not that close. We’ll have a bit of a walk.”

“If you don’t put me down in exactly three seconds—”

“Well, I’m not going to, so threaten away. Threaten me all you like.”

Enraged, I began pounding on his back again with renewed force, yelling more threats.

However, all my pounding seemed to have zero effect. Holden just kept striding along, not even flinching, as if my fists were those of a baby. Despite the fact that I was slamming them into the muscular ridges of his back with all my might.

Now I was really mad. I decided to switch gears and do something guaranteed to make him howl in pain and put me down. I pressed my mouth against his back, took a bit of his skin in my mouth, and began biting down. I didn’t intend to draw blood or cause any permanent damage; I just wanted to hurt him badly enough to let him know I meant business.

After all, I figured a person had a right to defend themselves when being physically restrained against their will. However, before I’d tightened my jaws even a millimeter, I was startled into a gasp, releasing Holden’s skin, by the feel of a fairly sharp, swift swat on my upturned rear.

“No biting, Haley. You can pound on my back all you want, but I have to draw the line somewhere. I guess I have to draw the line at possibly making me bleed.”

The swat he’d given me really hadn’t hurt that badly, but for some reason, the faint sting it left on one of my rear cheeks, combined with the cumulative stress of the day, suddenly made my eyes fill with tears.

I fell silent briefly before speaking again. “Holden, you’re a... a...”

Brain completely fried, I couldn’t even think of what he was anymore.

“A son of a freak? Yes... I know. I’m also probably a jerk face, too. And I guess I really
can
be sometimes. I’m sorry for that little swat. Though to be fair, I just wanted to get your attention and make you stop what you were doing before I felt you removing chunks of my flesh with your teeth, which might have made me drop you, which might have led to you getting hurt.”

Staring down at the sandy trail below, I sniffed a few tears into my nose. “I wasn’t even going to really
bite
you, though. I wasn’t even going to break the skin. I just wanted to make you put me down.”

At that moment, a warm breeze rippled through the trees, ruffling the skirt of my sundress as well. And that’s when I realized something. That’s when I
felt
something. The skirt of my sundress was hiked up a bit, revealing the backs of my thighs, and from what it felt like, half of my rear as well. Somewhat awkwardly, being that I was slung over a man’s back like a sack of potatoes, I reached a hand back and pulled my skirt down to cover my legs as best I could.

Holden heaved a sigh. “What a shame you did that. I was so enjoying the view.”

I didn’t respond. I just sniffled some more. I’d found that with the arrival of my tears, all the fight had just kind of suddenly left me.

Holden strode alone without speaking for several moments, then came to a stop. In one quick but gentle movement, he lifted me from his shoulder and cradled me in his arms, like a baby. “I don’t want to put you down, because I don’t want you to run off with darkness falling soon, and I also don’t want you to hurt your bare feet walking on the rocks. But how about if I just carry you like this the rest of the way to my village? Might be more comfortable for you.”

I was far too exhausted to protest. Despite the fact that I still thought this man was abducting me, I actually nodded in agreement. Then, while the sun began setting, painting the sky in brilliant shades of pink and orange, and while Holden began walking with long, purposeful strides again, I put my head on his chiseled chest and closed my eyes. Completely spent from stress and numerous rushes of adrenaline, I was out like a light in under a minute.

CHAPTER THREE

          When I awoke however many hours later, I was in a bed. It was dark, with the only light in the room being faint and silvery from the moon and stars. I could see them through a large, wide window facing the bed.

I was thirsty, and hungry, and I had to use the bathroom badly. I hoped there was a bathroom nearby in this place, wherever this place was.

The thin light filtering in the room revealed the outline of a small lamp on a nightstand next to me. I felt around in the dark for the switch, and after a few moments, I managed to turn it on. The little lamp yielded just enough brightness for me to see a half-ajar door adjacent to the bed, with tile flooring and part of a deep blue shower curtain just beyond it. Relieved to find a bathroom so near, no matter where the heck I was, I climbed out of bed, dashed over to it, and shut the door.

A short while later, I emerged and began surveying the bedroom in the dim light. The walls were polished planks of wood, like the inside of a cabin, as was the flooring. Across from the bed, below the windows, was a long, low dresser, and adjacent to that, a desk with chair. On top of the desk sat a tall clear glass vase holding a single stem of pale lavender-pink hibiscus.

Next to that sat a glass of water and another of what appeared to be juice, and a plate with a sandwich stuffed with chicken and lettuce, and a heap of cut-up starfruit and mango on the side. I wasn’t sure who’d left me the food, but I didn’t even care. I was starving. After having a seat at the desk, I dug right in, hearing what sounded an awful lot like ocean waves in the distance while I ate. However, with my mental faculties still utterly spent, I couldn’t even begin to contemplate that at present.

Once only crumbs remained on the plate, I returned to the bathroom, finding a new toothbrush and toothpaste in the medicine cabinet. I brushed my teeth with my eyes half-closed, and fell back into bed immediately after. Soon I was out like a light again, still in the sundress I’d dressed in that morning. I immediately began dreaming about alternately beating on Holden’s back and resting my face against his chest with his strong arms around me.

When I awoke some hours later, sunlight was streaming through the windows. I could still hear what sounded like ocean waves in the distance. Ocean waves that I absolutely should not have been hearing if I were still on Ellis Island. I got out of bed, feeling a bit dazed, just as befuddled as I’d been the day before, as to what had happened to me, and what was still happening to me.

I spotted a note on the dresser that I hadn’t noticed the night before, and I picked it up and read it. It said,
Clean clothes in the dresser. Come out for breakfast whenever you’re ready. -Cora :-)

Of course, I hadn’t the foggiest idea who Cora was. But then again, I was getting pretty used to not having the foggiest idea about anything.

After showering, I went through the dresser drawers and saw that all the clothing, which was mostly sundresses, shorts, and summery tops, appeared to be in my size. In one of the drawers, there was also some jewelry, hair ties and accessories, and even some new, unopened makeup and cosmetics. Whoever Cora was, she’d thought of everything.

Once dressed, I began making my way out to the kitchen to find her. And hopefully, to find out some answers about just exactly where the heck I was.

When I entered the kitchen, which was a large, sunny room with wood-planked floors and wide windows with pale yellow curtains pulled back, a young woman about my age looked up from chopping fruit at the island. She was on the taller side, and slender, with long brown hair in a ponytail and sparkling brown eyes.

Setting her knife down, she gave me a big smile. “Good morning. I
thought
I heard you up and around. Do you like pancakes, eggs, and bacon?”

Still half-dazed, I nodded. “Um... Yes. I do, but... Well, I don’t really know where I am right now, and I really don’t know what’s happened to me. I’m hoping to get some answers right away.”

She came out from behind the island and extended a hand, smiling again. “Of course. I’m Cora, and I’ll explain everything over breakfast.”

I shook her hand, managing a small smile. “I’m Haley. And thank you.”

I sincerely hoped that Cora’s explanations would make more sense than Holden’s had the day before.

Cora poured us both coffee and fixed us each a plate of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and tropical fruit salad of pineapple, mango, and guava, and shaved coconut sprinkled over the top. We took seats on bar stools across from each other at the island, and after I’d thanked her for making breakfast, we began eating.

After a bite of pineapple, Cora picked up her knife and fork and began cutting her pancakes, glancing up at me. “We grow or raise most of our own food here, from fruit and vegetables, to pigs, chickens, and goats for meat and dairy. And of course, we eat a lot of seafood, too.

We even have cacao trees so we can make artisan chocolate, a lot of which Holden sells to a very upscale candy store in Manhattan. With the income generated from that, he brings us back a lot of things that we can’t make ourselves, or just don’t care to.

He’s a bit limited by what he can bring through the portal at once, though. I think he’s still a bit salty about the time several of us women decided we just
had
to have microwave ovens at once, and he had to come staggering back through the portal carrying about a half-dozen microwave ovens stacked in his arms.”

I pulled the sides of my mouth up into a smile, even while knowing I was kind of frowning at the same time. “So... So, you believe in Holden’s crazy idea about a portal to... To wherever this place is, too?”

With her expression becoming serious, Cora swallowed a bite of pancake, set her silverware down, and took a sip of coffee before responding. “I guess I should really explain some things to you. I can’t imagine how bewildered you must be; I really can’t.

Maybe you won’t be ready to believe some of the things I’m going to tell you right away, and that’s completely fine. I’m of the school that sometimes people need to ease into things, and come to belief, or not, at their own pace, and I’ve had a little talk with Holden about this. I’ve told him he should just give you some time to let everything sink in.”

“Well, I appreciate that, because... Well, I can’t deny that I’m just a bit confused and baffled by everything that’s happened to me. One minute I was strolling through the grounds at Ellis Island, trying to get a break from a horrible first date, and then the next minute, I’d been knocked out or something, and I was waking up in... Wherever this place is, with Holden chasing me down, trying to keep me from going near some lake... Black Lake, I think he said.”

Cora nodded. “You just eat and enjoy your breakfast. I’ll explain everything.”

The first thing she told me was that the island I was supposedly on was called Black Lake Island, and it was roughly shaped like a diamond, with four different groups of people, each with their own leader, inhabiting it, one in each corner of the “diamond.” Then, roughly in the middle, was a very small lake, more the size of a large pond.

“And... Well, I’ll tell you more about that later.”

Next, she began telling me about the history of the island, which she said had been discovered and used by government scientists at the height of the Cold War in the nineteen-eighties.

Kind of getting into her story a bit, I set my fork down, puzzled. “What did they need an island for?”

Hesitating, Cora tucked a loose strand of her dark hair behind one ear. “Well, this is where things get very... Well, I’ll just say it. Things are definitely going to sound crazy to you. But just hear me out, and then you can kind of mentally digest everything later, at your own pace.”

I nodded, wondering just what on earth she was going to tell me. “Okay. Go ahead.”

What she told me was that the island had been used to do experiments on human men, to turn them into some sort of creatures who could shape-shift into animals. These creatures were called shifters, and Holden and all the men in his village, which was called Sun Cove, were bear shifters. There were others on the island who were wolf shifters and dragon shifters. All of the men who’d been turned into shifters had been soldiers in the United States Army.

“But then, the Cold War ended, and the scientists abandoned this island and all of us on it, including several dozen of us women, who’d all come here voluntarily, to be mates for the men. We all decided to go back to the States, but that was when we discovered that we couldn’t.

All boats we built and tried to sail away on, always came right back around to the island, as if under some sort of supernatural spell of sorts, which they probably were. See, the scientists who turned the men into shifters weren’t just scientists, at least not all of them. Some of them also had supernatural powers.

One of them in particular wasn’t just a scientist, he was some sort of sorcerer who was the leader of a very secret, very underground occult group back in the States. We all think he did something to this island, put some sort of a supernatural spell on it or something, to make it not show up on any map, and to make it inaccessible by boat, plane, or anything else.

“He did, however, make it so that the leaders of the four groups of shifters, and them only, could leave the island, and also return, by these special little portals, which are different for each group. Holden’s portal is a certain point of a stream that flows just to the north of our village. He just dips his hand in the water, and he’s instantly transported to a fountain on Ellis Island. From there, he can go wherever he wants, and return here to the island whenever he wants, just by touching the water in the fountain. Which, from what he said, I gather is what you accidentally did, too.

Only it sounds like you had a much different experience that he does. Traveling through the portal doesn’t knock him unconscious at all, even for a second, but it must have been a terrible shock to your system, maybe just because you’re not a shifter and the portal wasn’t designed for you.”

“But... Why would
I
have went through the portal anyway? I mean, even if all this supernatural stuff is real, why would it have affected me? Why would
I
have gotten ‘sucked in’ to the portal just by touching the water, if, supposedly, it’s something only leaders of this island are supposed to be able to travel through?”

Cora shook her head. “We have no idea, but with as many people that visit Ellis Island, Holden’s always been worried about something like this. But don’t worry yourself, though. See, eventually, Holden will be able to take you back home through the portal, because leaders can bring outsiders back and forth through the portals simply by touching that person, like with a hand on the shoulder, while they, the leaders, go through the portals themselves.

However, each leader can only do this a few times a month, and unfortunately, Holden’s already made several trips bringing an outsider back and forth this month already. We have a doctor who lives here in the village, but one of the women needed a specialist brought in for a complicated issue, and Holden was able to find the right doctor who believes in the supernatural and was willing to come to the island, which he ended up doing a few times.

So, Holden won’t be able to take you home right away, but in a few weeks, it shouldn’t be a problem. That is, if you even want to go home at that point. The island is so beautiful, you might just fall in love with it; I certainly did. I can’t say I was that heartbroken when I found out all of us original inhabitants are pretty much trapped here. As far as being stuck somewhere, it’s not such a bad place at all. Even considering the Gray Forms.”

“The what?”

“Oh. They’re the supernatural creatures that live in Black Lake. The lake is like... Well, it’s like a supernaturally-enchanted body of water, with strange currents that can pull people in, which unfortunately, has happened before. Years and years ago, at different times, some shifters and several women were pulled in, and they all became Forms. Which is to say, creatures that live in the lake as shadows, but they have the ability to come out and take their former shapes, and when they do, all they want to do is kill. That’s why no one is ever supposed to go near the lake, except for the guards that make sure that the Forms never come near Sun Cove, or any of the other villages.

“Though sometimes, the guards can’t hold them back, and our men have to fight them off, though this hasn’t happened in a very long time. Holden, my husband Conner, who is Holden’s right-hand man, and the other men do a good job of keeping us all safe. They all have, ever since the nineteen-eighties.” Cora paused and took a sip of her coffee before speaking again.

“Which, speaking of how many years we’ve all been here, I suppose I should probably tell you how time works here. Or doesn’t, or whatever. See, it’s kind of complicated, and even those of us who live here don’t entirely ‘get’ it. But basically, time moves slower here, compared to the regular world. And that’s not to say that it
feels
slower, because it doesn’t, and we have regular twenty-four-hour days just like in the regular world. But compared to the regular world, time is just different.

It just doesn’t add up the same, for lack of a better way to explain it. For example, we’ve all been here thirty-some-odd years now, but we all look like we’ve only aged maybe five. So, do you see what I mean by ‘slower?’”