Wild Bear (Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance) (Rescue Bears Book 2) (8 page)

S
hane followed
a trail away from the stream that lead down the western side of the hill. He came to a grove of old growth red cedar. Wide trunks were surrounded by huge ferns. The branches dripped with moss and the scent of loamy soil filled the air.

The cub’s scent was in this forest. He could smell it under the scent of cedar. Shane tasted the air with his tongue. The cub was close, but he wasn’t on the ground. Then Shane looked up—a dark brown cub clung to the tree above him.

Theo tore up the tree and hurled himself to the next tree over. That little bugger had been hopping from tree to tree this whole time. Shane followed the cub, trotting under the trees as he went. Theo was fast as lightening, and Shane had a hard time keeping up. Finally, Shane jumped into his shift and landed on human feet in the cool, damp soil.

“Wait,” he shouted at the cub.

Theo stopped short and turned around, looking at Shane. He tilted his head back and forth, inspecting the human below him.

“Come on down, son,” Shane said.

His heart burst when he said the words. This child was his flesh and blood. Theo was his family, his heart. The cub hesitantly clawed his way down the trunk of the big tree and hopped to the ground. The big ferns that grew on the mountain surrounded the child as he climbed down to his father standing in the clearing.

Shane extended his hand to Theo. The cub sniffed the air tentatively and let out a high-pitched roar. The little bear walked forward and shifted mid-step.

“So, you’re my daddy,” Theo said.

Shane squatted down to his son’s level.

“I am,” Shane said.

“Where have you been?” Theo asked, cocking his head.

“I’ve had some things to sort out. I was at war, and then I had to spend some time alone in the woods.”

“I wanted to go to the woods like you, Daddy,” Theo said.

“Is that why you ran away?” Shane asked.

“I wanted to be like my dad. Like a shifter,” Theo admitted.

“Not all shifters take to the wild and leave your mama worried sick,” Shane explained. “We need to get you back to her now.”

Shane lifted the child up on his hip and began to walk back in the direction he’d come. Drew walked through a stand of narrow trees and lifted his walkie-talkie to his mouth.

“Brew Bear to Alpha Station. I have eyes on target,” Drew said. Then he lowered the walkie-talkie. “What are you doing here, Shane? Levi will have your head.”

“You were taking too long to find my son,” Shane countered.

“Status?” Levi’s voice said over the walkie-talkie.

“That kid’s been giving us the slip all night. I finally realized he was hopping from tree to tree. That’s the only way I was able to finally track him here.”

Theo growled in Shane’s arms.

“Is that true, buddy?” Shane asked the kid. Theo started to shiver. They needed to get him home. Shifter or not, he’d been out in the woods for too long. “Why were you running from the nice men?”

“Mommy said you run away,” Theo said to Shane.

Shane took a sharp breath through his teeth. Drew’s mouth parted into a wide, bearded grin, and then he burst into laughter.

“What?” Shane barked at Drew.

“Karma’s a bi…” Drew started.

Drew stopped himself and pulled a thermal blanket out of his rescue pack. “Let’s get this kid warmed up and back to his mama.”

“Don’t judge me, Brew Bear. I’ve heard about the woman you marked after meeting her on Mate.com.”

“Shut up about that, Shane. Or I swear…” Drew barked at Shane as he wrapped Theo in the thermal blanket.

Drew picked up his walkie-talkie and threw Shane an extra thermal blanket. Shane wrapped the shiny silver thing around his waist and picked up his son.

“Brew Bear to Alpha Station. Target is cold but healthy. I’m warming him up and extracting him now.”

“Big Bear and Ski Bear will intersect with your location soon,” Levi said over the walkie-talkie.

“Are you coming in?” Drew asked Shane.

“Why shouldn’t I? I’m the one who found him.”

“Levi banned you from this mission. And aren’t you supposed to be at work in an hour?”

The sun was peeking out from over the eastern mountains and casting a yellow glow over the forest.

“I’m going to have to make things right with Levi, Drew. I’m done running,” he said.

It was time for Shane to find the courage to face his inner demons. It was time to learn to rule his inner bear. His human mind had to be in charge, or the broken bear would never heal.

Angus and Zach met up with Shane and Drew on a narrow ridge coming down a hill. Shane held his son tight in his arms.

“Shane?” Angus said, his big face drawing back.

“What are you doing out here, Wild Bear?” Zach asked.

“I came to get my kid,” Shane replied in a tone that allowed no questions.

“Great. You found him,” Zach replied, giving Angus a knowing look.

“I can understand why you came out here, Shane,” Angus said. “You’re going to have to talk to Levi when we get back. He’s not going to be happy about this. That’s all I’m going to say.”

“I know,” Shane growled, hefting the kid.

Angus and Zach backed up the trail, allowing the rest of them to pass. They walked out on level ground and started to walk back to Alpha Station. Angus strode beside Shane as he carried Theo. The child had fallen asleep and was now lightly snoring in his father’s arms. Shane felt a deep sense of connection to the child. It was raw and powerful. A primal knowing inside him said he had to protect the kid with his life.

“I was surprised you had a kid,” Angus said.

“I was surprised too,” Shane said with dark humor.

“You found the mom on Mate.com?” Angus asked.

“She was looking for a shifter father for her kid.”

“She’s your fated mate, isn’t she? Didn’t you guys grow up together on Fate Mountain?”

“We did.”

“You’ve known all this time? Why didn’t you claim her?”

“You know I haven’t had control of this beast inside me.”

“I know as well as anyone. I’ve had to wrestle with that thing more than once.”

“I want things to be different now. It’s time to tame the beast. Face all that shit from my past like the bear I want to be.”

Angus slapped him on the back, his big hand pushing Shane forward half a step as he walked. “There you go, man.”

Theo stirred in Shane’s arms, but drifted back to sleep with a nod.

“Did you get matched with a female on Mate.com?” Shane asked Angus, changing the subject.

“No one is a hundred percent match yet. I’ve messaged a few of the others. But I only want a hundred percent.”

“You’ll find her,” Shane said.

“What are you going to do about the kid?” Angus asked.

“I’m going to try to make it work with his mama.”

“Good luck, man,” Angus said in a low voice.

The hike back to Alpha Station was long and the sun was up by the time the crew got there. Shane carried his waking son into the arms of the waiting EMTs. His alpha’s eyes narrowed on his half-dressed from. The EMTs took Theo to the back of the ambulance, and the rest of the crew gave their reports to Corey. Levi and Shane stood staring at each other as everything went on around them.

“Got any extra clothes?” Shane finally said.

“In the truck,” Levi grumbled.

Shane went to open the back seat of Levi’s crew cab and found a change of clothes. After he got dressed, he went to find his son.

Levi growled as he passed him, moving towards the EMTs. The rest of the crew started to take down Alpha Station, and Shane went walked up behind the ambulance.

“He looks good. His body temperature is a bit low, even for a shifter child. But that’s nothing a warm pair of PJs and a fire won’t solve,” the ETM said. “We’re going to stay with Mommy from now on, right Theo?”

“I’ll do my best,” Theo said, eating a large cracker Angus had given him.

“Let’s take the child to the lodge for a warm meal and we’ll have the mother pick him up there.”

“Sounds good,” the EMT said.

Shane carried Theo to Levi’s truck and strapped him in the back seat. Being responsible for his son soothed his bear. It sent a signal right to the center of his heart, telling him it was time to come in out of the wild.

For the first time, Shane felt that he could be the bear he wanted to be for Lily. He wished he could have done it sooner, without hurting her so many times. But all he could do now was try to make up for the past. Shane got in the front passenger seat of the truck next to Levi.

The rest of the guys were on their way out. The ambulance had already driven off down the road. Levi started his truck without a word and drove toward to the lodge.

“You gave your mama quite a fright, little bear,” Levi said.

“I know, sir. I wanted to be like my daddy. Mommy said Daddy runs to the wilderness. I thought if I ran there, too, he’d come find me. And he did.”

Shane turned around and looked at his son. Levi cleared his throat beside him.

“I did come find you, son,” Shane said.

“Well. You two need to look after each other from now on,” Levi said. “Don’t go off into the woods unless you talk to each other about it first, and Mommy too.”

“Agreed,” Shane said.

“Me too,” said Theo.

They pulled up in front of the lodge a few moments later. Shane took Theo to the kitchen to stuff him full of the best soup this side of the Rockies.

T
hey found him
. The Rescue Bears found her son. She dropped the phone and charged out the front door. She was in her car and driving in a matter of seconds and made it to the lodge in record time. She couldn’t even remember how she’d gotten there as she sprinted up the front walk of the lodge with a bundle of Theo’s clothes in her hand.

She pushed open the big front door and stepped into the lobby. The reception desk sat in front of her. A middle-aged lady with a name tag that said “Kelly” sat behind the long black granite counter. Lily approached the woman, feeling lost and strange.

“I’m looking for Levi Blackthorn. His Rescue Bears found my son.”

“Of course. I’ll have them bring him right out.”

“You look familiar. Have we met?” Lily asked.

“I’ve lived on Fate Mountain a long time, dear. I know a lot of people,” Kelly said.

Lily gripped the bag of Theo’s clothes. As she stood there, shaking from all the stress and lack of sleep, Shane emerged from the double doors of the restaurant. He held Theo in his arms, wrapped in a shiny silver blanket. She reached out for him, her tears starting to burst through the seams.

Shane held onto him for a beat before handing him over to his mother. Theo hugged his mom’s neck and started to whimper.

“Baby, what did you do?” she said, comforting her child.

“I’m sorry, Mama. I just wanted to run wild like my daddy. I thought he’d find me out there.”

“Sweetheart?” Lily said, rocking her child. She knew she’d told Theo too much. He’d gotten confused.

“I did find him,” Shane said. “My cub was jumping from tree to tree.”

“I didn’t want them to catch me,” Theo said, as Lily set him on the ground beside her. She knelt to help him into his clothes. “I wanted to be like Daddy.”

Lily looked down at her child. Dumbfounded, she pulled his shirt down over his head. Theo’s wild ideas made her mind reel. She slipped him into his rain boots.

“Remember what uncle Levi said, Theo. We don’t run off unless we go together. We always tell Mommy first.”

“Right,” said Theo.

Lily looked from her son to Shane and back again. It was like they had some kind of secret patch. Lily knew it was time to go. All this crazy talk of running off to the wild together, she didn’t want any part of it. She stood up and grabbed Theo’s hand.

“Thank you for finding my son,” she said, brushing her hair over her shoulder. “We need to go.”

She started to walk out of the lodge and into the warm afternoon air. The sun was up and high without a cloud in the crystal blue sky. She felt the warmth on her skin. It had been cold and gray for so long.

“Lily, wait,” Shane said behind her.

She turned around and squinted at him in the sunlight.

“What?” she said, raising her hand over her eyes to block out the sunlight.

“Where are you going?”

She felt completely calm now that she had her son.

“I’m leaving Fate Mountain, Shane. I can’t stay here.”

Lily turned away, holding Theo’s hand. Theo followed her quick steps to the car, and she loaded him inside. Shane strode toward her and stood beside the car.

“You can’t leave now,” he said.

She closed Theo’s car door and faced him. “Watch me,” she said.

She brushed past Shane, her soul still calling out for him. She caught the scent of his skin, wanting more than anything to turn into his warm chest.

That was over now. She was done letting herself fall for him, only for him to abandon her in the end. No more. She was finally standing up to him. She wasn’t going to wait around pining for him this time. That Lily Mason was gone.

“Lily. Let me explain.”

She didn’t stop. Lily saw now that Shane was too damaged to love. He was too wild to be her son’s father. She had to leave and never look back. She shut the car door, and Shane stood there as she backed out of her parking spot.

She turned and saw him mouth her name. Theo whined in the back seat, but Lily kept driving. She had to take control of her life or Shane would destroy her. She was addicted to him, and she was tired of being his fool. Turning her wheel, she accelerated out of the parking lot and away from Shane.

Her phone pinged a moment later. She turned it off and threw it in her purse.

“Mommy, we can’t leave Daddy. Please go back,” Theo whined.

She wanted more for her son than his father could give him. It had taken Lily a long time to see the truth. She’d been clouded by her desire for her fated mate. Every time she was near him, all she wanted was to fall into his arms.

When she made it back to the apartment, everything was packed in boxes and Theo started to cry. Tired or not, she had to load all this stuff in the car. But she just couldn’t do it. Not yet. She sat down next to Theo and tried to comfort him.

As much as Lily wanted to hate Shane, she couldn’t. She loved him so fiercely it was under her skin. It had pierced her heart, and she’d never get it out.