the surface and he couldn’t stop the shift. Sara looked up to see the instant change, but she didn’t run when he charged up the hill. He ran past her, toward her attackers, his bear searching for vengeance.
Surprisingly he didn’t have to look far. Two men hid in the trees less than a quarter mile away. When they saw him coming, they both ran, but one tripped and Aaron cornered him against a tree trunk. He roared and growled in the loser’s face.
Sweat poured from the man’s body, and the smell of urine singed his nose. He raised a hand to attack, when a sweet voice echoed through the trees.
“Hey! Bear!”
He turned his head to see Sara standing nearly twenty feet away from him. She held her hand over her wound, and the sweater underneath was soaked with blood.
“It’s just a scrape! Let him go!” she yelled.
Aaron lowered his paw, but turned back and roared in the hunter’s face again when he started to inch away. The bear wanted to kill, but the man wanted to wrap his arms around her.
He decided to listen to the man.
He turned away from the hunter and lumbered toward his mate. Her courage and strength astounded him, so much that he didn’t hear the rifle load behind him.
“Don’t do it,” she yelled.
Aaron turned back toward the hunter and saw the man’s weapon pointed at his head. He couldn’t die, shifters were immortal, but a close range head shot would hurt like hell. It would take time to recover from an injury that severe, but he would survive. Of course, his mate didn’t know that.
“It’s against the law to hunt grizzlies and you’ll only get in one shot before he kills you,” she said. He liked the fact that she believed in his abilities, even though he hadn’t disclosed his true nature. She had no idea what he was capable of, but her confidence fooled their attacker.
The man scurried off to find his partner.
“Let’s get out of here,” she whispered, and turned back the way they came.
He followed her in bear form until he was sure the poachers were gone, then he shifted back into his human form and picked her up.
“It really is just a scrape. I can walk back,” she said, and laid her head on his shoulder.
“Yeah, I know you can,” he agreed, but he didn’t put her down. “You were amazing, by the way.”
“I was pretty badass, wasn’t I?”
“Definitely badass,” he said. “Hang on, we’re almost there.”
He couldn’t tell if she was losing consciousness, or falling asleep, but he knew both weren’t good. As soon as he stepped off the rocky National Park trail, and onto her property, he doubled his steps and covered the even concrete in record time.
He passed one of the twins on his way through the cottages, and told him to call the sheriff.
Minutes later he burst into the doctor’s office and followed the receptionist to an empty examining room. He laid Sara on the padded table and reluctantly left the room when the doctor forced him to leave.
Pride for his amazing mate was quickly replaced with revulsion for his bear. When he saw her get hurt, he lost the careful control he’d possessed over the animal. In those moments, nothing else mattered except seeking revenge.
What if he’d lost it at the grocery store, or in the city? Everything he’d worked so hard to hide could be destroyed by one mistake. As much as he wanted Sara, he couldn’t have her. Their connection was dangerous for him, his bear, the clan and the town.
He had to leave as soon as possible.
He left the office and passed Gage coming up the steps.
“Hey, Cade gave me your message. What happened?”
He quickly filled Gage in on their encounter with the hunters and his uncontrollable shift.
“I have to get out of here, but don’t worry. She won’t say anything.”
“I’m not really concerned about that right now. I’m concerned about you. This is not the time to run off and be alone. Stay with us. We can help you get through this,” Gage said.
“I don’t want to get