Bear Alaska

Chapter Five

Orson

On his drive home, through her land and his, he felt slightly better about leaving her alone in her house. She had food enough for a couple of weeks, despite using some of it to make them an amazing dinner and insisting on sending them all home with a half-dozen eggs and a bag of cookies; her greenhouse was up and she could start planting her crops. He still didn’t like leaving her there, but he felt better knowing she was better off than before. 

At least she felt good enough about her situation to send them home with cookies and eggs, which meant that she was not so worried about food anymore if she was willing to share it with them. Both gifts are a rare treat for them since they could not have livestock and none of them knew how to bake anything worth mentioning. Any animals were terrified of them, so farming with animals would not be possible.

He still didn’t like leaving her when everything in him wanted to bring her home with him and keep her there, but he would have to bide his time and take it slow with her. He knew she did not trust them entirely and he would need to gain some measure of trust from her before he could be entirely truthful with her.

He was rather territorial around her, which was expected under the circumstances and Riggs was taking advantage of it to tease him endlessly, even Finlay had gotten a jab at him when they had gone to introduce themselves. Of course every time either of them looked at her longer than he wanted them to, he felt his temper rise and his hands itch to beat some sense into them. Thankfully neither of them were willing to ruin the friendship they had by doing it too often and they had made a point of avoiding touch after the initial handshake.

Well, he wanted to tear them apart, but who was measuring overreactions. He was going to have to work on his temper at this point, because he was not completely out of spring season yet, and he had no way to hurry things along with her.

As it was he was already trying to think of another way to get close to her, but so far he was coming up blank. His every fiber longed to be near her, to touch her and it was extremely difficult for him to walk away from her. When he did manage to sleep his dreams were haunted with her.

When he stopped his truck in front of his house he hesitated, fighting the urge to turn around and go back to her. That moment he had touched her to help her off the quad, he had been trying to keep himself from pulling her into his arms and claiming her lips and all of her like he’s been longing to do since he first caught her scent; lavender and vanilla. 

Orson sighed heavily and leaned his forehead against the steering wheel, again fighting his body’s reaction to the memory of her scent. What he would give to have her in his arms right now, her head thrown back in passion while he claimed her as his own. Grinding his teeth together to regain control of his body, he growled with the intensity of his body’s reaction to that image when his jeans seemed to tighten painfully around his crotch and hips.

How was he going to survive waiting for her to ease into trusting him? He couldn’t claim her if he didn’t have her trust. And if he didn’t have her trust he had no right to her until she knew the whole truth about him. If he didn’t go insane this spring he would be surprised. Orson had trouble fighting down his primitive urge, his fists clenching around the steering wheel as he growled with the battle raging inside of him. He was afraid he would lose control.

And this was the one time he had to hold onto what little control he had at this time of year. He did not want to scare her or create problems that would make things more difficult. Sure, it was supposed to be a natural connection, but he had seen and smelt her fear when she had found them in her yard.

Why was she afraid of them? It hadn’t been the general wariness they were used to receiving from people who somehow picked up on their predatory nature. It had been fear; unadulterated fear. Was she hiding something from them as well?

It was entirely likely since she seemed unwilling to trust them so easily. And she had seemed genuinely surprised and confused about them bringing her supplies and helping her without expecting anything in return. He had not missed her moment of distrust when he had told her that they would move the stone without her, but it was a good thing that she had agreed, since they had needed to put more power into moving that stone then normal humans would have had.

It was a good thing they weren’t human then.

But she might have noticed something if she had been present at that moment. And he was sure she hadn’t seen anything odd through the window, where she would occasionally glance through to where they had been working. 

He had felt her eyes on him whenever it had happened and he had been surprised at the intensity of the connection he already had to her. It was almost like a physical touch whenever her eyes landed on him, raising goose flesh on his arms. Was it just his heightened senses this time of year that had him being so sensitive to her look, or would this be a running theme with them? If it was not just for this time of year, he had an idea that once he had won her over they would be having his second hibernation this year.

Which made him wonder how intense a physical touch from her would be if she ever reached out to him. He had sensed her interest, but she was fairly withdrawn. She was somehow different from the other people he had met; he was sure she sensed something from them, but he couldn’t be entirely sure exactly what she sensed.

How was he going to find a reason to see her again? He was already fighting the urge to go back to her, so he couldn’t possibly stay away for very long. Orson wracked his brain while he tried to keep himself from going back to her. His mind seemed unable to focus on a solution with the war raging in him. He growled again, this one more animalistic than before and he realized he would have to get out of his truck immediately, he was losing the battle.

With the realization of how close he was to losing control he threw himself out of his truck, falling onto his hands and knees beside the vehicle without even closing the door behind him, his body rippling with anticipation.

***

Leah

She knew it was late, but she couldn’t keep herself from starting the work in her brand new green house. So she had started sorting out the seeds and the planters she wanted to use for each type of vegetable and herb.

She had just finished planting potatoes when she sensed something familiar nearby and she glanced up, and then froze. Mister Bear was slowly ambling closer to her, his intent caramel and milk chocolate gaze fixed on her. There was no aggression in his movements, no sense of stalking her as he sauntered closer to the greenhouse where she stood inside.

Leah stared at the animal in shock, his eyes holding her gaze captive. They seemed intelligent – lucid – more than she would think a bear’s eyes would be. When he came close enough to the greenhouse, he sat down in full view of her and just stared at her calmly, like she was the most interesting thing in these woods.

She realized too late that she had left the gun inside in her excitement to get back on track with her plans. She was stuck inside the greenhouse; not that it was the safest place to be when a bear was staring at you, but it was decidedly safer than outside, like she had been before.

The beast raised his nose and sniffed the air before meeting her gaze with his intelligent eyes again. He just sat there watching her. Leah took a deep steadying breath, wondering what to do about her situation. She remembered that Riggs had said that this bear was apparently nothing to worry about, but she had no intention of testing that theory and going outside. Plus she didn’t want to go inside when she had just started planting her vegetables and herbs.

Feeling unnerved by the intent stare, she slowly reached for the next set of containers and slowly started planting the cabbage, keeping an eye on the animal every now and then, thinking that trying to appear calm was probably better than completely freaking out like she wanted to do. 

Leah glanced up again when she noted movement from the animal, but it just dropped lazily to the ground as if he had decided to sleep nearby – or was getting ready for the long wait. She was by no means an expert on grizzly bears, but she was sure this was not natural for the bear to be lying around waiting patiently for her.

Slowly she shook her head to herself. The bear might have known another family but it was intelligent enough to realize that she was not part of that family. He had explored her yard enough to know her scent. Why did he keep seeking her out? What was she supposed to do with a bear following her around?

It meant she could never really be comfortable. Most wild animals kept their distance from humans. But not this bear. No, this bear had to actively seek her out. She watched as the animal heaved a hefty sigh. 

“What do you have to be so beleaguered about? I’m not stalking you.” She muttered half to herself and noted his ears twitch before raising his head to look at her.

Only then did she realize that one of the windows at the top of the greenhouse was slightly open and he had clearly heard her words. “Perfect, I’m having one sided conversations with my new stalker.” She muttered with annoyance. “Probably better than the one sided conversations I was subjected to before.” She mused while she reached for the tomato seeds.

Her thoughts traveled back to her reason for being here in Alaska, so far away from Salem. How she had finally decided to flee the city she had grown up in in her desperation to get away. Would she be safe here, now? Surely Claude Anders would not travel all the way here to find her? There wouldn’t be enough gain for him to come so far, would there?

He might just be nuts enough to try, but hopefully he would not find her as easily as he had when she had moved to the other side of town the last time she had tried to escape him. She had intentionally picked her little farm for the reason that it was not in town and not so easily accessible if one didn’t know where to go. The problem was he did just enough to scare her and not enough to merit a restraining order. He knew the law too well to let that stop him.

She didn’t know what she would do if he actually followed her here because his actions had been escalating lately. And now she had a bear hanging around her as well. Maybe she’d get lucky and the bear would scare him away. Leah snorted with dark amusement at that thought. Like she would ever get lucky enough to have an end to stalkers!

Glancing up once more she found the bear lying on his back, his head twisted at an angle that made him look like a silly dog at play. She giggled despite herself and noticed the animal blink his eyes at her while it snuffled, never moving from its position.

“Well, Mister Bear, did you think I needed some entertainment while you’re here? What’s next; you’re going to bring me dinner to charm me into spending time with you without the bear repellent and gun?”

Suddenly the large bear rolled over onto his stomach and raised his head to look at her as if she had just given him an idea. Leah shook her head at herself. She was putting human emotions to an animal again; she was officially losing her mind out here.

But in the great scheme of things, she’d rather have this madness then the sanity she had fled from. Tipping her head slightly to the side she stared at the bear that was still watching her intently; her words came out without her consent. “You know, honestly? I think I prefer this madness to the sanity I came from. Not sure about you, though…” 

The animal huffed before coming to its feet and ambling away with intent as if it suddenly had somewhere to be. She watched it go for a few minutes until it disappeared into the tree line and then she quickly left the greenhouse and made her way to the house; She had planted enough for the day, she would do the rest tomorrow.

Leah had just taken a hot shower and slipped into her comfortable unicorn pajamas. She was heading to the kitchen to find something to eat when she heard the unmistakable sounds of the bear on the porch again. She thought nothing of it until she heard the door creak like there was pressure against the latch. She froze, realizing that she hadn’t locked the door, something she used to be obsessive about when she came here.

Suddenly the latch gave under the pressure and she dove for the gun nearby rolling over like some action hero where she fell and pushing the butt against her shoulder to fire if she needed to, but then she stopped.

It was Mister Bear with something small in his jaws. She knew she should be terrified that the bear had figured out how to get inside, despite his size keeping him mostly outside the doorway that was too small at the current moment, but he held her gaze as he slowly leaned his head inside and dropped whatever he had had in his jaws on the floor inside her door before slowly stepping back. As if he wanted her to understand that he meant her no harm – no, it was a bear, not a human.

Leah watched the animal retreat and then noticed that whatever he had brought her was moving a little, but seemed terrified. Slowly she crawled to the small ball of fur on the floor while holding onto the gun and realized it was a rabbit. And it was still alive!

Gently she examined the rabbit with interest and found that the bear had only broken the back leg of the rabbit, probably from capturing it alive. Picking up the terrified rabbit, she closed and, this time, locked her remarkably undamaged door and then went to the kitchen where she decided to treat the animal’s leg even if she didn’t have the tools of her trade nearby.

The rabbit finally calmed down when it realized that she meant it no harm and after she had broken a wooden spoon to secure its leg in place, she got it to drink some aspirin spiked water and eat some food.

When she was sure the rabbit had had enough of the pain medication, she gently laid it down in a basket stuffed with a blanket and started making her dinner while the rabbit watched her moving around the kitchen with droopy eyes and wiggling nose. By the time she sat down to eat, the animal seemed to have calmed down completely and eventually slipped off to sleep.

Leah watched the sleeping rabbit while she ate dinner and shook her head to herself. Did Mister Bear actually understand her joke about bringing her dinner? Her experiences here were random and nothing like wild animals were supposed to act. What was she supposed to do with a bear that brought her gifts like some oversized cat?

And what was she going to do with the rabbit while she was working outside tomorrow? She couldn’t release it until its leg was healed otherwise it would get eaten by another predator. Leah stared at the sleeping rabbit while she sipped her coffee. Maybe she could put it in with the chickens until it was healed? It would give it enough time to recover and enough space to be the wild animal it was supposed to be before she could rehabilitate and release it.

She hadn’t even started setting up her hospital, yet. She had planned to start building her animal hospital closer to the road once she had settled herself – perhaps only next year. But she already had her first patient, brought to her by Mister Bear. What the hell was she going to do with that bear?

It had basically pushed its way into her house to bring her a rabbit; she assumed it thought she needed food. Bears didn’t usually do that, they were nomadic creatures; they didn’t have family groups - at least not the males. She knew that much. But what was she supposed to do with this bear that obviously did not follow the general rule of grizzlies?

That meant that it was unpredictable, and unpredictable was dangerous. And yet she couldn’t think about shooting it; she had sort of become fond of her strange visitor. And though she wouldn’t trust him with nothing to protect herself she didn’t think it was a threat to her.

At least not yet.