Beauty & The Bear

3

Kaine

The air feels off. It’s going to rain, not just rain but downpour. I glance at my phone. It’s only ten. She still has lots of time, but I’m antsy. The first moment I saw her I knew who she was to me, what she was to me, but I have no interest in having her in my life. I am happy with my life the way it is. I don’t need a Mate. I never wanted one in the past, I’ve heard stories about how Were’s would succumb to their desires and lose themselves in their lust for their Mates. I don’t want to be like that. I have a life.

Of course I know I’m talking out of my ass, once the bond is set in there’s no going back. She will become my everything, my whole world. That scares the absolute s**t out of me. In a way, these last few weeks she has already gotten under my skin.

I’ve watched her every morning. She comes in around six thirty and works in her shop all day, not coming out. I don’t think she even eats, which worries me. I can hear soft music playing through the walls. We have similar taste in music which makes me happy, I don’t have to pretend to enjoy something awful.

Sometimes she doesn’t leave until after nine, I always make sure to leave after her, just to make sure she makes it out safe and sound. Then I do it all over again the next day, listening, watching. Hoping she will come in and say hello. She never does, at least not until yesterday. I was hesitant about giving her the map, but she seems fit and the trail I gave her is for beginners.

The bells rings, letting me know someone has entered the shop, I look up and see Mrs. Gorsly, a widow, come in. Her walking cane looks ready to snap, it’s too thin on the bottom to support her weight after years of use, the handle is worn down and the middle looks contorted.

“Morning Ma’am, what can I do for you?” I raise from my seat and greet her

She sighs and looks like she’s about to cry, “My husband Amus, God rest his soul… he built a rocker for me sixty years ago… and this morning one of the legs finally broke… I was hoping you’d be able to fix it” She sniffles softly

“Of course, I’d be happy to… I can come by and pick it up tomorrow and have it done by Saturday, how’s that sound?”

“The end of the week? You do know that today is Thursday dear?” She looks at me with a shocked expression.

“Yes Ma’am.. I know. Don’t you worry about it. You just have it ready for me tomorrow and I’ll come collect it”

“Oh thank you dear” she reaches her hand up and gently cups my face, her hand is so frail and her skin is cold.

“You better get home now, it’s going to rain soon”

“I didn’t see that on the network” She looks confused

“Ahh, I can smell it in the air” I point to my nose and wink. She nods and nearly races her frail body from my shop.

I finish a few orders while I wait for time to pass, checking emails, and see a large order for a table came in. I’ll have to go to town to collect supplies but I’ve been meaning to go soon anyways. Glancing up at the clock I am too impatient to wait any longer. I slap the closed sign on the window and lock up the shop.

I pass by a few people on my way to the trail,

“Hey Kaine, how’s it going?” Tanner greets me as he walks his dog Goober who c***s his head to the side and stares at me.

“Not bad man, how are the kids?”

“A menace, as always” He laughs and Goober races off chasing a squirrel, Tanner has to break into a sprint to catch up to him, he gives me a frantic wave as he charges after his pet.

I hit the trail and can smell her everywhere. My heightened senses make me acutely aware of my surroundings. Normally she smells heavily of soap and whatever fragrance she is using that day for her creations, but her true scent lingers behind it all.

Lemon with a hint of honey. I don’t care how or why but all I want is to roll around in her scent until the day I die. I want to drown in it. Soak it into my skin until it possesses me entirely.

I give my head a shake, I sound f*****g mental.

I hike inwards, down the patch until I reach the creek, her scent getting stronger. Thunder crackles in the distance. I knew it. Glancing at my watch I see it’s past lunch time now, almost one, I wonder if she’s on her way back yet. I might just run into her. I could pretend I was out for a walk.

The rain starts, it’s f*****g pouring within seconds. Her scents starts to wash away, fast. If she stuck to the trail, which she would have no reason not to, then I will have no need to track her. I can just continue on walking until I find her. But something in my gut tells me to shift, and I am not in the habit of ignoring my gut. I shift and sniff the air, I smell faint traces of blood, mixed with her scent.

Breaking into a sprint I cover much more ground in my bear form than I do in human. I make my way to the peak, sniffing around, I find the spot she must have had lunch, it’s heavy with her aroma. I look to my left and see the ground disturbed by the side of the waterfall, I walk over.

She was definitely here, looks like she fell down the side of the rocky edge, I can smell her blood.

I walk down the side and find even more of her scent in the pool area below, she went for a swim. If I wasn’t in Bear form right now I’m sure my d**k would be straining at the thought of her in the water, splashing around. But there’s no time for that, not when I can’t find her and it’s pouring cats and dogs. I go back up the same way she did, following her scent, I sniff her path, following her.

Why didn’t you just stick to the map? I curse her.

Roaring in sync with the thunder I pick my pace up, I am not the only predator out here. Storms are the best time to come out to play, I know that all too well. Scared little prey tend to cower and while they are on high alert, their guard for predators tend to drop momentarily as fear shocks them when the thunder and lightning strikes, something more dangerous strikes too.

I sense wolves nearby, and I sense her too.

Fuck.

She has taken herself to the widest part of the river which leads to the drop off, and that is not good.

I can see her in the distance, her body crouched down, she’s terrified. Two wolves advancing on her, she stands suddenly.

Jesus, she’s wearing nothing but a pair of leggings and afuckk top. She’s on the opposite side of the river from me, she doesn’t see me. This might work in my favor. The wolves however, do see me, they take a step towards me, so I do the same. She takes a few steps back in fear, the earth caves, the soil too soft from the heavy rainfall and she plummets into the river. She doesn’t scream though. She claws, trying to grab onto anything to save her.

The wolves take one last look at me before darting back into the forest.

I win, for now.

I charge to the river, she’s struggling like crazy. The current has already dragged her to the middle and the undertow is dragging her down. One moment she's fighting and the next she gives up and rolls herself to her side, just in time to collide with a massive rock. It knocks her tFucke side, effectively knocking her unconscious.

That rock gave me the leverage I needed, I grab onto her pack with my canines and hoist her from the water, tossing her onto my back and taking off into the forest. The quickest way back to my place is straight through the trees. I know, I’ve done this hundreds of times. Just never with someone on my back. I slow just enough that she doesn't go flyifuckingme and into the trees.

It takes me about half an hour from her little detour but I get her back safely. I shift and catch her in my arms before she has a chance to fall.

“f**k” I whisper. She’s going to consume me. I stare down at her unconscious body, limp in my arms.

Carrying her up the stairs to my loft I lay her gently on the couch and go get the first aid kit. I clean the wound on her arm and wrap her ankle. Unsure how to proceed with her leg, I don’t want to remove her pants and have her think I’m a pervert. I opt for cutting her leggings and cleaning the wound and dressing it instead. I wrap a blanket around her and build a fire. She is going to get sick if she stays in her wet clothes but again, I don’t want to cross the line and risk her thinking I’m a pervert. So I’ll roast the place instead until she wakes up and can go take a shower.

I watch her closely as she sleeps, I worry she has a concussion, she hit that rock pretty hard. I won’t know for sure until she wakes up.

In the meantime, I decide to carve Mrs Gorsly a new walking stick. She desperately needs one. I grab a nice piece of wood from the pile and pick my knife up settling down in front of the fireplace I get to work. Fucknearly done with it before Hayley even moves.

“..no..”She groans, her brows furrowing together.

She’s having a bad dream.

Sweat breaks out over her forehead, I get up and walk over to her, placing the back of my hand on her forehead. She’s burning up. I pull back the blankets and see she’s soaking wet. The bandages are drenched on her leg and arm. I grab the thermometer from the first aid kit and stick it in the side of her mouth, checking her temperature.

“s**t f**k” I curse. 104.6

This is not good at all. I need to break the fever.

I go to the bathroom and begin filling the bathtub with freezing water, then to the kitchen. I grab all the ice trays from the freezer and dump them into the bath. Using the ice dispenser I fill a bucket and toss that in too, I keep doing it until there's no ice left to give.

I head back to the couch and gently pick Hayley up, her head lulls to the side as I carry her.

“I’m sorry but I have to take these off…” I say as I pull her leggings off her body, leaving her only in a pair of lacy panties. My c**k twitches in my jeans. I have to tell myself to f**k off. Her top is next. I peel the thin fabric over her head, leaving her in her sports bra. My eye catches a scar over her lower abdominal area. It’s about four inches long and jagged, it looks like it was made with a hunting knife and never healed right, if it was ever even stitched at all.

My stomach clenches tightly, the thought that someone hurt her makes me sick. I pick her up and carry her to the water, stepping inside so I am calf deep I place her down.

“No…Jason… please..” She begs, a small cry on her lips

I don’t know who Jason is but I want to rip his heart out. Even more so when my hand brfuckinggainst something on her back, I push her hair aside and see more scars, just like the one on her stomach. Four more identical ones.

“Jesus Christ” I grip the side of the tub so hard I swear the porcelain will crack. I have to remind myself to breathe. I lean into her hair and take a calming breath. Lemon and honey. My new favorite scent. The anger in me subsides a tiny bit, but only enough that I’m not going to tear apart my house.

I brush a lock of her red hair behind her ear. The sweat on her forehead is beading down the side of her face, which tells me her fever has not broken yet. I got up to see if the ice machine had produced any more ice yet.