Page 35 of A Bear's Nemesis

“Not all humans can control themselves,” Julius said. He sounded more terse than he meant to, but he felt defensive. After all, the wild, oversexed, out-of-control shifter was something that people like Quinn’s parents loved to talk about.

She didn’t really seem to notice, though, and instead she drained her glass, then set it gently on the blanket, where it fell over immediately on the uneven ground. A single red drop rolled out and onto the blanket.

“What does going feral mean?” she asked suddenly.

Julius and Hudson looked at each other across the blanket. Julius could practically read his mate’s face: You answer, it said. You’re the one who knows what he’s talking about.

“My parents talked about it,” she apologetically.

“It’s what happens when a shifter stays an animal for too long,” he said, simply. “If you’re a bear for a long time, it gets harder and harder to shift back.”

Quinn’s eyes widened, but then she frowned. “Is that bad?” she asked. “Couldn’t you just... become a bear?”

“Even in bear form, we don’t think like bears,” Julius reminded her. “We’re a lot smarter, for one thing. And we still know things from our human lives.”

“People in their animal form for too long get a little crazy,” Hudson joined in. “They cause a lot of havoc.”

“Do you remember that lion that attacked a school bus full of children in Meriweather last year?” Julius asked.

“Of course,” Quinn answered. “My parents had a field day with that.”

“He was feral,” Julius answered. “He wouldn’t shift back for weeks. It finally took his mate, who he’d left, begging him to shift back.”

“He almost couldn’t,” Hudson said, quietly.

Quinn’s eyes narrowed just a little, and she looked from Julius to Hudson.

Shit,thought Julius. She knows there’s something.

I wish she were less perceptive.

“What else?” she asked.

The two men traded glances again.

“One of my cousins went feral,” Julius said softly. “Her name was Olivia.”

“That’s a nice name,” Quinn offered.

“It pretty much wrecked her family,” Julius said. “Her parents died a little while back, and her brother Kade is still...”

He trailed off, not really sure how to explain Kade.

“Kade is still working through some things,” said Hudson.

“Where’s Olivia?”

Julius shrugged. “She could be anywhere. Every time there’s an alleged grizzly sighting, Kade gets excited and tracks it down. So far they’ve all been real bears, though.”

Quinn stared at the blanket, slowly twisting it between her fingers.

“That must be awful,” she finally said.

Julius shrugged. “It is,” he said.

Then he stood up and stretched. Anything to break off the questions about Kade and poor Olivia.

“Anything else you want to know about shifters?” he asked.

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