Page 84 of Handcuffed to the Bear

She unscrewed the top of the urn and opened the plastic bag inside.

“Goodbye, Wendy,” she said softly. She scattered the ashes over the side until they were all gone, vanishing into the glossy tops of the waves rolling against the boat’s side.

Jack put an arm around her, and Casey leaned into him. It was getting easier to accept comfort from other people—Jack, especially.

It had been two months since they’d nearly died on the island, and Casey felt like she was slowly starting to put her life back together. She’d reluctantly accepted Dr. Lafitte’s therapist recommendation, and was keeping a weekly appointment; she wasn’t really sure if it was helping, but it felt like she was at least doing something to manage her own mental health. She was volunteering three days a week at the clinic, which gave her something to do while she waited on the results of her application to the SCB.

She had intended to keep her own apartment for awhile, but after the first month, since she’d been over at Jack’s every night anyway, she’d capitulated to the inevitable and moved her things over to his place. No sense in draining her ever-shrinking bank account paying for an apartment she didn’t even live in, after all. She did insist on paying her share of Jack’s mortgage, at least until her savings ran out.

She was trying not to think of what she’d do after that, if the SCB turned her down. Get a job, she supposed. With her various secretarial skills, she was fairly well qualified to work in an office somewhere.

But the idea of being an SCB agent had gotten its hooks deep into her brain. She didn’twantto go back to filing paperwork and fetching coffee. Two years of devoting herself mind, body, and soul to a single purpose had apparently affected her more than she’d realized. She wanted a goal, sheneededa goal, and if she got turned down by the SCB, well, she’d just try again. She had managed to reinvent herself in two years from a waitress with no secretarial skills to the administrative assistant to the head of the company, after all, and if she had to put in the same amount of effort to get into the SCB, well then, she would do it.

She was already working on it. Jack was teaching her to handle a gun properly—they’d been having regular shooting practice at the SCB range, and she was getting pretty good with her little handgun, if she did say so herself. As her leg healed, she’d begun jogging, and while she couldn’t even remotely come close to keeping up with Jack, she was already doing a (very slow) mile every other day. She’d also started looking into gyms where she might learn some sort of martial arts.

“Doing okay?” Jack asked her softly, bringing her back to reality.

“Yeah. I’m all right.” She wiped her eyes, and was mildly surprised to find them dry. “I’m just glad we stopped those bastards from being able to hurt anyone else. I think Wendy would be proud.”

“Yeah.” Jack squeezed her. “I think so.”

“Hey, guys.” Eva pointed. “Look out there.”

A reef of long black backs and glistening dorsal fins broke through the water. Casey had to squint to see them at first, but they were coming closer—weaving playfully around each other, leaping in and out of the water like black-and-white darning needles.

“Are these your pod, Eva?” Casey asked.

“Yep. Suquamish orca shifters.”

One of the orcas jumped all the way out of the water, flipping over and splashing back down in a great cascade of spray. Eva waved. “Show-off,” she said fondly. “There’s another pod swimming with them today. Not shifters, I don’t think—just regular orcas. Us water-mammal shifters, the killer whales and dolphins and seals, stay on friendly terms with our animal cousins.”

The orcas reached the boat. They jostled around it, chirping and whistling. Casey had never realized orcas made any noise at all.

“They’ve been off giving the tourist boats a show,” Eva said, hanging over the side. “No, Ma, I can’t go swimming with you right now. How would these nice folks get back to shore?”

“You can talk to each other when you’re shifted!” Casey exclaimed.

“Certainly we can.” Eva looked back at her. “Want to take your clothes off and go swimming with some orcas?”

Casey looked warily over the edge at the waves rolling against the side of the boat. “Isn’t it a little cold?”

“You think bad guys are going to care if the water’s cold before they push you in? With all these orcas around, you can’t drown. Now would be an excellent time to start learning some deep-water survival skills, Trainee McClaren.”

It took a moment for the import of that casual statement to sink in. Then she gave a yell of sheer delight. “I’m in! They accepted my application!”

Eva nodded, smiling.

Casey flung her arms around Jack’s neck and kissed him. Then she pulled back with a scowl. “Wait. Did you know?”

“Well, Iwasplanning a nice dinner to surprise you with the news.” Jack shot Eva a glare, only partly feigned. “Until someone decided to spill the beans early.”

Casey kissed him again, tasting sea salt on his lips. “That’s okay, I’ll happily take you up on that celebration dinner when we get back to shore.” She leaned closer and nipped at his ear. “And other sorts of celebration activities.”

Jack kissed the side of her jaw and her neck, and curled his hand lightly around her left wrist, making her shiver. “It’s a promise,” he whispered.

“Guys!” Eva protested in a playful tone. She pointed at a pair of curious smaller orcas nosing alongside the boat. “There are children present. Get a room.”

Casey stopped with her fingers on the buckles of her life vest. “I hope their parents don’t mind if I take my clothes off, do they?”

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