Page 35 of Renaissance Bear

"That's what she said! No wonder she thought it was funny!" Alis hesitated. "Could you…could you do it again one more time?"

His expression softened. "Yeah, of course. Anything you want." He stepped back a little, like he thought she needed more room—and he might have been right—and then shifted again, a huge shaggy bear gazing soulfully at her from the security room.

Alis held herself very still for a moment, then stepped forward, cautiously offering the back of her hand, like she wouldwith a dog. Jonwhuffed, which she guessed might be like a bear's laugh, and put his nose under her hand. She curled her fingers in the short fur there, astonished at how thick it was, and how soft itwasn't. Rough, stiff, protective, more than soft. Heart hammering, she scritched her way up his nose into the short thick fur on his head, which was deep enough to sink her fingers into.

His skull washuge. Even with her hand spread all the way out, it barely encompassed half of the bear's head, not even reaching from ear to ear. He did tilt his head into it, though, and Alis could tell he was being careful not to lean too hard. Even so she had to brace herself against the weight, but she gave the top of his head a good scratching and the bear—Jon—rumbled with contentment.

"God. Good thing I know you're happy," she said. "That would be a terrifying sound to come across otherwise."

The bear cocked his head to look up at her apologetically again. Not all that far up, really. His head was about at her collarbones. Alis was stricken by the sudden urge to push his lip back and look at his teeth, so she did, and Jon's expression went from apologetic to indignant.

Alis was fairly certain hers went from curious to 'oh god I wish I hadn't done that.' His teeth were massive. She tilted sideways a bit to look down at his feet, and gave a high-pitched laugh. His claws were even bigger. Or equally big. She didn't know how bear teeth and claws worked out, proportionally. It didn't matter, because either way, they were really big. "Okay," she said faintly. "I think I'm…I'm good now…"

Jon shifted back, and somehow she was pressed right up against him, her fingers still in his hair. Eyes wide, she said, "No offense, but I think I like you better this way."

"That's fine," he said with a smile. "I spend way more time as a human anyway. Are you okay?" His eyebrows drew down with concern. "This wasn't how I wanted to tell you."

"Howdidyou want to tell me?"

"I…" Jon screwed his face up and shrugged. "I don't know. Not at a crime scene, anyway. Like, I'm not sure there's a romantic way to say 'hey, by the way, I'm also a bear,' but…this is definitely not it, if there is."

Alis couldn't help a quick laugh. "No, I guess there might not be a great way to do it. Okay, well, does this mean…" She disentangled herself, because it was somewhat difficult to think when pressed all up against Jon's body like that. "Does this mean the 'right' authorities are also shifters? How do you run a town with shifters in it if the police don't all know?"

Jon sighed. "Carefully. Therearetrue humans who know about us and help us keep our secrets, and it helps that it's…"

"Not very believable?"

Jon shrugged agreeably. "Basically, yeah. You wouldn't have believed me if I hadn't shown you, and we don't usually go around showing people, so…we're kind of like cryptids. Some people know the truth, others suspect it but everybody thinks they're crazy, and most people don't know at all."

"That must be a hard way to live," Alis said with a sudden burst of sympathy.

"It's not, mostly. Mostly it's great, honestly. Especially in a big family like mine, where we can all just be comfortable with each other and go honey-hunting together."

"I pity the beehives!"

"It's much easier to go to the farmer's market and buy a jar!"

Alis laughed, completely taken by surprise. "Is that what you usually do?"

"Obviously!"

"Well, I know what I'm getting you for Christmas!" Alis looked around and sighed. "Right after we figure out what's going onnow."

Chapter 16

Our mate will be with us at Christmas, Jon's bear said happily.She wants to stay.

Jon wanted to believe it was as simple as that, but had to shake his head at the bear.That's just a thing people say. It doesn't mean anything.

The bear looked skeptical, but didn't argue. Jon was grateful: he wasn't sure he could handle solving a crime and arguing with his bear at the same time. As it was, he and Alis returned to the front room of the city hall, both of them gazing around in dismay. "There was obviously a fight," Alis said quietly. "You think it was between shifters?"

"I don't know. As far as I know, the mayor is a true human." Which meant there could have been a murder, not just a fight. But he didn't want to say that aloud. "We should ask if anybody has seen him since Friday afternoon, anyway."

As he spoke, the front door, which had closed behind them, swept open again. Hope leaped in his heart, but a woman came through, took one look around, screamed, and ran out again. A few seconds later Jon heard her on the phone, calling the police and saying the culprits were still inside. Alis immediatelygrabbed her phone and called 911, too, her voice shaking with real emotion as she said, "My friend and I just walked into City Hall and it's been robbed? I don't know, but it's a mess and nobody's here and I think there's blood? No, I'm not from here. My friend is, Jon Torben? My name is Alis Capellas, I'm with the faire. Jon and I came over to talk to the mayor this morning but he's not here?—"

Jon could hear the dispatcher's voice sharpen at his name. Hopefully that meant they knew he was a shifter and would send somebody who knew about Renaissance's secret community. Alis was still talking, her voice getting faster and more panicked. "—looks like a wild animal scratched things up? Are there wild animals running around Renaissance? I'm from Bethesda! The biggest animals we have are deer and raccoons! They don't scratch up hardwood!"

Now the dispatcher was calming Alis down. She winked at Jon while he cast one more glance at the dead security cameras, then tilted his head toward the door. Alis went to watch it, pushing it most of the way closed, and Jon took a few seconds to shift and compare the claw marks on the reception counter to his own paw.

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