Page 37 of The Bear's Forever Mat
It had been a couple of years since she’d donned the equipment, but she’d trust that muscle memory would kick back in. Cooper carefully took off his clothing and tied the bundle onto her pack before helping her into the harness for the kite. “Take a break when you need to,” he told her. “Plus you have to keep an eye on the GPS, because my bear’s not too good with technology.”
She strapped the device on her wrist and checked to make sure she could read it before giving him the go-ahead. “Stay out of my way if I really get trucking,” she warned. “It’ll take me a while to get warmed up, but I’m sure it’s kind of like falling off a bicycle.”
Cooper was still chuckling as he shifted, his big bear-self stretching lazily before giving a huge shake. He lifted his gaze.
Amber was weighed down with the backpack, tied into the ropes of her harness. That was the only reason why she didn’t slip over to his side to give Cooper the bear a hug.
She truly felt no fear.
Of course, there were no guarantees if he snuck up on her and stuck his big cold nose against her neck. No one should be expected to keep their cool under those circumstances.
She smiled at him, though. “Definitely cute.”
He rolled his eyes.
Amber laughed, got her skis lined up properly, and then removed the extra supplies she’d used to pin the parachute fabric of the kite to the ground.
A gust caught the edge of the fabric, lifting it briefly. Amber tugged carefully, and the air currents swooshed in and filled the large rectangle. It angled upward, higher and higher, until the full force of the strong wind took control.
She leaned back in a counterbalance and let herself be pulled forward over the broad field of tundra before her.
For the first five minutes, Amber concentrated on remembering how to work the controls. How to brace her knees as she leaned against the kite’s pressure for maximum effect with minimal effort.
When she finally hit that sweet spot—the place where it was as close to flying as she could imagine—she felt comfortable enough to look around.
Cooper was to her right, bounding across the snow with his powerful muscles eating up the distance. For a large animal he moved gracefully, a predator in his home environment.
She could’ve watched him all day.
Her skis rattled on the ice-crusted snow. The wind pushing her was obviously a familiar part of the terrain, and she set the metal edges of her skis at an angle to aim at the GPS coordinates.
They travelled for nearly an hour before the landscape changed. A series of low hills rose and fell in front of her, and for a moment Cooper vanished from sight.
Amber glanced back to discover he’d slid into position behind her and was now in chase mode. Hot on her heels, Cooper’s mouth hung open in an enthusiastic grin. She laughed, turning to check where she was going. The kite tugging on her arms made her shake with effort, but every bit of her felt so alive.
A strange low thumping started in her ears. She glanced to the right as they approached the top of another hill.
Out of nowhere, a helicopter rose into sight. It spun toward them, angling in a high-speed course correction.
Amber tugged the cables controlling her kite to stay out of the helicopter’s flight path. It seemed strange that there would be tourists this far north, but perhaps—
The side doors slid open. To her horror, someone braced in the doorway, a long, wicked rifle pointed toward Cooper.
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Everything changed so rapidly, Cooper barely had time to react.
One moment he was having the time of his life, running to the full extent of his bear’s strength after Amber. The next moment there was a helicopter, and a flash of light shone down on him that struck him as Not A Good Thing.
Amber’s in danger.
He wasn’t sure if the thought was his or his bear’s. Adrenaline struck, and the instinct to protect was everything. Cooper sprinted toward Amber, trying to get between her and the rapidly approaching vehicle.
He didn’t expect her to hit the emergency release on her parachute, coming to an abrupt stop on her skis as the kite fabric fluttered away in the distance like an escaped balloon at a fair.
Amber hit the ground, smacking at her feet as if they were on fire. He’d continued to close the distance between them, attention wavering between the helicopter and her. He wanted to snarl at the intruders. He wanted to rip them apart and keep her safe, but before he could do anything like get in front of her and raise his claws, she popped up and raced across the snow toward him.
