Page 7 of Polar Destiny
"The Drowning destroyed our villages. Some of us moved further into the mountains, leaving behind the fjords that got overwhelmed by the sea. After a while, my sleuth and I decided we didn't want to stay. So we came to Scotland, to see the lands our ancestors had roamed. Of course, it looked different back then. Green hills instead of the ocean, rugged peaks instead of islands. We travelled from island to island, looking for traces of anything that would tell us where the bear shifters would have lived. But time and the Drowning have erased most of the evidence. We wandered for a long time, until we met a family, living on their own on a tiny island that would have once been part of the Isle of Skye on the West coast. They told us of a place called Coire nam Brach, the Corrie of Bears. A mountain turned into an island. We didn't find anything, but now that we had found one Gaelic place name related to bears, we had a new aim. I was surprised how many people here still speakGaelic."
"My mother was fluent in it," I interrupt. "But she never got the chance to teachme."
Torben waits for a moment, but when I don't say anything else, hecontinues.
"We found a cave on Lag nam Brach, meaning Bear’s Hollow, half flooded, which looked like shifters had once lived in it. And finally, we heard about Inchbrach, Bear Island. We've been here for a few months now, looking for clues. Not that I have much hope, not after all the other failed attempts. And we don’t even know if this is the right island. It’s not like there are proper maps of Scotland post-Drowning. But winter arrived, so we decided to stay fornow."
"Why don't you stay in your bear form all the time during winter? Wouldn't it beeasier?"
"When we let our bears out... it changes us. Makes us more feral, wild, driven by instincts. The longer we stay bears, the less human webecome."
"Oh." That's all my brain lets me come upwith.
We sit there quietly after that, staring into the fire. While the warmth is comfortable, my ankle starts playing up again. When I try to move my leg further away from the fire and wince in the process, Torben immediately gets up and goes outside, returning with more snow. My previous ice pack melted a while ago - probably not a good idea to use it next to afire.
"Let's get you more comfortable," Torben says softly, and I look up at him, surprised by the gentleness in his voice. Maybe this bear can be cuddly after all. "Do you want to sleep down here or on the mattressupstairs?"
"I'd choose upstairs, but I don't think I'll get up the ladder with myankle..."
"If you want to sleep in the attic, you'll sleep in the attic. Don't worry, we'll get youthere."
He carefully lifts me up; his strong arms slipping under my knees and my shoulders. I shiver a little at his touch. I’m not used to being touched this much, but I’m beginning to like it. He presses me against his chest and I cansmellhim. Pine trees, snow, a hint of woodruff. I don't know how bears smell, but I imagined it to be different from this masculine, delicious scent. Did I say delicious? Didn't mean it,promise.
When we reach the ladder, he shifts me until I sit on his back, my injured ankle in front of him where he can see it. I'm amazed at how considerate he is. Rung by rung, we ascend the ladder. When we reach the hole in the ceiling that leads to the attic, Torben uses one hand to carefully bend my leg to keep my ankle from bumping against thewood.
Finally, I'm on the bed. My ankle is burning now. Torben readjusts the snow pack, but it isn't helping as much as before. Maybe it was a bad idea to climb up here. Why did I want to sleep upstairs again? Oh yes, having some privacy away from the men. Which makes sense. Did make sense. But now it'spainful.
Torben is sitting on the floor, his back leaning against the mattress. My hands are itching to add more braids into his pale blond hair. He really rocks the Viking look. All he needs now is an axe and a longboat. That makes me think, how did they get to the island? Do they have a boat somewhere? Or did they swim asbears?
Finally the pain in my ankle lessens a little. On the downside, the cold of the snow has started to make me shiver. The thin blanket Torben put over me isn't enough to keep out the cold air up here. A fire would be nice. By now I'm totally regretting my decision. Give me warmth over privacy anytime.
"You're shivering." Torben has turned around and is looking at me. That fold between his eyes has returned. "I'll get you somefurs."
While he climbs down the ladder, I drag the blanket around me, trying to get more warmth from it. Worst. Decision. Ever. In a way, though, it's his fault, too. He didn't have to listen to my bad ideas. By the way, isn't he going to have to shift soon? He's been human for quite a while now, and if it's true what he said, it can't be comfortable to force himself to stay in this form forlong.
Torben's head pops up in the opening. "Húnn will be coming soon to stay withus."
"How did you... is hedownstairs?"
"We can communicate telepathically when we're in our bearforms."
Of course they can. Sillyme.
"So did you just shift when you were downstairs?" Iask.
"No. As the sleuth leader, I can do some basic communication with the others while I'mhuman."
That's pretty neat. Although, not sure I'd want to be able to be contacted by my sleuth leader when I was running around free as a bear. Privacy and all that. But I don't think these bears seem to have a concept of that. I mean, they only have one bed. How do they usuallysleep?
"Don't you have to shiftsoon?"
"I'll manage for a bit longer while we're waiting for Húnn." His body is tense, and that crease on his forehead is getting more pronounced. "Here are your furs, let's try and get you warm." He's deflecting, but as long as I get warm and he won't turn into a bear and eat me, I don't care. I'm still shivering. He wraps the furs around me, careful not to touch myankle.
"I've also asked Húnn to get us some moresnow."
"Is that really necessary? I'm socold."
"You know what? Let's break the rules." And with that, he tears off his shirt. Wow. I didn't expect that. And I'm not quite sure what to think of it. What is he planning? It's nice of him to give me this view - he's not as broad-shouldered as Ràn, but his chest is more toned and refined. I could count his abs, if I wanted. Which I don't. When he removes his belt and fiddles with the button on his jeans, I look away. It's better for my sanity. Even though he's getting naked while I'm lying defenceless in bed, I don't feel scared. Maybe I should. But somehow I trusthim.
