Page 23 of Bear Haven
Chapter Six
Luke paced, hidden by the waterfall. He’d lost the scent of the panther in the woods between the Mayor’s hunting cabin and the bluff where Gus had waited. He was frustrated. Bone deep exhausted. And he could use a pretty hearty meal.
It wasn’t the first time and it wouldn’t be the last time that he wondered if he was waiting for something that was never going to happen. Were his instincts really that dull? They couldn’t be. But it was possible he’d pegged the cat wrong.
The other thing bugging him… The other shifters. He’d caught scents here and there. They kept their distance and he kept his, but they were present. He didn’t know who they were or where they’d come from and that unnerved him. He was out there alone and nothing was familiar.
He should’ve stayed on the Mayor, rather than detouring after Roan. There was something about their conversation from the cabin that seemed unfinished and he wanted to follow up.
Roan had trailed Beck just as he said he would and Luke had trailed Roan. But then he’d broken away and headed in the opposite direction, due east. Luke followed. Only now he wasn’t so sure that had been a good idea. It could’ve been a way to isolate him, leaving Beck and Gus vulnerable.
He had no answers, but he needed some and he needed them quickly, or he needed to get the hell out and back to Dandridge.
He stepped out of the shadows and into a sliver of sunlight. It felt good on his fur, soaking into his skin, his face. He exhaled with singular pleasure. There were few things he’d found worthy of gratefulness in life, especially the last year or so, but this simple thing, the sun and its heat, were enough to remind him that just being alive was enough.
Rustling pulled his attention to the side and down the face of the cliff. There was movement in the brush. He wasn’t sure what it was and until he was, remaining relatively unnoticed was the way to go.
The bushes fell still, rustled a few feet ahead, fell still again. A break in the foliage. A small, open spot and the animal came into view. Fuckin’ jackpot.
The panther. Roan.
And it was then that Luke realized he hadn’t been unnoticed at all because the large cat looked up, locked eyes for no longer than a moment before taking off at a dead run.
Shit.
Luke turned tail and ran back through the entrance to the waterfall and carefully maneuvered down the rocks to ground level. He took the same path he’d seen the panther take and every so often caught sight of it.
Up on the cliff, Luke had a general idea of location. His sense of direction was typically spot on, but the twists and turns at the breakneck pace the panther set left him confused and momentarily off center.
Away from roads and civilization, the forests and terrain of the eastern Tennessee mountains looked the same at mile one as it did at mile ten. Luke was both comforted and irritated by that fact.
Luke was smart enough to realize that by following the panther, he could be headed into a trap and if that turned out to be the case, it called to get him killed.
Coming to that grim realization wasn’t the highlight of his day. Was Bex worth dying for? Because they could say what they wanted, but she was the one the Mayor hated most and the one he’d probably want dead by any means necessary, not caring by whose hand it happened. Was protecting her and Gus and the rest of his pack worth dying for?
On the surface, no. No one bear shifter was worth his life. But as a whole, the safe survival of all shifters, donut addicted bears included, were.
And Luke had no doubt Gus and Bex, Michael even would sacrifice themselves for the survival of others. He hadn’t realized how that felt, that knowledge, until Bex had run to confront the Mayor and his cronies, heedless of her own safety.
Luke could honestly say some of his past actions in and around Deal’s Gap hadn’t endeared him to the wolves or cat shifters and he was fairly sure no one would shed a tear if something happened to him. Gus and Bex, though? Maybe they wouldn’t cry, but they’d damn sure avenge him and any of his pack.
He owed it to them, to the bears and to himself not to fuck this up, to follow the trail to whatever end. Living through it was preferable. Living through it, defeating the inherent and immediate dangers and continuing his quest of finding new places to explore, to mate, was more than preferable. Living through it and coming out the other side with some bit of happiness? That was the goal.
For now, he’d take the break that came in the form of the panther’s scent as it grew stronger with every step Luke took.
He crouched low, the fur of his belly brushing against leaves and the underbrush of the forest floor. He buried his muzzle in the ground, picking up many different scents that he didn’t recognize, but one he did.
“I wondered when you were going to catch up with me. I stopped and slowed down several times and you lagged behind. What were you doing? Trying to figure out where we were headed? I get it. I deliberately worked to confuse you until we got here.”
Luke stood and widened his stance. He was ready to pounce, to attack the man in front of him if provoked.
Panther.
“Put the fierce away. I believe we’re on the same side here. At least for the moment.”
Luke narrowed his gaze, unsure of trusting the shifter. He stood straight though and closed his mouth. But he didn’t shift. He definitely didn’t trust the cat that much.
He knelt down in front of Luke. The nakedness… All that flesh on display. The lean muscles, how well endowed… Luke just… It made him more uncomfortable than he wanted to admit, even to himself. However, he stood his ground and didn’t back off.
