Hansel's Bear (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tale) (22 page)

“
Do we need such a big
group? There’s only three men in charge of the operation.” Hansel
met the Sheriff’s gaze.

“
That may be, but we’ll
need help getting those animals taken somewhere safe. If they have
been in captivity and trained we can’t just let them out in the
wild.”

“
I can use the phone in
your office, Sheriff and see if I can track down the zookeeper at
Sacramento Zoo,” Gordon offered. “It’s not as large as San Diego
but I’m sure they would probably appreciate some animals with a
little special ability. And the animals will be safe and treated
well.”

“
I guess I hadn’t thought
much beyond getting back at the men who were responsible for
killing my family and imprisoning me and Greta,” Hansel
admitted.

“
Well, that’s what a
sleuth can do for you.” Rorke patted him on shoulder.

“
I’m starting to realize
that.” Hansel slapped his friend on the back.

The group split in two, some of them
headed with Hansel and Rorke toward the lawman’s office, while a
few went with the Sheriff to round up others.

Hansel couldn’t deny the excitement
racing through his blood like fire, he was finally going to have
his day of vengeance. The only shadow of it was where all of this
would leave him and Greta when it was over. If there would even be
anything left for them.

He had to believe there would
be.

~YH~

“
Greta, I don’t think you
have thought this through.”

Glancing at her friend, Greta took a
seat as she handed Ebony a glass of tea. “You keep saying
that.”

She and Ebony sat on the back porch of
her family’s cabin. Ebony had refused to allow Greta to ride home
alone when she came storming away from the group that had played
football and went to the office where she had parked her truck
before the game.

Not really a sports person, Ebony was
one of the bystanders cheering everyone on. Greta didn’t even
realize the other female had followed her until she climbed into
her truck and the passenger door opened and Ebony got
in.

“
Because it’s true. You
and Hansel have something really special. I saw that a few nights
ago at dinner here.”

“
Had something.” Greta
stared off into the woods. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t
like knowing a male’s feelings for me come second to his need for
violence…revenge.”

“
These men injured you and
took you away from your family. From what I know they did the same
to him.” Ebony placed a hand on her knee.

She looked to the side at her friend.
“But, it’s over. We are free. What if they capture him again or
hurt hi—?”

“
Ah, that’s what it is.
You’re afraid something will happen to Hansel.” Ebony squeezed her
knee then removed her hand.

A blink made Greta realize that she
was crying as twin tears dripped from her eyes and ran down her
cheeks. “I guess so. He was out of my life once…I am not sure if I
can survive it again.”

“
That was to protect you
then. Besides, he’s bigger and tougher now than the boy they
captured and the teenage male he was when he escaped. You have to
trust him to deal with this and come back to you.” Ebony lifted her
tea and drank.

Staring down into the amber liquid in
her glass, she wondered out loud. “To what?”

“
Excuse me?”

Greta sipped her tea and let her mind
roam for a moment.

“
What are talking about?
He’ll come back for love and a life with you.”

She set her glass on the
wicker table before them. “For how long, Ebony?” Greta rose and
walked to the railing. “What could I offer a were-male who has
lived on the fringes of society. Chasing excitement and challenge
as often as the wind changes direction. Soon this staid life that
we live in Den County wouldn’t hold him. Hansel would get bored and
desire to leave.” She shook her head and focused on the bounty of
Redwoods that were
home
to her. “Why would I want to set myself up for
such heartache?”

Ebony appeared beside her. “How could
you not? You love him…you told me you’re already mind linking with
him. I don’t think you have much of a choice.”

Facing her friend, Greta said, “I do.
It won’t be easy, but at the Bear Run if I find another male
willing to give me all three marks right then it can break the
connection I have with Hansel. I can have a life that’s
secure.”

As she shook her head, Ebony sighed.
“Don’t do that to yourself. Don’t do it to Hansel.”

“
It’s already done here,”
she tapped her temple. “Soon it will be he-r-e,” Greta placed a
trembling hand over her heart.

“
Oh…Greta.” Ebony stepped
forward and pulled her into an embrace.

For a few minutes Ebony allowed the
tears to fall unhindered. She mourned the loss of a mate she
yearned for and the fading dream of a life she imagined with
Hansel.

Greta took a deep breath. She pulled
herself together and stepped away. “Enough sadness.” With one hand
she swiped at the tear streaks on her face. “It is time to focus
our attention on something else.”

“
What’s that?” Ebony used
the back of her hand to wipe her own eyes.

“
Your
shifting?”

“
What?” Ebony reared back,
then moved away. “I can’t shift. Trust me I’ve tried.” A shadow of
sadness clouded her eyes.

“
Yes you have…alone.”
Greta put a gentle hand on her arm until Ebony met her gaze. “Now,
it’s time you let someone help you, Miss
I-can-do-all-things-alone.” Greta shook her head and stripped out
of the jeans, t-shirt and sweatpants she’d played football in.
“You’re just as stubborn as Hansel.”

“
Cause he has to deal with
you and your new-found charismatic view on life.” Ebony bumped
against her and teased.

Greta stuck her tongue out at her then
leaped over the railing, landing perfectly on her feet. “Stop
stalling and get your ass down here.”

With a growl, Ebony removed her
clothes and jumped the rail. “I’m here. Now what?” She fingered the
gray lock at the front of her hair and placed it behind her
ear.

Seeing the nervous gesture of her
friend, Greta spoke calmly. “Shifting doesn’t only happen in the
body, it takes place in the heart first then the mind.”

Placing her hands on her hips, Ebony
cocked her head to the side. “I’m not sure I understand what you
mean.”

“
Do you feel your bear
inside of you?” Greta placed a hand over her belly where she felt a
fluttering of her own bear shifting around restlessly.

Ebony’s hands clenched and unclenched.
“Yes.”

“
How does it make you
feel?”

“
Strange…odd.” Ebony
licked her lips. “But—”

“
But what?” She
pushed.

“
But not alone. In my
life, I’ve always felt alone until Dainton, Den and…” she placed a
hand over her stomach. “My bear.”

Greta smiled. “Good. We love you, and
you know Dainton loves you. More important than that…your bear is a
part of you. You all must be one. You have to allow it the freedom
to share in all things you feel, do, love and let it protect you
when it’s needed.”

“
How do I do that?” There
was a sound of desperation evident in Ebony’s words. “When unlike
you and Dainton I only discovered months back how different I
really was to everyone else around me.” She used one hand to rub
her arm as she stared off in the distance.

“
I’m sure it had to be
hard.” Greta whispered, not wanting to hinder the emotions Ebony
was so evidently struggling with.

“
You don’t know the half
of it.” Ebony looked at her, her eyes filled with troubled clouds
and sadness. “Being in the foster care system, you feel so alone.
Always. For me it wasn’t like some of the other kids whose parents,
even deadbeat ones, came to see them or finally got them back. I
knew no one was coming for me.”

“
Dainton told me about you
being in foster care until you ran away and lived on the
streets.”

“
And how I stole someone
else’s identity?” A broken, emotionless laugh came out.

Greta shrugged. “But later you made it
right.”

Ebony nodded.

“
What happened to your
family?”

“
My parents died.” Ebony’s
voice was flat, as if she’d spent years detaching herself from the
loss. “A social worker had left me in her office one day. I went
through my file and saw the first one. They were shot in the woods.
Found naked. Some campers realized that my mother, barely alive,
was pregnant. They cut me out of her.”

“
They saved you.” Greta
offered her a smile.

“
There were many nights
after being beaten, starved or just cold on the streets I wished
that they had let me die along with them.”

“
No, Ebony.” Greta hugged
her friend, not discouraged or put off by the fact they were both
nude. As shifters, nudity didn’t faze them on any level. “The Great
Spirit gave you a chance at life. Your parents would have wanted
that.”

“
Now I realize that.” The
pulled away from each other and Ebony took in a shuddering breath.
“Funny enough, when I read the file back then I thought my parents
were some weird, hippie-types. It wasn’t until I found out who I
was and came to Den and saw this,” she waved her hands between
them. “How often people are naked because they are going to shift
or shifted back that I realized they were probably in bear form and
out for a walk.” Ebony smiled.

Greta laughed. “True.”

Taking a deep breath, Ebony held her
hands out at her side. “Tell me how I get this bear to come
out.”

“
Your bear is you.” Greta
gave it to her straight.

Her friend frowned. “Okay.”

“
You have to envision what
you look like.”

Ebony’s lids lowered.

“
The things you can smell,
see and taste.” Greta continued to coax her. “Feel the wind in your
fur and the sound of the forest coming alive around you like you’ve
never imagined.”

Her friend’s body began to tremble, a
shimmer vibrated around the edges of her body--evidence of a shift
beginning to take place.

Greta understood that once Ebony got
the shift down, the transition would be smoother and practically
unnoticeable.

“
Ahhh! It hurts!” Ebony
cried out.

“
Breathe. Don’t fight
yourself, Ebony. Let the change happen,” she encouraged. “Show your
true self.”

Then it happened. One second Ebony’s
chest was rising high as she struggled to take in a deep breath,
then a dark brown bear with a silver Mohawk at the crown of her
head was before her.

“
Oh, my.” Greta laughed
and clapped. “You are one magnificent beauty.”

A roar erupted through the
forest.

“
I’m glad you agree. Now
let’s do some running and I’ll take you to my favorite back
scratching tree.” Greta shifted before her next breath was
complete.

Leading the way, she shared in the joy
of her friend and her new ability. Even as a part of her heart was
light with joy for Ebony, most of it was filled with the pain of
her life before her without Hansel in it.

Chapter
Ten

“
Which trailers belong to
the carny bastards?” Rorke stood next to him at the edge of the
woods that surrounded the open land where the traveling circus and
carnival had set up.

It appeared to be an old farm,
possibly a past cornfield Hansel imagined by the size of
it.

After two hours of
watching and waiting, the place was quiet now. Even the Ferris
Wheel was still. Every customer that had been there a couple hours
before paying to see the attractions and attempting to win prizes
from the rigged games from the small town a few miles away had gone
home. In the distance, Hansel could see a few RV’s, Winnebago and
trailers camped out for the night. He wondered if the small family
that had stopped in Den had made it. If they had
enjoyed
the
event.

Hansel swallowed down the sour taste
in his mouth. “The red with the gold embroidery around it belongs
to Jackal, the ringmaster.” He pointed to the one beside it. “That
green one with the black pin stripes is Bart, he’s the money man.”
He shifted his gaze past the brown and green drab trailers toward
the trailer before the dingy white tent where they hid the cages
and stalls of the animals. “That black one is Damian,” this time he
spit the acidic taste that flooded his mouth onto the ground. “He’s
mine.”

“
Should we split up?” Cord
asked.

Peering around through the dark,
Hansel met the gaze of all fifteen males and females that had
traveled with him from Den. He was overwhelmed by the support and
grateful to have them with him to take these men down. No matter
how much he had wanted to, he knew that he would not be able to do
this alone. Not and ensure the animals were cared for and he got
out alive. Before he reconnected with Greta he hadn’t cared about
his life, but he wanted to return back to her—even more than he
wanted these men to pay.