Winston (BBW Bear Shifter Wedding Romance) (Grizzly Groomsmen Book 3) (41 page)

All these thoughts rushed through Karina’s mind as she sat staring at the bear. But she was hardly anything over five feet tall, and the bear had to be eight long at least. If it raised itself onto its hind legs, it could just topple down and crush her. Keeping still was both the best and only option, for Karina found that she was too frightened to move. She kept her gaze locked with the deep eyes of the bear, willing it not to come any closer.

And it didn’t. The bear stayed exactly where it was, watching her with its own wary expression. Something her mother had once said came back to her in that moment, when Karina had found a mouse in their cabin on a Fairhaven holiday years ago.
Animals are more afraid of you than you are of them.
Man was the biggest predator the grizzly bear had to face, and this one seemed to have learned to keep its distance from other people. Karina continued to study the creature and it looked straight back at her with the same wary curiosity. Perhaps it was just looking for food.

“I finished my dinner a while ago,” she told it in a shaking voice, “and I don’t think you’d like my protein bars. Sorry buddy, I don’t have anything to give you.”

The bear cocked its head strangely, as if it was actually listening. Karina saw the flash of gold in its eyes as its massive head shifted. Its fur seemed dark by the light of the stars, and now that she was calm enough to observe it, the creature seemed a little thinner than she’d have expected. She felt bad then, about not having any food to give it, but at the same time she didn’t really want the creature to come any closer. If it tried to forage in her tent, the whole thing would be destroyed, and then she’d have to retreat to the hut and face Reinicke with her tail between her legs.

Karina ran her fingers over the radio, still in her pocket. This was exactly the sort of thing she ought to call him about: a bear coming too close to human settlements. But at that moment, the grizzly heaved itself around and began to retreat into the trees. It was a long time later, when she was certain that it was gone, that Karina managed to settle down and get some sleep.

Between them, Karina and Bud finally made sense of their maps. There was a short path back to the south which connected with a roadway into the main park, and they could get there in about two hours. Bud was grateful for the company, and he didn’t shut up about how pleased he was to be able to tell Susie he’d spent a night out in the wild. Karina hadn’t dared to tell him about the bear. She figured it might spoil his high a little if he felt he’d missed out on seeing it, plus he’d be nervous the whole way back if he thought that a grizzly was somewhere nearby. Karina herself had got to grips with her nerves, feeling like her calm standoff with the creature was a genuine achievement. She really was at one with nature now.

“Well, this is where I leave you,” Karina said, eyeing the sight of the road ahead.

“You sure you won’t come back with me?” Bud asked her. “I’d love to invite you to meet Susie. She’d cook us a fabulous dinner on the barbeque, to say thanks you know?”

Karina shook her head. It was tempting to just walk down the roadway back into civilization, but she wanted another day’s challenge at least. She was just finding her feet and her sense of direction, after all.

“I’ll look you up when I get back down to the main park, I promise,” she told Bud.

“Please do. We’re here ‘til Saturday,” he replied.

They shook hands, and he wrung her wrist with such gratitude that Karina felt her arm aching after he’d let go. She waved Bud off, watching his thin frame as he receded towards the horizon, fading out of her journey just as he’d faded into it. It had been nice to have a friend for a while, but now she had to move on alone and really feel the solitude she’d been searching for. As she turned to leave, however, she heard the rumble of a car coming up the road.

“Turning back?” called a voice nearby. “Why am I not surprised?”

Karina felt her gut twist. She turned angrily to the sight of the approaching Land Rover, and sure enough there was a handsome face sticking his head out of the window. Reinicke looked less sullen than usual, his set jaw replaced by a smug smile. She wasn’t sure which expression was more infuriating. Both of them got her right in the chest, making her throat dry when she tried to reply.

“Actually,” she began, clearing her throat, “I was just guiding a quitter back to civilization. You’ll find him a little ways down the track. His name is Bud and he could use a ride back to his wife at the campsite.”

The car had slowed to a stop beside her. Reinicke quirked a tawny brow.

“You telling me my job now?” he crooned.

“Someone clearly needs to,” Karina shot back, “or else you’ll be wasting your day offering your help to girls who don’t need it.”

Reinicke pouted a little, then nodded.

“Message received,” he said. “Although, I’d take Route 16 from this point, if I were you. It’s gorgeous at the riverside around lunchtime.”

Karina chewed on her lip for a moment.

“I’ll consider it,” she said.

Before his window rolled up, Karina could have sworn she caught the ghost of a smile on Reinicke’s lips.

***

He was annoyingly right about Route 16. It was a nice walk, not too challenging, but by no means easy, and Karina had a real sense of achievement by the time she hit the river. At midday, the sun directly overhead meant that you could see straight down into the crystal waters, and she sat on a rock to watch the shoals of fish that were swimming by under the surface. She had situated herself in the shade, resting up and filling up with water and protein bars, but the day was still remarkably hot. Sweat had soaked right through her clothes and her head felt a little heavy with the heat.

Part of the river here broke off into a separate pool which most of the fish avoided, and it looked about twice as deep as a bathtub. Karina navigated the rocks to reach the shady little pool, dipping a hand into the still water. It was blissfully cool, and she scooped up some water to splash against her face. The relief from even a handful of the water was too tempting, and she knew what she had to do. Karina stood up, kicking off her shoes, and stripped off her sweat-soaked clothes, even her underwear.

Here, she was alone and free, and it was wonderful to sink her naked body into the pool and feel cool all over. She paddled around a little and breathed a sigh, even dipping her hair into the water to rinse out the sweat. This was the life. She hadn’t had a phone-call in days, and there were no pressures or other people’s dramas to deal with. She could just be herself here. And yet, she wished that there was someone with her, so that she could say “Isn’t this wonderful?” and hear them agree. It was a perfect moment, one that would have been so much better if it was shared.

The snap of a branch brought her out of her reverie, and she looked in the direction of her pack. The bear with the shining eyes was back.

“Oh man,” she said to it without even thinking. “Don’t you dare. That food’s gotta last me another day at least, and I don’t want you ripping my bag open.”

The grizzly definitely had the claws to do it, but when he reached her bag, the bear did not try to get into it. He stepped over her discarded clothes and walked right past her, dipping his head to drink from the busier part of the river. Karina swam around, watching the creature with interest. He was so placid, yet totally independent of her. He didn’t seem to fear her like he had before. Now, she was just part of the scenery.

When she was fully cooled down, Karina ventured out of the pool. The bear, who had been glancing in her direction every so often, promptly turned its back as she emerged from the water. She stifled a laugh, rummaging in her bag for new clean clothes to put on.

“I’m just gonna say it,” she began playfully, “you’re a really weird bear.”

She wasn’t expecting another snap of a branch, nor the sudden voices which followed it. Panicked, Karina threw on her panties and desperately searched for more clothes, a chill rushing through her as she heard two male voices approaching from somewhere nearby. Any second, the pair of hikers would appear and see her frantic half naked form.

“Shit, shit, shit…” she mumbled, throwing things to and fro as she fumbled for a t-shirt.

Her panic appeared to have alerted the bear. Just as she managed to scramble into her shirt, two figures appeared through the trees to her left, and the bear made a leap from her right. Karina yelped, shocked by the sudden vaulting force of the wild animal as it jumped clean over the pool she’d been in, right into the path of the oncoming strangers. A low growl began to erupt from the creature, and Karina covered her mouth before another yelp could escape her.
 

“Whoa!” cried the first of the strangers, a young man with hiking sticks and khaki shorts.

“D-don’t w-worry miss,” stammered his equally youthful companion. “W-we’ll, w-w-w-we’ll scare this bear off f-f-f-for you.”

As if they could. Karina watched as the bear reared up onto its hind legs and let out a massive roar that rocked the whole area. She felt her damp body shiver with the force of the sound, combined with the sudden shrieks of the men. The strangers turned and ran at once, not even sparing her a second glance. She could have been mauled to death, for all they knew. Karina sighed, then jumped a little as the bear landed back on all fours with a thud.

“Geez,” she mused, “they’d have left me for dead. I guess there aren’t any gentlemen left in the world, huh?”

The bear glanced her way, those shining golden rings locked with hers for a moment. Karina felt something spark in her heart, and she quirked a brow. No. The thought that had
almost
hit her was impossible, almost totally unheard of. And yet. She stepped towards the bear, still studying his glowing gaze, reaching one hand out towards his massive head. Her whole body grew tense the closer she got, and yet she felt a wave of heat between them, a radiance that made her feel strangely safe.

“You can’t be an ordinary bear,” she reasoned softly.

Before she could touch him, the bear made a dash for it. He shook the ground as he deftly spun and scrambled back the way he had come, vanishing into the thickest trees before Karina had a chance to see where he was going. Her hand was still hovering in the air, waiting to touch him. She sighed again, and went back to searching for the rest of her clothes. Somewhere above her, the sky had sheathed itself with silver clouds, making the day darker and more humid than it had been before. Karina fumbled for her waterproof, fearing rain, but all the while her mind was on the golden gaze of the creature who had just fled the scene.

“Attention. Attention. Are you picking this up?
Bad driver lady
, come in. This is urgent.”

It took Karina a good long while to realize where the low, dry voice was coming from. Reinicke had never even had the decency to learn her name, and Karina felt somewhat inclined to leave him hanging as his voice rattled through on the radio. It was much later in the day, approaching evening, and the crystal clear rain had been falling solidly for a good hour now. Karina clutched the radio in one damp hand, watching droplets flick off the speaker as the voice came through again.

“Please answer me,” Reinicke said, “so I know that you’re safe.”

His tone was softer the second time, so much so that, on anyone else, Karina might have called the sound tender. It gave her one of those funny gut twists that she was rapidly learning to ignore. She held down the button on the side of the radio, holding it a little unsurely to her lips.

“What do you want, Ranger Boy?” she asked.

There was a sound of static at the other end. A sigh of relief? Karina couldn’t be sure, and she couldn’t stop herself from thinking that’s what it was.

“Listen, there’s a massive thunderstorm imminent,” Reinicke said, his tone suddenly darker. “I need you to get to the outpost before it hits. I’m here waiting, but I’ll come out and get you if-”

“No, no,” Karina said at once, “I can make it there. I’m not having any problems with the maps now, thank you.”

“Now?” Reinicke repeated, catching the word. “When were you having trouble?”

He sounded amused again now, and it made Karina grumble. She clasped the radio tighter.

“The outpost is marked off Route 12, right?” she said, glossing over his teasing question.

“Right,” he replied, “where are you now?”

“Never you mind,” she told him firmly. “I’m near. Gimme an hour at most.”

The last thing she needed was him trying to come to her rescue again, no matter how unpleasant the climate was getting. Underfoot, the dry earth had gradually soaked up the water, creating a muddy layer that slipped and slid beneath her boots. The world overhead was much darker than usual too, making the trees look sinister and full of shadows. When Karina consulted her map, the large droplets of water threatened to tear a few holes in the weak paper, but she managed to make out the marker for the outpost. The swiftest way to it was to climb the next hill and walk the ridge between that peak and the one on which the outpost stood.

That had seemed easy on paper. Karina had neglected to consult the difficulty level when she planned this sudden, rain-drenched route, and it took her the whole hour to reach the top of the considerable peak, which had looked fairly easy on the map. Still, when she reached the top, her body heavy with rainwater, she squinted through the drizzle to see the faint outline of the outpost. It was a wooden structure no bigger than an RV, built into the high hillside of the neighboring mountain. The weather up at the top was too poor to see much of it, even though it wasn’t that far away. All that stood between her and the outpost was a narrow walkway, no wider than two feet.