* * *
Madison shriekedas Mack dropped to his knees. What happened next, she couldn’t reconcile. Brown fur sprouted from every inch of his skin. His clothes ripped and shredded as his legs transformed. For a second, she thought she was hallucinating. The ear-splitting roar infused every muscle in her body with adrenaline. Her mind screamed—run!—but her feet refused to cooperate. She stood mute with her jaw hanging open as an enormous grizzly bear emerged from a haze offlyingsnow.
Ben stepped back as the bear approachedhim. “Wha—?”
The bear stood on his hind legs. Huge black paws tipped with wicked-looking claws raked the air. When he dropped to all fours, the earthtrembled.
Madison backed up a few more steps. The grizzly turned and stalked toward her. Her heart pounded in terror. She’d heard of werewolves and had laughed them off as a myth, but bears?Noway.
The closer the bear got to her, the more her stomach clenched. Icy fingers of fear scraped down her back. This couldn’t be Mack. But if it wasn’t, then what had she justwitnessed?
The grizzly stopped less than three feet from her. Frosted air streamed from its nostrils as it huffed. It cocked its head to one side and regarded her with the same hazel-colored eyes as Mack’s. Was he in there? Did he want to hurt her? Why wasn’t heattacking?
She struggled to remember what to do in the event of a bear attack. In Seattle, she hadn’t ever worried about running into a bear, so she had no idea whattodo.
Ben yelled, “Leave her alone,beast.”
The bear whipped around, moving faster than she would have expected. As it stalked toward Ben, it snarled. The second it turned its back to her, her gaze darted around, searching for a place to hide. The bear stood between her and the house. If she tried to run for it, the bear would be on her inseconds.
She chose the only viable option she had and sprinted toward the trees. After ducking behind a tall pine, she pressed her back against the rough bark and listened for the sound of pounding paws. An eerie silence settled over the forest, as if all the other creatures realized there was a predator in theirmidst.
When she’d finally caught her breath, she turned and held onto the tree with one arm while she leaned out to look back at the bear. Its head twisted toward her. Teeth the size of steak knives with razor-sharp points filled its mouth. She wouldn’t survive a single bite, and neitherwouldBen.
She spotted Ben inching back toward his truck. Good, at least he wasn’t a complete moron. Fighting the bear would be suicidal. Even though she hated Ben for what he’d done, she didn’t want to see him ripped apart by amonster.
The bear advanced toward Ben. Each step left a huge divot of snow in its wake. Saliva gleamed from its teeth before falling onto its matted fur. She had no doubt about its intent. It wanted tokillBen.
In a rush of blind fury, it charged Ben. It got within a foot of the cowering man before it skidded to a stop. It leveled its mouth to Ben’s face and roared. Ben quaked as he backed into the truck. With nowhere left to hide, he faced the full brunt of thebear’sfury.
As the bear raised one paw, its claws glistened in the moonlight. One swipe would instantly kill Ben. She couldn’t stomach the idea of watching him die. Sure, he was a complete jackass, but she didn’t wanthimdead.
“Wait!” She jumped out from behindthetree.
The bear dropped its paw and turned to face her. Even with a space of thirty feet between them, she could see the intelligence in its eyes. Somehow, Mack had to be inthere.
As she took another step, the bear matched her stride. At least it was moving away from Ben. If she could distract the bear long enough, Ben could jump into the truck and get away. She’d figure out how to escape the creature later. Right now, she had tosaveBen.
“Mack?” she asked,tentatively.
The bear huffed inresponse.
“Let Ben leave. He knows better than to come backherenow.”
“I’m not leaving you here with that thing!” Benyelled.
“Get in the truck. I don’t have a good place to hide, butyoudo.”
The soft click of the truck’s door sounded a second before the small light in the cab flicked on. The light and sound distracted the bear for asecond.
She yelled, “Wait! Bear! Come over here. Leave himalone.”
The bear looked from her to Ben and back. It snarled in Ben’s direction, which sent him scurrying into the cab. He slammed the door before frantically pressing on the lock. Now that he was safe, she hoped to God he had enough sense to drive away. She had no illusions about the level of human decency he possessed so she didn’t expect him to try tosaveher.
The truck rattled to life. Headlights cut twin trails through the snow, illuminating the bear. Its fur gleamed in the light as it ambled toward her. She looked past the bear. Why wasn’t Benleaving?
A second later, the truck lurched forward and spun to the left. It kicked up muddy snow as it turned toward the entrance to the ranch. Bolts of relief flashed through her like lightning. Ben was safe, but whatabouther?
Using her peripheral vision, she eyed the tree to her left. She’d never climbed a tree before, but she’d sure as hell try it if it meant savingherlife.
