“What are you going to do, Bear? Strangle me? Hurt me? Prove to me and to this brotherhood even more that you can’t handle being out there? That you are maybe too far gone than we all realize.”
My face twisted into a snarl, my nostrils flaring as I felt a dull ache pulsing behind my temples. I could almost hear the sound of my bear’s heart pounding against his chest, as if he was waking up from his winter slumber. A shiver ran down my spine as I felt the muscles in my arms and legs twitching, as if they were preparing for a fight.
A trampling of footsteps came down the hall, men shouting, going to the communal showers, shutting and opening doors.
Locke’s scent of cigarette and ash stopped at the door and slammed his hand on the doorway. “Bear, shower, and get some sleep. You and the Moonlight Outcasts are leaving tomorrow.”
Bones scoffed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Pres. I don’t think Bear has a good hold on his emotions. He might be closer to going rabid than we think.”
I growled. Bones backed up, heading to Locke. Locke chuckled, playing with an unlit cigarette in his mouth. “Nah, he’ll be fine. Won’t you, Bear? You won’t screw this up for Delilah’s sake, will you?”
“No, sir,” I said and grabbed my duffle. “I won’t.”
Bones scoffed and Locke put his hand on Bones’s shoulder, leaning in and he whispered something in his ear. Unfortunately, my grizzly’s hearing was long gone, so I pulled out my toiletries to shower.
Bones’s eyes widened and nodded. “Fine. Do what you will. But I’m requesting that I go along too.”
Locke smirked, leaning on the doorway. “Why is that?”
“For the safety of your crew and for the woman. She’s in bad shape from what I saw on the cameras.” He gripped his bag tight. “I’m willing to risk my life to help someone in need, just as Bear is.”
Locke rubbed his brow. “If you think that it is necessary, I trust your judgment. Stay on the plane. Bear and the crew will bring the female to you.”
Bones nodded and stomped down the hallway.
I huffed, pulled off my clothes, and threw them in the laundry basket. “Thanks, Pres, I owe ya.” I walked naked to the door, and Locke shook his head.
“Yeah, no problem. Just be careful where you aim that thing.” He pointed to my dick, and I rolled my shoulders back.
I chuckled. “I’ll clear out the shower room for ya.” I walked down the hallway, and once I stepped into the shower room, the space filled with groans and whines. Everyone was jealous of this dick, and they washed up pretty quickly when I came into the room.
That, and they hated my hairy body. But fuck them. Nothing was going to ruin my mood now. I was going on a mission that was going to turn my life around. I could feel it in my gut.
As a bolt of lightning split the sky outside the airplane window, the ear-piercing sound of thunder shook the entire plane. My fingers instinctively curled around the armrests, my blunt nails digging into the luxurious leather of the private jet. The smell of ozone wafted through the cabin, adding to the already tense atmosphere. I let out an exasperated huff as the storm raged on, the boisterous laughter of the team completely unfazed by the tumultuous weather.
Once more, a brilliant flash of lightning illuminated the world outside my window. I gazed in awe as the electric bolts danced from cloud to cloud, lighting the night sky. The thunder that followed rumbled through the air, shaking the plane’s floor. As I looked on, I saw the lightning strike the ground below. The earth trembled as the light spread like wicked witch’s fingers, clawing at the ground below. My stomach churned as I watched the terrifying display of raw power.
I reached over the two seats that separated me from the window and slammed the movable blind shut, noticing that I left three scratch marks on the plastic. I pulled my hand away, looking at the three tiny claws protruding from my fingers.
The hell?
An unexpected hand landed on my shoulder. My own reached over and grabbed the wrist at the sudden touch. The opposing hand pulled back quicker than I could get a hold of the stranger, and they held it up in surrender. “Hey now, I’m just checking to see if you are alright,” Cyran said as he rubbed his wrists. “We can smell your sweat from the back, and shit”—he looked at his wrist. Tiny drops of blood beaded on his skin—“you scratched me. Since when did your nails get so sharp?”
I gazed at my hand again. It was only on a few fingers, my index, middle, and ring finger. Not enough to do any harm to anyone, not as long as my grizzly’s, but it was enough to get my heart pounding.
The nails were dark; all of them were on my left hand, meaning they weren’t nails; they were my claws growing. I scratched the back of my head. The thunder rolled in the distance while I continued to stare at the phenomenon, at what this could mean.
Was Bones right? Was I going rabid?
I never thought I would see them again. The last time I saw my claws was at least five years ago when I came to the Iron Fang looking for a support system. Back then I thought I was close to going rabid, but being around others going through the same hardship I was going through slowed down the process.
Broken souls thrived together.
Joining the Iron Fang gave my grizzly something to hold on to before he fell into an infinite slumber. It also gave me some hope that shifters like me didn’t have to be alone and suffer in silence. Staying together as a mismatched pack or community gave us enough strength to rely on each other. Even if bears stayed in solitude more often than not.
“Whose bleeding?” Quillian snapped. He grabbed Cyran’s forearm and sniffed. “Gods, you haven’t eaten in a while either. Go to the back fridge and eat before we land.”
“It’s chunky when it’s cold,” Cyran complained. “Do they at least have a blood bag heater in here?”
