“What is it, Olivia?” Elias asked from right next to her. “Fuck,” he said a second later.
Yeah, fuck was about right. Damon would have a fit if he heard Olivia cuss, but he wouldn’t know she’d thought the word, and it was appropriate. She now spotted two black bears just inside the tree line. How long had they been there?
They each took a step forward.
“Get inside, girls, now,” Elias growled.
Olivia heard Suzette and Jezebel scrambling behind her, but there was no way Olivia was going to shift and leave herself vulnerable. She stayed right where she was, staring down the two bears. She could see far better than she’d ever seen in human form, perhaps better than the average wolf shifter. Damon had commented on that possibility several times when she’d pointed out things she’d seen on their run. She hadn’t been able to do so until after they’d returned home, so he couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t have seen the same things, but he’d suspected.
Elias’s hand landed on her. “You need to go inside, Olivia. Let me handle this.”
Olivia couldn’t move. She didn’t mean to be disobedient, but she was frozen, mesmerized. The two bears continued to approach until they stood in the clearing. There was no doubt they were shifters. No ordinary bear would move with so much purpose in unison with another.
What bothered Olivia was the fact that Damon had told her the bears in the area had extraordinary powers, including the ability to mask their scent from even the Alpha Protectors. A rogue bear had stolen Suzette from her home on her mating day and hidden her in a cave in the mountains. Brock had been unable to follow the bear’s scent. He’d found his mate by following her own scent.
And yet, Olivia could scent these two just fine. She inhaled again, confirming the oddity.
The two bears stepped closer.
Olivia instinctively knew they meant her no harm. They meant no harm to any of them. They were curious about her. They’d been watching from a far enough distance that they shouldn’t have been detected, but Olivia had scented them.
She knew all of this as if she were having a conversation with them, and yet all they’d done so far was stare at each other.
“Olivia, please, Little one,” Elias pleaded.
If she’d been in human form, he could have simply picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder to get her to comply, but in wolf form she was a formidable opponent against his human.
She still hadn’t moved. She was aware of Elias’s stress beside her, but she didn’t take her gaze off the bears.
One of them cocked his head to the side as if to say, “What are you?” It was an odd question, but it filled her mind as though he’d spoken to her out loud.
Olivia cocked her head to match his, thinking,I have no idea.
The two bears looked at each other and then back at her.
Olivia suddenly leaped off the deck, landing on the clearing closer to the bears. She had no idea why she did it. It just happened. She needed more information, and the only way she would get it would be if she approached.
Elias muttered something under his breath before he jumped down next to her. “Olivia, for the love of all that is holy, please go back in the house.”
She didn’t mean to be disrespectful. She would apologize to Elias later. Right now, these bears were more important. She took several more steps toward them at the same time they approached her.
“Fucking fuck,” Elias muttered.
Olivia could hear Suzette and Jezebel gasp from just inside the open sliding door. She took two more steps forward. She had no fear. The bears meant no harm. She was certain, but she had no way to convey that message to her friends.
The next time the bears glanced at each other, she shivered. She was certain she’d heard them communicate. One said to the other,“She has powers.”He didn’t say it out loud, of course, and she knew no one else had heard, but she had heard him as if he’d spoken in human form next to her ear.
She flinched, her breathing coming out heavier.
The bear who’d communicated jerked his gaze back to her.“Can you hear me?”he communicated silently.
Olivia hesitated but finally nodded.
“Holy shit.”
“What do you want?”she attempted to communicate.
The bear froze, startled, his eyes wider. His companion looked the same.“We came to speak with your mate and the other men.”
