CHAPTEREIGHT
Joy tossed her keys, skidding them across her kitchen table. How pathetic, she thought. She was back in her same old apartment building ... identical floor plan, same off-white paint. Her new parking spot was right next to her old one. Even her old job gladly took her back. Hell, her car practically had her commute on autopilot.
It was like she’d never left, except for the giant hole in her heart.
Leaving Polar Point was a relief at first. After all, she’d escaped from a man who carried a monstrous secret. She shuddered to imagine what he would do to her in order to keep that secret. She could still see his body grotesquely twisting into the gigantic bear. The ice-blue fire of his eyes still burned into her soul.
But something had been changing her perspective. She had many more good memories of him. Like how her heart jumped whenever she saw him. The way he would smile whenever he looked at her. And then there was his kiss and the way he so thoroughly made love to her. She’d always felt safe and special around him. It was weird, but it seemed as if nothing bad could ever happen as long as he was around.
Maybe that’s why she was so shocked when she learned what he really was. God only knows what other secrets he was keeping.
Still, those good memories were responsible for the pain she felt. There had to be someone she could talk to. This was too big for her to carry alone. There was only one person she trusted.
“It’s about time we got together. You’ve been back long enough,” Gerri said, wrapping her arms around Joy.
“Yeah, I missed our weekend lunches. I was just too ashamed to come slinking back here with my tail between my legs. I don’t like feeling like a quitter,” Joy said, taking a seat at the café table.
“You’re not a quitter. I’m sure you had your reasons to come back here.” She studied Joy’s face, detecting a sense of deep loneliness. “I’m here for you if you need to talk about it.”
“I wasn’t going to. Not with anyone. But I’m so … conflicted.”
“Sounds like this has something to do with a man. Am I right?”
“A man, yes. A man who is more than a man. I know that sounds strange. I wish I could explain it in a way that didn’t make me sound completely crazy.”
“Just try me.”
“His name is Adam Caldwell. He’s a pilot for the same company I was working for. I can’t even begin to describe the magic feeling I had whenever I was around him. Things heated up when I scheduled a work meeting with him ... after hours. But we both knew damn well it was a date. Even though I tried to resist workplace romance. You know me.”
“Adam Caldwell? Was workplace romance the problem?”
“More of a minor inconvenience. Or maybe an excuse on my part to avoid getting caught up in drama, you know how I am. Anyway, soon after, he took me flying on one of his routes, and we became stranded by the weather in a remote cabin ... his remote cabin. It was very cozy and super romantic. One thing led to another, and then I had the best sex of my life ... all night long.”
“So far, so great, it seems. What made you run back here?”
“Oh, it was more than great. But the next morning is when it all went off the rails. He asked me to stay in the cabin while he helped some of the locals with their boat. Of course, I couldn’t just sit inside and wait while he could’ve been in danger. Right?”
“Makes sense to me.”
“I went outside, and things didn’t make sense. I found his clothes on the ground, but he was nowhere to be found. It was like he just stripped naked and then disappeared. When I looked out into the surf, I saw a giant polar bear pulling the boat into shore. It was the strangest damn thing I’d ever seen, up to that point anyway.
“Well, once the bear pulled the boat ashore, it looked directly at me. And I mean straight into my eyes. I was terrified, of course. It was twice as big as any bear I’d ever seen. Just as it started charging toward me, I turned and ran right back to the cabin as fast as I could. It caught up to me as I reached the door. I screamed, certain it was going to kill me right there on the front fucking port. But when I turned around, Adam was standing there ... naked.”
Gerri sipped her coffee, remarkably calm. “So, no bear attack after all?”
“No. That’s when he told me he was the bear. I’d never heard such a crazy thing and told him as much. He went on to explain he was something called a shifter. Instead of explaining what that meant, he suddenly transformed into the ferocious polar bear. That’s when I passed out. After all that, I knew I had to get the hell out of there.”
Gerri nodded politely.
“Clearly, you think I’m nuts. Don’t you?”
“Not at all. Joy, I have some things I need to get off my chest as well. The world is a much different place than the one you believed you grew up in. And I am very familiar with shifters of all types.”
“All types? What do you mean?” Joy asked in a panic.
“Yes. There are shifters of many species. Wolves, bears, tigers, and more. I could go on and on. But what I need to say to you is that I happen to be part of their world. And I am well aware of polar bear shifters of Alaska.”
“Whoa, hold on. Did you know I was going to a place that was infested with these bear shifters?”