He grins. “Two. One that knew me before I changed, and the other a random girl I met later. Both couldn’t handle my, er, urges. They are nothing like you. You’re fucking amazing.”

  I try to take it as a compliment. I know he meant it that way, but I don’t want to be just the girl who gives good head. Not anymore.

  He walks over to me and runs his hand down my body from shoulder to hips as if he can read me. “You’re more than just someone to fuck, Jade. We have something, don’t we?”

  ~

  The sky has turned dark and I get dressed and walk outside to sit on a small clear area of grass and look up at the stars. Tarben comes and sits beside me and circles his fingers over the back of my hand. He’s not dressed.

  “You’re going to spy on them, aren’t you?” I know he is before he even answers.

  “I have to see who they are.”

  I remember the business card and pull it out of my pocket. “The guy gave me this.”

  Tarben takes it from me and studies it carefully.

  “Does it sound familiar?” I ask.

  He frowns but shakes his head. “No, I’ve never heard of this company.”

  “Let me look it up.” I go inside to fetch my phone and bring it back out to where Tarben is sitting, still staring at the card as if it’s going to give him answers.

  I sit down next to him and open up my browser putting in Desnicka Enterprises and hitting search. Not much comes up, they don’t have a website which is unusual, but they do have a Facebook account. I click over and read it.

  “Sounds like they are just newbie’s,” I say. “They’ve implemented a breeding program for rats and now they want funding for bears.” I look up at him. “This might be about money, about them getting government funding so they can continue geeking out for the rest of their lives. Nothing more. Or even some college assignment. I don’t know.”

  “They breed rats? They don’t sound very smart: last I checked rats didn’t have a problem reproducing.”

  I grin. “Then they are definitely harmless.”

  “Probably,” he says. “Although I still want to see for myself.”

  I place my hand on his leg. “Don’t go as a bear. Let’s walk down together, pretend we are a couple.”

  He raises an eyebrow. “Pretend? I don’t need to pretend we are a couple, Jade. I don’t want anyone else, just you.”

  A small warm thrill dances over my skin and I feel like I’m back in high school when the coolest guy in school says he likes you and you squeal out loud. God, what is happening to me? I’m losing my mind.

  “Go get dressed. We’ll go together.”

  He leans forward and crushes his lips onto mine in a way that makes my knees go weak and my body respond. “No. I can’t put you in any danger. You stay here. Please.”

  I don’t want to stay. I don’t want to be the girl who stays behind while her man goes off on an adventure without her. “I’m not staying, Tarben. I’m going whether you like it or not.”

  He hesitates as he contemplates whether to argue the point with me or not, but then decides against it. “Alright, but stay back.”

  “You’re going as you?” I ask hopefully.

  He slowly shakes his head then stands up. He still has the card in his hand as I hear a pop and crackle. The card flutters down to the grassy floor and I pick it up and put it back in my pocket.

  “Please be careful and stay out of sight,” I ask.

  The large bear in front of me can only nod.

  Chapter 7

  I know I can’t keep up with Tarben when he has shifted into a bear so I don’t even try. Instead, I walk back into his home and find my backpack, which is still leaning up against the wall where I left it. I reach into the side pocket for my knife.

  I don’t know why I even packed it, but now I’m glad I did. I test its weight in my hand. I’ve only had to use it a few times. I hope tonight is not one of those times.

  I return to the path and begin down the trail. Tarben will reach the campgrounds in less than half the time it will take me, but I trust that he’ll stay out of sight. He better. I do not want to have to try to save him on our second weekend together.

  I don’t hurry down the path. Now that it’s dark, the ground can trip you up if you don’t know where to step and I need to be careful. Besides, I don’t want to be surprised by anyone, and if I hurry they’ll hear me before I see them.

  Every so often, I look into the trees to see if I can glimpse Tarben, but I don’t see him.

  I’m a few minutes away from where I know the motor home is parked when I hear loud excited talking. I can’t see them yet, but the sound of their voices is travelling quickly.

  I step up my pace.

  As they come into view, I can see that both the two men and the woman are standing around one of the laptops and pointing excitedly. The man I met earlier, Clark Milton, points a flashlight into the trees and waves it from side to side like he’s looking for something.

  If they are serious about attracting a real bear to use for their breeding program, they have a lot to learn. This much noise will only scare away animals. It’s becoming more and more evident that they have no clue what they are doing.

  I wait in the shadows watching them. There is no threat at the moment and if Tarben is around, I hope he’ll approach me first. Or stay out of sight. Either works for me.

  Clark gets a jolt of bravado and walks into the trees where he had been pointing his flashlight. I notice he has a small tranquillizer gun tucked into his pants. I wonder if he knows how to use it.

  The woman begins pointing to the screen again, then stops, and looks at the other man. She’s confused about something, leans over, and jiggles the tiny satellite dish on the table. They aren’t happy about something and seem to be blaming their equipment.

  Clark is ignoring them and has disappeared into the trees.

  Please don’t be in there Tarben, don’t let them find you.

  I step forward and tighten my grip on my knife.

  Someone grabs me from behind.

  As I turn to see who has assaulted me, my knife scrapes against the person’s torso creating a bloody red line where the blade presses into flesh.

  Holy fucking hell.

  Tarben in human form holds his hand to his stomach with a look of shocked surprise. “They are just kids. They’re harmless,” he says. “Clueless.” He looks down and lifts his hand away as I watch the dark red seep out of the wound I’ve just created with my stupidity.

  The scientists might be harmless but I’m clearly not.

  Holy fucking hell.

  “Tarben.” I drop the knife on the ground as I jolt into action. I press my hand over his to stem the flow of blood from the cut.

  “It’s not deep,” he says. “Get me back; I have a medical kit at home.”

  “No. It’s too far.”

  I look up and contemplate our options. Walking half an hour back to the cave is not a good idea, even if the cut isn’t deep.

  “Come on.” I pull him out of the trees and onto the path.

  “What are you doing?” he asks, nervously.

  “You know they aren’t a threat. They’ll have supplies.”

  As I lead him over toward the motor home, the man and woman look up from the screen at us.

  “Clark.” The woman calls out over her shoulder. She looks at us as I bring Tarben closer. “What happened?” she asks.

  “He got cut,” I say. “Do you have a medical kit?”

  “He’s naked.” She doesn’t move.

  Yeah, no shit Sherlock. “Have a look in the bus. They usually keep them in a high cupboard. Go and check.” The direct order spurs her into action and she rushes inside the motor home.

  Tarben has frozen, although that has more to do with being nude and in the company of strangers than from his wound. I sit him down on a chair just as Clark returns from the trees.

  “What’s going on?” he says.

  “She stabbed the naked guy in the gut”, says his friend.

  “It was an accident.”

  “Was he trying to attack you?” asks Clark, as he moves closer to me. How these people became researchers is beyond me - they are clueless.

  “No, he’s my friend.” My voice is pitching higher. The longer they keep asking stupid questions the less wound attending that is happening.

  The woman rushes out of the motor home with a silver box displaying a red cross in her hands. She places it on the table next to me. Looks like I’ve got the role of nurse as well.

  Tarben tries to stand. “It’s nothing,” he says. His voice is a low growl and I can tell all he wants to do is get out of here.

  “Let me be the judge of that,” I say as I peel his hand away. He is right that it isn’t deep, but it still needs to be cleaned up and bandaged. I open the antiseptic solution and dab it onto the cut. He doesn’t wince even though I know it stings, he just looks annoyed as he glares at me and the three people behind me who watch in silence.

  It won’t need stitches but it does mean that he’ll need to rest until the skin has knitted together properly.

  I place the small butterfly bandages over the cut to hold it together and then the larger bandage over that to protect everything.

  “That’ll hold,” I say, pleased with my work. I turn to the group of scientists. “Thanks for letting me use your supplies.”

  “Any time,” says the woman. She’s still staring at Tarben’s body like she’s never seen a naked man before. Considering the company she keeps that’s probably likely.

  “Come on,” I say to Tarben. “Let’s get you back.” He stands up and folds his arms over his chest.

  “I thought you were alone,” says Clark. He seems disappointed.

  “Nice meeting you all,” I say, as I help Tarben forward.

  He jerks his arm out of my grip and walks ahead of me. When he reaches the path he picks up my knife from where I dropped it and hands it to me. It still has blood on the tip. His blood.

  “It was an accident,” I repeat. I’m annoyed that he’s annoyed with me.

  “You didn’t have to take me over there,” he says. His voice is rising.

  “You said yourself they are harmless. You needed to get the cut looked at.”

  “And what if they weren’t. What if we got it all wrong? And now look at this.” He points down to the bandage at the side of his stomach.

  “I think I did a good job. It’ll be healed within a week.”

  “Yeah, but I can’t turn into a bear now,” he says.

  “So?”

  “I can’t protect you like this.”

  I’ve had enough of the tough guy act. I push past him and walk up the path. “I told you, I don’t need protecting, I can look after myself.”

  Chapter 8

  Our first fight. It was bound to happen sooner or later, I just didn’t think it would be this soon, especially after the rest of the weekend was so wonderful.

  He’s acting like a baby. For god’s sake, it is just a scratch. I feel guilty enough about cutting him; I don’t need him sulking because I let a group of teenagers see him on top of that. What are they going to do? Nothing, that’s what.

  I needed to take him over there so I could fix him up. Fix my problem. If anything, he should be thanking me. What if it had been more serious, what then?

  He opens the door for me and lets me walk through first. I press my lips tight as I walk past him into the cave. I’m sick of apologizing, there are only so many times that I should have to say it.

  I sit on the floor and tuck my knees up to my chest. He can say something first, it’s not my problem.

  “Here’s your weapon,” he says gruffly. He places it on the table and sits down.

  I keep my gaze fixed on the wall and don’t answer. I realize I’m acting immaturely but I’m too mad at him to be the adult here when that’s all I was trying to do in the first place.

  “Fuck.” He shakes his head and pushes his hand through his hair. “What do you want from me?”

  What do I want from him? How about an apology? How about acknowledging that I was trying to help him? Instead, he thinks this is my fault. “You were the one that insisted on going to see who they were. You were convinced they were out to harm you. You’re paranoid, Tarben. Not everyone in the whole world cares about you or is looking for you.”

  His jaw stiffens. “You don’t understand.”

  “That’s right, I don’t, because you are too tight lipped to share anything with me.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I know I’ve stepped over the line. “Oh hell, Tarben, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that.”

  “You didn’t mean a lot of things you did tonight.”

  I glare at him. “That’s not fair.”

  “Fair? Is it fair that I’m stuck here hiding away from the world? Is it fair that I had this done to me?” He strides over the door and leans his hand onto it as he covers his face with his other. I can see clearly that this is hurting him.

  “No, it’s not.” I soften my voice. I don’t want to fight anymore, especially not with him. “But I didn’t do those things to you. Stop treating me like the enemy. All I’ve done is like you, maybe even love you.” I cross my arms over my chest ready to defend myself if he rejects me.

  He looks up at me and blinks twice. “You love me?”

  I roll my eyes as I scoff. “Who the fuck knows? I’ve known you a week.” No one falls in love that quickly. I barely know him. At least that’s what I tell myself. I tap my foot impatiently on the floor. “I was trying to help you that’s all.”

  His shoulders slump. “I know you were.”

  “I’m leaving tomorrow morning. First thing.”

  He takes a deep resigned breath. “I understand.”

  “No, you don’t.” I walk over to him and place my hand on his chest so I can feel him under my fingertips. “Because you’re coming with me.”

  “What? No.” He shakes his head.

  “Yes. I can look after you there, and I don’t have to wait a whole week to talk to you again.”

  “I have the phone you gave me. This is just a scratch.”

  I nod. “Yeah, that is.” I point to his stomach. “But the wound that’s starting to crack between us here, needs fixing.” I point to his heart. “And I can’t do that if you are here and I’m at home.”

  He narrows his eyes. “You want me to come to the city with you and stay at your place so you can look after me?”

  I grin as I bite the corner of my lip. “You better get packing; it’s going to be an adventure.”

  PART THREE

  Chapter 1

  I expected that Tarben would fight me on the decision to come back to the city and stay at my place. Surprisingly, once I had convinced him that nobody cared about another person cluttering up the streets, and that the city would be the perfect place for him to get away from the stress of living in a cave for a week, he was all for it.

  It’s me that’s having doubts. I think I rushed into it too soon. We’ve only been seeing each other for such a short time and I’ve already asked him to come and stay for a week? And we haven’t even made it back to my apartment building yet. This is going to be a long week, I can tell.

  “How many bedrooms do you have?” asks Tarben.

  I keep my eyes on the road. “Two. Why?” I wonder if this means he plans to sleep in the spare room. I both hope not and hope so, at the same time. The part of me that can’t stop thinking about his lips on my body wants him with me every single moment. The part of me that hasn’t had a relationship for over a year is apprehensive.

  “What about parks? Do you live near any parks?”

  I furrow my brow and try to think how many parks I live near. Three? Four? Who knows exactly? Who cares? Tourists do. Tourists to the city care about how many parks are in the vicinity. “There are a few around.” I take a quick sideways glance at him and notice he’s staring out of the side window up at the taller buildings we pass. His neck cranes to try to catch the top floor as we zoom by. “How long has it been since you’ve been in the city?”

  He looks over at me and grins, raises an eyebrow and cocks his head to the side. “It’s been a while. I’m out of my depth here.”

  My eyes scan up and down his body as I think about the week ahead. “You and me both.”

  ~

  I left the apartment in decent shape, so I’m not worried about what he’ll think of the cleanliness of the place, but I’m still nervous when I place the key in the door.

  It’s because the home you live in says a lot about you. Look at Tarben’s home - from the outside, it’s just a cave in the woods, but once you step inside that door it’s like you’ve been transported into another world. His world. And I love that about his home. I love that about him.

  But mine? Mine is generic with plain white walls, bookshelves lined with mystery novels that have dog-eared pages, pictures on the walls chosen just because I liked the color, and mismatched furniture. What does that say about me? It says I spend too much time reading books and don’t care about real people, that’s what.

  And, it’s all true. I don’t like having people invade my little world. But people who can turn into bears?

  “This is it,” I say as I move to the side and let him walk in front of me. “This is where I live.”

  I watch him closely as he looks around the room taking in the furnishings and decorations, or lack thereof. He’s not saying a word which makes me nervous. He walks over to my desk. His finger trails over the keyboard before he moves on and walks into my kitchen. I quickly close the door and follow him.

  “I’m only leasing,” I add, in case that somehow makes it better than I haven’t put any thought into decorating the place.

  “I like it,” he says. “It’s simple and organized. And you have space to move.” He looks over at me. “Space to breathe.”

  I try to look at the room through Tarben’s eyes, seeing what he sees. I notice the neat rows of glasses on the open shelving, the utensils in a crock jar. “I guess so.”

  “Plus, even though we are in the middle of the city, it’s quiet in here. I wasn’t expecting that.”

 

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