He growled, showing off long, wicked teeth.
She hesitated to climb the cliffs.He was directly in the path she had to take.Rory nudged her to go with him in that direction.He had to be crazy!
When she wouldn't budge, he wouldn't leave her.Rory suddenly shifted in this freezing weather."That's John Blue Bearsden, a friend, and black bear shifter."
She couldn't believe it.She had never met a bear shifter before.She started up the cliffs, and Rory shifted and went with her.They reached the cave, and Rory greeted the bear.
He placed his massive paw on Rory's back and gently ran his paw over it.Then he nuzzled Lacy's face.She hadn't expected that, but now she knew his scent and would recognize him as a bear.
Rory shifted in the cave.“Did you see a cougar last night or this morning that you didn’t know?”
“Yeah.Since I didn’t know him, he didn’t recognize me.I considered he could be a wild cougar, or someone new to town, and I didn’t want to make him fearful of me.Is he lost?Are you searching for him?”
“We’re taking him down, Blue,” Rory said.“He’s after my mate.This is Lacy.”
“Your mate?”Blue smiled.“Congrats.I’ll go with you.”
Lacy wanted to ask why he was living in a cave when he was a shifter.
“Good.We can use your abilities too.”Then Rory shifted.
Blue turned back into his bear.He was so much bigger than they were.But she was thrilled that he would help them.
She headed up the cliff further, and Rory stayed with her.Blue followed them.She’d read that bears could climb, but she thought he would be clumsier.He moved up and down the cliffs like a pro, just climbing rather than leaping as they did.
They continued searching for any sign of the cougar, exploring caves but not finding him.She wondered if he had returned to his clothes, wherever they were, dressed, then flagged down a car.Almost everyone would know to be on the lookout for Timothy.Unless the driver was a human, then he or she wouldn’t know about it and might pick him up and take him into town.
Though she wondered if he wouldn’t want to stay closer to the ranch where she was, maybe he thought there were too many people there to protect her.Where would he stay?Though he probably wouldn’t realize cougars ran the whole town, and they were all watching out for her.But he had to stay somewhere.
It was too cold to remain in the woods or on the cliffs.He needed shelter and a warm fire, not to mention food and drink, unless he continued to wear his cougar coat.
He couldn’t stay anywhere in town without the sheriff’s department being alerted, but he wouldn’t know that.If he tried to go to the motel where she and her granddad had stayed initially upon arriving in Yuma Town, Timothy would realize the owners were cougars.Maybe he wouldn’t think they would know about him.
The alternative would be for him to stay in an abandoned building or an unoccupied home, if any were in the area.
They finally all gathered together.Hal indicated it was time to go home.
She figured it was lunchtime.They had been out there for hours.She was ready to get warm by the fire.
They all headed back to the ranch, and spread out again, but this time the bear went with them, to her amusement.Everyone was still searching for any sign that Timothy had gone this way after they had passed this location, looking for him.
Once they reached the ranch, Hal and the other law enforcement officers went to the main house to shift and dress.
Everyone else, including the bear, went into the bunkhouse.
The cougars all shifted and dressed, and then Rory said to Blue, “Go into my room, and you can shift and dress.We’ll make lunch.”
Blue grunted and then headed for Rory’s room.
“What should we eat for lunch?”Lacy asked.
“We’ll make mini pizzas.Everyone gets involved in making their own, adding the ingredients they want.”
“That sounds good.”Lacy looked in the fridge for cheese, bell peppers, black olives, and onions while Rory brought out the boxes of mini pizzas.Some of them had pepperoni.Some sausage or hamburger.Some just cheese.
“Pepperoni for you, right?”Rory asked Lacy.
“Yeah.”
