What sort of excuse is that?my bear spat out.
Itwasridiculous considering I was a polar bear shifter.
“Come in and close the door.” He beckoned me closer. “I’m Bobby, and you must be looking for a room.”
I wasn’t because I’d been going to confront the scientist and return to the pack. But if he hadn’t backed down, I’d have maybe lured him into the forest and shifted so he freaked and took off, never to return. That was a last resort, but perhaps desperate measures were necessary.
But I had to find my mate first and deal with the scientist later.
We have to stay and can’t leave until we find him.
“Yes, of course, that’s why I’m here. My furnace broke, so I need a place to stay until it’s fixed.” The lie came easily.
Bobby’s face lit up, and I suspected he enjoyed company. “That’s a shame about your furnace, but I have a room for you on the top floor.”
He turned around and grabbed a key hanging on a hook.
“Had another guy, a little older than you, check in yesterday. Maybe you two can meet up because this town doesn’t see many people your age.” He pulled out a ledger. “How long were you thinking of staying?”
My mate’s scent was stronger now that I was inside. He was either staying on one of the upper floors or he was a guy working on the roof. But they were human, and polar bears always mated other shifters. There had to be another bear around here somewhere.
“Ummm, a week. That’s how long they said it would take to fix.”
My head was spinning with details about why another polar bear would be in Bramble Woods. Maybe it was someone from the den, here for the same reason I was. I couldn’t order my thoughts logically as to whether that was a good or bad thing.
“That’s fine.” Bobby was writing in his book. “I’ll put you in room four. It has a nice view of the mountains. I do breakfast at eight, though I'm flexible if you need it earlier. Coffee's always on.” He looked up. “Can I have a name for the register?”
“Asher.” I managed to pull out my wallet, though my hands weren't steady.
“Well, Asher, welcome.” Bobby filled out the paperwork. “Are you from around here?”
“I live north of here.” I hoped he wasn’t going to probe for details because there were few towns in that direction. “I don’t get to town much.”
“You picked a good time to need your furnace fixed. The town’s always quiet this time of year. Though we did have some excitement yesterday with Dr. Morris arriving. He’s the scientist I mentioned. He's here studying polar bears, can you imagine? I didn't know we had polar bears in this area.”
Wedidn't, but the wild polar bears had followed my den when we splintered off from a group generations ago. Many shifter clans didn’t know we existed either.
And that made Dr. Morris even more of a problem.
“Polar bears,” I repeated. “That's interesting.”
“He's got all sorts of equipment.” Bobby took the completed paperwork and tucked it away. “Do you need help with bags?”
“I left them in my truck.”
It wasn't true, but I needed an excuse to leave and get my bear under control. The scent was making it impossible to focus on anything else.
I thanked Bobby and headed outside. My bear was furious at me for leaving, but I needed to think. Someone in that house was mine, probably a polar bear from the den. That included complications I wasn't ready to face. And somewhere in thatsame house was a human scientist who wanted to put tracking collars on my kind.
I'd come here with one mission, but now I had two. I had to find the scientist and convince him to leave and find my mate.
My bear snarled, and his claws pricked the inside of my skin.
We’re going back, but I need to get away from the scent to clear my head.
It’d been twenty years since I’d had contact with anyone from the den, and now my fate might be wrapped up with theirs.
4
