Lucan stopped a few paces away, his expression unreadable with the shadows crossing his face. “I was out on patrol.”
I narrowed my eyes at his jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers. “Oh? Is this another quirk of your job?” I gestured to his attire. “Give me a break.”
He ran a hand through his hair but didn’t step forward. “Unofficial patrol.”
I shook my head. “You know what? Forget it. I’ll walk home.”
“Liz—”
“No.” I turned away, my feet already moving. “I can’t keep doing this with you. I can’t trust a man to drive me who makes up ridiculous—” Movement caught my eye near the front of my car.
Three small shadows emerged from where my car blocked Lucan’s headlights, low to the ground and shuffling forward with ambling gaits.
Bear cubs.
Oh no.
The cubs moved closer, their noses twitching as they investigated my car. One of them rose onto its hind legs, pawing at my front bumper.
A much larger shadow materialized behind them.
The mother.
She was massive and moving with purpose as she tracked her cubs. Her head swung toward me, eyes locking with mine.
Every muscle in my body froze. My brain screamed at me to run, to move, to do something, but I couldn’t. I stood paralyzed, watching as the bear took a step forward.
I managed to take several shaky steps backward, my hand going to my purse and unzipping it to dig for my bear spray.
What was the saying? If it’s brown, lay down. If it’s black, fight back? At least it wasn’t a polar bear.
Lucan stepped in front of me, his body a solid wall between me and the bears. His posture shifted entirely, his shoulders squared, and his spine straightened in a way that radiated absolute control.
The bear advanced another step, her attention fixed on Lucan now. She snorted, her head lowering as she assessed the threat.
Lucan stood perfectly still.
In the side mirror, I saw his eyes flash as if someone had shined a light in them, but he took another step forward, and I could no longer see them.
The air seemed to thicken and heat, pressing against my skin. My pulse hammered in my ears, each beat counting down the seconds until the bear charged or retreated, or something happened.
The bear took another step forward.
Lucan made a sound.
It wasn’t quite a growl. It was deeper than that, resonating from somewhere in his chest that shouldn’t have been possible for a human.
It was a warning, and every hair on my body stood on end.
I stared at the back of his head, my mind scrambling to make sense of what I’d heard.
The bear stopped, her head tilted slightly, ears flicking forward. She held her ground for another moment, muscles coiled and ready. Then she huffed.
She turned her massive head toward her cubs and made a series of grunting noises that sent them scurrying toward the trees. They tumbled over each other in their haste, their small bodies disappearing into the shadows.
The mother bear followed, and within seconds, they were gone. Silence settled over the road again, broken only by the faint rustle of leaves and my ragged breathing.
I couldn’t move or think. My eyes stayed locked on the spot where the bears had vanished, my body was still braced for an attack.
