No effect. Except on Nanook, who began lumbering forward, his mouth gaping open in anticipation. The others cheered, egging him on with bloodthirsty cries. She tried to tune them out, but the words were graphic, ugly, and all about ripping out Simon’s throat.
“Simon!” she screamed again, and this time she saw him twitch. His ear cocked toward her then fell back. Maybe. She couldn’t be sure. And his breath never changed. “Damn it, get up!” she screamed again.
Nothing. And then Nanook attacked.
He’d been rushing forward on all fours, his mouth open and aimed for Simon’s exposed throat. There might even have been a bit of a bounce there as he came down beside the prostrate grizzly. Alyssa couldn’t tell with her eyes tearing up and her throat raw from screaming.
And then something happened that she couldn’t at first understand. As Nanook went in to bite, Simon rolled slightly onto his back. She thought at first that Nanook’s jaws were that strong. That he’d rolled Simon over. But a moment later, she realized the truth.
Simon had been playing dead. He’d been waiting to roll over at just the right moment so he could swipe straight at Nanook’s neck. His claws here huge and sharp, and given the open wound, Nanook was vulnerable. Simon’s claws caught, pierced, and ripped across.
Blood gushed, pumping strong into the air and across the floor. Nanook tried to bite down. He was still moving. Or falling. Either way, Simon couldn’t get out from under him. And he didn’t stop the attack.
Simon pulled up his back feet and began raking at Nanook’s belly. Other scents joined the coppery taste of blood in the air. And with Nanook’s head and shoulder now down next to his mouth, Simon took a big bite. He was growling deep in his throat, the sound vicious as he bit down and shook his head like a dog. He was tearing pieces of fur and muscle away both above and below, and the mess was shocking.
Alyssa looked away, but what she saw around her wasn’t comforting. All those naked shifters standing between her and the door began to shimmer. Some went slowly, others fast, but in the end, she wasn’t standing with a bunch of naked guys. Now she was surrounded by grizzlies. Big, mean, unhappy ones that shifted from foot to foot and grumbled low in their throat.
She caught Vic’s gaze, but there was nothing either of them could do. She might have been able to shoot her way past the four humans between her and the door. But now they were bears and they nudged her deeper into the center of the room.
First it was hot breath on the back of her neck. Soon it was shoves against her legs or back. She honestly couldn’t tell if it was because they needed more room back there or because they wanted to eat her. Either way, she scrambled forward, as did Vic. And the only place to look then was back at Simon.
He was on his feet now, his jaws and claws systematically ripping apart Nanook. And all around them, the bears started grumbling. They shuffled and growled. Their breaths came in big bellows and their teeth showed yellow white.
Simon didn’t notice. He was covered in blood as his jaws bit down and cracked off a couple ribs. Alyssa flinched at the sound, her heart hammering in her throat. The tension was climbing in the room, and she and her brother were in the middle of it. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore.
“Simon! Damn it, Simon!”
Her words echoed sharply in the room only because her voice was higher pitched than anyone else’s. The bears were loud, and she didn’t think anyone could hear her much less the grizzly with its snout deep in blood. But Simon did hear.
She saw his ears twitch and his head came up. His head swiveled back and forth as he took in the room. His nostrils flared as he stood over the carcass. And then he released a roar that took Alyssa to a knee. It echoed in the space and the sound seemed to beat her down. Her brother fared little better. He stumbled beside her, but he regained his balance and remained upright beside her. Protecting her, she guessed, but she was the one with the gun.
But who the hell did she aim it at? Simon? He was an adult grizzly growling over a kill. And his roar told everyone in the room that it was his. His food. His kill. His territory.
But it was eight to one here. They could overrun him in a second. And probably flatten her and Vic in the process.
The nearest bear lumbered forward. It was big and all black. She realized belatedly that it didn’t have a grizzly hump, but it was still huge. And it opened his mouth in a sound that Alyssa couldn’t hear in all the noise. But she heard Simon.
He turned straight on the black bear and roared back, hard and angry. The sound ripped at Alyssa’s insides. God, she couldn’t stand to see another fight. Not here. Not now when there wasn’t room to flee.
Except when Simon’s roar stopped, the black bear didn’t attack. And he certainly didn’t rear up on his hind legs. Instead, he flopped over onto his side. A full-out plop that exposed his neck.
Submission?
Holy crap, that’s exactly what it was. The black bear was submitting to Simon who stood there staring at it with nostrils flared and his mouth dripping with blood.
Alyssa wanted to speak. She wanted to bellow that the bear was submitting and Simon didn’t need to attack it. But her voice was frozen in her throat. It was terror, pure and simple. She just didn’t want to draw attention to herself and she damned herself for being a coward.
Then Simon stepped over the edge of the carcass. He was coming toward her, though his eyes were on the bears nearest her. He didn’t even give the black bear any acknowledgment that she could see. He just lumbered forward, closer and closer to her.
She shied backward, but there was nowhere to go. The grizzlies behind her were rocking back and forth on their feet while grumbling deep in their throats. What was Simon doing? And when the hell had she fallen to her knees? She was crouched now, huddled back against her brother. The gun was still in her hand, but the handle was slick with sweat and she didn’t know if she could raise it. She was trembling from head to toe.
And still Simon lumbered forward.
She swallowed, trying to force herself to speak. She managed a bare whisper. “Simon, please.” She didn’t even know what she was asking him, but it was all she could get out.
He roared again. Straight at the bears behind her. He was so close, she could feel the heat of his breath. She could see the gore on his body and the way his roar made the fur tremble on his sides.
Then she heard it.
