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“Were you trying to scare me away?” I ask.
“Yes,” Rock admits. “At first, we weren’t sure if you were just someone from Pinehaven. Then, we were sure you weren’t. You are an outsider, and we didn’t know what you wanted. We had to find out.”
“So, you scared the crap out of me?” I scoff.
“Sort of,” Cal grins. “But see, it didn’t work.”
“No,” I smirk victoriously. “I wasn’t even considering it.”
“Brave girl,” Cal compliments me, and I blush. I quickly remind myself that I shouldn’t fall for their charms so easily. Not until they explain everything.
“Brave or not, I’m the girl you’ve been lying to,” I remind them, shaking my head. “Why?”
Cal glances over at Rock. Obviously, he’s the one to take over this topic. And to be honest, it would be quite difficult taking anything Cal said seriously with him completely naked, hiding hismanhood in broad daylight.
“Because we’ve made it a rule not to reveal who we are to any humans,” Rock says simply.
I frown. “You mean, the people living in Pinehaven really have no idea that there is a nearby village of bear shifters?”
“Yes,” Rock replies with a nod.
“I really doubt that somehow,” I tell him.
“Believe it or not, as you wish,” he shrugs. “But we’ve done that for ages now. A long time ago, one of our ancestors made the mistake of revealing himself to a human, and all hell broke loose. Although they lived in peace prior to that, the humans started to believe that the bear shifters were some kind of monsters,especially in their bear form, and they would attack them in the night, killing everyone.” Rock pauses, and I silently gasp, sensing where this story is heading. “So, the humans wanted to prevent this by being the first ones to attack. I don’t think I need to tell you what happened, other than that many died, on both sides. Deaths that didn’t need to happen. Deaths that tore families apart. Deaths that would never bring loved ones back. It was then that our clan moved here, and they made a settlement for themselves in the cave. They’ve been living there ever since, undisturbed, and in turn, not disturbing anyone. Just live and let live.”
Cal chuckled at the phrase. “I taught him that.”
Rock turned to him with a smile, but when he looked at me again, he was grave.
“You mean to tell me, if we weren’t in this situation now, with Cal having to defend me, you wouldn’t tell me any of this?” I ask, apprehensive of the answer, but needing to know.
Rock doesn’t say anything at first. He inhales deeply, raking his fingers through his hair. “Elena, you have to understand… I am the leader of our clan. It is my priority to keep everyone safe. That is first and foremost. How I feel about something, doesn’t always matter.”
Feel. I heard him say it. He does feel something for me, just like I feel something for him. And Cal… he is in there, too. Why does this have to be so complicated? Why couldn’t they have been just two ordinary guys from a village?
“So, that’s why everyone was looking at me so weirdly,” I remember.
“Mhm,” Rock confirms. “I didn’t tell them you were human, but they could have easily guessed. Seeing that a human hasn’t stepped into our village in decades, you can imagine their shock.”
“I can,” I agree, trying to see things from the other side. “That’s why you had to explain to them I’m your guest.”
“That, too,” he nods.
“So, what do we do now?” Cal asks the question that is lingering inside everyone’s mind.
It is clear that we can’t just pretend like nothing happened. We have to move on somewhere from here, but… where?
Rock thinks about it for a moment. “Elena can’t stay alone. That much is obvious.”
“We should take her back to the village with us,” Cal suggests. “And… eventually explain to everyone what happened.”
“Why can’t I go back to my camp?” I wonder. “Won’t fire be enough to protect me? I thought bears were afraid of fire.”
I remember that from the manual. The crackling sound, the flickering flames and the scent of smoke can create a barrier that bears have a tendency to avoid. But then again, bear reactions, just like human reactions, can vary. That’s also what the manual said. What the manual didn’t say was how to defend yourself from bear shifters.
Still, being in my campsite feels like a better option than being in a village full of bear shifters who don’t really want me there. I can understand what those humans must have felt. It is a fear you can’t control. A fear of the unknown, a fear of something you have no chance of fighting. I know that Rock and Cal would never hurt me, but I don’t know about any of those other bear shifters.
“It’s not a good idea for you to be alone,” Rock tells me. “That’s why Cal is right. You should come back to the village with us.”
