Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 130(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 130(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
But Magnus doesn’t head to the door. He sprints forward and lunges on Julian. The two grunting bears crash into the reception desk, shredding it to pieces.
No!
All of my tattoo sketches for the week are in there. It will be a miracle if they don’t get destroyed.
My brothers are a rolling blur of brown fur, snapping jaws, and slicing claws as they fight on the ground, taking out the mini fridge and a folding table in their reign of destruction.
Magnus ends up on top, pinning Julian’s bear to the ground.
He’s going to kill him…
My bear runs over and sinks her teeth into his back, piercing his thick hide with my sharp canines. He roars in outrage, but my bear holds on, pulling him back toward the door.
I get him halfway before he swipes me with a massive paw, sending me flying backward, crashing into the drywall. The picture frames I hung up fall and shatter on the ground as my bear forces its way up onto our shaky legs.
There’s no recognition in Magnus’ golden eyes as he sprints toward me to finish the job.
My bear thinks fast and rushes out the door. Magnus follows her out, followed closely by Julian’s grizzly.
I hope we don’t have any walk-in customers arriving because they’re about to see three vicious bears fighting in our parking lot. Luckily, there’s no one. And we’re far enough from the main road, surrounded by trees and mountains, that there isn’t anyone around to see us.
Magnus’ grizzly jumps on my back and my bear somersaults forward with the heavy beast on top of me. My girl puts up a hell of a fight, snapping and biting and thrashing her claws. But Magnus’ bear is like an onslaught of power and no matter what I throw at him, he keeps me pinned down.
Until Julian’s grizzly joins the fight. He crashes his shoulder into him, knocking him off.
My bear is already out of breath and panting as she stands back up. But she’s not giving up yet.
Julian stands beside me and we face our brother’s feral bear down.
Magnus’ bear lowers his head and snarls. His long black claws—claws that have just pierced my skin in several stinging spots—sink into the ground as he gets ready to attack again.
But then a helicopter passes overhead and he gets distracted.
He roars at the sky and then breaks off into a run, following it into the thick Montana wilderness.
The helicopter quickly disappears into the distance, but Magnus’ bear doesn’t return.
After a long while, we phase back into our human forms and spend several minutes keeping our eyes on the mountains where Magnus ran off to.
“What the hell was that?” Julian whispers under his breath. “Where did he go?”
“And when is he going to come back?” I say. The trees and mountains look so calm. A car passes in the distance. A hawk flies overhead. It’s like that quick, violent episode never even happened.
“I don’t know, but this is going to keep happening until he finds his mate.”
I sigh as I cover my exposed chest with my arms. “Let’s hope he finds her soon then.”
We both feel so defeated as we walk back into the destroyed shop. “What a mess,” I say as I grab my shredded clothes off the ground and put them on as best I can. Julian does the same.
“I guess I’d better cancel my dinner date with Lainey,” Julian says, kicking the busted-up couch.
“Yup,” I say as I look at my shredded tattoo sketches on the ground. “It’s going to be a long night.”
Four days pass before we hear from Magnus.
He calls the shop on a Friday afternoon. I’ve been so worried, I’ve barely slept.
“I’m so sorry, Victoria,” he says, sounding like he’s in tears. His voice is all rough and raspy like he’s been through a hell of a four days. Cleaning up the shop was a lot of work, but it was probably nothing compared to what he’s been going through.
“It’s okay,” I say. “Are you okay? Where are you?”
Julian hears and hurries over even though he’s in the middle of tattooing a lady. “Is it Magnus?”
I nod as he puts his ear to the phone.
“I’m in New Mexico.”
Holy shit. He ran across three states?!
“My bear wouldn’t let up,” he says. “He ran for four days straight. I was finally able to slip out when he was trying to break into a food truck for a meal.”
“We can send you money,” I say with my mind racing. “Or pick you up. What do you need?”
“I can’t come back like this,” he says, sounding like his heart is breaking. “I’m too dangerous to be around.”
“You’re not,” I tell him, my heart breaking too. “Just come home. It will be okay.”
“It won’t,” he says. “My bear… This is different. I need some time.”