After stowing my stuff carefully in the bushes I stretched before shifting into my bear form. My bear senses took over immediately, and I searched the north wall of the cave looking for another entrance. Several minutes later I found the loose rocks and started digging. Satisfied I had enough space, I squeezed myself through the narrow opening I’d created. One benefit of being a smaller bear was that I could fit through a space like that. Finn had been right. The passage was treacherous and steep. It was much easier to manage while in bear form.
Once inside the cave, I took things slow. I knew the cave well, but not this part. I wasn’t sure where it would open up to. I smelled Finn, but no one else. That was a good sign. Hopefully Finn was really the only one who even knew these back tunnels existed. He was definitely the most curious of the bunch. I hadn’t even considered it. I’m not sure what that said about me.
I sniffed around, wondering if the others were still up. I was banking on them falling asleep after eating. Like many human men, a full belly was all they needed to pass out for the night.
I froze when I heard a voice.
“Did you sleep well?” A female spoke.
“It’s morning already?” A somewhat familiar male voice answered. It was Jared.
Who was in there with him? I couldn’t place the voice at all.
“Are you in the mood for some breakfast?”
A scraping sound caught my attention. What was that? Chains? “Like I’m going to eat anything you give me?”
“Would you rather starve to death? These bears are just dumb enough they’d probably eat you for breakfast.”
Who the hell was this bitch?
“Or you could let me go.”
The female laughed. “That’s not going to happen yet, although once things are done I might. You’re starting to grow on me.”
“Great. Maybe we can just speed up the process then.” Jared was trying to play things off like he was in control, but he obviously wasn’t. Was he the kind of guy who could never admit defeat?
“If you don’t want breakfast, I’ll leave then. Maybe you’ll change your mind at lunch.”
“That’s doubtful.”
“You will.”
I crouched down low as I waited for the woman to pass. I watched eagerly to see who it was. I took in a sharp breath as a robed figure walked down the passage carrying a candle. Those robes belonged to the boss. The boss was female? And what was she doing with Jared?
I waited until I couldn’t hear or smell her anymore before sniffing my way around to find the entrance to the room where Jared was.
“I know you’re in here. Who is it this time?” Jared yelled out.
Damn it. He was going to blow my cover. It was pitch black, so I followed his voice.
“Who is it? Speak!”
I had no choice, if he kept yelling we’d both be dead. I shifted back to my human form. “Shut up, idiot.”
“Vera?” He said my name with a familiarity he shouldn’t have had considering we’d barely spent any time together. I couldn’t believe he knew my voice so quickly. Then again I’d recognized his.
“Yes, now stop talking so I can get you out of here.”
I reached around for the chains but ended up grabbing something else. Something that should have been covered up by clothes. “Are you naked?”
“Uh, yeah. Not by choice.”
“Great.” I carefully avoided his lower region as I found the chains. “You really couldn’t break these yourself?”
“No.” He moved, making more noise with the chains. What was wrong with him? Did he want to get caught? “She did something to me. Some sort of crazy magic.”
There was my answer. The boss was a witch. I’d suspected magic, but I hadn’t been allowed close enough to the boss to find out for sure. Did Murphy realize that’s who he was working for? He looked down on witches, and any other paranormals out there. “It’s got to be strong magic to work on you.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I need to shift back to break these.”
“Okay.” He moved his arm, brushing his hand against my chest. “And you’re naked?”
“Nice one, Captain Obvious.” I tried to ignore the surge of excitement that went through me from his touch. It had been just an accident.
“Weren’t you supposed to be shifting?”
“Yeah.” Jerk. I let my animal side take over and the familiar strength and instincts pulsed through my veins. I used my claws to break through the chains. I couldn’t get the ones on his legs with my paws, so I used my mouth.
I stayed as a bear and nudged him to move. Hopefully he’d get the hint.
“Did you just bite those chains? Is your mouth that good as a human?”
I couldn’t talk to him as a bear. He was lucky. He would have had another thing coming.
“You wouldn’t happen to have any extra clothes, would you?”
I pushed into his side harder. He needed to shut up.
“Ok, I get it.”
It was strange walking next to Jared as a bear. I couldn’t get the same read on him.
He let out a groan. I wished I were in my human form so I could see what was wrong. Was he hurt? Was I really worrying about that? What was wrong with me? I pushed my head into his side to keep him moving.
He patted my head. Was he serious?
We moved slowly through the passage. I had no clue who was awake, and that witch was still around. When we reached the fork I pushed against him again to make sure he followed me toward the back entrance. He bent down. “Why should we walk further into this place?”
I’d never been more frustrated by a lack of ability to speak before. Usually it was one of the nice parts of being in my bear form. Some things were easier when talking wasn’t involved.
Before I could worry about it for long (or bite him to make him listen), I heard talking. I couldn’t be sure where it was coming from, but I wasn’t going to take a chance. I quickly shifted back. I needed to be able to communicate with Jared. I yanked on his arm and pulled him back into a crevice. The space was tiny, and considering we were naked, it wasn’t exactly the most comfortable hiding place ever.
“She’s dead if he ever finds her.”
I didn’t need to listen long to realize the male voice was talking about me. I also knew exactly who it was, Jim, an annoying member of the pact.
“I can’t believe she’d do that.”
“The girl was her sister.”