Goldilocks Read online

  The piercing yelp of pain that he brought forth from the vile beast was only the beginning of what he planned to do to the animal that had threatened Hannah’s life. There would be hell to pay, and this time he wouldn’t mind picking up the pieces.

  Chapter 16:

  “What were you doing with the inspector’s daughter!?” Rone bellowed the second Jake stumbled through the door, his form shifting to bear just as Jake shifted to human.

  It had taken everything in him to gather what was left of the wolf’s parts and drag it all the way up to the mouth of the abyss and another hour to heal well enough to make the journey back down the mountain towards home. He’d expected his father to be angry, but he’d never expected a confrontation like this. The rules had always been the same. In their home they lived as humans. Their creation form was used only for the protection of the woods, and not against each other. Jake nearly crumpled from exhaustion as he regarded his father warily, his more tender human body drooping as he donned one of the robes from the peg to cover his nakedness.

  “She was in the woods…”

  Liar! Rone snapped, throwing the thought with such accusation that Jake fell back against the door from the force of it.

  He had yet to regain his strength from what had proven to be a brutal match with the wolf, his wounds still seeping from not fully healing yet. Even still his anger pulsed through him with a quickness, his body not fully shifted when his father pinned him back with planted claws. The wood of the door cracked in protest of the assault, splinters flying as Rone’s eyes stared directly into his son’s flashing ones, violating the precious memories that Jake had tried to hide deep in the recesses of his memory. It’s where his nightmares lived, and the things he kept most sacred stayed protected, but Rone paid no mind to the barrier he’d never dared cross without his son’s permission, his prying feelers snatching hold of everything that was Hannah, pulling it forward until Jake snarled in indignation against the intrusion.

  “You have no right!” Jake shouted, pure anger shifting his face so that they were muzzle to muzzle, his partial shift only held in place by the horrified expression on his mother’s face as she flew from the bedroom with her hands on her chest.

  Marigold! Rone stopped his wife from protesting, his stare never leaving his son’s face as he discarded memory after memory of Hannah that proved Jake’s words true. You know the rules! She was in here!” Rone sniffed heavily, his wide black nose crinkling in disgust at the faint scent of oranges and vanilla still lingering in the air. She knows!

  You can’t possibly understand….!

  I do! Rone snapped, slamming his closed paws against the door so hard that the stone beneath their feet trembled from the force. She is human! You would break our covenant for a…a…lesser?!

  I never said…

  I see it in your heart, in your eyes, in the way that you defend her like she is worth more than all that we have protected!

  I don’t!

  “You do!” Rone gritted out, snatching his own robe from the row of pegs beside the door as he shifted smoothly back into his human form. “Stay away from her.”

  “I won’t,” Jake whispered, his jaw tightening in determination as his eyes locked with his father’s once again.

  “Rone…” Marigold whispered softly, her unshed tears evident in the pleading of her tone.

  “If you don’t,” Rone shook his head, a low rumble starting deep in his throat as he pushed flashes of the past through his son’s head, reminding him of what they’d lost to their lesser creations.

  “She needs me,” Jake choked out with a shake of his head, his hand slipping behind his back to pull the door open once again.

  “Rone don’t,” Marigold chided as Jake took a step back out into the passageway he’d been so grateful to see only minutes before.

  Rone only stared as his son turned on his heel and limped away, his form shifting to all fours as he turned the corner and disappeared. It wasn’t fair, and he knew it, but his son was the only seed left of their kind. If he turns like all the others…

  Don’t think like that. Marigold warned her husband, reminding him with gentle memories, how difficult the eighteenth year had been for the two of them. It’s his right to have what we have. It’s only natural, and yet you take it away without explanation.

  It will pass. Rone pushed away the images that would surely break his resolve if he lingered in them too long.

  But is it fair?Marigold pressed, her thoughts now on the day that their son had been born. These woods will survive long after we’re gone. Whatever our son chooses…

  Rone wouldn’t hear the rest, a growl starting deep in his belly as he slammed the door closed with a swift kick of his foot. His wife knew when to let things be, but her eyes told him that he would soon listen whether he wanted to or not. Even still, Rone said the only thing he’d always taught his son to be true when it came to keeping the blood of the covenant pure.

  He has no choice. Only his duty.

  **********

  Jake shoved his father’s words from his thoughts, throwing up a block so that he couldn’t see where he was headed. His thinking spot had not offered him any solace, the burnt orange color of the setting sunlight only reminding him of what he’d felt earlier today when he’d grabbed hold of Hannah’s hand. There had never been any need for secrets between the three of them, and now that his eighteenth year was approaching, there were nothing but secrets. Jake wanted nothing more than an explanation of why this human, out of all the other humans he’d been around, affected him in this way.

  He’d been terrified that she would get hurt up on that ridge, and then heartbroken at the look in her eyes when he’d shifted in front of her. He wanted her to know that he was just like her in every way except for that. She was the only human who’d ever known of their existence, and now that she did, he knew his father wouldn’t hesitate to silence her if need be. Their existence was sacred, and much needed because of Creed and his pack. He’d have to make her understand, which meant going against a promise that the covenant had made to each other long ago. He just hoped she’d listen.

  **********

  Bright lights through the trees stopped Jake from continuing down the trail towards the cabin. It was well after dark, yet ‘Big Red’ was just turning down the narrow trek off of the main road, its motor squealing in protest as the gears were shifted down into low and finally into neutral as it rolled to a stop. Through the darkness, Jake could see that both Hannah and her father were climbing from the truck, him rushing around to ease an arm around her before leading her towards the front porch.

  Their voices were raised as if in an argument, Hannah’s normally light tone, stressed and breaking as she murmured something in reply.

  “It doesn’t matter Hannah. Wolves?! Can’t you see that you could have been killed!”

  “But I wasn’t!”

  “Not this time no, but…”

  “I told you that I needed to clear my head dad! I left school because it was just one of those days. I needed to get out of there!”

  “So you do the one thing that I ask you not to, and then scare the life out of me when you show up all bruised and cut!”

  “You didn’t have to take me to the hospital. We have pain meds here!”

  “Pain meds that you wouldn’t need, had you listened!”

  “Don’t try and treat me like a child now…!”

  “You are my child Hannah!”

  “You just want to lock me up and hold onto me like you did mom! If it weren’t for you telling her that she couldn’t work; she would have never gotten that crazy night job!”

  “It’s not my fault that she was murdered Hannah! I’m not the one who…”

  “Who stabbed her and then cut her up into little bits and left her as rat food!?” Hannah screamed, tears breaking her voice into jerking sobs.

  “Hannah don’t…”

  “Dad…I’m sorry. I need to go to bed.”

  “Hann
ah wait…”

  Jake hadn’t meant to listen for as long as he did. He’d only wanted to make sure that she was alright. Her father had mentioned wolves, but nothing about a bear, which could only mean she hadn’t told him...yet. Jake listened as Hannah’s footsteps retreated further into the cabin, her soft sobs barely audible from his position in the woods.

  He, like everyone else around here, had wondered where her mother was, and now he knew. Anger shot through him at the obvious pain that Hannah was still in, her sharp words replaying over and over in his head as he thought of how he would have felt if the same fate had befallen her up on the ridge today.

  He could still hear them talking, their voices a little more muffled than before, but he turned back the way he’d come, allowing them some privacy. It didn’t matter that they didn’t know he was listening. He already felt like he’d heard too much. Tomorrow he’d explain everything to her. Hopefully when he was done she wouldn’t look at him like the monster he’d been today.

  Chapter 17:

  School had never felt as pointless as it did today. Hannah blinked twice to clear the vivid images in her head that had plagued her throughout the night and all of this morning, giving the lock on her locker a third spin, praying that she got it right this time. A heavy sigh left her parted lips as she heard it click free, the narrow blue metal door swinging open with a squeak. She grabbed her government book and tucked it under her arm, going through the motions of putting the rest of her stuff away as Jake’s face filled her mind once again. Those sable colored eyes seemed to pierce her soul, human features disappearing suddenly to reveal the snarling bear he’d turned into up on the ridge.

  It was impossible according to everything she’d ever learned about life. It went against every facet of science and spiraled way out into a fantasy world that she’d only believed in as a kid. It drained her to even think of all the possibilities of how it could be so, but regardless of how it was possible, she knew that what she’d witnessed was real. Long after she’d begun her sprint down the mountain, she’d heard the sounds of the ferocious fight, echoing through the trees, a yelp and then a guttural roar that had seemed to shake the leaves from their branches overhead.

  Her drive into Hinsdale had been reckless, her father surprised when she’d pulled into the mine entrance almost two hours ahead of the end of his work day. Running from the truck she’d thrown herself into his arms, her words choked by tears that wouldn’t stop coming. To him, her story hadn’t made sense, his concern more for the myriad of cuts and scrapes along her arms and hands, but she’d seen the looks some of the other miners had given her, their eyes wide with fear as she’d screamed about the wolf and the bear in the woods.

  When she was asked to repeat her story at the hospital, something had stopped her from bringing up Jake and the way he’d turned. Then, she’d thought it was her conscious. He had, after all, saved her life more than once now, but after a restless night of tossing and turning she wasn’t so sure that it was her own thoughts preventing her from telling her father the whole truth once the shock had worn off. Even the nurses at the hospital had shaken their heads at the mention of wolves the size of bears, patting her back sympathetically, before whispering outside the door to her father.

  Hannah had refused to be kept overnight for observation, and against her father’s wishes had insisted on coming to school today. She couldn’t be at the cabin with him hovering over her every move. After their fight last night, he’d promised to go into the woods and track down the animals that had attacked her. She’d bit her tongue to keep from protesting, and had only nodded when he offered an apology with a kiss to her forehead.

  Aunt Maggie would have been the person she’d turned to if she was back in D.C. right now, and even though she would have immediately answered a phone call or text, Hannah wasn’t sure how she would even start the conversation. Jake was her secret, and she wasn’t ready to share it with anyone just yet; not even the woman that had become a second mother and best friend to her. Regardless of what Jake was, he had to be warned. She owed him at least that.

  “It’s Friday!” Beth chirped happily, slumping lazily against the locker next to Hannah’s, a wide smile on her face.

  They were the last two people she wanted to deal with right now, but as she turned to offer a nod, Hannah noticed Lindsey already staring down in horror at her bruised knuckles.

  “You get into a fight or something?!” Lindsey gasped, grabbing Hannah’s right hand before she could tuck it out of sight under the books in her arm.

  “OH my gosh Hannah!” Beth exclaimed, a look of alarm on her face as she too looked at Hannah’s mangled fingers.

  “It’s nothing,” Hannah shrugged, tugging her hand away from Lindsey’s to shut her locker door once again.

  “Nothing!? That’s not nothing,” Lindsey shook her head, her brow rising when Hannah moved past them back towards the main hall.

  “Is anything else hurt?” Beth questioned, falling in step beside her almost immediately. “I mean, you’ll be ready for tonight right?”

  “Yeah, it’s only the biggest meet of the season and…”

  “Meet?” Hannah shook her head, looking between the two girls now.

  “You didn’t forget did you?!” Lindsey accused, a smirk on her face when Hannah stopped completely.

  She had forgotten. Her mind had been so preoccupied with Jake that she hadn’t even remembered to bring her running shoes with her today.

  “Of course not,” Hannah shrugged, pushing past the girls once again, her eyes on the crowd of students heading towards Mr. Goodall’s government class.

  The last warning bell saved her from being followed this time, and before she could figure out what she was going to do about the meet tonight, she had to find Jake.

  “Win or lose we’re still on for tomorrow, right?!” Beth called down the hall, waving when Hannah turned and nodded reluctantly.

  It had just been yesterday when she’d invited them to the cabin to hang out on Saturday, but it seemed like weeks ago now, and it definitely wasn’t something she was looking forward to any more than she had been when she’d first asked them.

  Hannah shuffled in with the rest of the group in her government class, her eyes scanning the nearly full room before finally settling on the empty table that she’d shared with Jake since day one. She was one of the last people to take her seat, and the last to finally open her text book when the final bell rang, anxiety building once again when she thought of her father’s promise to go into the woods with his gun today.

  Her hand froze mid raise, her request to be excused suddenly swallowed as the hairs on the back of her neck rose, her body flushing hot as her head turned towards the classroom door once again.

  “Mr. Bear, you’re late,” the teacher observed from the front, shaking his head at Jake as he slipped quickly between the tables and into his seat.

  “Hi,” he whispered, his eyes searching Hannah’s face when she stiffened next to him, her breathing suddenly shallow.

  She wanted to punch him for pretending that everything was normal between them when it wasn’t; but most of all she wanted to throw her arms around him in relief that not only had he not been killed by the wolf that had attacked them, but he also wasn’t in the woods right now being hunted by her father. Her throat felt thick when she finally forced a reply, her hands tucking beneath the table so that he wouldn’t see how badly they were trembling. It was barely a murmur, but it eased the tension between them, a smile playing on his lips at the only word that she could manage.

  “Hi…”

  **********

  The scent of the forest clung to him, trickles of honeydew and fresh rain tickling her nostrils when he leaned closer, his eyes searching hers a moment. The same pull she’d thought she’d imagined, now tugged deep in her chest, quickening her heartbeat as she held his gaze. There were answers waiting in the shadows of those dark pools, secrets that he kept easily guarded with the normal scowl that he wore
. But today, his brows furrowed in concern, his broad jaw set tight when she finally dropped her eyes to the hands he had splayed on the desk.

  Before yesterday, had he told her that he could grow lethal razor sharp claws from the tips, his body changing from human to bear in the blink of an eye she would have shook her head and laughed. But every inch of him seemed new to her now, a stranger she was waiting to be introduced to again. He looked like the Jake she’d sat beside over the last month, but subtle hints in his features suddenly revealed the bear he was hiding within.

  “What…are you?” Hannah whispered softly, her head turning so that she was staring straight ahead at the war display up front.

  She could feel him tense almost immediately, her cheeks heating when his fingers curled to form fists, his head shaking at her question.

  “You’re not going to tell me?” she guessed, her stomach flip flopping as she glanced up at him.

  He shook his head again, but grabbed her hand before she could move it from the table top, his voice low, but firm.

  “Not here.”

  “Okay then, tomorrow?” Hannah pressed, almost immediately shaking her head as she thought of her father. “You can’t go into the woods!” she whispered frantically. “My father…”

  “Won’t find me.”

  “But he’s a hunter and…”

  Hannah’s mouth snapped closed, her head jerking to the front at the sound of her name being called. She’d been asked a question and all eyes were now on her, waiting for her to answer. Heat flooded her cheeks as she looked down at her blank notepad and then back up at the teacher. Her mouth opened to tell him that she hadn’t been paying attention, when she heard Jake’s voice clearly in her head.

  Which amendment calls for the direct election of senators? Tell him the seventeenth.