Jenna Smith paced her tiny cabin relentlessly, one side to the other, over and over again. The already worn hardwood floors were getting more mileage today than they had in the last year. But she couldn’t stop even if she wanted to; she had already tried numerous times. For over two hours, she paced, every hair on her body standing on end, making her skin crawl, the feeling beyond uncomfortable. Nothing she did relieved it, and as the time went on, it intensified.
Forcing herself to stop again, Jenna sat down on the couch for what had to be the tenth time in the past hour. Determined to do something different, she grabbed her favorite afghan, wrapping it around her body, but the ordinarily soft blanket was irritating her even more than the pacing. The comfort she usual got from it so far out of reach, she didn’t know if it would ever come back. Yanking it from around her, Jenna threw it to the end of the couch and glared at the offending lump, giving it her dirtiest look. She knew it was a childish move, but it was either that or throw a temper tantrum even a two-year-old would be proud of, and she wasn’t in the mood to throw herself down on the floor just yet. That time might still come. She laughed at her own silly thought, imagining herself on the floor banging her hands and feet against it screaming “Why me!” Unfortunately, the more adult side brain countered her silly thoughts with, “Why not you?”
Damn, Jenna thought, she was so not in the mood to “adult” right now. She was used to being by herself, but this was getting ridiculous, her subconscious was criticizing her thoughts. Hell, maybe she was going insane. She might even welcome that versus what she knew was happening. She theorized countering her subconscious that perhaps the isolation, loneliness, and fear were finally taking the little bit of herself that remained. Jenna shrugged her shoulders and thought she deserved it after all because of the things she had done. The people who were hurt because of her actions. Maybe she thought this was how it was supposed to be. Her subconscious was muted to those thoughts, and Jenna thought yeah, I wouldn’t be that lucky.
Getting up with a huff and stomping her feet down on the floor a little harder than necessary, Jenna stood and continued her track around the room, rubbing her arms, trying to rub away how she was feeling. Tension and discomfort were the only words Jenna could think of, but it was more intense than that, almost like a counter energy was beating against hers, willing her to do its bidding. Like that feeling when you know someone is watching you but different, more intense.
Some people might call it an intuition, but Jenna called it hell. She knew damn well something was outside calling to her, and the feeling made her shiver with dread. She shook her head and corrected her previous thought. Not something, someone; she knew better than to think it was something. She would have been happy with something, but this was a person. A person she was pretty sure would need something from her; that was the only time she ever felt like this. Although the feelings had never lasted this long before, this was different, more powerful and frightening.
Her eyes kept going to the window, then the door even when she tried to distract herself. Her body and mind were compelling her to go outside and to find whoever it was. She didn’t want to do that, every cell in her body rebelled against doing just that, but the rebellion couldn’t compete with the draw.
Grabbing her coat, boots, and the rest of her winter gear, Jenna threw it all into a pile on the floor, much like what she had done with the afghan, only this time, she didn’t glare at it. She walked away, not quite ready to accept the inevitable. As she walked, Jenna started looking around for anything that would make her stop what she knew she was going to do. Crossing her arms over her stomach, she hugged herself, the tension becoming too much; she knew the person was getting closer. Every time Jenna would pass the pile on the floor, she had to stop and look at it for a while, then force herself away again; it was ridiculous. The feeling was even worse when she came to the window or door.
Looking around the cabin, she realized how much she had loved her time there alone, healing from past hurts and unwanted demands. The cottage itself was tiny, but as far as she was concerned, it was home. The only place she had ever felt truly comfortable in a very long time. Her Uncle had tried to give her a happy home as a child, but Jenna had always felt like an intruder in his life or worse, an obligation. His house was beautiful and massive but lacking warmth. This place, on the other hand, exuded it from the knotty pine wall to the stone fireplace and comfortable overstuffed furniture.
But it was more than that, she had made this cabin, in the middle of nowhere, hers. Everywhere she looked, she could see a little part of herself. The floor to ceiling bookshelves held some of her favorite books. The blue and green pillows she had stacked in the corner provided her with hours of comfort as she sat in front of her fireplace and read. Even the pictures of her friends and family on the wall and mantle, placed haphazardly, just the way she liked them. No order or pattern, the items, set randomly, so she could get the best view of them from wherever she was sitting. Then there were the little knick-knacks she had placed in every nook and cranny. Things that didn’t make sense to anyone but her—a rock she found that sparkled in the light she found fascinating, a sticker one of her patients had given her when she was still able to work in the hospital, a flower she had pressed when she was fourteen years old. This was what she had always wanted, and now, she was going to have to leave it all behind.
Peace, that was all she ever asked for, but wherever she went and whatever she did, she could never find that, and it pissed her off. Hell, she had thought she found it here, had kept that illusion for almost five years now, but like with all good things, it was coming to an end. She knew she would have to make a call soon, and that would be it. Another tingle ran up her spine. Whoever was out there was coming closer to her home, but she was still resisting, still had some power over what was about to happen even if it was all just an illusion.
Jenna had moved out to the middle of nowhere Canada to avoid shit like this, the calling or whatever the fuck it was. Her closest neighbor was over twenty-five miles away, and a small town even further. Hell, all she had to communicate with the outside world was an old CB that reached a couple of the locals, and she hadn’t even used it in over a year. She had a standing order for food and supplies that were dropped onto her land by biplane. An arrangement she had made before even coming out here.
Once a year, she would make her way to town and get whatever else she needed and contact her family. That was the deal she had struck with them, and it worked for her. Most of her family and friends honored her wishes, her Uncle not so much. He came and went as he pleased, and Jenna accepted it. She had money and means, but Jenna wanted to be off the grid as much as possible, and she liked her life this way, chose it. Well, even Jenna had to admit to herself if not anyone else, she wasn’t that far off the grid. She had electricity and a generator and the ability and capability of contacting someone if she was in need. She just didn’t have people around her all the time. But that damn fickle bitch fate was always messing with her. It was almost like a taunt, saying you think you got away, but you didn’t.
Fate had slapped Jenna more than once, and she was sick of it. Sighing, she realized she might be sick of it, but Fate wasn’t anywhere close to being done with her. Resigned, she stopped pacing and sat on the floor, grabbed her boots and coat, and started to get ready to brave the frigid temperatures outside.
All dressed, Jenna stepped out into the frigid winter. The first thing she always did was take a deep breath, holding it and counting to five. Jenna didn’t know why, but she always did it, maybe it centered her or something. She liked to think it cleared all the worries out of her mind, giving her a fresh start for a new day. But she had a ritual, just like a lot of people did; the next step was taken without thought. Jenna closed her eyes and let her senses wander. The pull was coming from the west, toward the river. Opening her eyes, she looked in that direction but didn’t immediately see anyone although she did notice the thick dark clouds off in the distance. A storm was coming, and from the looks of it, there was no doubt it would be a bad one.
The snow was already deep but not deep enough to pull out her snowshoes, she could still walk without sinking to her knees. Looking up at the sky again, she realized that by morning this little trek wouldn’t be possible without them. Instead of going straight for the river, she walked around her cabin, checking to make sure it was ready for the storm. Her wood supply was good, but she needed to bring more up to the porch, and she needed to go out to the barn and bring up more fuel for the generator. Chances of the electricity going out during the storm were inevitable.
Jenna closed the thick shutters on the back of the house over the window, just like she did for every storm and proceeded around the sides to do the same thing. She didn’t want the chance of a branch coming through in the middle of the storm, she had already lived through that once, and it wasn’t fun. Gritting her teeth, she knew she had waited long enough to head to whoever was calling to her.
The river wasn’t very far from her cabin, but it would still take some time to get there, so she started walking, keeping a lookout for anything unusual. Snow covered the land and looked undisturbed except for a few tracks some animals, probably deer or rabbit, had made. As she got closer, she could hear the water before she saw it. The river was running hard which also meant it was deeper than usual too.
When the river came into view, she immediately saw what she was looking for and without even thinking, she ran right into the water, praying that her selfishness hadn’t just cost the person floating in the water their life. Jenna kept going, fighting the current, trying to get to the person, praying they were still alive, the mantra, please, please, please echoing through her mind. Jenna realized she wasn’t going to get to them this way. Trudging back to shore, she started running as soon as her feet hit the rocky bank. The heavy wet clothes hampered her efforts, but she had finally gotten ahead of the person at a bend in the river. Wading in, she tried to position her body, so they would run right into her, not prepared for the person to be as big as they were, the momentum knocking her back down into the waist-deep water, pulling her under.
Determined, she held tight to the man’s leg, trying to get some kind of traction on the rocky bottom. Her foot finally landed on a bigger rock, stopping her body from moving against her will. Using every bit of strength, she had, she pushed the unmoving body out of the faster current into the shallows. Gritting her teeth, Jenna pulled harder, ignoring the pain in her arms and legs and the bruises she knew were forming from the hit she had taken. There was no way she was going to give up on whoever this person was, they deserved better than this. From how rigid his body was, she doubted the man was alive. If that were the case, she would contact the authorities, so he could have a proper burial, instead of floating endlessly in the water.
It took forever until Jenna finally had the large man out of the water and barely onto the shore. Not thinking twice, Jenna immediately pulled her gloves off, leaving on the thin protective layer she always wore. It was a specially made, rubber-type glove, just for her, light enough to allow for touch but also clear enough for people not to immediately notice them. Placing her fingers on his wrist, she searched for his pulse. Not finding the thump of his heartbeat, she crawled forward placing her fingertips against his neck. She almost cried when she felt the faint, slow beat.
“You’re going to make it,” she whispered in a strangled voice. “I promise I’ll do everything I can to make sure you get through this.” Pulse found, she looked for respirations and found none, immediately starting CPR, thankful for the first time in a long time she had become a nurse.
She knew she had other things to worry about, but the main one right now was getting this man breathing. She felt his body lurch under hers and used her own body to push him over onto his side. The sound of him coughing up the river water was music to her ears. She patted his big back, trying to help, needing to keep in contact with him. As he coughed, she looked at him, really looked and was astonished. She wasn’t a small woman, rather average, but he was a huge freaking man. Looking back at the water, she had to wonder how in the hell she managed to get him to shore by herself without any help.
He had to be well over six and a half feet tall and bulkier than any man she had ever seen before, and she knew a few who were huge. When his coughing stopped, Jenna panicked. She had expected him to move or moan or something, but his body was still. Pulling him back, she checked to make sure he was still breathing. He was, but it was shallow. Checking for his pulse again, it was slow, even slower than what it was before. She was going to lose him if she didn’t do something and quick. Jenna didn’t have the first clue who this man was, but for some reason, she knew he deserved better than this.
Peeling off the last layer of protection on her hands, Jenna ripped open his shirt, noticing for the first time the three bullet holes littering his abdomen and chest. Grateful for only a second none of them were still bleeding, Jenna held her hands over his body. She had one moment of hesitation when she thought, please don’t let me be wrong this time before placing her hands on his chest and pushing her so-called gift through him. She could feel the warmth coursing through her body into his. She looked down at her hands and noticed the skin she was touching was starting to change from the blue of hypothermia to a healthy pink.
Her gift or curse like she thought of it was to heal. She could heal anyone, but it always took a piece of herself with it if she wasn’t careful. She could only give so much before the drain on her body and soul pulled her under. Feeling the burn on her stomach and chest, she knew she was making progress. But there was something else pulling even more power from herself. She delved further, and what she found scared the crap out of her. This wasn’t just a man. She knew immediately she was in trouble; her family would be coming sooner rather than later.
He wasn’t just a man, he was special, beyond special. The gorgeous, blue-tinged man was a shifter. What Jenna couldn’t figure out was why his animal, from what she could tell a bear, wasn’t helping him heal and get through this. Letting more of her gift out, Jenna searched for the spirit within the man. She found it so deep, she was surprised the two were still joined and the beast was very pissed off at his host. The bear was lashing out at anything he could, including her and her energy and stealing what the man had left.
Jenna pleaded with the animal spirit in her mind, but the beast wasn’t responding to anything she was doing. If he could only shift, she wouldn’t have to worry about him, he would heal almost immediately. She pushed her healing energy at the animal and prayed it would work, but it only took more and more from her, and Jenna knew she needed to stop. Cutting the beast off entirely from her energy, Jenna concentrated on the man, pushing her now weaker power through him to get him through the next few minutes. Jenna would deal with the beast later, much later. Pulling her hands away, Jenna did a quick visual assessment and deemed her patient healthy enough to travel, not that either of them had much choice in that.
Taking a couple of seconds, she tried to wrap her mind around what had just happened and who this man was but decided it wasn’t worth the effort. No, right now, she needed to get him inside, and there was absolutely no way she could do it on her own or in her current condition. Getting up, every bone, muscle, and joint hurt, but she didn’t let that stop her. She started to walk away but couldn’t just leave him without saying something. Running back, Jenna crouched down, placed her hand on the man’s cheek, leaned down, and kissed his other one.
“Don’t worry, I will be back for you,” she whispered. Before she could right herself, the man whispered one word, well not a word, a name, Jessie.
Falling back onto her butt Jenna was shocked at the name she had just heard, Jessie; it echoed through her mind like a shot. She could only shake her head in denial, thinking there was no way in hell that this man, this bear Shifter she pulled out of the water was who she thought. It couldn’t be.