CHAPTER 15
When Tessa awoke, Atticus was already out of bed. On his pillow was a note was written on stiff, white paper, the handwriting all straight lines.
Breakfast is in the kitchen. Eat up, then come find me.
- A
Tessa smiled at the note, the mere thought of Atticus was enough to bring a feeling of warmth to her heart.
She rose out of bed and made her way back to the room that had been set aside for her. She hopped in the shower, taking her time and enjoying the luxury appointments of the bathroom, such as the double-headed shower that sprayed water on her skin with the exact right pressure to undo the knots that had been tightening in her body over the course of the last few days.
Getting out, she dried herself with one of the thick, soft towels that hung on the stainless-steel hooks and entered the walk-in closet. To her surprise, there was a bevy of women’s clothing, bringing to Tessa’s mind the question of just how many women the brothers brought to this compound. Picking out a simple white blouse and a pair of blue jeans, along with a matching set of expensive-looking lacy underwear, she dressed herself, drying her hair and putting it up into a simple ponytail.
Heading into the kitchen, she was presented with a sight of scrambled eggs, bacon, whole-grain toast, and what appeared to be freshly-squeezed orange juice and recently brewed coffee. Feeling hungrier than she was anticipating, she piled a plate high with the food and poured herself a cup of both coffee and orange juice, bringing it all to the kitchen island and taking a seat there.
Without even thinking, she slammed the orange juice down in a single, long swig before diving into the eggs, shoveling them down as though it were the first meal she’d had in days.
“Good?” asked a deep, booming voice from behind her.
A little surprised, Tessa, spun around in her seat and was presented with Clyde, who was dressed in a tight-fitting gray t-shirt that showed off his bulky, powerlifter’s muscles and a pair of soft-looking black running pants. Tessa noted that he was, like the other brothers, very handsome, though in a unique, boyish way, almost harmless.
“It’s amazing,” said Tessa, speaking with her mouth full, her need to shovel the food down overwhelming her sense of decorum.
“Great!” said Clyde, stepping around the kitchen island and standing across from Tessa. “Atticus told me that you’ve had a rough few days, so I figured you could use something good to eat. That always helps me feel better, at least.”
Tessa realized that over the course of however long it had taken for her to scoop down half of the food on her plate, her mood had definitely improved.
“This is exactly what I need, thank you so much,” she said.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, blushing slightly. “Sorry if it’s a little protein-heavy; that’s what the guys and I mostly eat.”
Tessa chewed on a piece of bacon, her eyes looking out of the kitchen window onto the compound grounds outside, noting that there was a gathering of men forming.
“What’s going on out there?” she asked, pointing towards the men with her bacon.
“That’s, ah, that’s our weekly meeting.”
“Meeting?” Tessa was confused. “Who’re those other guys?”
“They’re the other men who live on the compound,” said Clyde, seeming now unsure of himself, as though he were afraid of saying too much.
“’Other men’? What are they doing here?” asked Tessa, taking a sip of her coffee, curious as to exactly what kind of organization the Swift brothers were heading up. “Wait, this isn’t some kind of cult, is it?”
“No, no,” said Clyde. “Atticus will be in soon, he’ll explain everything. Trust me, though, you’re in good hands here.”
“Why? You mean because of my situation?”
Clyde’s eyebrows raised.
“You mean you didn’t hear?”
“Hear what?”
“Oh,” said Clyde, pointing towards the kitchen TV with a nearby remote.
The display flicked on and the picture was filled with an overhead helicopter shot of a building that Tessa immediately recognized as Hannigan’s.
“A drug deal gone wrong last night as local bar Hannigan’s was wracked by gang-related violence,” said the female reporter in a calm, professional voice as the camera zoomed in on the bar.
As the picture moved in, Tessa could see, to her horror, that Hannigan’s looked like a small war zone- the windows were smashed, cars in the parking lot looked as if they’d been worked over with lead pipes, and the steel sides of the bar were dinged with lines of what looked like bullet impacts. A perimeter around the bar had been formed by police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks.
Tessa walked closer to the screen, her mouth open.
“Though details are still coming in, it appears as if a gun battle between two groups broke out in the late hours of the night. While no patrons or members of the staff were present, three gang members were killed in the gunfight and four more were injured.”
The screen then cut to a serious-faced police officer who discussed the rise of gang violence in the Bear Mountain region due to the increase in meth production activities in the region.
Tessa let out a sigh of relief when she heard that no one other than gang members were involved in the shooting. But she knew that this was the sort of business that Lucas had gotten involved in.
“Sad, huh?” said Clyde. “And it’s only been getting worse.”
“Where’s Atticus?” asked Tessa, not wanting to wait around any longer.
“Outside, with the rest,” said Clyde.
Tessa turned to leave but looked back over her shoulder as she headed out.
“Thanks again for breakfast,” she said.
“Of course!” said Clyde, giving a thumbs-up.
Tessa walked with quick steps down to the garage level and went outside through a steel door. She looked over the compound, seeing it for the first time in daylight. To her surprise, she saw a handful of wood cabins here and there on the huge stretch of land, small homes that seemed similar to hers.
And the in the middle of flat space that was completely clear of brush or trees, was a group of about ten men, all standing in formation, with Atticus standing at their head, and Ian and Roland at his sides.
Tessa walked towards the meeting with careful steps, worried that she was interrupting something important. But she reminded herself that Atticus had told her to come find him when she was up.
As she drew closer to the group, the eyes of the men all latched onto her. She looked the group in front of Atticus over and saw that they were all men of varying looks, the only commonality between them seeming to be that they all were in excellent shape, all appeared to be under the age of thirty, and all were dressed in expensive-looking gym wear.
“You’re up,” said Atticus, who was dressed in a simple white t-shirt and a pair of slim, black-and-white track pants, his eyes on Tessa.
“I am,” she said, walking to Atticus’s side. “What’s going on?”
“Is it finally time?” asked Ian, his mouth in a sly smile.
“I’d say so,” said Roland, his arms crossed over his full chest.
“There’s something more to what’s going on here than men living in the woods,” said Atticus.
Tessa felt both her curiosity and anxiety pique. For a moment, she began to wonder if she had been right and that he was about to induct her into some kind of cult.
“Oh?” she asked, not sure how to react to what he was saying.
“We’re…something different,” said Atticus, seemingly searching for the right words. “Something unique.”
“Not exactly human,” said Ian, cutting in.
Atticus shot him a silencing look.
“What does that mean?” she asked. “And who are all these men?”
Atticus opened his mouth to speak, but stopped, as if realizing that words wouldn’t be enough.
“Ian?” he said, looking to his brother. “Care you show her what I mean?”
“Glady,” he said.
With that, he pulled off his shirt, revealing a lean, sculpted physique, smooth and hairless. He then stepped out of his track pants and underwear, his long cock dangling at his thigh.
Then, what he did next, Tessa could believe.
He closed his eyes and clenched his fists, his body shaking with tension. Black hair began to sprout from his skin, covering his body in smooth, lustrous fur. Next, his muscles began to bulge and expand, twisting his form, changing him into something not human. His head increased in size, his mouth lengthened, and razor-sharp claws began to sprout from his fingers as his hands turned into large, padded paws. Once the transformation was complete, Ian had changed into a massive, majestic black bear.
A black bear that Tessa soon realized was one of the bears that she had seen nights ago.
“What the hell did he just do?” asked Tessa, her voice shocked as she staggered backward from Ian, who now loomed over her.
“Roland?” said Atticus.
Roland nodded and stripped off his clothes, revealing a toned, bulky body and a thick cock that was just as long as both of his brothers’. He repeated the process and changed into a black bear. Though he and Ian looked alike in their new forms, Tessa saw that Ian’s physique was still leaner, even in his bear shape and Roland’s was stockier, more stout-chested.
“We’re shifters,” said Atticus. “We have the power to change into black bears. Me, my brothers, and all of these men.”
He swept his hand across the men who stood in front of him.
“We watch these woods, protecting them.”
“And…” said Tessa, realizing the truth of just who Atticus was. “You also protected me?”
He nodded.
“I and my clan are the bears that have been watching over you. And we’ll continue to watch over you, if you’d like us to.”
Tessa said nothing, still trying to come to terms with what she was seeing.
“I can see that you’re at a loss for words,” he said.
Tessa gave a quick nod.
“Then come with us, we’re about to patrol the woods.”
He turned to the crowd, Ian and Roland looming at his sides.
“Shift! And follow me!”
The men proceeded to spread apart from one another, giving one another room to change. They pulled off their clothes, folding them neatly and placing them on the ground. All of the men had beefy, muscular bodies and Tessa found herself looking over them without thinking.
Then the men all began their change, shifting into a fearsome pack of black bears.
Atticus was the last one to change, shifting into a bear, the largest and strongest-looking of the pack. When he was done, he swung his massive head towards Tessa, and as soon as she looked into his eyes, she realized that he was, in fact, the same bear that had come so close to her, that led his pack to her home, who made sure that she was safe.
He snorted, a puff of steam shooting from his glistening nose. Tessa knew that she should’ve felt fear, but as she looked into his eyes, the only emotion that passed through her was one of calm and safety, as if she knew on some level that she had nothing to fear from Atticus.
All four of his paws on the ground, he nodded backward, a gesture that Tessa recognized as an invitation to crawl onto his back. She was hesitant at first, but as he turned his massive body around, the feeling of safety only grew.
Looking upon the glistening fur of his body, she took a deep breath before walking towards it and grabbing a handful of smooth, almost silken fur. She grabbed another with her left hand, and with a hoist, pulled herself up onto Atticus’s body. Grunting, she reached the top of him and held on tight to the skin at his neck, her legs wrapped around him. Finally, she sat up upon him, looking over the pack of bears that Atticus commanded.
Then, with a mighty, thundering roar, Atticus took off across the compound, towards a large gate that opened mechanically as the pack approached it. Atticus picked up speed as he ran towards the gate and for a moment, Tessa found herself wondering if they would crash into it.
But Atticus timed things perfectly and they ran through the now-open gate, the pack stomping as they followed behind. They entered the open woods, the fresh, cool air whipping at Tessa’s face as the woods around them began to melt into a green and brown blur, the sun peeking through the canopy overhead.
Atticus’s paws pounded the ground as he ran and as Tessa rode on his back, her fears began to dissipate, and she gave herself over to Atticus’s control, letting him take her wherever he may. The pack ripped through the woods, covering massive stretches of ground, and Tessa closed her eyes, letting the feeling of the air rushing over her face rejuvenate her.
Tessa felt something as she held on to Atticus, a feeling that she’d hadn’t experienced in a long time, a feeling that was so foreign that she almost thought she’d forgotten what it was like- she felt alive.
The pack continued on, stomping up Bear Mountain, the creatures of the woods scattering as they thundered on, the thuds of dozens of paws pounding across the forest floor an almost deafening sound. They went up until they approached the peak of the mountain and once they arrived, Tessa gasped at the sight that was before her- it was the entire stretch of the surrounding land, the smaller mountains around them rolling on for miles, the blue sky endless and beautiful above.
Tessa leaned back, letting the warm sunlight hit her face, her hands gripping Atticus’s fur tightly, her heart warm with the feelings inspired by the man…this man, or beast, she quickly corrected herself.