I peered into the distance and felt the frigid wind drift across my skin. It had been three years since I left Frisky Pines, in exchange for the quiet forests of the south. Three whole years can sometimes feel like a lifetime.

I knew I had to leave. Frisky Pines was not my real home. When I thought about it, I have never had a home. When we came back from that other world, the whole town went nuts over the news. Television crews flashed every camera that they owned in my face. The entire world questioned me to death.

Just how did we get there in the first place? Everyone in the neighborhood wanted to know. “Fuck if I know.” That was my best answer.

The town inhabitants had no clue what happened to me. Most didn’t even believe it happened. They didn’t realize I had been there for over a hundred years. They couldn’t fathom that idea that time wasn’t always linear like that it was in our world.

I went crazy over there. I lost my damn mind over that quest. The goddesses could be cruel, even if they had a plan for us.

The papers called us “heroes.” The chieftains held big parades in our honor. Sure, I got swept into the fun, like everyone else. I thought I was a big shot. I’d go down to the local bar and pretend I was the best there was.

That shit became old, real fast. In the end, I just wanted to find love. That weird, toad-man Gorbins told me I would find what I was after. He said that I would meet the most affectionate omega in all the lands. He swore I’d get the chance to start a family with someone. Well, a year passed over me.

I never met my omega.

That’s why I left. I mean, that’s what I told people at least. Of course, there was more to the story than I ever let on. I heard a voice in my dreams. That same voice told me to head south.

I looked into the distance, admiring the beautiful sunset in front of me. I liked to come to that spot, every single day. That cliff-side view was beyond inspiring. It was the very best, and it was fit for a fox like me.

I hadn’t shifted back into my human form in a while. I wasn’t sure how long it had been. Maybe six months? Shit. Had it been that long?

I liked feeling this wild. This free. I was used to the feeling. But sometimes, it was pretty obvious what I had done. I had traded in a regular life in Frisky Pines for another solitary existence. I was alone again, and it was beginning to turn negative for my wellbeing. That negativity was what I had grown accustomed to feeling.

Lately, I had been sensing someone though. The voice. It was like I was being pushed toward it.

There was a rich, musky smell that practically begged to be found. I sniffed wildly, and eventually tracked down a small cabin in the woods. It was similar to mine, except it had all the trademarks of a docile omega bear.

“I bet he’s cute and cuddly,” I remarked, with a smile.

For some reason, I knew he was the voice I had been hearing. I was too afraid to knock on his door and make myself known. People around this area were kind of weird. They weren’t like the guys back in the Pines. And sometimes, you’d even come into contact with some sketchy humans.

The tantalizing aroma never went away. That bear had to be in heat because that nutty smell was more provocative than the cherry pie at the local Country Inn. Still, I couldn’t be sure, and I didn’t want to invade anyone’s privacy.

I shrugged it off and went back to working on building the outside shed of my own home. Life in the south was a lot different from my life in Britain. When I was alone in England, I took to whimsical fantasies. I waited for the Brotherhood to find me. They were going to change my whole world.

They did. So much happened after the Brotherhood knocked on my door. I fought soul-sucking goblins, I floated through a horrifying death-sphere and collided with my ancestors. They knew I wasn’t supposed to be there, but I suffered all the same. Finally, they pushed me back to life.

In this area of the world, I chose to put myself to use. I built my cabin with my own hands. You’d think a fox couldn’t lift a block of wood, but I had an ability like no other fox shifter. I could move things, just by thinking about it hard enough.

It was something I discovered when I got back. Maybe Gorbins, the stupid toad from the outer realms, gave me the power. Who knows? I was just happy I could do something different.

I built my cabin in less than two months. It was damn hard, but I was never one to back down from any challenges. I kept a good garden going too. None of the frilly shit. I had no use for flowers. I grew pumpkins, squash, tomatoes… You name it, and it was on the menu at Chateau Le Tristan.

As I started to wander away from the bear’s territory, I tried to focus on heading home. Something was pulling me back, though. I felt like a strange force.

“Who’s there?”

That nutty slick scent immediately came back. The voice I had been hearing rushed into my ears. I felt myself get excited again, but I tried all the tricks to stifle my sudden hard-on. I closed my eyes and pictured my old grandpa. I pinched my arm. I did everything to ignore the sexual, playful urges inside of me.

“What’re you doing spying on me?”

At that point, I prepared for a fight. When I glanced around the corner, I saw the most prominent bear I had ever seen. Seriously, the guy was massive and much stronger than me. Usually, omegas were smaller, but this guy defied his kind.

Even though he was a hundred feet away, he was looking straight at me, and ready to run my direction.

I was shocked he could communicate through his mind. I hadn’t met too many shifters who could do that. “I wasn’t spying,” I protested, gulping loudly. I felt cornered.

The aroma in the air made me gawk. The bear laughed loudly, and his voice seemed to resonate around the woods. “Not spying? You’ve been here three times this week. Quit lying to me.”

For the first time in so long, I shifted back into my human form. Vulnerable and naked, I gulped and looked down to see my hard-on, poking through the brush.

“Um. I have to go. It won’t happen again,” I said, covering myself.

“Unbelievable! First I catch you spying on my home. Next, you whip your cock out? What other tricks do you have up your sleeve?”

I ducked down into the tall grass and blushed, bright red. In all of my embarrassment, I forced myself to shift back. “No tricks here. Just let me get back to what I was doing,” I said.

“Watching the sunset? It’s beautiful this time of the season,” he said. He was speaking with his voice this time.

His voice was low and gruff like he was born in the mountains. I started to realize that he wasn’t as threatening as I first thought. In fact, he was the exact opposite.

I had my guard up still. I was someone who couldn’t trust people that easy. It was always difficult for me to open up to new people. I hated that about myself, but it wasn’t changing anytime soon.

“Yeah, sure. I mean, whatever. Can I go now?” I asked.

I was acting like I didn’t need anyone in my life, but I did. I’m sure he could see it in my eyes.

Before he could react, a loud cracking noise whipped through the air. I turned around and saw the hunter holding his rifle steady.

“Duck!” I shouted.

Immediately, I knew what it was. Time seemed to slow down, while the bullet pierced through the air. It was a .22 caliber “hornet,” commonly used to hunt small game.

The crack was deafening, almost like the roar that followed it. My calls for that bear to duck were too late, and my ability failed him. The bullet hit his arm, and he yelled out with anger.

I quickly identified the hunter. He was a human I had seen around town. I had a choice to make. I could slash his face to pieces, or I could be nice and merely trap him.

I decided to play nice. I picked up one large branch, swinging it at the hunter. His body, along with his gun, went flying into the air.

For the first time in ages, I felt like I had some purpose. A rush of emotional energy flowed throughout my body.

For once, I was doing something real. I was helping someone. It had been a long time since I helped anyone. Once you’re called a hero, you’re a hero. Right? That’s supposed to be it. But that urge to help people never went away.

I knocked the branch over the hunter’s head and made sure he was knocked out clean. The bear made a loud, “Whuff” noise. He tried to stand up,but failed miserably. I didn’t know what to do. It was like I was paralyzed.

“Are you going to help me or what? My arm’s bleeding like a fountain over here,” he groaned.

I blinked my eyes wildly, regaining control over my sense. I ran over and helped the bear to his feet as best I could. He was a husky and powerful dude. I could barely lift him off of the Auburn leaves. Fall was coming, and somehow this all felt like a dream to me. It was almost as if this was supposed to happen. It felt like… fate.

“Dude! Snap out of it. I need you to help me back to my place. Are you cool with that? I’ve got a first aid kit there. I can stitch myself up if you can’t do it,” he said.

The man’s bare chest straddled my back. His body was warm and muscular. Damn, he was so fucking hot! He was blessed with a perfect body, and the way he talked made me laugh, in a good way.

Already, I could tell that he assumed the best out of people. So, of course, I agreed.

Holding him close to me, I dragged him up to his porch. He groaned in pain. “Fucking hunters. There’s too many of them nowadays. They all left Frisky Pines and came here. I’ll tell ya.”

“It’s the forest,” I said. “And you’re…”

“I’m what? A target?” he asked.

“Not just a target. A really big target. Huge,” I said, groaning as I pushed the door open to his cabin.

“Seriously? You’re making fun of my weight now?” He was annoyed and slightly hurt. I fucked up, yet again. This was why I liked being alone. I always seemed to mess things up.

It wasn’t my intention at all to hurt or make fun of him. In fact, his stature turned me on. “Actually, I think it’s nice. It’s my preference,” I said.

His eyes followed mine as I looked down at the bulging center between his thighs. I gulped and felt my face turn red with heat. “Why don’t you take a picture? It’ll last you longer,” he said, grinning.

“Will it?” I asked.

The words just came out, but I didn’t regret saying them. Sometimes, you just have to say what you feel in the moment.

The bear found a seat in the bathroom. He started laughing at me, holding the wound. “You’re hilarious, dude. How have we not met until now? Are you new to the area or something?”

“Not really. I kind of, uh, keep to myself out here,” I told him.

My heart started to race. I kept biting my lip out of anxiety. Was I actually flirting with him? Was I trying to hook up with this guy, or what? Wild thoughts raced through my head, and the whole time I was in my freakin’ fox form! When I saw myself in the mirror, I jumped back onto the counter.

He laughed and reached under the cabinet to grab the first aid kit. “Yep. The image of a small fox carrying a big bear like me is totally crazy. And yet, you did it. Who are you, anyway? I mean, really. Are you like some Marvel superhero or something?”

“Not exactly,” I said, glancing at the shower. “Can I use that towel for a second?”

He nodded, smiling cunningly. “Go right ahead,” he said.

I grabbed the towel with my teeth and covered the lower half of my body. Shifting back into my human form, I wrapped it around my waist. “There we go. No more flashing you,” I said. “So… what’s your name?”

He had already taken a piece of thread and eased it through the butt of a sewing needle. Wincing, he replied, “Ryan. You?”

“Tristan,” I muttered, tucking in my towel awkwardly.

“So, Tristan. Do you mind telling me how the hell you moved that branch like that? You must be special, right? Are you like the Black Panther? I liked that one a lot,” he said.

“I freakin’ wish. Unfortunately, I’m pretty normal,” I lied. I walked up to Ryan and put my hand on his arm. “Here. Let me finish you up. You’re making a mess of things.”

He reluctantly let up and handed me the needle. The blood grossed me out, but I was happy to help. We were so close that our cheeks were practically touching.

“Here we go,” I whispered.

“Come on. You saved my life back there. I owe you a lot,” he said. I grabbed the alcohol and cleaned him up. “Ow! Damn, man. Watch it with that stuff. It stings like hell!”

“Helping you out was easy,” I lied. “Instinct. You know, sometimes it kicks in. As far as the branch thing goes, I think you just imagined it. Adrenaline, you know?”

He looked at me with incredible wonder. Shaking his head, he reached into a different cabinet, to the right-hand side. Inside was a bottle of whiskey. He unscrewed it and sipped at the bottle.

“So that’s it, huh? Adrenaline? Come on, man. You’re going to have to be a little more creative than that,” he said.

I walked out of the bathroom, smiling to myself. “Yep. That’s it,” I said.

I was getting too excited. This guy was way too fun. I knew that if I stayed, I would end up in bed with him.

“What the heck? Are you leaving? We just got acquainted. Come on. Stay for a drink or something. There’s a good TV show I’ve been watching, and I’m grilling steaks on the barbeque tonight,” he said.

Steaks sounded great at the moment, but I decided to let this one play out a little longer. After all, I had just met Ryan and I didn’t know anyone in this town.

“I was trying to get lost,” I told him. “You foiled my plans.”

“Just like a nosy bear, right? Alright. I see how it is. No pressure. Go on. You know where I am if you want to hang out with someone new,” he said.

During that moment, I could smell him loud and clear. This bear was in heat. Though it was something that intrigued my animal instincts, I felt it best to let the feeling linger. Sometimes it’s better to simmer the meat a little, before tasting it.