Chapter Nine – Mindy

Mindy inhaled the clean air of the island. Even though things were a little dry and dusty, the scent was still much, much better than anything you’d find in the city. After the last few weeks of tension and worry, being able to just hike and enjoy being surrounded by nature had her relaxing. It helped that she had Rex with her. He told her that he was on the way to getting the money for Meyer. So that would be over soon, too.

Mindy knew she would have to pay Rex back, but owing him money wasn’t nearly as terrifying as owing Meyer money. Honestly, she was just grateful that he was willing to help her out like this. She hadn’t even told him about Meyer’s threat to take Ginny away from her.

“It’s really perfect out here, isn’t it?” she grinned at him, picking up her pace slightly so she could walk next to him on the trail.

Rex gave her a distracted smile and nodded.

“It reminds me of when we first met,” she continued. “Me hiking on an island, and you . . .”

She trailed off as she caught sight of his expression. He looked . . . nervous. Why would he be nervous? They were out in the sun with a cool breeze in their hair and the distant scent of the ocean. Ginny was with a friend of his that he said could be trusted, and it was just the two of them here, away from cars and roads and people. She touched his hand, frowning.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. I just . . .” He shrugged. “So here’s a cave. I used to come sneaking out to it when I was a teen.”

Mindy turned in surprise. There was indeed a small cave, although ‘cavity in the rock’ was more what she would call it. It was mostly sheltered by shrubbery. All in all, the perfect spot for horny teenagers to sneak off to and experiment with sex. She stifled a giggle as she sidled up to Rex.

“Did you bring me out here to show me how you used to romance all the girls on the island?”

“Maybe another time.” Rex gave her a small smile that faded quickly. “We have something we need to talk about, and it can’t wait.”

Ice flooded her veins. She knew that tone. She should have known that this was coming. Her fairy tale was coming to an end. Her heart pounded, but she nodded seriously. Nothing good lasted forever. She could have used a bit more time with Rex, but better end it now before things got even more complicated between them.

“I love spending time with you,” Rex said earnestly. He moved forward and took her hands in his. “I love Ginny. But I don’t expect you to give me any sort of forever or anything like that. I know that this is . . . complicated.”

Mindy’s eyes widened. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? She wet her lips. “Would it be so bad if I wanted a forever with you?”

To her surprise, he actually flinched at that. He didn’t meet her eye, instead staring at the ground. His shoulders hunched.

“You shouldn’t say things like that without knowing all the facts, Mindy. You don’t even know me.”

Mindy frowned at him. She knew that she had shown up in his apartment without a word of warning and he had taken her in. She knew that he was loving and devoted toward Ginny. He accepted his role in her life with a smile, and he was comforting when she had her breakdowns. He hadn’t even questioned her as to how she managed to get herself into so much debt with Calvin Meyer, he just did what he could to help her.

But he had also jumped to ‘kill’ mode when she came home after Meyer had beaten her up.

“Do you have a prison record or something?”

Rex shifted on the spot and shook his head. “No. It’s nothing like that. But everybody has secrets. You know that, right?”

“Of course.”

“Well . . . on the island, we have a secret. A shared secret that we all guard. If the wrong people found out, it could put us all in serious jeopardy.” He finally looked up at her. “But you have to know if you’re going to stay.”

What was he talking about? Mindy crossed her arms over her chest, refusing to let herself become doubtful or shiver. “If you’ve got something to tell me, then you need to tell me straight away. Stop all this beating around the bush.”

“Right.” Rex fingered the buttons on his shirt, then shook his head. “You know what? I’ll just show you. Please, don’t be too upset . . . and don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you.”

He took off his shirt without another word. Mindy couldn’t even take the time to admire the richly muscled body that was revealed to her. The ice already in her veins was growing colder. Why would she think he was going to hurt her? Rex continued to strip down, again not looking at her.

“I’ve already seen you naked,” she said, fear building in her body now. “What is this—”

The words died in her throat when Rex changed before her eyes. Her brain rejected what she was seeing. His arms lengthened, fur sprouted over his body and his face became round and pointed. In a heartbeat, he had become a honey-gold bear. Mindy stood there, shocked and head reeling, as she stared at him. This had to be a dream. There was no way that he . . .

In a blink, he was back to human. Mindy still stood there, her mouth dry as it hung open. Rex dressed quickly without looking at her.

What the hell? What sort of bizarre dream was this? Mindy knew that she sometimes had crazy dreams, but this was something else. It felt so real . . .

“I couldn’t let things between us go any further without you knowing,” Rex mumbled, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He glanced up at her, eyes wary. “So now you know my secret. I’m a bear shifter. I can turn into a bear at will.”

“At will,” she repeated. Her head was starting to pound, and Mindy lifted a hand to rub her eyes. When she saw how much her hand was trembling, though, she dropped it again and hid both hands in her pockets. This wasn’t real. “So, what did you do, drug me or something?”

Rex looked up, startled. “I would never!”

“Well, you turned into a bear for half a second so I—”

With a growl, Rex yanked off his clothes again. She froze as he shifted once more. And once more, that giant honey-gold bear stood in front of her. He moved forward, walking slowly, with his muscles rippling under his shining fur. He tapped his nose against her chest and Mindy stumbled back. Holy shit. This was real!

“Uh . . .” Mindy pulled her hands from her pockets and lifted them to defend herself. But instead, she found herself reaching out, digging her fingers into his coarse fur. “This is real, isn’t it? I thought I had a fairy tale, but I stumbled into a paranormal romance instead.”

She backed away from him, feeling like she was about to collapse. He shifted back to his human form, eyes worried as they remained locked on hers. She took in a deep breath and tried to release it slowly, wanting to get a better handle on herself.

“Why are you telling me this? We barely know each other!”

Rex flinched. “Ginny.”

The air whooshed from her lungs.

“I know of only a handful of times when humans and island bears made children together, but the children always inherited the ability to shift.” Rex dressed fast, then ran his hands through his hair, making it stand up on end. His sky-blue eyes danced around her for a moment before landing back on her. “Ginny is my daughter, and so . . .”

“One day she’ll start turning into a bear?”

“Yeah.” Rex cautiously inched forward. “Are you okay?”

Mindy nodded, even though her head was reeling. He was a bear. His daughter was one, too. One day she’d start turning into an animal. “Does it hurt?”

“No. It’s . . . pretty great, actually. Like slipping into another skin, one that you’re more comfortable in.”

“Oh . . .”

“I know that things haven’t been . . . you know, intense between us or anything like that. If you don’t want to be with me after this, I understand. But I want you to know that I will be here for you and Ginny, in any way I can.”

Mindy turned away. She didn’t know what she was thinking or feeling. The only thing that kept coming back to her mind was that this couldn’t be real. That it had to be a trick of some sort, and that at any moment he was going to burst out laughing and tell her that he’d been sneaking magic mushrooms into her breakfast or something like that.

“We don’t have a relationship,” she managed to squeak out. “It’s too early for that.”

“We have a daughter. We do have a relationship and always will, even if it’s not a romantic one.”

That was true enough. She pressed her hands against her eyes, wishing she could be angry about this. Maybe she would be when it finally sank in, but right now she just felt numb.

“Ginny . . .” At once she had the overwhelming desire to hold her little girl. “I need to get back to her.”

Rex nodded. He still gazed at her worriedly, and with a jolt, she realized he had expected her to start running or screaming, maybe even attacking him. She turned back to the path, her neck prickling at the thought of turning her back on a bear but knowing this was Rex. Despite the shivers and confusion bouncing around in her head, the fact that he could turn into a bear didn’t change who he was. He had still taken them in, shielded them, protected them. Besides, she wasn’t convinced that any of this was real yet.

“Mindy—”

“I need time to think about this and get it sorted in my head.” Her voice was cooler than it ought to be, but Mindy couldn’t find the words to apologize for it. Not when she had the feeling that if she tried too hard to explain how she felt, she was going to end up freaking out.

Her mind hadn’t settled on anything by the time they got to the head of the trail. Mindy stared at her feet as she walked, and only looked up when she saw Rex stiffen from the corner of her eye.

She didn’t have to ask what had made him tense.

In the small dirt parking lot, leaning against Rex’s Cadillac, was Calvin Meyer. His arms were crossed, and a disgusted look was on his face.

“I am getting very sick of you, Mindy. Always trying to run away from what you owe me.”

Rex stepped between them, shielding her from Meyer. “Get the hell out of here before—”

Mindy heard the crack of a gun going off. There was a sharp whistle and a wet plunking noise. Rex’s body spun. His eyes met hers before he fell to one knee, blood gushing from his chest. Mindy screamed as Rex grunted. Meyer laughed. He held a gun in his hand. He took a step forward. Rex roared and surged back to his feet. Fur sprouted over his body.

The gun went off again. The impact of the bullet made Rex drop to the ground. Mindy fell to her knees, pressing her hands over the bleeding wounds while Rex’s eyes rolled into the back of her head.

“We were getting you your money!” Mindy shouted, tears burning in her eyes and a fury burning away her fear. “I wasn’t running away, we were just getting your money!”

Meyer sashayed forward, still chuckling. “And I’d better get it soon, Mindy. Otherwise, I’ll get it in other ways.”

Even in his unconscious state, Rex growled. Meyer pointed the gun at his head, and Mindy screamed, throwing herself over Rex. She shook her head, tears streaming down her face. “No, don’t! I’ll get you your money. Please. Please.”

Meyer snorted, then tucked his gun away. “Whatever. He’s dead anyway, Mindy. Your bear is dead.”

Her breath caught in her throat.

“Yes, I saw his little display. It’s a secret that the island people don’t want the world to find out about, huh?” Meyer’s grin widened even further, making him look exactly like a shark. “That information will be most useful.”

Mindy hissed under her breath. If it wasn’t for Rex’s blood still seeping through her fingers, she might have launched herself at Meyer. He stood there, looking down at her with a terrifying gleam in his eye. Then, he turned on his heel and marched to a motorbike nearby. With a thrill of horror, Mindy recognized it as one of Rex’s.

How had he gotten to the island, anyway?

It didn’t matter. Mindy pressed her palms into the bullet wounds, her heart in her throat as she desperately tried to think of what to do. She had left her cellphone at the house. There wasn’t any signal out here, anyway. Did this island have 9-1-1? She saw a radio clipped to Rex’s belt and grabbed it, the casing slipping slightly in her grip. She turned it on.

“Hello?” she called into it, then dropped it and ripped off her tank top to press into Rex’s wounds.

A male voice crackled over the line. “Who’s this?”

There wasn’t time to explain. “I’m with Rex Tesla, he’s been shot. We’re at a hiking trail . . .” She looked around wildly for some sort of sign. “There’s a post nearby that says ‘Black Sands.’”

There was a long moment of silence before the voice came back. “I think I know where you are. Put pressure on the bullet wounds, I’ll be right there.”

Rex’s eyes flickered, and he groaned, “Tell Jarvis—go away.”

“Rex!” She was too relieved to hear him speaking to worry about the nonsense he was spouting. “Rex, can you hear me?”

“Mindy . . .” His eyes opened, and a wan smile crossed his ashen face. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Mindy choked on the word. “It’s okay, someone’s coming. You’re going to be alright.”

Rex grunted, trying to sit up, but Mindy pushed him back down. A frustrated look crossed his face, but seeing her expression, he grinned again. It was such a cocky grin that for a moment Mindy wondered if he was really suffering that badly.

“Don’t worry about me. Bears are tough. I’ve gone through worse—” His eyes rolled into the back of his head again, his body going slack.

“Rex!”

His heart beat wildly under her fingers. Mindy stared desperately into his face, searching for some sign of life. There was nothing, and his breath grew shallower and shallower. A pained cry tore from her throat, and she pressed tighter on his wounds, praying for a miracle.