I’m staring at Lachlan’s ass with wide, terrified eyes as he’s sprinting toward the charging grizzly bear. If my mind is broken, then his must be smashed, wrecked, and shattered into a million pieces. That’s the only thing that would explain why in the hell he’s running straight at that rabid beast.

“Lachlan!” I shout as I grab a hold of the horses’ reins. They’re pulled tight from the way the horses are yanking and jerking their heads back, desperately trying to get away from the bear.

“Lachlan, what are you doing?!?” I scream at him, but he keeps running.

I try to undo the rock-hard knot that’s keeping the leather reins tied to the tree, but my hands are so shaky and it’s so tight with the horses pulling like crazy. “Oh no, oh no, oh no,” I mutter over and over as I claw at the knot with no effect.

That same horrible ripping sound cuts through the air behind me, sending cold shivers slicing through my body. I swallow hard as I turn around and nearly have a heart attack when I don’t see Lachlan. Another grizzly bear, looking just as ferocious, has taken his place.

Adrenaline dumps through my veins, sending my pulse racing as I watch in horror as the new grizzly bear smashes into the deer-killer one. They collide like two powerful trains in a mess of snarls and snapping teeth, fighting viciously as their chilling grunts and roars make my legs weak.

Where the hell is Lachlan? I look around in a panic but see nothing but the ducks flying up, getting the hell out of here. That’s a good plan. I like that plan.

I turn back to the horses with a pounding in my ears, grabbing the tight reins so I can escape with my life.

“Stop pulling,” I beg the horses as they pull back, whipping their terrified heads from side to side. “Stop it, you cunt horse! I’m trying to save us both!”

I shouldn’t, but I turn back and look at the savage bears. They’re both standing on two legs, snapping their murderous jaws at each other as they make the most violent noises I’ve ever heard. I can’t tell which bear is which, but it doesn’t matter. They’ll both eat me if they get the chance. In fact, they’re probably fighting over which one gets the juiciest parts.

“Stop it, you stupid asshole horse!” I shout as I try to untie the impossibly-tight cocksucking knot. “They’re going to fucking eat me!”

Just when I can’t hate the horses enough, Posh jerks to the side and smashes her massive shoulder into me. I fly to the ground, landing on my stomach, and I get a mouthful of sand.

The vicious snarling sounds stop, and I tilt my cowboy hat up just in time to see one of the grizzly bears running away from the other. He circles around the lake, grabs the dead deer, and drags it back into the woods.

When he’s gone I turn to the other one, which still has his back to me. If I don’t move he can’t see me. Oh shit, is that with a bear or a T-Rex?

I’m trying to figure it out when he turns and locks eyes on me. Gulp. My body starts shaking as we stare at each other.

Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.

I’m going to be eaten alive by a wild animal.

That’s on my top five worst ways to die list right after being set on fire, falling off a cliff, tumbling into a vat of acid, and getting trampled in a Walmart on Boxing Day.

And it’s all that stupid horse’s fault.

The bear never takes his eyes off me as he raises his massive head and sniffs the air. I’m utterly frozen with fear as he moves his big paws, slowly walking toward me.

He doesn’t look as vicious anymore as he approaches, but that’s probably because he knows I’m going to put up as much of a fight as a Chicken McNugget.

I can’t watch. I squeeze my eyes shut and hold my breath, bracing myself as he lumbers forward on his killer paws.

His wet, sniffing nose tickles my ear, and I flinch, nearly wetting myself from terror. I wait for the claws or the teeth—my body tense with fear—but they never come.

After a minute, I slowly open my eyes and see the bear watching me curiously. He doesn’t look hungry. He doesn’t look so scary either.

But still, it’s a freaking grizzly bear.

I notice the horses have calmed down and curse them under my breath when I see the loose leather reins hanging slack. “Now you guys calm down. Assholes.”

I gasp in fear when the bear swings his head forward, bumping me with his cold wet nose. He sniffs my hair and then leans back, watching me with a curious look on his face.

My racing heart starts to slow down as he lies down beside me, looking at me with a warmness in his eyes. They look familiar somehow and my skin starts tingling when I think I know who they belong to.

“Lachlan?” I whisper. “Are you in there?”

But that can’t be. Can it?

Where the hell is Lachlan? He disappeared just as that bear arrived out of nowhere. And I saw Kneecap turn into that other bear, didn’t I?

I don’t know what I saw anymore. It all happened so fast, and clearly my eyes can’t be trusted. But… it kind of feels like him in a strange way.

The bear shifts forward and drops his enormous head on my legs, looking up at me like he has a crush on me or something.

“Okay,” I say in a shaky voice as I slowly reach forward to stroke his head. “We can be friends as long as you promise not to eat me.”

He closes his eyes and rumbles contently as I pet his big head.

“You like that?” I ask as he moans again. His fur is so soft and thick. I dig my fingers into it and scratch his head. He looks like he’s in heaven.

“Remember,” I say as he moves his head to get closer to me, “friends don’t eat friends.”

The fear that was consuming me a few minutes ago is slowly dissipating as he moans louder and louder.

“Enjoy the massage,” I say with a laugh. “But you’re not getting a happy ending.”

He rolls onto his back and starts groaning as I scratch his long belly.

“Thanks for scaring away that other bear,” I say as I dig in deep, making his tongue roll out of the side of his mouth. “I don’t think he was coming for a belly rub.”

I spot some wet blood on his shoulder and cringe when I see a deep gash cutting through the red matted fur.

“You’re hurt,” I say, feeling bad for the poor guy. He got hurt protecting me. There’s grains of sand in the wound from rolling around on the beach, and even with my lack of medical training I know that sand in a wound can’t be good.

“I have to wash that off for you or it will get infected.”

He just watches me with the most beautiful eyes as I slowly get up, making sure not to make any sudden movements. I should feel terrified right now, but I don’t.

I can’t help but get the strange feeling that Lachlan is looking at me through those eyes.

The bear keeps his eyes on me as I grab the water bottle from the saddle and walk back. I screw the cap off and take a deep breath.

“I’m just going to clean it,” I say, feeling a bit nervous. It’s one thing to be around a friendly bear, but it’s a whole other thing to start messing around with his open wound. Still, he saved my life. I have to try and help him.

“How is that possible?” I whisper to myself when I look at the wound and it’s completely healed. It was open and bleeding a minute ago. I make sure that it’s the right shoulder and it is.

I’m so confused. This is what losing your mind must feel like.

I can’t trust my brain, and I can’t trust my eyes. People turning into bears. Wounds healing in super speedy motion. I need laser eye surgery. No. I need something more powerful than that. I need lightsaber eye surgery.

We hang out for a while, and I’m surprised that the horses are so calm, just chilling by the tree like there’s not a bear nearby, only a five-ton puppy.

And that’s what it feels like. For some strange reason that I don’t quite understand, I know that he won’t hurt me. I can feel the affection radiating off him. I can feel the love.

It sounds crazy to say, but it’s true.

Suddenly, he stands up, licks my face with his long wet tongue, turns, and walks away.

“Uhm,” I stutter. “Okay. Bye.”

His big butt sways from side to side as he walks down the beach away from me.

It’s crazy, but I kind of liked his company. It was warm and comforting, and I’m already missing him.

“If you see Lachlan in the forest, can you please ask him to kindly return?” I call out to the bear. “I have a few pressing questions for him. Like where the hell did he go?”

A gasp escapes my lips when the bear suddenly starts shaking violently. I jump to my feet, staring in horror as my new friend has a seizure or something worse.

I take a step forward when that horrible noise rips through the air and the bear explodes into a naked man.

My heart can’t take much more of this pounding. It’s working overtime as the man turns around, and I see Lachlan’s beautiful face and kind eyes looking back at me.

I just swallow hard as I look him up and down from his toes in the sand to his long cock hanging between his muscular thighs to his face that looks like he doesn’t know what to do or say.

We just stare at each other for a long moment before he licks his lips and clears his throat. He opens his mouth to speak, but I say the first words.

“I think my brain is broken.”