Chapter 1
The Evergreen trees swayed in the breeze surrounding Bear Lake, with its crystal blue water rippling softly surrounded by subalpine meadows. Prickly rose, a small pink star-shaped flower, grew in the open woods and clearings around these meadows, usually near juicy patches of berries.
His head buried in a large patch of berries, a dark brown bear with a distinctive hump on his shoulders was using his four-inch claws to forage for seeds, berries, roots, and grasses. His hump and nimble claws lent to his exceptional digging ability, providing both his power and dexterity. His long guard hairs on his back and shoulders stood straight up, showing their white tips which lent them a "grizzled" appearance.
What one moment looked like relaxed berry picking, suddenly became hypervigilance as his massive head swiveled to look for predators such as mountain lions, wolves, and larger grizzly bears. He could just as easily become prey as he could miss out on an opportunity to put on weight for his winter denning. He must not have heard or sensed anything too concerning so he continued to feed on the berry patch, ingesting the juicy berries which he would then spread their seed over his broad territory around Bear Lake.
Each time a small sound caught his attention, he turned his intelligent head toward it. He waited for the opportunity of a deer, elk, or small animal to happen across his path. He also roamed daily around the lake searching its small branching streams for salmon or other fish to capture which would fill his empty, growling belly. Because it was summer, he had to eat several months worth of food to tide him over past winter. He hadn’t eaten anything substantial in a few days at this point.
His ears perked up in alertness when he heard the unmistakable dull, wet-lip smacking and high-pitched squeaking sound of a fawn clumsily picking its way through the dense foliage of the wilderness. He slowly walked toward the sound, rounding Big Bear Troller Cove to see the vulnerable light brown fawn, with his distinctive white speckled spots. The grizzly bear scanned the area for other predators and for the fawn’s mother, then went around the side of the Cove, cutting off the fawn’s natural exit. He stalked slowly around and surprised the young deer, who stood there transfixed in its vulnerability. The grizzly bear was just about to make that fatal swipe with his massive claw when he heard a large crack in a branch behind him and swiveled his head.
The fawn wasted no opportunity to flee as soon as the grizzly bear was distracted. The massive grizzly turned toward a small woman trembling with her delicate hands wielding a fat log as a weapon. Her blonde hair blew in the breeze of her desperate panting. Her light brown eyes pinned the massive predator with her courageous stare. The grizzly bear roared his annoyance toward the woman, showing his long white teeth stained crimson by berries, which made them even more ominous. His ears and eyes looked tiny on his huge fluffy face with its wide gaping mouth.
“Uhhh, ohhh,” the woman exclaimed, seeing the massive jowls open several inches. Bear’s black cavernous mouth, with its red teeth, was threatening her.
She had interrupted his hunting. She gulped down her fear, looking around for her opportunity and path to escape. She wasn’t sure if she could outrun him and her mind was drawing a blank as to whether brown bears were the ones who could climb trees or not. Her heart hammered in her chest at the stupidity of getting between a bear and his dinner. Now she had taken the fawn’s place on his menu.
The bear advanced slowly, picking his steps carefully, choosing the exact time that he would attack. The woman watched dumbfounded at the majestic rolling stride of the massive beast. He slowed his pace within only ten feet of her and then opened his jowls once again to let out an angry, complaining growl which served to make her knees quake in fear.
She didn’t hesitate this time, turning on her heels and running as fast as she could down the well-worn path. Her blonde hair like a flag in the wind, picking up small twigs and seeds and briars as she ran. The relentless branches of the scraggly bushes that lined the path scratched at her face and tore her thin, white shirt. Her heaving breaths could be heard for many minutes afterward getting fainter in the distance as she escaped.
Where the grizzly bear had stood, now a tall, broad, well-muscled, caramel-skinned man was in its place. His fine, straight black hair blew in the breeze across his high cheekbones. His deep-set black eyes narrowed as he watched her disappear down the path until he could see or hear her no more.
He turned his head as he heard a familiar squawk and automatically put out his bare flesh arm as an enormous hawk, with a several foot wingspan, flew effortlessly to perch upon his forearm. The hawk turned its light brown head and trained its keen golden eyes upon the man as if listening intently and expectantly.
“Did you see that? That meddling woman just scared away the only decent meal I am likely to get for a couple weeks. I could have…” The man said toward the hawk.
Suddenly, the hawk lifted his beak, hopped off the man’s arm, and became a tall, lanky man with a patrician face, long nose, sandy-brown hair, and pale, thin shoulders.
“Yeah, I saw it. You had the opportunity to make her your dinner, but I saw that you hesitated. Was it her fine fanny or killing humans in general which stopped you?” the man replied.
“Chetan, I don’t prey on defenseless women, especially ones who are trembling like a leaf with a small log in their hands,” he said in response.
“Chris, you should have at least swipe her to teach her a lesson. This is Bear Lake. And you are the most dominant bear around here,” Chetan said with a smirk.
“What is she doing up here anyway? I thought the RV park down the mountain would contain her kind to their noisy televisions and they would leave us alone,” Chris asked.
The smaller man looked at Chris, scratching his head with his long, slender almost claw-like fingers.
“That’s Annabella Black, you know, the lady that the lawyers say has a claim to Bear Lake. I have been watching her. She is building a cabin over near the second cove off Bear Rock. She just got started with it and she is going slowly because she is doing it all by herself,” Chetan informed his friend smugly.
“By herself? On Bear Lake? Is she crazy? There are less scrupulous werebears, werefoxes, and werewolves out here who would make quick work picking their teeth with her bones,” Chris said, his voice concerned about this new development in his community.
“I am keeping a close eye on her,” Chetan replied with an upraised eyebrow, his golden eyes flashing with mocking merriment.
“I am sure you are, does she strip down to her bare essentials to do her work or is there some other reason your interest is piqued?” Chris asked.
“Nope, that’s pretty much the whole reason,” Chetan replied, clapping Chris on the back in a conspiratorial manner as they began walking side by side.
“Is that where you’ve been? I wondered why my grumbling belly was so empty. Without you to spot the prey and me to kill it for us, both of us are going hungry. Did you see anything more practical than that woman in her skivvies?” Chris asked.
They wandered down the path, both magnificent men were at home in the wilderness and unconcerned with their nudity.
“Well, a few mice, voles and squirrels but nothing more substantial than a snack for you. I got me a hare a few hours ago, so I am pretty sated for a while,” Chetan replied.
“Keep a sharp eye out. She is probably scaring all the big game off the mountain and I haven’t had a decent meal, anything more than a salmon snack since I saw you last,” Chris complained.
They rounded the cove, to walk upon the side of Bear Lake. Its blue-green water was still at this time in the afternoon, only reflecting the green mountains behind the lake and the white snowy tips reaching to the clouds. There wasn’t much of a breeze coming from between the rocky peaks. Chris and Chetan each crouched down, scooping the cold water into the palms of their hands to take a much-needed drink. Chris leaned over a little too far and his bare toes slipped on a slimy rock, making him splash into the shallow water with an unintentional bit of floundering. When Chetan began laughing heartily at his perfidy, Chris hooked his foot behind Chetan’s knee, pulling him into the cold water as well.
They both began splash fighting and throwing small rocks at each other. Then they crawled out to a depth which they could begin swimming. Their effortless strokes through the water were as peaceful as two best friends could be.
“So, what are you going to do about her?” Chetan asked, swimming around, swirling in the water, then turning onto his back to bask in the waning light, floating easily on the water.
“I don’t know yet. I don’t want her to get hurt, but I do want her to leave the area of the lake before someone does hurt her. Do you think you could talk to some of the other shifters so that they will make a nuisance of themselves down by where she is building her cabin?” Chris asked.
“Sure, I can do an aerial survey and anyone who goes near that area, warn them of her and encourage them to persuade her to leave,” Chetan said with a sly glint in his hawklike eyes.
Suddenly, a splashing sound to the area at their backs drew their attention. They whirled, their heads popping up in an effort to scan the area for imminent danger.
Near the rocks on the edge of the lake, was a small brown bear. They each smiled in welcome as they recognized her. They saw the characteristic blue color on her muzzle and neck from laying in the dark-blue tubular flowers common in the meadows. She stood on her hind legs, showing her darker belly fur and light tan face. She swiped her paw as if to wave in greeting and recognition.
“Nebi! Come on in, we’re just taking a swim!” Chris shouted toward his closest childhood friend.
The small brown bear walked over toward the large black, sharp rock jutting out of the shallow area of the lake, nosing around, peering into the water with intense concentration.
“Yeah, shift and come over here, we are having a convo which might interest you,” Chetan invited.
Instantly, the small brown bear became a lithe, slender woman with deep-set black eyes and medium brown long hair. She stood in the shallow water, wading toward them with her high, round breasts bouncing with each carefully placed step. On her neck and near her chin was a slight shadow of blue staining, irregular in its appearance.
“You’ve been into the gentian flowers again, haven’t you?” Chris asked laughing at the blue stain which gave her away.
Nebi blushed bright red, the color complimenting the deeply-tanned olive tone of her skin. She swam out to meet the two men in the depths of the lake. Her delicate feminine stroke was slow, even and sure.
“What did you have to talk to me about? I have to get back to foraging. Some moron has been scaring the large game away, so it is slim pickings the past few days,” Nebi complained.
“Well, we’ve pretty much been discussing that same moron you are complaining about. Basically, Chris has been in a dispute with a neighboring human about the ownership of the land territory on the north side of Bear Lake. He is in a legal battle with this lady, Annabella Black, and now she is building a cabin over near the second cove off Bear Rock,” Chetan explained, in summary, the whole situation.
“And we have decided to send her a little unwelcomed attention to discourage her from wanting to build there. Are you in?” Chris asked, an evil crooked smile passing his lips.
“Being a big scary bear to terrorize a woman who is making life hell for me to get enough food to tide me over through winter? Oh, yeah, I am in. I can help by spreading the word to any other were-shifters whom I come across. She will be running down the mountain to escape all of us ‘wild’ animals!” Nebi said laughing, her mirth creating small ripples of waves away from her body.
All three heads turned to the sound of banging. Someone was hammering on the other side of Bear Lake. They grimaced at each other because that was the sound of their prey getting harder and harder to find. It was going to be a very bad winter here in the Alaskan subarctic for all of the animals and shifters at the top of the food chain. The three friends looked at each other knowingly.