Page 2 of Marcus

SELENE: Please? You don’t have to stay long. But I really want y’all to meet Aspen. She’s the greatest.

ME: Isn’t she a human?

SELENE: Snob.

SELENE: Yes, she’s fully human. Though I know she’s compatible.

Wolves have a keener sense of smell than bears do, and it’s rumored that they can scent a breeder from a mile away. That’s an antiquated term, but it’s also easily understood. Breeder, meaning the human is able to bear the young of a shifter.

Maybe that works well for wolves. Selene has a ton of shifter traits.

But from experience, humans and bears don’t mix. Even a human/bear half-breed didn’t work. I know that firsthand, and it’s not a lesson I ever want to repeat.

I shove those memories aside because I sure as fuck don’t want to be thinking about her right now.

SELENE: She’s the coolest person I’ve ever known. So genuine and wicked smart.

SELENE: I tried to get her to move here right after graduation but she’s stubborn. I really want her to feel at home. I need y’all’s help for that.

RANGER: I’ll get him there. He can at least stop by.

ME: We’ll see.

RANGER: He’ll be there.

DENVER: I’ll be there.

Motherfuckers.

My friends suck.

If I told them that my bear was restless, they’d get it. We all get that way sometimes.

Though this feels different.

I rub at the knotted feeling in my chest.

Ranger cocks an eyebrow at me, but I give him a small shake of my head.

ME: Half an hour, that’s all I’m promising.

SELENE: Thank you! First round of drinks is on me.

chapter

two

Aspen

I’ve been in Bear Creek, Texas for less than forty-eight hours and already it feels more like home than Houston ever did. I can’t help the glance I give over my shoulder though. That habit will be hard to break.

Always double checking all my locks. Always looking behind me to see if anyone is following. Just always on high alert. It’s exhausting.

But this small, quaint town just outside Big Bend National Park, surrounded by the mountains of West Texas, looks like it’s right out of a movie. With its old western aesthetic on the downtown square, I expected an old-timey saloon and horses “parked” on the curb.

I love that they’ve kept the traditional feel but have a rather sizable electric car charging lot right behind the grocery store on Main Street. Having access to at least one charging station in town was a necessity for moving here.

But a whole lot of them? It shows they’re not afraid of technology and advancements in science, but they still embrace their history, their roots, if you will.