Page 36 of Alpha's Claim
“Matthias.” I brace myself for his anger, but he only sounds curious. “I need your help. I’m bringing someone toyou. A human. She needs medical attention. She’s…important to me.”
There’s a pause. It’s probably only seconds long, but it feels like years. I watch Paloma’s chest rise and fall with labored breaths.
Finally Matthias says, “Does that mean…”
I’m breaking my self-imposed exile and going back to where I vowed I’d never return.
Back to Bad Bear Mountain.
“Yes, brother. I’m coming home.”
Chapter Eight
Paloma
A tapping sound wakes me. I crack my eyes open and squint against the brightness. The blurred shapes sharpen and become a set of green curtains framing a window filled with cheerful sunlight.
There’s a faint pain in my head, and my chest aches, but other than that, I feel okay. I move my limbs and everything seems to be working.
I sit up. I’m in a big bed that fills a tiny room. The walls are brown logs, and the floor is made of rough hewn pine wood planks stained a honey brown. I push back the heavy plaid blanket covering me and notice the green sheet set matches the curtains, the fabric patterned with tiny brown bears.
The only other furniture is a small bedside table and lamp, and there’s also an IV with a bag full of clear liquid. A small bandage in the crook of my right elbow tells me that someone put a needle in me at one point.
There’s no sign of Darius or anyone else. I’m in a logcabin that smells of pine and smoke, and someone’s been playing doctor.
I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m going to escape. Voices murmur behind the big closed door, so I swing my feet off the bed in the direction of the window.
I have to pause and close my eyes against a wave of dizziness. Have I been drugged? Or am I just weak from the medicine?
As soon as I can, I push up from the bed. I’m in nothing but a faded flannel shirt. It’s half buttoned and so large that when I stand up straight, it falls to mid thigh.
Tap, tap, tap, something goes at the window. I pad barefoot to see the shining dark head of a raven pop up and peck at the thick glass with its black beak. It turns its head and lets out a squawk, then flies off in a flurry of wings.
Weird.
The cabin window offers a view of a tufted meadow lined with rows of pine trees. Beyond the snowy boughs is a rolling mountain vista, magnificent under a clear, blue sky.
It’s breathtaking. And horrifying. How did I get here? How long have I been passed out?
A small draft comes in from the cracks around the window. I shiver and take a step back but not before a huge shadow falls across me. I can’t be sure of what I’m seeing until a huge furry head ducks down, and the creature stares at me with beady black eyes.
I shriek and back away from the window. I’ve never seen a bear outside of a zoo, and here it is, staring like it’s thinking about smashing a paw through the window, so it can eat me.
The door behind me bursts open. “Paloma?” It’s Darius.
I stagger to him, and he scoops me up. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Oh!” I try to catch my breath, feeling foolish for screaming bloody murder. “There was a bear.” I point. “Looking in the window.” The bear’s gone from the window, but I see it lumbering across the snowy field. It’s massive. I had no idea bears could get that big.
“It’s okay,” Darius soothes me. “He’s probably more afraid of you than you are of him.”
He?
“You can put me down. I was just startled, that’s all.”
Darius seems reluctant to set me back down on the rough-hewn wooden floor of the little cabin, but he does. I watch as the bear reaches the end of the field and rises to hind paws. A small, dark shape swoops down. The raven lands on its shoulder.
What?Why does this feel like I’m in a fairy tale? I went from Rapunzel to Snow White.