Chapter Fifteen

Elena

No, no, this can't be…

I keep shaking my head, as I face Rock and Cal in his bear form. They're standing there, just across from me, and yet, I feel like we're miles apart, like nothing ever happened between us, or even if it did, that now, it doesn't mean anything.

"Elena, please—" Rock starts, but I take a step back, pointing at him with my finger.

"You stay where you are! Don't move!" My whole body is trembling. I know they would never hurt me. Cal just protected me from the bear shifter, but I can't fight this fear that has a complete grip over me.

"Alright," Rock nods, raising his hands to the level of his chest, in a gesture of surrender. "Let's just talk about this…"

I shake my head at them. "You've been lying to me all this time." It all feels like a dream. "You must have had a pretty good laugh at my expense."

"No, Elena, you don't understand," Rock tries to convince me. "It's nothing like that. We just… had to keep this a secret."

I look at Cal. He looks both majestic and terrifying at the same time. I dare not approach him, but curiosity gets the better of me. I inhale deeply, walking over to him, one step at a time. None of us says a single word. I look at his eyes, but they're not his eyes anymore. They have taken on a darker hue, and I wonder if he's even in there.

"Cal?" I call out softly to him.

The bear grunts in confirmation. He leans his head on my arm, nuzzling against it. I can't believe this. I keep shaking my head, because none of this makes any sense. How could I not have seen anything? How could I not have noticed any sign of this? Am I really that blind?

Then, I remember he's a bear, and I was almost killed twice by two. I pull back in fear, because he's an animal now. I don't know how his mind works. Does it get completely taken over by the animal it has become? I don't know.

"Can he turn back?" I ask Rock.

"Of course," Rock whispers softly. "Whenever he wants."

"Show me," I tell Cal, staring at him straight in the eyes. "I want to see it again."

Cal glances at Rock, then back at me. We are not in danger any longer, and yet, there is still tension in the air, almost as if the forest itself is now holding its breath, to see what will happen. I was watching Cal transform into a bear holding my breath. I thought I was dreaming. I thought I was on the brink of death, and that was why I was allowed to witness this majestic transformation.

But now, it's different. We aren't in danger. At least, for the time being. There is nothing but the gentle cascade of the sunlight, falling down onto Cal. I can't take my eyes off of him. I'm afraid, but at the same time, in awe. I wonder how many humans have ever witnessed something like this.

Cal steps a bit away from us, breathing slowly, almost as if he's becoming hot under all that fur on this bright, sunny day. I can't really pinpoint the moment when it all starts. I just suddenly noticethat his bear fur is slowly starting to recede, melting away like shadows before the dawn, pulling into himself, dissolving and disappearing. The same is happening with his claws. They retract little by little, until all that is left are nails, just like mine.

The massive bear frame reshapes at the same time, bones cracking, readjusting, as the contoured lines and proportions start to take on a more human form. I can't look away even for a single moment. I am mesmerized. This is what I have come here for, and now that I've seen it, I don't know if I can keep this wonder to myself.

I tremble in sheer awe as the boundary between beast and man blurs once again, revealing not a beast, but a man, a naked and slightly battered human figure, bathed in dissipating luminescence.

Looking down at his nakedness, Cal quickly hides his manhood, as the remnants of his clothes remain scattered about, torn completely to shreds, and as such, unusable.

"Where's a pair of pants when you need them, huh?" Cal grins, but none of us laughs.

He stands now, just a man, his human form a stark contrast to the primal force he embodied just moments ago. For a brief second, I see that animalistic darkness in his eyes, then it extinguishes, leaving just himself in the aftermath of the confrontation.

I don't even know where to begin asking all the questions that are swarming inside my mind.

"How…?" That is the only thing I manage to muster.

"I don't know honestly," Cal shrugs. "You just… make it happen."

That explains nothing, but I can understand what he means. If something comes naturally, you can't really explain it. You just feel it. You just do it. That's all.

Suddenly, I remember something. "The first time we met?" I ask, not sure if I need to remind them about it, but one look tells me they remember it as well as I do.

"That was me, yeah," Cal admits, scratching the back of his neck with one hand, while the other one is still hiding his manhood. It is both a serious and a ridiculous situation, and a part of me doesn't even know how to act.

Although I feel I don't know anything, I do know one thing, and that is that I'm not in any danger around them. But I want explanations. I want answers. I want to know why they've been lying to me all along, when they knew that this was what I came here for.

"Were you trying to scare me away?" I ask.

"Yes," Rock admits. "At first, we weren't sure if you were just someone from Pinehaven. Then, we were sure you weren't. You are an outsider, and we didn't know what you wanted. We had to find out."

"So, you scared the crap out of me?" I scoff.

"Sort of," Cal grins. "But see, it didn't work."

"No," I smirk victoriously. "I wasn't even considering it."

"Brave girl," Cal compliments me, and I blush. I quickly remind myself that I shouldn't fall for their charms so easily. Not until they explain everything.

"Brave or not, I'm the girl you've been lying to," I remind them, shaking my head. "Why?"

Cal glances over at Rock. Obviously, he's the one to take over this topic. And to be honest, it would be quite difficult taking anything Cal said seriously with him completely naked, hiding hismanhood in broad daylight.

"Because we've made it a rule not to reveal who we are to any humans," Rock says simply.

I frown. "You mean, the people living in Pinehaven really have no idea that there is a nearby village of bear shifters?"

"Yes," Rock replies with a nod.

"I really doubt that somehow," I tell him.

"Believe it or not, as you wish," he shrugs. "But we've done that for ages now. A long time ago, one of our ancestors made the mistake of revealing himself to a human, and all hell broke loose. Although they lived in peace prior to that, the humans started to believe that the bear shifters were some kind of monsters, especially in their bear form, and they would attack them in the night, killing everyone." Rock pauses, and I silently gasp, sensing where this story is heading. "So, the humans wanted to prevent this by being the first ones to attack. I don't think I need to tell you what happened, other than that many died, on both sides. Deaths that didn't need to happen. Deaths that tore families apart. Deaths that would never bring loved ones back. It was then that our clan moved here, and they made a settlement for themselves in the cave. They've been living there ever since, undisturbed, and in turn, not disturbing anyone. Just live and let live."

Cal chuckled at the phrase. "I taught him that."

Rock turned to him with a smile, but when he looked at me again, he was grave.

"You mean to tell me, if we weren't in this situation now, with Cal having to defend me, you wouldn't tell me any of this?" I ask, apprehensive of the answer, but needing to know.

Rock doesn't say anything at first. He inhales deeply, raking his fingers through his hair. "Elena, you have to understand… I am the leader of our clan. It is my priority to keep everyone safe. That is first and foremost. How I feel about something, doesn't always matter."

Feel. I heard him say it. He does feel something for me, just like I feel something for him. And Cal… he is in there, too. Why does this have to be so complicated? Why couldn't they have been just two ordinary guys from a village?

"So, that's why everyone was looking at me so weirdly," I remember.

"Mhm," Rock confirms. "I didn't tell them you were human, but they could have easily guessed. Seeing that a human hasn't stepped into our village in decades, you can imagine their shock."

"I can," I agree, trying to see things from the other side. "That's why you had to explain to them I'm your guest."

"That, too," he nods.

"So, what do we do now?" Cal asks the question that is lingering inside everyone's mind.

It is clear that we can't just pretend like nothing happened. We have to move on somewhere from here, but… where?

Rock thinks about it for a moment. "Elena can't stay alone. That much is obvious."

"We should take her back to the village with us," Cal suggests. "And… eventually explain to everyone what happened."

"Why can't I go back to my camp?" I wonder. "Won't fire be enough to protect me? I thought bears were afraid of fire."

I remember that from the manual. The crackling sound, the flickering flames and the scent of smoke can create a barrier that bears have a tendency to avoid. But then again, bear reactions, just like human reactions, can vary. That's also what the manual said. What the manual didn't say was how to defend yourself from bear shifters.

Still, being in my campsite feels like a better option than being in a village full of bear shifters who don't really want me there. I can understand what those humans must have felt. It is a fear you can't control. A fear of the unknown, a fear of something you have no chance of fighting. I know that Rock and Cal would never hurt me, but I don't know about any of those other bear shifters.

"It's not a good idea for you to be alone," Rock tells me. "That's why Cal is right. You should come back to the village with us."

I don't want to tell them that I'm slightly afraid. Then, I remember something. I remember why I came here in the first place.

"What about my proof?" I ask.

"Proof of what?" Rock lifts an eyebrow.

"Proof of bear shifter existence," I remind him. "I have that now." I show him my camera.

"Did you take photos?" Cal gasps.

"No," I shake my head. "Not yet."

Rock grabs my camera and smashes it against the ground, breaking it. My eyes widen in shock.

"What the hell are you doing!?" I shout at him so loudly that a flutter of birds explodes from a nearby tree.

"You can't take photos of us," Rock tells me. I can see anger and sorrow in his eyes. His jaw is tense, his entire body as well.

"I said I didn't take photos!" I shout back at him. "And you broke my camera!"

I don't tell him that I have another one, or that my shots get instantly uploaded to the cloud, so there is no fear of losing anything, but I want him to feel bad for what he has done.

"Elena," Cal interferes, being the unexpected voice of reason here, "I know that's why you came here, but you have to understand. Exposing us would be putting us in danger. All of us, even you."

"But… I wouldn't tell anyone where I took the photos or who they are of." The moment I say that I realize it's a lie. I told several people where I was going. If I came back with definitive proof of bear shifter existence, they would know where I got it from. People would flock here from all parts of the world, and it would be just a matter of time before the cave would be discovered, and with it, their village.

I know he is right. But at the same time, I can't let this opportunity go. This is my ticket to have all my dreams come true, to be on the cover of National Geographic, to be the one who took the first photo of a bear shifter as it shifts, no less.

My heart is beating wildly at the thought of finally proving to my family, to everyone, that I am not a failure, that I have been working hard for this moment to prove myself.

"You can't do that, Elena," Rock tells me in a cold voice.

I pick up the broken camera and take a step back from him, from them both. "Then I can't go back with you."

I turn around and start walking back in the direction of my camp, remembering the path they led me along.