12. Noelle

noelle

. . .

“Bradford?” I asked, blinking. Maybe this was one of those situations where you think you’ve woken up but—nope—you’re still dreaming. Or, in this case, totally nightmaring. “What are you doing here?”

“The question is, what are you doing here?” he snapped, marching closer. “Have you lost your mind? Standing around naked? Close your coat!”

Definitely not a nightmare. My new bear-enhanced sense of smell made the stench of Bradford’s cologne trigger my very real-life gag reflex. And, of course, only Bradford would show up in a remote Canadian mountain town—over a thousand miles from Gemidgee—just to start bossing me around.

I glanced down at my naked body, still glistening with estrus, then back up at him. “How did you find me?”

“ That’s what you’re worried about?” Bradford sucked his teeth, glaring at me like I’d just asked him the most ridiculous question imaginable. “Close your coat already! Anybody could see you.”

When I didn’t move, he huffed and stepped forward, reaching out to close the coat himself.

But I stepped back before he could touch me. My voice was sharp this time. “How. Did. You. Find. Me?”

Bradford rolled his eyes. “If you must know, I realized you hadn’t understood the assignment.”

“The assignment ?” I repeated, narrowing my eyes.

“Yes, the assignment!” He gestured at me like it was obvious. “You were never supposed to leave Gemidgee after you were suspended—much less the country. When you didn’t show up at our apartment that night to beg me for your job back, I should have suspected then that you’d had some kind of psychotic break.”

“A psychotic break ?” My chin jutted to the side as anger surged through me. “You think me not wanting to grovel for a job I was unfairly ousted from means I’ve had some kind of mental breakdown?”

“What else am I supposed to think, Noelle?” His tone was exasperated as he gestured to my body, clothed only in Mak’s open parka. “Look at you! Traipsing around out here, completely exposed. Making me drive all the way up into the Canadian Rockies to find you.”

“It’s the Canadian Great Claws,” I corrected sharply. “And how, exactly, did you find me? Were you tracking me somehow?”

“Well, if you must know...." He crossed his arms, throwing me a condescending glare. “No, I didn’t remove you from my Find My app. Because I knew what happened at Thanksgiving was just a blip in our relationship.”

“A blip ?” I could hardly believe what I was hearing. “Bradford, you cheated on me! And when I called you out on it, you acted like it was my fault you were sleeping with another woman behind my back.”

“For the last time, she didn’t mean anything to me!” he whined. “I was just sowing my oats before settling down with you.”

“Oh my god.” I let out a bitter scoff. “It doesn’t matter what she meant to you. This is about me, you insufferable narcissist.”

I placed my hands on my hips, letting Mak’s parka open even wider as I glared at him. “And what makes you think I’d ever want to settle down with someone who lied to me—and then hit me when I called him out?”

Bradford’s expression darkened, but his tone was defensive. “That was a mistake. I was upset, and you wouldn’t stop badgering me about one silly little?—”

“It wasn’t silly to me! My feelings are valid!” My voice cracked with the force of my anger. “That’s why I decided to leave and apply for another job in Vancouver."

I'd been kicking myself for being so insecure, but my voice rang with pride when I realized out loud, "It didn’t even cross my mind to come crawling back to you.”

“You’re going to Vancouver?” Bradford’s face brightened, as if he hadn’t registered a single other thing I’d said. “I’ll come with you. We can work through this rift there. It’s the least you can do after I invested nearly two years into this relationship.”

The audacity. Redirecting everything back to himself, as always. Making himself the victim, like always.

Two years of this. I couldn’t believe I’d put up with him for that long.

It had only taken Ash and Cody two days to show me how much more I deserved.

“No, Bradford,” I said, my voice suddenly calm. “Now that I’ve seen you again, I’ve decided not to go to Vancouver.”

“You have?” His expression flooded with smug relief. “Good. I’m glad you’ve come to your senses. If we get on the road right now, we can?—”

"I’m not going to Vancouver because I’m staying here," I clarified with steel in my voice. Bear steel. "With the men who love me."

"Men?" Bradford’s expression darkened from smug to sneering in an instant. "You’re complaining about me sleeping with someone else, and less than a month after our breakup, you’re up here in the mountains acting like a complete slut. You nasty, stupid bitch!"

He lunged, grabbing my wrist with a grip that felt like iron. “I’m not going to argue with you anymore. Let’s go back to Gemidgee and get you the help you so obviously need.”

“I’m not a bitch!”

Something primal surged inside me, something new and wild and stronger than I’d ever known. I wrenched my arm free with a force that startled us both.

"I’m a bear !" I roared, the words erupting from me like thunder as I shoved him backward with all my strength.

Bradford went down hard, sprawling onto the icy ground. His smugness shattered, he stared up at me, mouth agape, clearly unable to comprehend how his "weak ex" had not only stood up to him but had the strength to shove him into the snow.

“I’m not the stupid, desperate girl who thought she was lucky to have you, no matter how badly you treated me,” I explained, looming over him. “These wonderful guys have shown me what it feels like to be valued. Seen. Loved. I am so damn lucky to have crashed into this life—and I’m not going back. Not to Gemidgee. And definitely not to you.”

Bradford scrambled to his feet, his legs unsteady beneath him. “You’re… you’re…!”

He fumbled for words, his mouth twisting with shock. But then his hands steadied.

And he pulled a gun from his coat. “You’re coming with me! Or else!”

Time seemed to slow. The cold, metallic glint of the weapon caught the weak morning light, and suddenly everything made sense.

Bradford hadn’t driven here to save money. He’d brought a gun across the border, intent on forcing me back into his life—or ending me altogether.

My heart thundered in my chest as he leveled the barrel at me.

“Bradford, don’t,” I whispered, my voice trembling.

“Don’t make me!” he snapped, his face contorted with rage.

He gestured wildly with the weapon, spittle flying as he shouted, “You’re coming back to Gemidgee with me! Now! Or I swear to God, Noelle, I’ll blow your face off! Do not fuck with me! I'm not kid?—”

Before I could react, a blur of white came from the trees, moving so fast it was more shadow than form. The ground shook beneath the impact as the bear—a massive polar bear—slammed into Bradford.

The gun went off with a deafening crack, the bullet disappearing into the wilderness. But it didn’t matter. The bear was on him, tearing into him with savage fury. Blood sprayed across the snow as it clawed and mauled, ripping through Bradford’s screams until they stopped altogether.

I stood frozen, unable to move, unable to breathe, as the bear raised its massive head. Its maw dripped with blood, the crimson stark against its snowy fur. Those icy-blue eyes—Mak’s eyes—locked onto mine, filled with something feral and primal.

It rose onto its hind legs, towering over me like a creature ripped from legend. Ten feet of muscle, fur, and raw power, its shadow swallowed me whole, blotting out the weak sunlight and the rest of the world. The air felt charged, thick with an energy I couldn’t name. Every instinct screamed at me to run, but my legs refused to obey.

The bear let out a terrifying roar, the sound rumbling and reverberating like an avalanche crashing down the surrounding mountains. My heart pounded as I watched the white beast's massive chest heave, blood flecking its fur with each ragged breath.

Then it shuddered. Once. Twice. The powerful frame rippled like water, shifting, shrinking, reforming. Bones cracked, fur receded, and Mak stood before me.

Not the polar bear, but the man. A massive, blood-streaked man. His chest heaved in the aftermath of the shift, and his ice-blue eyes continued to burn with feral intensity. As he looked straight at me. I wasn’t sure if I should feel safer—or more terrified.

I soon got my answer.

“Run,” Mak said, his voice rough and commanding.

His chest rose, and his eyes blazed with something wild, barely restrained.

“You’ve got to run. Now.”

“But—” My voice wavered, caught between confusion and fear.

“Noelle!” he growled, the sound sharp enough to slice through the frozen air. “I just killed for you. My bear…” His voice broke, low and guttural. “I won’t be able to stop it. If you stay, I’ll claim you. I’ll bite you. I can’t?—”

He cut himself off, shaking his head violently. “Just go! Please…”

He was trembling, every muscle in his body taut with the effort of holding himself back. “Please,” he repeated, his tone falling into a desperate whisper. “Run.”