She was thankful her surprise had held her still as the bear suddenly ambled back into view. It made strange chuffing noises in its chest and threw its head from side to side, inhaling great gusts of air as if it were actually tasting the air, trying to catch a scent.
Olwen closed her eyes as she realized it was, in fact, tracking her. If she couldn’t convince this majestic and beautiful beast to move on quickly in search of different prey then she was going to have to kill it. As she contemplated just how on earth she was going to do that, the bear’s head swung up and looked directly at her.
“Wow,” she whispered as the bear’s eyes locked on hers. It was the most surreal moment of her life, and considering she was a goddess who had lived in the prison of a demon with a god complex the size of Texas, orchestrating her rescue across realms and through time, that was saying something!
She saw that there was blood around its snout and surmised that, at some point, this bear had eaten something. Or someone. So perhaps it was not tracking her for an evening meal after all. Perplexed, she continued to stare into the dark eyes of the black bear, struck by how beautiful they were. She watched as it seemed to rock from side to side, eyeing her at the top of the tree. It made strange huffing noises before rising up onto its hind legs.
The bear walked over to her tree, surprisingly steadily, considering it was on two feet. The tree moved alarmingly when it placed its front paws on the tree and shook it.
Olwen gasped in alarm. “Stop! Do you want me to fall?”
As if the bear understood every word, it stopped shaking the tree and gave her what she could only classify as an extremely sheepish bear grin. What in the name of all the gods is going here?
Olwen.” Rohan’s voice sounded in her head and she gasped. Her hand lifted immediately to her chest to ease the ache the sound of it brought with it, and tears flooded her eyes. “Come to me, beloved. It has been so long.”
"Rohan.” Olwen heard the tears in her own voice and loved the immediate wave of reassurance that flooded back to her. “I am, my love. I am coming to you. I just have a slight situation I need to deal with and then I will continue to make my way to you. Just hold on.”
The bear seemed to swell as its eyes narrowed and its gaze shifted to the forest around them. Then it dropped to all fours, rumbling a warning growl again and walking around the trunk of the tree, swinging its head in a display that clearly communicated it was not an animal to mess with.
“What sort of situation? I thought I had removed the threat to you. Where are they? Can you see them?” Rohan asked, his voice deeper and, well, growlier than she had ever heard before.
“How could you have removed the threat to me? How in the hell did you even know I was back in the Otherworld?”
“I felt you the moment you arrived back in the Otherworld.” Olwen felt her body heat at the thought of her man being so connected to her that he sensed her very presence. “Argon felt it, too, and sent a while fucking squadron of Uruheim fighters after you.” Huh. Hearing that her sister was just as connected didn’t do anything for her.
“And you removed them? How?”
“I tracked them through the forest and ripped them limb from limb. It was very therapeutic.” There was smug satisfaction in his voice, and Olwen heard the bear chuff what sounded like a laugh at the same time. A sudden, unexpected conclusion came to her and she sat back in a state of shock.
“Olwen! What happened? I felt you react to something. Are you okay? For the love of the gods, will you please bring your sweet, beautiful ass down out of that fucking tree and let me protect you?”
Olwen’s jaw dropped, and she wouldn’t have been surprised if the bottom of it hit the actual forest floor. Somehow, someway, her beloved Rohan had been turned into a bear shifter, and he was standing at the bottom of the very tree she was currently sitting in.
“Olwen?” This time, Rohan sounded hesitant and worried. “Does my appearance shock you? Or…Oh hell, do I disgust you in this form, my love? I do not know the nature of the beast I have become, but I am forever grateful to the change for my freedom.”
As if his hesitation and vulnerability were a signal to move, she leaped from her hiding place and headed for the ground as fast as she could.
