Free Her Bear In Mind by Maria Amor

place?”
     
    The crowd muttered in response. Some cast her dubious looks, but many more seemed to be in agreement with Joe, nodding their heads. Sierra allowed herself to be hopeful.
     
    A woman with a baby on her hip and another child clutching her hand addressed Sierra.
     
    “So why did you do it?” she asked.
     
    Sierra took Joe’s hand.
     
    “Because I love him,” she said simply.
     
    Joe smiled at her in surprise. She hadn’t said it back to him yet. For a moment they forgot the crowd and he had eyes only for her. He leaned down and kissed her. A few of the children made grossed out noises. Somebody wolf whistled.
     
    He turned back to them again, holding her hand.
     
    “Eric went against the decision of his Alpha. He attacked Sierra in public. Shifting in an alley between two buildings in the middle of downtown Olympia. He could have exposed all of us. He claims he did all of this to keep you safe. Does his behavior make you feel safe? Would you feel better with him in charge?”
     
    He let the words hang for a moment before continuing.
     
    “And just what kind of man is he that he would attack a woman in the street like this?” he gestured at Sierra. “He wasn’t just trying to turn her. He meant to kill her. Worse still, he also attacked her roommate, a woman who knows nothing about us. Her only crime was that she was home when he broke into their apartment.”
     
    “It’s true.” Zeke interjected. “I saw it. Dude messed up her face pretty bad. Tore up their place too. Smashed it up. And we’re talking about a five-foot tall human woman who’s half-drunk most of the time. Really threatening.”
     
    “There’s a picture on page twelve,” Sierra added.
     
    Several people flipped through their papers to the article on Molly’s art show. It was accompanied by a great shot of Molly standing in between two of the paintings.
     
    It was Brenda who spoke up this time from where she sat cross-legged on the grass in the front row.
     
    “He ripped up her paintings?” she asked.
     
    Sierra nodded. “He did.”
     
    “That bastard.” Brenda said.
     
    “Brenda!” her mother scolded her.
     
    Everyone laughed.
     
    There was a flash of headlights as an old blue pickup truck roared into the clearing. The truck pulled to a stop right next to Joe and Sierra. Eric climbed out, looking furious.
     
    “What is she doing here?” he demanded. “What were you thinking bringing her back here again? You’re putting the whole town in danger for that piece of ass!”
     
    Joe didn’t say anything. He calmly placed himself between Eric and Sierra, and let Sleuth speak for him.
     
    “You’re the one putting us in danger!” someone shouted.
     
    “You shifted in public!”
     
    “You could have gotten picked up by animal control!”
     
    Eric backed up a few paces, sensing the shift in the tide.
     
    “I did what was necessary!” he countered. “I was trying to keep this place safe from outsiders! He was just going to take her word she wouldn’t tell anyone. Just her word! The word of a reporter! That’s not good enough!”
     
    “So you attack a couple human women? That’s your tough guy solution?” Zeke asked him.
     
    Eric backed up towards the truck.
     
    “Everything I did I did for all of you!” Eric shouted, but clearly no one was accepting that. There was real panic in his eyes now as he realized he didn’t have any friends in this crowd. He looked back at the truck, clearly trying to decide if there was even the slightest chance he could make a break for it. But the crowd had circled him now, cutting off any chance of an exit.
     
    “Is this your idea of keeping us safe?” a man spat at him, and threw the paper in his face. The paper landed face up in the mud. It had started to rain lightly. Eric stared down at the picture of him looming over Sierra as the raindrops pattered across it.
     
    Eric chanced one more plea. “I was trying-”
     
    “Enough!” Joe boomed out