Free Slade (BBW Bear Shifter Moonshiner Romance) (120 Proof Honey Book 5) by Becca Fanning

from the trees, and Karina’s head shot back to the dense forest. She scanned the shadows, seeing movement there, and she backed up to the flap of her tent hurriedly.

    “No freaking way,” she murmured as the shadows took shape.

    There was a bear in the woods. The huge lumbering grizzly had stopped at the very edge of the trees, some ten feet away from where Karina’s tent was pitched. The creature’s eyes glowed amber in the darkness of the night, and somewhere in the back of Karina’s terrified mind, she was reminded of a pair of eyes with a very similar hue. But the thought was blocked off by fear as she regarded the huge creature.

    What was she supposed to do? Did you have to play dead with bears? Keep completely still? Or was that for wolves and pack animals? Perhaps you had to stand up and make yourself seem bigger? That sounded right.

    All these thoughts rushed through Karina’s mind as she sat staring at the bear. But she was hardly anything over five feet tall, and the bear had to be eight long at least. If it raised itself onto its hind legs, it could just topple down and crush her. Keeping still was both the best and only option, for Karina found that she was too frightened to move. She kept her gaze locked with the deep eyes of the bear, willing it not to come any closer.

    And it didn’t. The bear stayed exactly where it was, watching her with its own wary expression. Something her mother had once said came back to her in that moment, when Karina had found a mouse in their cabin on a Fairhaven holiday years ago. Animals are more afraid of you than you are of them. Man was the biggest predator the grizzly bear had to face, and this one seemed to have learned to keep its distance from other people. Karina continued to study the creature and it looked straight back at her with the same wary curiosity. Perhaps it was just looking for food.

    “I finished my dinner a while ago,” she told it in a shaking voice, “and I don’t think you’d like my protein bars. Sorry buddy, I don’t have anything to give you.”

    The bear cocked its head strangely, as if it was actually listening. Karina saw the flash of gold in its eyes as its massive head shifted. Its fur seemed dark by the light of the stars, and now that she was calm enough to observe it, the creature seemed a little thinner than she’d have expected. She felt bad then, about not having any food to give it, but at the same time she didn’t really want the creature to come any closer. If it tried to forage in her tent, the whole thing would be destroyed, and then she’d have to retreat to the hut and face Reinicke with her tail between her legs.

    Karina ran her fingers over the radio, still in her pocket. This was exactly the sort of thing she ought to call him about: a bear coming too close to human settlements. But at that moment, the grizzly heaved itself around and began to retreat into the trees. It was a long time later, when she was certain that it was gone, that Karina managed to settle down and get some sleep.

Between them, Karina and Bud finally made sense of their maps. There was a short path back to the south which connected with a roadway into the main park, and they could get there in about two hours. Bud was grateful for the company, and he didn’t shut up about how pleased he was to be able to tell Susie he’d spent a night out in the wild. Karina hadn’t dared to tell him about the bear. She figured it might spoil his high a little if he felt he’d missed out on seeing it, plus he’d be nervous the whole way back if he thought that a grizzly was somewhere nearby. Karina herself had got to grips with her nerves, feeling like her calm standoff with the creature was a genuine achievement. She really was at one with nature now.

    “Well, this is where I leave you,” Karina said, eyeing the sight of the road ahead.

    “You sure you won’t come back with me?” Bud asked her. “I’d love to invite you to meet Susie.