Free Dare to Bear (Book 1 Trail Guardians Series) by Christine Julian Page B

discussion to lighter subjects. He continued pointing out various plants, their identifying features, and their medicinal properties. She knew penicillin came from mold, but she’d never fathomed that the forest offered its own complete pharmacy to those who understood its healing powers. Two hours passed before thirst overwhelmed her. She gulped half of her first canteen by eleven o’clock.
    Within minutes of screwing the cap back on, the strangest thing happened.
    The sun shone more intensely through the leaves, casting a bright, hazy glow over the scenery. The scene looked as if her contacts had slipped, or one had popped out without her realizing it. “Mason, stop.”
    He did abruptly. “You okay?”
    “I don’t know.” She glanced at the ground in dismay, her view fuzzy. “Crap, there’s no way I’ll find it in all this brush and dirt.”
    “Find what?”
    “I think I lost a contact.” She hunkered down on a log, used an alcohol wipe to sterilize her fingers, and then poked at her eyes to locate the filmy lenses. Both were intact, she hadn’t lost either one. “I guess not. Weird.”
    Standing cautiously, she blinked hard several times and waited for her vision to clear. Yet the glossy coating remained over her surroundings. “Is there pollen in my eyes? Or a bug?”
    Face tilted up, she waited for his inspection. His gaze touched every feature, his green eyes flecked with warm sparks of amber. He was an incredibly handsome man in a rugged, appealing, outdoorsy way. “Sorry, Steph. I don’t see anything.” He frowned. “You didn’t put makeup on, did you?”
    “Why bother?”
    He shrugged. “That was my thought. You’re naturally stunning and don’t need it.”
    “I wasn’t fishing for a compliment,” she said. “But something is off.”
    His head tilted. “Do you need to stop for a minute?”
    “No, let’s keep going. Like you said, we have a lot of ground to cover today on the trail.”
    Still, everywhere she looked the colors of nature seemed brighter, iridescent, practically neon green and yellow in places. Her vision became slightly out of focus in some spots, and sharp as a magnifying glass in others.
    Even her hearing seemed more acute, to the point where she could distinguish between dozens of bird calls, all at once. A squirrel scampered up a tree a good ten yards away, and she heard the scratching of its nails on bark as if she stood right beside the tree.
    Maybe last night she hadn’t slept as well as she’d thought, and fatigue was taking its toll. Unused to this level of exertion over long stretches of time, she had no experience to compare to these symptoms. She assumed they were side effects of a city girl breathing in the dense oxygen of a forest for days at a time.
    A little disturbed, she described the symptoms to Mason.
    He gave her an odd stare. “Really?” His voice sounded like a mix of awe and excitement. “Huh. I hadn’t expected that.” His smile of wonderment baffled her. “Interesting.”
    “What? Do you know something I don’t?” she demanded.
    “Possibly. But I can’t make a diagnosis yet.” Pride shone on his face for reasons she couldn’t fathom. “Keep me posted on the changes in your sensory perceptions.”
    “Okay. You’ll let me know if something is wrong?”
    “Don’t worry. What you’re experiencing is nothing to be afraid of, and it’s not a bad thing.”
    “But, how do you know that, if you don’t know what’s happening to me? Am I sick?”
    “Relax, honey. Whatever happens, I’ll take care of you. I told you that from the start.”
    She set her hands on her hips. “I’m not some useless, helpless female, Mason. I can hold my own. And I could make this leg of the trail with or without you.”
    “I know.” He grinned and planted a kiss on her lips unexpectedly, leaving her flushed. Warm sensations tickling her inner elbows and the backs of her knees. Whoa, that’s new . “It’s why,” he said, “I believe you’ll be