Free Big Strong Bear by Terry Bolryder

too late anyway.
    She heard the whir of a motor and then another and another and peered through the sparse trees to see a group of motorcycles speeding down the main road. One of them looked up and made eye contact with her, and she quickly looked away and started to run back to the cabin.
    But she heard the screech of brakes, heard the man on the motorcycle yell to his friends. She skidded to a halt in the dirt as she saw them heading up the path, drawing weapons.
    They were mean-looking men, dressed in leather, with bandanas, dirty and scruffy.
    There were three of them in the lead, two getting off their bikes in the meantime. She was glad to be in her bear form, until the one in front, a tall, burly man with huge arms, grinned over at her.
    “Well, well, well. A female bear shifter. In Bearstone Village. Who’da thunk?”
    She took a few hesitant steps back, but the man tsked and aimed a pistol at her.
    “Now, now, don’t go running off. We were just gonna pass though. But the scent of a female bear is hard to resist.”
    She blinked, frozen by fear. She had good healing abilities, could probably take a couple shots, but she had no idea what other weapons they had or how many of them could shift.
    “Perhaps we should introduce ourselves,” the leader said. “See, my brother ran a gang out here. The Red Devils. Maybe you’ve heard of ‘em.”
    She shook her head instinctively, stepping back.
    He grinned lasciviously.
    “Anyway, a while ago, some of your kind ran them out. And killed my brother.” He cocked his head, making his lank brown hair fall out of his bandana. “I came to check out the town where it happened.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m guessing you’re not up here alone. Maybe you want to tell me something about the fucking bear that killed my brother?”
    Her mouth opened in shock. She had no idea what he was talking about. Not in the slightest. It seemed in escaping the loan sharks, she’d gotten caught up in something much worse.
    “Hey, why don’t you shift?” he said, folding his arms tighter. “I’d like to see what’s under all that fur.” He grinned. “I hear bear females are pretty hot… for how rare they are.” He cracked his knuckles. “I’ve always been good with humans, but a curvy little bear might be good too.”
    She swallowed, her mouth dry. Just when was Hades going to show up? Was he really okay with her alone out here this long? Did he really care so little? Was he done with her because she kept running away when there was conflict? She was only human, mostly. She could only take so much.
    She crouched to the ground, covering her head with her paws, thinking over what to do and protecting her face at the same time.
    She heard the click of a gun being cocked. The leader had a pistol trained on her.
    “I said shift, bitch,” he growled in a low voice.
    The next moment, all hell broke loose. With a booming pop, the gun in his hand flew into the air and then landed in the trees. The men with him looked around in shock as gunfire sounded through the clearing, removing each of the men’s guns. They swore and gawked around wildly, hands bleeding, trying to deduce where the shots had come from.
    Hadn’t Hades been a sniper in the war, amongst other things? She didn’t take time to think about it. She just launched to her feet and ran, gasping as she hurtled through the trees in the direction of the cabin, swearing as she heard them behind her.
    More gunshots rang out around her, and she winced before realizing they weren’t aimed at her. Behind her, she heard men stumble and shout.
    “Where the fuck is that coming from? There’s no one for a hundred yards!” one shouted.
    “I don’t know. Fuck!”
    She looked back to see one stagger, shot in the foot.
    “Fall back,” the leader said. “Stop chasing! We’ll get the bitch later!”
    She ran as hard and fast as she could, not caring to look back and see if they’d followed directions. She could see the