Free Grizzly Love by Eve Langlais Page A

Travis, admiring his smile, getting all warm and fuzzy inside. Snap out of it. She wasn’t here on a holiday, nor had she come to flirt. Theirs was a serious mission, hers doubly so, as she tried to find a resolution to her future.
    Kill the raven, solve the problem.
    Such a simple solution from her hawk, but Jess liked to think she was a tad more civilized. But she couldn’t deny the temptation was there to let her avian side take care of matters. Or to drug Frederick senseless, drag his ass out to the desert, stake him in the sun, dribble honey on him, and let nature take its course.
    See, no need for her to perpetrate violence when she could count on the wild to do its thing.
    But enough plotting. Gritty-eyed or not, time to see if anything interesting occurred while she slumbered. Or not.
    It seemed she wasn’t the only one who’d taken advantage of the down time they had before dinner. All around, she noted signs of the beds being used, the sheets rumpled. A few cots over, Boris snored loudly on his. It didn’t go unnoticed.
    A certain grizzly, with a naughty look in his eyes, held a finger to his lips as he snuck over to Boris’ side. Surely she wouldn’t sit still and let him intentionally start trouble?
    Or maybe she would.
    To stem any giggles, she slapped a hand over her mouth when Travis tiptoed over to the moose, shaking a can of shaving cream. Before he could spray, Boris’ hand shot out and gripped his wrist.
    “Do it and die.”
    “Boris, old buddy, old pal, surely you aren’t accusing me of doing something nefarious like say filling your palm full of shaving cream and then tickling your nose so you slapped it in your face?” Deadly long lashes fluttered in mock innocence.
    With a growl—which was truly impressive given Boris was a moose—the big man vaulted off his cot, but Travis was already fleeing from the tent laughing. “Catch me if you can, old man.”
    “I am not old,” Boris bellowed, taking off after him.
    With a sigh, a smile, and a shake of her head, Jess watched them go.
    Boys!
    Travis knew how to push Boris’ buttons, and Boris just couldn’t help reacting. It was as predictable as the sun rising every day.
    “Sometimes that boy is smarter than I give him credit for,” Gene remarked.
    She jumped, startled at how silently he’d come alongside her. The man truly had a gift for sneaking. But it was his words that had her asking, “How is taunting Boris smart?” Last she’d heard from the medical society, inviting concussions was anything but.
    “It’s smart because anyone watching will see exactly what you did, a rascally cub antagonizing his elder.”
    “I still don’t get it.”
    “What do you think they’re doing right now?” Gene asked.
    Her brow knit in a frown. “Doing? I’d imagine racing around camp until Boris corners Travis and knocks him silly.”
    A hint of a smile teased his lips. “You got that partially right. Yes, they are whipping around, Travis antagonizing Boris. Probably making some stupid moose joke—like telling Boris to watch out for moose-quitos.”
    “Or asking him to hold his radio so he can get better reception from his big antlers.”
    “Exactly. Two outsiders screwing around. No biggie. No threat. No one pays them much of a second glance unless it’s to laugh. But meanwhile, Travis and Boris are getting an eyeful.”
    “An eyeful of what?”
    “Let me ask you. If you were to leave this tent and try to wander off, unescorted, peeking around, what do you think would happen?”
    Her still muddy mind began to grasp where he was going with this. “More than likely, I’d get escorted back here or to a common area.”
    “Bingo.”
    “But Travis and Boris aren’t sauntering, they playing a game of chase. Running all over and more than likely through places considered off-limits to strangers. A great plan, except how do you know that’s what they’re actually doing? I mean, I know Travis. He lives to drive Boris nuts. What makes you