Free Heart Of The Bear (Appalachian Shifters #1) by Alanis Knight Page B

right now.”
    “You need to get to a hospital!” my mother shouted at me. “Penelope Adams, you tell that park ranger fellow to get you to a doctor right now!”
    “Mom, I…”
    Caleb pulled the phone away from my ear and placed it to his own.
    “Ms. Henderson, the storms in the area right now would only put her in more danger if we tried to transport her to a hospital,” Caleb told her. “Her plane went down because of the storms, and we’re high on a mountain. If we got out in this, the chances are great that we’d never make it to the hospital. You have my word that we’ll take good care of her. I’m a paramedic. She’s in good hands.”
    My mother’s voice sounded somewhat calmer on the other line, and he listened patiently to her for a few minutes.
    “Yes, ma’am, I’ll keep you updated on her condition,” Caleb said. “Yes, ma’am, I’ll see that she’s looked after twenty-four seven. Alright. Bye.”
    “Sorry,” I muttered.
    “For what?” Caleb asked.
    “My mother can be a bit overbearing,” I told him.
    “She’s a mother,” he shrugged. “That’s what they do. Human, bear, cat… pretty much all mothers are the same.”
    It was then that I remembered the glowing eyes I’d seen back at the crash site.
    “The bear!” I gasped. “How did you get me away from that bear?”
    I noticed a look spread across his face that I couldn’t decipher, but it quickly faded.
    “What bear?” he asked.
    “There was a bear,” I said. “I saw it when I came to.”
    “There was no bear,” he said a little too quickly. “Maybe your injuries made you hallucinate.”
    “There was a bear,” I argued. “I saw it. I know what I saw!”
    “Alright, alright,” he said gently. “Calm down. Did you pass out after you saw him? Maybe he lost interest after that.”
    “Hmm,” I said, feeling quite suspicious. “Maybe.”
    At this point, things were starting to swim around in my head. Call me crazy, but after hearing the exchange between Caleb and the woman when I’d first awakened and hearing her call me “human”, combined with his evasiveness about the bear… I was starting to wonder if perhaps I’d stumbled right across one of the very stories I liked to read about.
    Then I smacked myself across the face. Well, not literally. But I realized how crazy it sounded that I was thinking Caleb might be one of those sexy shifters I’d been reading about. They didn’t exist. It was freaking fiction, for crying out loud! I was obviously addled. That was it. I had a head injury.
    “I’m going to get you something to eat,” Caleb said.
    He got up and left, and I tried to lift my head so I could see where I was. Unfortunately, I was met with that same vicious pain shooting down my spine, and I realized for the first time that I had something strapped around my neck. I guess it was some sort of neck brace.
    I sighed heavily and closed my eyes. There was not much else I could do since I couldn’t see anything in the gloomy room except the golden flicker of a nearby fire and a few shadows on the ceiling above me.
    A few moments later, he returned. I could smell something that made my stomach start to growl, and I immediately tried to sit up. This, I quickly regretted.
    “Ow!” I groaned.
    “Just relax,” Caleb said, placing a plate on something I guessed was a table by the bed. He sat back down on his stool and picked up the plate. “I hope you like trout.”
    “I’ve never had it,” I told him.
    “Then you’re in for a real treat,” he told me. “Even if you don’t like other fish, I bet you’ll love trout. Especially the way I cook it.”
    “I do love fish,” I said.
    I opened my mouth as he pushed a fork of flaky white flesh toward me, and the moment it hit my tongue my eyes rolled back into my head. I could detect several different flavors, and they all came together harmoniously with a hint of smokiness.
    “Bay leaves?” I asked after I swallowed.
    Caleb raised an eyebrow and