Free A Bear Victory by Anya Nowlan

at the sight of him. Whatever she could say about him, she could never deny that he was a damn good hockey player.
    But that smile turned into a frown a second later as she turned her back on him, suddenly feeling like her body was icing over with every step she took toward the parking lot and Slate’s truck. It was like she was leaving a part of herself behind again, a part she was sure she’d never regain once she got on that plane.
    By the time she tossed her bag in the back seat of Slate’s big pickup and she crawled into the passenger seat, she felt completely numb, like someone had sucked the joy and life right out of her.
    “Ready to go?” Slate asked, making the engine roar.
    “Ready as I’ll ever be,” Kimberley said, biting her lip.
    She couldn’t stay and she didn’t want to go. She could feel the bitter tears in her throat at the lack of her own strength, and possibly his, for confronting each other on what had transpired between them. But maybe that was for the best. Have this one last good memory of him before she shoved all her feelings for the gorgeous, impossible man into a box and tossed away the key.
    Maybe that was how it was supposed to be?
     

CHAPTER TEN
    Cannon
     
    Cannon couldn’t quite put his hand on what felt off all of a sudden, but just a minute or so after successfully defending a Timberwolves attack, Cannon felt like something was very, very wrong. There was a small lull in the game where another crater was quickly patched up on the ice, which were subject to appear with aggressive skating and lake ice that really wasn’t primed for this kind of stuff, giving him a moment to look around.
    Immediately, his eyes went to Kimberley’s seat. Which was no empty.
    Shit.
    He whiffed at the air out of instinct more than anything else, knowing that he would smell a hint of her floral scent even in the biggest crowds, but he could only find the tiniest note. Cannon hadn’t really noticed it before, but as soon as Kimberley had shown up at the previous game, her scent had flooded back to him with all the connotations his subconscious had clearly remembered.
    But now, it was dissipating in the air again. And that could only mean one thing.
    Kimmy, don’t do this to us, he thought with gritted teeth, knowing full well that the only one to blame here was himself.
    He skated to the bench, throwing off his gear as quickly as he could. Cannon’s skates were off and his boots on before Heath could even really get pissed off, and Logan and Leo hopped off the bench with eager grins.
    “Cannon…” Coach’s voice was a low growl, making the hackles on the back of Cannon’s neck stand up.
    “I’m sorry,” was all he said, clapping the aged man on the shoulder before he burst off in a run, a sight that must have been becoming way too familiar to the Shifter Grove hockey-watching public.
    He didn’t hear the yells or questioning mumbles behind him as his bear led him straight toward the parking lot. Somehow, he knew she had to be leaving, that she was skipping out on the conversation both of them knew they had to have. Honestly, at that point, he wasn’t even hoping for much more other than the fact that he could man up and finally apologize to her like she deserved to be apologized to, while realizing that it meant the likely end to them. But he needed to do it.
    It was the fear that it would all be over that had kept him paralyzed, but that time was over now. As soon as he reached the parking lot, he knew Kimberley wasn’t there anymore. He didn’t even think when he let the bear take over, the powerful, muscular body of one of the best hockey players in the country suddenly warping and changing mid-step, until it towered as a huge grizzly bear, a steady snarl on its lips.
    He burst into the forest off of the parking lot, giving the animal all of the control, all of the decisions. The man had failed him one too many times, after all. Wolf’s Eye Lake was circular, the roads leading to it