He kept to the shadows and stayed alert to any noise or movement that would betray the presence of humans, either on foot or riding trail bikes. With luck he could handle the bear without attracting any attention. If the grizzly had moved off in a different direction, he’d hang around a while to make sure Rachel was safe. Then tomorrow he’d notify Ted that he’d spotted a bear and cub near her place. Ted would let her know to be careful.
As he neared her workshop, he picked up the tang of fresh-cut wood wafting from the open window, along with the almond scent he associated with Rachel. Unfortunately, the musky odor of bear grew stronger by the second, too. Mama and baby had continued on the same trajectory, bringing them closer to Rachel’s cabin with each lumbering step.
Maybe he could head them off before . . . nope. Too late. The cub rounded the corner of the cabin and ambled across the well-worn path that ran along the lake between Rachel’s back door and her workshop. Its mother was about to follow when Rachel came out of her shop carrying a cardboard cylinder in the crook of her arm.
Chances were it contained plans for an installation of her work, but Jake thought it looked way too much like a rifle. He hoped the bear wouldn’t think so, too. Rachel was talking on her cell phone. Ordinarily she was very observant, but for whatever reason, she was too engrossed in the conversation to notice her surroundings.
Jake held his breath. Maybe, just maybe, she’d keep walking, oblivious, and the mother bear would let her pass by. She was halfway between her workshop and her cabin when that hope died.
A warning growl from the mother bear caused Rachel to glance up. The cub shuffled its feet, and Rachel’s gaze slowly swung to the other side of the path. The color drained from her face. Anyone who’d lived in the backwoods of Alaska understood the danger of standing between a mother and her cub.
Hidden in the trees bordering Rachel’s property, Jake sent a telepathic message to the bear. Don’t harm the woman. She won’t hurt your baby.
The reply was filled with panic. She has a gun! She’s going to shoot him!
Jake kept his eyes on the bear as he edged out into the open, closer to the bear. It’s not a gun. It’s a cardboard tube.
It is a gun! She’s too close!
The bear’s hysteria worried him. He moved a few more steps toward her. Just walk past her and take your baby out of this area. Nothing will happen to him. I promise the woman’s not a threat.
She’s going to kill him!
No, she isn’t. Don’t attack!
Must save my baby.
• • •
Rachel looked back toward the mother bear, but then she broke eye contact immediately. She remembered Grandpa Ike telling her that staring at a predator could be interpreted as a challenge. Some challenge. Terror sent cold sweat trickling down her sides.
On the other end of the phone connection, Otis Wilberforce, a Chicago attorney, kept asking what was wrong.
She whispered her response. “Bear.”
“A bear? Well, stay inside, okay? And lock the door!”
How she longed to be behind a locked door. Her heart pumped frantically as all her instincts told her to run. She resisted. Her grandfather had also told her that running was the worst thing a person could do.
Besides, the bear was too close and she was too far from either door to make it safely inside. Maybe, if she stayed very still, the bear would go away. Or maybe not, with the little one on the other side of the path.
Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why hadn’t she looked before she’d walked out the workshop door? But in all the time she’d spent here, she’d never come face-to-face with a bear, let alone two of them.
She struggled to think clearly. What would be the smartest response? Drop and roll into a ball? Lift her arms and look bigger and more difficult to manage? Her paralyzed brain refused to guide her.
“Rachel? Are you okay?” Otis sounded worried. “You’re not outside, are you?”
“Yes. ’Bye.” Locating the disconnect button with her thumb, she ended the call. From the corner of her eye she could see the animal’s powerful muscles bunch. Oh, God. The mother bear was going to charge. Rachel sensed the intent before the low growl came, a growl filled with menace.
She was about to be mauled by a bear with claws the length of carving knives and teeth that could sever an arm in one bite. She might survive and she might not. But either way, she was in for a world of pain.
Gulping with fear, she faced the animal. Maybe if she threw the phone right at its head . . . no, not good. She was shaking so much her aim would be lousy, and besides, the phone was too light. It would just bounce off.
Shoving the phone in her pocket, she lifted the cardboard tube, brandishing it as if prepared to do some damage. The tube might look scary enough to fool the bear. In any case, she’d be damned if she’d go down without a fight, short and pitiful though it might be.
As the bear charged, something black streaked in front of it, blocking its path. Rachel stumbled back, eyes wide. A wolf! Surely not the wolf, and yet . . . no, it couldn’t be. Launching itself at the bear, the wolf closed its jaws over the bear’s throat and hung on.
The bear roared and stood on its hind legs, becoming a seven-foot nightmare of animal rage. It wrapped both front paws around the wolf and raked its claws down one side of the wolf’s body. The wolf didn’t let go. Dropping to all fours, the bear swung its massive head from side to side, flinging the wolf around like a rag doll. The wolf held on.
After what seemed like hours, the mother bear stopped trying to shake the wolf loose. She bowed her head, trembling. Slowly the wolf released its grip and backed away. It was bleeding profusely from deep gashes in its side. Neither creature seemed to have won the battle, but miraculously, it was over.
With one more glance at the wolf, the grizzly walked past Rachel and over to her cub. Both of them padded away as the wolf gazed after them. It was as if they’d agreed to disagree and end the fight.
But the wolf had paid a high price for interfering. Blood soaked its black coat. Its flanks heaved as it watched the bear and cub move out of the area. Rachel couldn’t get her mind around what had just happened. Why had one wild creature rushed in to protect her from another?
Perhaps the wolf wasn’t wild, after all. Although keeping a wolf was illegal, not everyone in Polecat followed the rules. This animal had instinctively tried to save her from the bear, and she needed to make sure it would be okay.
Her cell phone chimed. Probably Otis, worried sick. Keeping her attention on the wolf, she pulled the phone out, turned it off, and returned it to her pocket. Then she spoke to the wolf as she might to a faithful dog. “You’re hurt.” She stretched out her hand. “Come. Let me help.”
The wolf swung its broad head in her direction and stared at her with green eyes that looked disturbingly familiar. Those eyes were filled with pain, but there was intelligence lurking there, too. The wolf seemed to be considering whether to come closer. Seconds passed. Then it turned and walked away on unsteady legs.
“Wait! Don’t leave! Please!” Hurrying after the wolf, she managed to get in front of it. The poor thing couldn’t move very fast, and it paused, panting from the effort of walking. It had no collar, of course. Anyone who was daring enough to keep a wolf around wouldn’t want to be identified as the owner.
She couldn’t even be sure the wolf belonged to someone. It might have been domesticated and then abandoned. Whatever its story, her life had been spared because this animal had come to her rescue. She wasn’t about to let it wander off into the forest, where anything might happen.