“Holly, are you all right?” Johnny asked, halfway up the dark stairs. “You’re shaking.”
“I haven’t eaten today,” she said, which was true. “After all that physical activity has left me weak,” she added with a chuckle.
“I’m happy to leave you weak whenever you like.” Even in the dark, she could so clearly picture his wink and his smirk. Unfortunately, that mental image did nothing to slow her racing heart.
And how was she going to stand in front of Garret and look him in the eye after what she’d just done with Johnny? For a few blissful moments, she was able to forget about everything. She was able to lose herself in Johnny. Now, it was all crashing back down on top of her. What she wouldn’t give for another escape. She was half tempted to pull Johnny back downstairs and sleep with him again.
Keller and Garret were already in the living room when Johnny and Holly came up. Bears had a keen sense of smell. What if Garret and Keller could smell what she and Johnny had done no more than an hour ago? Holly’s cheeks reddened with embarrassment at the thought, which only made her look more guilty.
She had heard them fighting over her last night. How could she be so thoughtless of their feelings after all they’d done to protect her?
“Any news?” Johnny said, bringing Holly out of her thoughts.
“You took her down to the basement?” Keller asked with an odd quirk in his smile. “You never let anyone down there.”
“I had to make up for my dishonesty somehow.” Johnny shrugged.
“Mm-hmm.” Keller smirked. “Anyway, we didn’t find anything. We followed a few sets of tracks for a couple of miles. Definitely shifters. The tracks were too old to glean a scent from. No way of knowing if they’re Silver Spruce or not.”
“The third-floor window was open,” Garret announced. “I checked it out, but I couldn’t smell anything, either.”
So, Loch’s charm really did work. What if others had the same charm? Johnny, Garret, and Keller would never be able to track them. Holly had to say something. She couldn’t keep such a vital piece of information from them like that. But, if Loch was telling the truth about everything else, she couldn’t risk putting everyone in more danger. She bit down on her bottom lip.
“Holly, are you all right?” Garret asked gently.
“She hasn’t eaten today,” Johnny answered. “Want to help her out with that?”
They shared a look that Holly couldn’t interpret. Garret gave Johnny a small nod of appreciation before extending a hand to Holly. She took it and allowed him to lead her into the kitchen.
“I didn’t know you guys had a plan to search the forest,” she said. They must’ve talked about it last night. She wondered what else she wasn’t able to overhear.
“Yeah,” Garret said as he pulled salmon fillets out of the freezer. “You like fish, right?”
“I do.” She nodded.
“Good. I caught this myself,” he said proudly.
Holly was about to commend him on his fishing skills, but then she noticed the puncture wounds in the fish meat. “I suppose if you’re a bear, you ought to be able to catch salmon.” She chuckled.
“It’s one of the biggest perks, in my opinion.” Garret grinned. “It’s a good way to unwind after a long day. The general store is pretty taxing sometimes.”
Holly’s eyes went wide. She’d completely forgotten that Garret owned the store.
“Have you been skipping work to be here?” she asked.
“Yes, but I have a good team who knows how I like things done,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about it. Locating a group of shifters looking to return to the dark ways is a slightly higher priority.”
“Didn’t you say it belonged to your father?” she asked, and Garret nodded. “I’m assuming he was a shifter with a nickname like Griz.”
“He actually wasn’t.” Garret laughed. “My adoptive mother was the shifter, but my adoptive father was a big guy like me. People who never met us would assume we were father and son by blood. My sister takes after my mother.”
“I see.” Holly laughed to herself. “You know, Griz should’ve been the first clue to the whole bear thing.”
Garret tipped his head back and laughed. “Yeah, that’s kind of on the nose, isn’t it?”
“And all the bear carvings around town,” she added.
“And the furniture?”
“Especially the furniture. I just thought the whole town agreed on a theme and ran with it.” She couldn’t stop the laughter from bubbling up. It was just too damn funny. There were literally bears everywhere!
“I’m glad to see you’re finding humor in this situation,” Garret said.
“If I don’t find something to laugh about, I think I’ll actually go insane,” she replied. “Or maybe I’ve already gone insane. Or maybe I’m just really hungry.”
“Say no more.” Garret set to work preparing the salmon. “I take it you don’t like it raw?”
“No.” She laughed. “Can you eat fish in bear form like any other bear would?”
“For sure!” Garret grinned. “It’s best that way, but for you, I’ll cook it up nice.”
“I appreciate that.”
Garret whipped up a great-looking meal of salmon, wild rice, and veggies roasted in butter. Holly’s mouth was watering the whole time she watched him cook. The other two filed in, no doubt drawn in by the amazing smell.
Keller stood behind Holly, resting his hand on her shoulder.
“Thanks for going out there today,” Holly said.
“We’re going to head back out tonight as well,” Keller said. “Well, Garret and Johnny are.”
Holly bit down on her bottom lip. “Do you have to go out at night?”
“If someone in the area is doing something they shouldn’t, they’re more likely to go out at night,” Johnny said. His logic was sound, but Holly still didn’t like the idea.
“We go
