A paw the size of her head rose and poked at the scarf.
"Oh right. Yes. Follow me."
The pull of a magnetic force, her magic compass, dragged her forward. Caleb lumbered next to her. She tried to speed up realizing how slow she appeared next to him.
Picking up speed, she tried to jog. Now was not the time to start a new workout, but Caleb's fear grew thicker in the air, and Marci swore she could feel it.
Her lungs started to burn, and then her legs began to shake. Running would never be her thing. A few more steps and she tripped over a branch.
Instead of landing on the hard ground in front of her she hit a pile of muscle-covered fur.
He didn't smell like a wild animal. And she lost herself in the scent. She dug her fingers into his hair. Her magic shifted. The nagging static finally chased away after days of nearly growing numb to all other sensations. Breathing in again, his scent filling her and bringing back every sense that had been dulled away but the burn of her magic furiously searching. She moaned as an unexpected tingling took a short cut straight to her core.
She froze as he rumbled. Maybe she moaned, maybe he growled she hadn't been here mentally to know. She pushed away and met his large green eyes.
"I. Thanks for catching me."
A jerk of his head and he laid down and nodded back towards her. She looked at him and then at his back.
"You want to carry me?"
The bear made a grumbled sound that might have been some grumpy retort.
"That's a yes then? If I climb up on you, you're not going to buck me off or anything weird. Right? And don't get any other ideas with me riding you..."
She stood rigid at the unexpected comment that said she was at least thinking of him in some way other than just as the handyman.
The bear's voice rumbled. Could a bear laugh?
He tossed his head back again, his front paw reaching out.
She swallowed. "Okay. Fine. Uh. How do I tell you where to go?"
He tilted his head, the brown of his fur becoming more white as the snow picked up and stuck to him.
After a moment he stood up and moved to her, he took his paw and pressed against her leg. He pushed the left leg and pointed to the left, and then pushed the right leg and pointed right.
"Okay. Sure. We can do this."
The threads of magic began to pulse as she squeezed the scarf tighter. Right. Maybe, once this seemed clear, but something was still lost.
He laid down once more, and she scrambled atop his back.
It was one thing to work for a shifter, but working for one in his animal form was new. Marci had never actually been this close to one, never been attracted to anyone this much, and she'd never felt muscles this powerful before, anywhere, especially between her legs.
A jolt of her body and her fingers dug into his fur as Caleb took off into the tree line. She crouched down, leaning her stomach against him, trying to hide from the wind. Her magic dodged trees and rock as they ran.
The woman was out there; she could feel it. She could also feel the shock trying to choke her as panic set in. They were going to come dangerously close to the pixie forest, and nothing about that place seemed good. In fact, her magic seemed to shudder and wane as it traveled closer and closer.
10
His bear was in control, and Caleb had to go with it. He could feel her as they ran through the forest. Her touch soothed the unrest within them. His bear chuckled as Caleb sat on the sidelines and wondered what the hell all this meant. She ignited a burn deep within him, within them, that he fought to control every second of every day and his damn bear wasn't fighting much off.
He sprinted through the forest. Marci would push him to turn and they would. Moving as if they were meant to be one. He pushed his bear on; they would find Evelyn, they had to. She was like a grandma he'd never had, and he didn't want to lose her now.
Caleb's blood still ran cold as the words seeped in. He'd knocked on her door and expected some dirty joke or comment from the woman that refused to age. Instead, Ed had answered, his skin pale, and a haunted worry in his eyes.
"Evelyn didn't come home last night."
The man, a human, seemed helpless. Ed was one of the few humans in the town, and Caleb understood why. Evergreen Valley wasn't a common place.
Caleb swallowed past the panic squeezing his chest, fighting for every breath.
He sniffed the air as they ran and still couldn't pick up her scent. He'd only ever felt helpless once in his life when his friend had died. Now though, the fear of never finding Evelyn, the panic rose suffocating him. He wasn't helpless, he wasn't weak, and yet right now he couldn't do this, not without the woman on his back.
Marci didn't speak as they kept running. They'd gone at least a mile. What had she been doing? Evelyn picked the late season elderberries, but this seemed too far.
He sniffed the air again and caught faint traces of berries, maybe that was a good sign.
"Slow down," said Marci.
He quickly pulled back and slowed.
"There's no magic in these parts of the woods, right? No pixies?"
Caleb shook his head. There wasn't. He came here all the time, every time he needed to get away.
"Let me down."
He stopped and lay on the ground. Marci hopped off and, similar to his bear's tracking, she walked without regard to anything. His bear squinted but couldn't see the trail she followed.
He studied her, staying far enough behind to give her space. He liked the view.
