Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 99(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 99(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Colin’s bear is already gone. I can hear screams in the distance, so I know which way he went.
We go the other way.
“What’s happening to Dad?” Nathan asks as we run. “Why did he turn into his bear?”
I can’t explain it to him now. I have to focus on getting him out of here.
Everyone is fleeing to the exits.
Everyone but four muscular men. I spot them in the distance, heading toward the sound of the screams.
Something about them makes me uneasy. It’s the confident way they’re heading toward my brother. They look like executioners.
The one in the front really catches my eye. I have a sudden strong awareness of my pounding heart as I watch the long strides of his muscular legs.
His brown hair ripples in the wind and he’s flexing his big muscular arms and chest like he’s getting ready for a battle.
I swallow hard when I spot a Samurai sword strapped to his back. What is that for?
I ask myself the question, but I already know the answer…
It’s for my brother. It’s to take down his feral bear.
I look at Nathan as my mind spins, trying to figure out what to do.
“I have to go help your dad,” I tell Nathan. “Can you be brave and hide in here until I come back?”
“I… I think so…”
He looks so scared. I feel horrible as I lead him over to the empty carnival game, but what else can I do? Let his father die?
I lift him over the counter as I force out a smile. “Go hide behind those stuffed animals, okay? I’ll be right back.”
He hesitates, but then hurries under them and hides.
With a deep breath, I turn and run toward the vicious snarling sound.
Chapter Two
Remy
“Oh yes,” I whisper as I pluck the fresh cone of cotton candy off the cart. “My two favorite things: pink candy and killing bears.”
“Put that back,” Jackson snaps as we walk through the empty amusement park. “We’re not thieves.”
“Speak for yourself,” I say, turning to him with a grin. He frowns as I rip off a delicious chunk of it with my teeth. “I was the best thief in all of Quebec.”
One thing our crew leader has learned with me over the years is that he has to pick his battles. We have a hell of a battle coming up and he doesn’t want to get sidetracked arguing with me over cotton candy. I toss it onto an empty cart. Too sweet for my tastes.
“What’s the biggest thing you stole?” Ryker asks as we walk past a looping rollercoaster. There’s no one on it. There’s no one anywhere. It’s like we’ve wandered into a zombie apocalypse movie or something.
“I stole a whale.”
Ryker and Grayson both stop and turn to me in shock. Even Jackson gets sidetracked and looks at me funny.
“Seriously?” Grayson asks. “A whale?”
“Not a big one,” I say with a shrug. “She was the size of a minivan.”
“So was your mom,” Ryker says with a chuckle.
I grab the handle of the Samurai sword strapped to my back and lift it an inch. “Hey boss, can I stab him for that?”
Jackson shakes his head as we continue walking past the vending machines. “Too much paperwork. Let’s stay focused.”
I let go of my sword and punch his tattooed shoulder hard instead.
“Ow!” Ryker laughs as he rubs it.
“Where did you steal a whale from?” Grayson asks, still staring at me in shock.
“Can we focus on the fucking task at hand?” Jackson snaps as he looks up at the unmoving Ferris wheel. “For once can we be fucking professional?”
“I’d rather hear about this whale theft,” Grayson says.
“It’s more of a whale rescue,” I say as we walk past more food carts. I snatch a pretzel when Jackson isn’t looking.
“Put it back,” he grumbles.
“Damn it.” I take a bite and then toss it back onto the cart. “It was that place, you know, with the whales?”
“Ocean World?” Ryker says.
“Yeah, that’s it. My dad took me when I was a pup. Dey had dis sad-looking whale swimming around the little tank. She didn’t do tricks or do anything but swim in circles and cry a mournful song. It broke our hearts.”
I can still remember the determined look in my father’s eyes when he settled his mind on something. Nothing was going to change it.
We returned home, had dinner, and as I was brushing my teeth before bed, I saw him getting into a truck with four other members of our pack.
I rushed out and begged him to bring me and he couldn’t say no.
“My old pack did it,” I tell them with a sad smile. “We loaded her onto a flatbed, soaked her with water, and drove her to the ocean.”
“How did you get her on it?” Grayson asks with a furrowed brow.
“With the strength of four massive wolf shifters and one scrawny little pup in his soaked pajamas,” I say with a nostalgic smile. “Ma belle did not go on easy.”