Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45069 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45069 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
The girls worked in silence for several minutes. In between flowers, Olivia took a sip of juice and ate another animal cracker. She loved those because they were one bite each, and she didn’t have to worry about crumbs.
When she finished her painting, she blew on it to help it start drying. “How’d I do?”
“It’s really good. I think you’re going to surprise yourself,” Jezebel said.
“I want to see it. Do you think Elias will be mad if I shift?” Olivia asked.
“I don’t see why he would be,” Suzette said. “No one said we aren’t permitted to shift while the Daddies are gone.”
Olivia lifted her feet to swing over the side of the picnic bench so she wouldn’t bump into the table and make a giant mess while she shifted. “Is there enough space behind me?” She hadn’t gotten a good look at the outside of the house earlier.
“Four feet before there are two steps down to the grass,” Suzette said.
Olivia took two steps back, closed her eyes, and let the shift take over.
Chapter Seventeen
“Hey,” Elias called out as soon as she landed on all fours.
“It’s okay,” Jezebel said, “she just wants to see her picture.”
Olivia glanced at Elias who was on his feet now. His brows were furrowed, but he didn’t approach them.
Olivia turned her attention to her picture. She was stunned by how well she’d done. It looked really good for her first painting in over a decade. She was definitely going to talk Daddy into getting her some paints and crayons.
A breeze wafted over her fur. It felt nice, but then she inhaled and realized a scent carried with it in the air. She spun around so fast she almost tripped over her front paws.
Something was out there. It was watching them. She hadn’t noticed in human form, but now that she was in her wolf form, she was certain. She scanned the area, inhaling deeply.
“What is it, Olivia?” Elias asked from right next to her. “Fuck,” he said a second later.
Yeah, fuck was about right. Damon would have a fit if he heard Olivia cuss, but he wouldn’t know she’d thought the word, and it was appropriate. She now spotted two black bears just inside the tree line. How long had they been there?
They each took a step forward.
“Get inside, girls, now,” Elias growled.
Olivia heard Suzette and Jezebel scrambling behind her, but there was no way Olivia was going to shift and leave herself vulnerable. She stayed right where she was, staring down the two bears. She could see far better than she’d ever seen in human form, perhaps better than the average wolf shifter. Damon had commented on that possibility several times when she’d pointed out things she’d seen on their run. She hadn’t been able to do so until after they’d returned home, so he couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t have seen the same things, but he’d suspected.
Elias’s hand landed on her. “You need to go inside, Olivia. Let me handle this.”
Olivia couldn’t move. She didn’t mean to be disobedient, but she was frozen, mesmerized. The two bears continued to approach until they stood in the clearing. There was no doubt they were shifters. No ordinary bear would move with so much purpose in unison with another.
What bothered Olivia was the fact that Damon had told her the bears in the area had extraordinary powers, including the ability to mask their scent from even the Alpha Protectors. A rogue bear had stolen Suzette from her home on her mating day and hidden her in a cave in the mountains. Brock had been unable to follow the bear’s scent. He’d found his mate by following her own scent.
And yet, Olivia could scent these two just fine. She inhaled again, confirming the oddity.
The two bears stepped closer.
Olivia instinctively knew they meant her no harm. They meant no harm to any of them. They were curious about her. They’d been watching from a far enough distance that they shouldn’t have been detected, but Olivia had scented them.
She knew all of this as if she were having a conversation with them, and yet all they’d done so far was stare at each other.
“Olivia, please, Little one,” Elias pleaded.
If she’d been in human form, he could have simply picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder to get her to comply, but in wolf form she was a formidable opponent against his human.
She still hadn’t moved. She was aware of Elias’s stress beside her, but she didn’t take her gaze off the bears.
One of them cocked his head to the side as if to say, “What are you?” It was an odd question, but it filled her mind as though he’d spoken to her out loud.
Olivia cocked her head to match his, thinking, I have no idea.
The two bears looked at each other and then back at her.