Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 81208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
But I have to try.
My eyes fix on the enormous predators. The first puts a paw on the step, and that's all I see before I run.
Running might not be the right thing to do. In the park near my home, dogs would roam off their leashes. On a summer evening when I was eight, a large dog started to bark at me, and I ran out of fear. “Run and they think you want to play,” Mom had shouted at me as I sobbed once the owner had grabbed hold of the dog. I remember wiping my snot on the hem of my shirt whilst Mom wrinkled her nose at me like she could smell something unpleasant.
When you run, you make yourself prey. But my reactions aren’t rational, and in this terrible situation, my instinct takes over.
I used to want to cuddle up with the bears from my mom’s dreams to fight my loneliness, but now that I've seen one in real life, I can't understand how I ever wanted to get up close with a predator.
The leaves and dirt crunch under my feet, making enough noise that the bears will be aware of my movements for sure. I hear the man call out, shouting for them to get away, and then a piercing scream, which clenches my stomach until I taste bile in my throat.
There’s terror in that scream. And pain. So much pain.
I run faster than I’ve ever run before, but not the way I planned. My car isn’t accessible with the bears close. There’s woodland behind the house, and that’s where my feet carry me. Twigs scratch my legs, and my ankle burns from twisting on the uneven ground. The bendy branches from small bushes scratch my face and hands as I try to get away as fast as I can, but none of that makes me stop. This is my only chance.
The screaming continues, mixed with snarling and growling, and I run faster. My lungs burn, and my heart feels as though it will split my ribs, but I keep going. Frantic crunching grows closer, the sound of the ground pounding underfoot. I whip my head around to see what’s there, fearing a bear has caught my scent and is pursuing me into the woods, but what I see is very different. It’s one of the Bjorn brothers running as fast as he can.
“Stop,” he growls. “Goldie, it’s okay. You don’t need to run.”
“There are bears!” I scream, my legs still carrying me as fast as they can manage. My muscles are fatigued, so my pace is slowing.
“It’s okay. They’ve gone.”
He’s almost caught up with me; that’s how much faster he can run, and he’s barely out of breath. His arm comes out, and he catches me around the waist, pulling me to a halt with a strength that feels unnatural. My head whips forward and back from the velocity, and he pulls me against his chest, his arms cradling me. My lungs are heaving to pull in enough breath, and I put my hands on him and shove, needing more space.
“There are bears,” I pant. “Two of them. They were attacking a man. They’re going to smell us. We have to move.”
Evan smirks, slow and lazy, his eyes smiling, too. “The bears are gone, Goldie. I scared them off.”
“You scared them?” My hands tremble with adrenaline, but my mind is starting to come out of fight-or-flight mode. Why is Evan here? And how did he scare away two giant bears in such a short time?
Evan nods and licks his lips, reaching out to touch my arm. “It’s okay now. Just come back with me. You’re all right. There’s nothing to fear.”
I take a step back, the woods looming around me. A gust of wind whips my hair across my face, and I shiver. I want to trust this man, but I don’t know him, and I feel more vulnerable standing in this desolate place than I ever have before.
“It’s okay, Goldie. I’ll take you back to your car and escort you back into town.”
“I need to go to the police,” I say. “I need to report what happened.”
Evan takes my arm gently and starts leading me back to the house. Is that man still there? Did the bear kill him? “There was a man,” I say. “The bear… it—”
“I didn’t see a man,” Evan says. “The bears were just up there looking for food.”
“There was a man. I was here to change a lock, but he was… he was…” I choke out a sob and can’t get the rest of the words out.
Evan rests his arm across my shoulders, pulling me closer. His shirt smells of pinecones and winter frost, and he’s so warm. “Everything’s okay. You don’t need to worry about anything.”
“But I have to tell the police.”