June knew from the crunching and grunting noises ahead that something massive awaited her. Just before she reached the area that smelled so strongly of blood, she found a tree that could support her and leapt up and climbed its trunk. Accordingly, she saw the grizzly bear before it saw her. But it must have sensed something. The bear stopped ripping at the fawn and looked around. It sniffed the air casually. The word gigantic didn’t do the bear justice; June had never seen such a large animal. The fawn was fresh. A part of her burned at the thought of the bear killing the young deer, but as she sniffed the air, her stomach rumbled. She didn’t have long before the pain started—she could have kicked herself for running off without eating anything in human form first.
June exploded out of the tree and landed about forty feet away. The ground shook. Just a few small plum yew shrubs stood between her and the bear. White pines formed a ring of sorts around the area. Everything in their vicinity had gone silent.
The bear stood up, tensed its brown body, and glowered. June guessed it was over eight feet tall. She knew from biology that the fluffy fur and general puffiness of the bear were deceptive—it had powerful muscles under that fluff, which meant immense strength. June stood up too. She was much taller and thicker; her muscles were obvious, unlike those of the bear. Shouldn't it run away now? she wondered. Surely it can tell I'm bigger, and that’s how this works, right?
The bear roared. June couldn’t understand bear language, but she got the gist anyway. She wasn’t leaving, however. She had to eat, and the smell of the deer was intoxicating. June roared back—it sounded deeper and more piercing than the grizzly’s roar, like the roar of a lion mixed with the scream of a girl.
The grizzly hesitated and looked confused—although gauging bear emotions wasn’t something that June could claim to have much experience with. It looked down at the deer, then back at June. Her heart pounded and her blood pumped in her ears. Her claws, which had been tucked away inside her fingers, slid out like they had a mind of their own. With much effort, she forced her claws to retract again—she didn’t want to kill the bear, after all. Then they slid right back out. Had Cordelia mentioned this—body parts acting with a mind of their own? She racked her brain, but couldn’t recall any mention of “Your body will do things you don’t expect.”
After a few more unsuccessful efforts to keep her claws sheathed, a growing horror threatened to overwhelm her. She might be fighting someone far more concerning than the bear—herself. Something primal stirred inside her and she staggered forward without thinking. Was her body trying to propel her toward a fight? She retracted her claws. Her claws slid out again. She held them up and looked at them with wide eyes. What’s happening to me? She put her arms behind her back. She didn’t trust her paws anymore; they seemed to be thinking for themselves, and their thoughts were of blood.
The grizzly roared again, interrupting her, and charged. As it approached, it raised its paws and tried to grab her. To June, it looked like the bear moved in slow motion. That was a good thing; it gave her time to fight for control of herself. She stepped backward and away from the attack while battling an intense instinct to slash at the bear's throat. But she couldn’t stop her body from lurching forward again, and as the bear fumbled past, she ended up diving into it with her shoulder.
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The bear, already off-balance from missing its attack, crashed to the ground like a thunderbolt. It rolled several times before heaving itself back up to its feet. June wished the bear would just tuck tail and run away. She also wished she could run away, but her feet wouldn't move. The grizzly bellowed and charged again.
June stood frozen to the spot, a part of her terrified, but a new, foreign part of her felt...thrilled. Just as the bear got close enough to maul her, June reacted without thinking. In a blur, she slid sideways, away from the bear’s claws. Before the bear could even blink, she brought her own paw down with hurricane force into its back. The bear hit the ground again and the forest floor shook. Even some of the trees nearby vibrated, their pine needles rustling. The bear didn’t move.
In a millisecond she stood above it, paw raised, claws glistening, muscles tense, ready to end the fight. But June struggled and roared and forced herself to stop. She took a step back, shaking like she had fallen in cold water. She slumped against a tree and stared at her paws with wide eyes. There was blood wetting the tips of her claws. Had they slid out before she hit the bear? Did she stop herself too late? Her stomach twisted. Did this bear have a family, cubs to protect?
Then, ever so slowly, the bear stirred. It got up gingerly, whined, and limped away into the woods without giving her a second look.
June let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes, trembling. When the shaking fit finally passed, she sat down, listening. Her ears rotated at the top of her head like satellite dishes. She sniffed the air. Her whiskers twitched and her tail flicked. Many things were scampering away—they must have heard, or felt, the fight. But nothing was coming closer, and there was definitely nothing human around. The air contained all of the normal smells of the forest: dirt and earth and pine…and blood. The deer was still fresh; blood continued to drip down onto the ground. Drip, drip, drip…
*******
June blazed home so fast she wondered that there weren’t little flames in her wake. She’d lost track of time and didn’t want to find herself in trouble. Her stomach felt blissfully full, and she felt stronger and faster now. Had she been this strong and fast when she fought the bear it might not have survived. She shuddered at the thought.
Reaching her backyard, she eyed her open bedroom window, tempted to make the leap. But her mom would hear her. With sneaking in out of the question, she decided not to risk the jump. So, right next to the rose bushes by the steps to the back door, June willed herself to Shift back to normal. Her fur rippled, her body bent in on itself, and in an instant there was nothing but a stark-naked teenager at the back door of her house. She walked in and grabbed the gray robe hanging just within reach on a hook. The eggs were burning in a cast iron pan on the stainless-steel stove, sending up trails of smoke, but Cordelia was nowhere in sight.
June turned off the burner, moved the pan, and went to find Cordelia. June located her in the dining room, sitting rod-straight with her jaw muscles taut, staring out the window. June was pretty sure if she concentrated she would hear Cordelia grinding her teeth. Her chest tightened as Cordelia turned fiery eyes on her.
“We need to leave for the lab right away. Hurry up and get dressed.”
“Why?” June asked, uncertain whether the fire-eyes were for her. Was she that late? Her stomach did a somersault.
“I just received a call that the lab was broken into early this morning and Mr. Moseley was taken.”
The air rushed out of June’s lungs and her eyes narrowed. All her fear was gone. “I’ll be dressed in a second.”
Rushing upstairs, June wondered what “taken” meant, exactly. Had he been kidnapped? Then whoever had “taken” him was going to be in for a world of pain when June found them. The building anger inside her filled her mind and she entirely forgot about losing control of her body and almost killing the bear.