Black Bear Fall: A BWWM Paranormal Romance (Black Bear Saga Book 2) Read Free Page B

around to remind them of our deviant nature so they dump us some place far away from anyone we know or love. The deal is we stay away and don't spook the good people of the clan, well then we get to live out the rest of our rotten life living out in the wilderness like monsters.”
    “Why involve us?” Anne asked, “the black bear clan has nothing against your kind. Most of us think you are a myth and nothing more.”
    The snarling man sat forward and looked directly at Anne, a thin line of spittle ran from his mouth and pooled on the floor. “The clan isn’t going to exactly welcome us with open arms now is it? We need something to grease those wheels and allow us to reunite with our families. That’s where your dark skinned friend comes in,” he said and wiped the slobber off his chin with the back of his hand.
    “Why take Grace, she’s a human and has nothing to do with your fight,” Anne said.
    The black guard turned and said, “We know all about her.”
    “Please,” Grace said, “I don't know who you think I am, but I’m just a normal woman that has somehow got caught up in all this.”
    The snarling man raised a fist into the air, “I’m bored of you two now. One more word out of you and I give you another dose of sedative. You do not want to have to go through the pain of two shots in one day.”
    Grace and Anne looked at each other and then kept their heads down and looked at the floor. The van rocked gently as it sped along the road and headed in the direction of home.

3
    Hibernation
    M orning dew glistened on the pale caps of the mushrooms sprouting from the base of the moss covered tree. The mushrooms grew in a circle extending out from the tree and enclosing the space directly in front of the tree truck. In the centre of the circle the moss and tufts of grass had turned a sickly yellow colour and near the edges the moss had turned brown and began to liquify. A sweet scent of almonds filled the air around the circle.
    “Hey look at this,” said David Thomson. The nine year old stood at the edge of the circle and gently nudged a large mushroom with the toe of his boot.
    Anton Bilson was a year younger than his best friend, in the last year he had a growth spurt and was now a whole head taller. He pushed David hard in the back and he took a stumbling step forward into the circle. A section of the mushrooms was crushed under foot and red liquid seeped out from the feathered gills on the underside. “You’re cursed now,” Anton said as he kicked over the dinner plate sized head of a mushroom his friend had kicked over.
    “Very funny,” David said bending down to inspect the underside of the broken mushroom.
    “Whats that red stuff coming out of it,” Anton asked.
    “Looks kind of like blood. These are plants, right?” David asked. He usually deferred to the younger boy as he always seemed to have an endless collection of facts and figures on a crazy array of subjects.
    “Yes they’re plants, maybe that red gunk is sap,” Anton said, “I dare you to taste it.”
    David squatted down on his hunkers and looked at the jewel like beads of red liquid dotted on the frilly brown gills. He stuck his finger out and moved it towards the liquid, it hovered a hair width away from it and then he looked up at Anton and said, “What do you think, I’m an idiot. I’m not going to taste that plants goop, its probably on its period or something,” he said grinning up at his friend. He had heard his sisters talk to their friends in hushed tones about periods one afternoon when he was listening in. He had heard blood mentioned multiple times and he couldn't shake the image of his sister running around the house with her nose gushing blood.
    “Chicken,” Anton said and crushed another mushroom under his foot. It sounded like a cracker under foot as he crushed the crown into the dirt.
    David stepped out of the circle and walked over to a tree and pulled one of the lower branches off. He swished the green