was just normal nerves. I could handle it. Knowing that I wasn't overreacting for no reason helped more than I wanted to admit.
Just to prove my case - and make Ian relax - I stood and made my way toward the bears with my hand out. "Welcome to Wolf's Run. How can we help?"
The shorter man accepted my hand first. "Scott," he introduced himself. "Black bear."
Then the Black man offered his hand next. "Jax, grizzly."
And finally, it was Vic. "Victor, a friend of Ashley's, and Kodiak."
"Elena," I told them. "I'm Ian's mate, and the leasing manager here." I checked Ian again. "I'm fine."
"Not gonna hurt your mate," Vic said again.
Ian just looked at Ashley. "How do you know bears?"
"Funny story, actually..." She crossed her arms as if bracing for a fight. "Met Vic at a bar. We were both slumming it and on neutral territory."
"Yeah," Vic said, picking up the story. "Bought her a drink and asked if there were wolves in town. She told me about this place. I mean, I'd heard the ads on the radio, but didn't think anyone would be that blatant. Then, what, a couple weeks ago?"
"The shooting," Ian realized. "And the video."
"Yep," Vic agreed. "No way that video was a hoax. I've seen plenty of wolves shift in my life, and that was a perfect recreation. Then there's some human kid saying she made the video? I mean, that girl's eyes were darker than a bear's. She's the real deal. So, figured that if Wolf's Run is locked down that well, then maybe we should come begging."
"For?" Ian asked.
Vic blew out a breath, but Jax was the one who answered. "Shelter," he said. "Look, Alpha, it's getting harder to survive in the real world, ok? Even in these hillbilly towns in the middle of nowhere, everyone has a phone with an impressive camera. The only way to keep from getting caught is to work in groups. The three of us have been moving together for..." He looked at the smaller guy.
"Five years," Scott answered. "Give or take. We tried a hunting cabin in the mountains, and hunters noticed a Kodiak bear in Colorado. We couldn't stay."
"Native to Alaska," Vic explained. "And Jax here shouldn't be that far south either. Scott's the only one who can blend. So basically, we're fucked unless we move to Canada, and, uh..." He glanced at the others. "Human governments are just as bad as the shifter ones."
"It's hard out there for the rest of us," Jax said. "All we want is a place where we can live, stay out of the way, and not wonder if our neighbors will come after us with guns blazing."
"Why here?" Ian asked.
"Because you made a sanctuary," Vic told him. "You just went through every shifter's nightmare. You had a member of your kind caught on camera, and you made it work. And coming in here? The walls? The gates? This place is a damned fortress!"
"Makes it safe when one of ours turns," Ian admitted, finally gesturing for the guys to take a seat. "The thing is, this is a wolf pack, and wolves don't really play well with bears." He tilted his head at me to prove the point.
"Ian, she didn't know," Ashley insisted.
But I had an even better argument. "I thought we'd already agreed to talk about this?"
"To talk," Ian admitted. "But I didn't expect to have three bears walk into the office your first day on your feet, Elena."
"And I'm fine," I reminded him. "I'm guessing that 'other shifters' was going to be a lesson for next week."
"Probably the week after," Ashley fake-whispered. "Next week's walking."
"Haven't even made your first voluntary shift?" Scott asked.
I shook my head. "No. Today's actually my first day out of the house."
"Of bed," Ian clarified. "She ran hard."
"We do it too," Scott told him. "Tidal forces of the virus and all that. Ours is just a mutation of yours, so we feel the pull to hunt the moon too."
"That's going to be a problem," Ian told them. "Our pack runs every moon. Together. The nature trails we've got aren't big enough to avoid three bears."
"We work as a group now," Jax told him. "Got over the isolation thing a while ago. We could make it work."
"Don't know that we can," Ian countered. "If Elena was that shocked, then what about the pups? I've got children here, guys! Kids whose parents shift them for the night so they can learn their legs."
"So we meet them before the