Page 2 of Bred By the Beast

Wilder had been watching this group of poachers for days. Humans had been trespassing on his territory for many months, but this was sacred land. He wasn’t able to stop them in time from killing a sow with cubs. It tore his heart apart to witness it. And all he felt was rage. He hated humans. Hated tourists. Hated hunters.

But now the poachers’ interest shifted to another human in the forest. He’d tracked the scent to a lone female. Wilder never involved himself with humans. He’d help an injured fox, but a wounded hiker could die in the wilderness for all he cared.

But for some reason his bear wanted him to intervene, to help the girl who’d just fallen over the side of the cliff. If the hunters were shooting at her, then maybe she wasn’t the enemy. He looked over the cliff, those big blue eyes staring back up at him. She started to scream when he reached out to help her.

“Relax. I’m not a hunter. I’m trying to save you from dying.”

Wilder reached down to where she was holding onto a root with a death-grip and easily pulled her up to solid ground. He was the most powerful animal in the forest, his grizzly unmatched in strength. Against human weapons, he was still at a loss.

“My camera,” she said. “Please, I need my camera.”

“I just saved your life, little human.”

She pointed down the embankment. “I have pictures of the hunters. That’s why they’re after me. I need that evidence for the police.”

And in that instant, all his carefully built walls of hatred for humans lowered just a bit—for her.

“I’ll get it.”

Wilder easily reached for the dangling camera and handed it back to the girl. She appeared soft and pale, her skin flawless. He took a deep breath in, her scent filling his lungs. He didn’t hate it.

“Thank you, but they’re coming here. They’ll find me. I don’t know what to do.” Her voice was shaking, panic slurring her words slightly.

“They want the pictures you took?”

“Yes, it’s evidence of their crimes. I saw them kill a bear and gloat over it,” she said.

“A sow with cubs.”

“You saw it too?”

He didn’t answer her. The hunters were going around the embankment and would be on top of them soon. Wilder wanted to get the girl to safety. His cabin was on the sacred shifter ground, but far from this location. They may have to settle in a cave for the night. The sun would go down within a few hours, and they’d never make it in time.

Humans were delicate creatures, susceptible to the cold, elements, and predators. He’d try to protect her so she could survive long enough to bring the incriminating pictures to the human authorities. Not that he trusted them to act. As far as he was concerned, all humans were corrupt, greedy, and destroyed everything they touched.

He handled trespassers his way. Unfortunately, he was too late to help that sow. Wilder wondered if they’d killed all the cubs, or if they were hiding nearby. He had to find out.

“They’re getting closer. We should leave this place,” he said. “You’ll have to move faster than you were earlier.”

He’d been tracking her for miles. Anyone on sacred land was a threat.

“You saw me earlier?”

“This is my land. I know everything that happens here.”

She grabbed her belongings and followed after him. Being so much smaller, she struggled to keep up. He had to stop too often to wait for her to reach him.

“What’s your name?” she asked as she stepped over forest debris.

“Wilder.”

“My name’s Poppy.”

He wasn’t planning to be best friends with her. Right now, she was just more convenient to him alive than dead. She had pictures that could help the bears from human hunters. And they had a common enemy.

His bear had been annoying him, more interested in the human than it should be. He blamed the fact it was mating season, because he was not attracted to human beings. His bear was just confused.

They’d been traveling for only fifteen minutes, but the distance between the men and them was closing quickly. She was not fast enough.