Ursanthropy
17. Run!

Jack

A flurry of emotions ran through me right now.

We had finally figured out what it was that kept us away from each other, but even though I was really happy that the blockage was gone now, and that I was actually wanting to have sex with her, even though I was worried to hurt her tiny ass, there was still something that kept Doreen from accepting her fate.

But the moment she wanted to tell me what was going on, there was a loud roar.

My Beta Dennis came running out of the tree line, fully shifted...

Doreen

A huge brown bear came running out of the tree line and I gasped and screamed. I grabbed my necklace from the grass and crawled backwards, until my back hit the side of the tent.

Jack quickly stood up, taking a defensive stance between me and the bear. Well, defensive?

I looked at his back, but could tell he had crossed his arms and just stood there, annoyed by the interruption but completely relaxed otherwise.

“What are you doing here?” He asked the bear. HE ASKED THE BEAR??

He is talking to a bear? What the hell is going on? Have I truly lost my marbles now?

Is this what my mother was protecting me from? From a man that could command bears? If he could do that, what else is he capable of then?

I quickly put the necklace around my neck again, not wanting to lose it at this point. If it had protected me from this strange situation for all these years, then I’m not going to take it off ever again!

Right now, he was standing still, in front of the huge bear, and I frowned. Jack wasn’t talking, and the bear wasn’t growling or making any other sound. The bear even sat his ass down, completely at ease, like he had done this over a hundred times already.

I took a focused look towards the bear, and noticed that he was nodding and growling really soft now. Is he communicating with Jack in a different way?

I guess I knew one of the answers of the crazy questions that I have, but it is really hard to commit to the idea. How could it be possible? It can’t, right?

Is this what my father tried to explain to me? When he was talking about the job that I was destined to take over? The gruesome, vile things that he had done to figure things out, things that aren’t possible in the first place?

Both the assumedly enchanted medallion, and the way that Jack was acting towards the bear now, made me feel really uneasy. Could it be true what my father had said?

If it was, then this town would be in a lot more trouble than only getting shot to take me away. They wouldn’t get shot just because they were in the way to get to me, but they would get shot for what they are capable off.

Even though I don’t understand all the facts, about Jack and his capabilities, as my father hadn’t told me any details either, I know that he is being hunted for it.

These people here, have been the nicest towards me, giving me a job and a place to stay. I even became friends with them and started to care for them as well. But knowing what my father is capable off, knowing that if he would replace this place and its inhabitants, he would rampage and burn the whole place down!

A sudden burst of common sense came over me and I decided to get the hell away from this place!

I looked around and saw my bag.

Without thinking about this, I had gotten on my feet, grabbed my bag, and decided to take one of the daggers from the rack with me. I glanced one more time towards Jack and the bear, and saw that he had heard me.

“Doreen?” He asked, but I shook my head.

I turned around and ran. This was the only way for them to stay safe.

I heard Jack yell something after me, but I wasn’t going to ask what he said.

Tears ran over my face as I tried to remember where Jack had parked the car. I realized that it was almost midnight now and nearly couldn’t see a thing through the dense forest. Shit, why didn’t I run away in the morning! Why couldn’t I just have waited for him to explain and run when it was safe?!

No, this was the right moment. Jack would have otherwise motivated me to keep the necklace off, and who knows what would have happened then? It would have been too late to run in the morning.

It was odd already that I still hadn’t seen any of my father’s guards by now. Maybe they knew about Jack and his bear, and waited for the right moment to attack?

I had held the dagger at the hilt, holding it up-side-down, so that if I would stumble over a root, I wouldn’t fall face down on the point, poking an eye out, as Jack had said.

I kept running and running, but suddenly heard some branches break behind me. The sound of heavy footsteps coming closer and closer. My heart was beating as fast as that of a mouse, but I wasn’t going to stop now. I was determined to get away from here!

Growls and grunts became louder, as the thing that chased me was getting closer. I dared to look behind me, for just a split second, and saw the brown bear that Jack had been communicating with, running behind me! Jack promised he would never hurt me! But I guess that the bear is not Jack...

The bear was big and it was more difficult for him to swiftly run around the trees, than it was for me.

But I lack the amount of energy, that the bear clearly didn’t seem to lack... But there was no way that I would stop myself now!

I kept the moon on my left side, as it was on my right when we walked up to the tent, and finally I saw the clearing where Jack had parked his car. It surprised me that I had managed to replace the way back though, hadn’t Jack said that I would get lost, should I want to run away?

No time to waste any moment on that! I reached the car, barely in time as the bear came running out of the treeline again.

I had noticed earlier that Jack didn’t lock it when we left it, and just put the key in the glove compartment. “No one dares to take my truck.” He had chuckled. Well, I guess that I do dare...

I tossed the bag and dagger inside, quickly grabbed the key, put it in the lock and while sitting on the edge of the seat, as I couldn’t otherwise reach for the paddles, I turned the ignition on and pressed down the gas.

The brown bear took a swipe and I could hear his claws drag through the metal on the side of the truck. It was a terrifying, scraping sound, but I was glad that it wasn’t my flesh!

It took me a turn or two, until the brown bear wasn’t in my rear-view mirror any more. And as I looked behind me, making sure that nothing was hunting me any longer, I sighed with relief. Finally, my heavy breathing could take a break from the adrenaline that had been rushing through my veins, moments ago.

I checked if my bag was still at the passenger seat, but noticed it had fallen on the ground. I saw my purse and passport splayed over the floor. And as I saw my own picture, together with the knowledge of the name and last name, that was written right next to it, I thought back to my family.

My mother with her beautiful curled black hair, her pale skin tone and gorgeous shining eyes, as she told me that she was pregnant with my new little brother. I couldn’t have been happier at that moment, not even the silver necklace that my mother had given me only a few minutes before, could fade me away of the baby brother that I was soon to get.

But that Christmas eve, when I was six years old, didn’t last happy for long, as that was the time that I lost my mother.

It wasn’t until my father started to explain, after that day when I saw him covered in blood, three years ago, why he did what he did now. That he told me that my mother’s death was the reason that he became this monster.

My father had told me that that night that we lost her, it was caused by a rabid animal, that could communicate with humans. He didn’t know how, or why it happened, but there was a man that night as well, who tried to stop the animal, while screaming and yelling towards it.

The animal had stopped for a moment, but it was too late for my mother by that time. The animal had lacerated my mother’s gut, killing both her and my new baby brother.

The animal had managed to escape, because my father didn’t have the guards he has now. But he was determined to replace the creature, it’s master, and anyone that had anything to do with them as well. He wasn’t going to let my mother’s death wash away in vain, and was determined to kill every single one of those primal men he could replace, roaming the earth.

He had trained himself to become a master in survival, combat and hunting skills. And quickly made an empire around himself, of which he was the leading figure, leading this group of men, to hunt the earth for more of these humans that have a rare connection to animals. To replace out more information about their connection and to eradicate them forever.

He even had a contract with the military, in case they needed a hunter for replaceing lost convicts for example. Which resulted in him having an arsenal of weapons to choose from, to hunt down his assignments.

This news, which is a lot to take in, was completely new to me, when he told me about it. Of course, he never said anything about what he did, he held meetings in a soundproof room, was away most of the time, and I never asked about it, but still... It was amazing that he had managed to keep this all away from me.

But when he told me, that I was meant to take over the reins, one day, I had snapped. Even though I hated the fact that my mother was killed by an animal, I couldn’t believe that he actually thought that I would lead his men to hunt down others and kill them in cold blood!

Besides, I couldn’t actually believe that there were people who could communicate with animals at all. I had called my father a crazy man, and still did, the past three years.

But now? I had seen it with my own two eyes…