Bear The Fire (Firebear Brides 4) by Anya Nowlan Page B

under her steps because of the dryness. Even she could see that if this fire wasn’t stopped quickly, it could burn right through everything in Shifter Grove.
    She was exhausted by the time the air became musty with smoke, gathering in her lungs with each breath. The wind blew some of it her way, making it harder to see, but the sun was already getting blacked out by the smoke and the blaze itself. She blinked away tears as she kept going, her eyes peeled for any movement in the forest across the river now.
    The farther she went, the dumber she felt for coming here. What if she put herself in danger now and that ended up costing Rhodes valuable time and resources? What if she was freaking out over nothing? But she’d come so far, she couldn’t turn back now. Ripping a piece of her shirt off, she wetted it in the river and covered her mouth with it, breathing through it. She wiped soot out of her eyes and trudged onward, up to her knees in the water because the heat was becoming unbearable otherwise.
    Finally, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. It was just a flash in the middle of the brown trunks of trees, but before she could focus on it, it was gone again. Frowning, she continued on, sometimes thinking she could see something but not being entirely sure. Suddenly, she could see Rhodes’s bright yellow jump suit in the distance, pumping water on a clearance line a couple of dozen feet ahead of the main fire.
    Her heart jumped with joy, finding him okay. She tried to call for him but her voice didn’t carry over the fire from that distance, so picking up speed, she ran forward, slogging through the water. Again that brown flash caught her eye, but now she knew it wasn’t Rhodes. Instead, she saw the body of a huge, hulking grizzly bear, and her eyes went wide with surprise and fear.
    It wasn’t a Hamilton bear. They all had a white patch on their chest, one that looked like the beginnings of a flame crawling up their neck. This one had none of that. His coat was darker, almost black, and his chest bore no mark. He was slightly behind her on the other bank, and now Kali really ran, screaming her heart out.
    “Rhodes! Behind you!” she yelled.
    He turned around, his eyes locking on her, and he saw the bear rushing toward him at full speed as Kali pointed toward it. She stumbled to a stop as she watched Rhodes fall into his shift quickly, his face contorted with anger as the high, impossibly fearsome flames roared behind him, coming closer with every second.
    Kali covered her mouth with her hands as she watched the two bears collide, the black-coated bear crushing into Rhodes before he had gotten his bearings. Rhodes had only just finished shifting when the other bear came for him, jaws wide and fearsome teeth aiming for Rhodes’s throat. She stepped back a few paces as the bears battled. Rhodes was thrown to his side and he struggled to get up before the other bear attacked again, which tore at Rhodes with his long nails, trying to pin him down so he could get to the soft underbelly.
    “Rhodes!” she squealed, but it didn’t come out as more than a peep now, her eyes watering from both the smoke as well as fear for his safety.
    She felt completely helpless standing there. The deep brown eyes of the other bear were lit with the orange flames, blazing like the gates of hell itself, and he was foaming at the mouth with rage. Really foaming. Rhodes scrambled up to his feet, making sure not to turn his back on the other bear again. Kali watched with bated breath as the hulking beast came for him again.
    Nothing else seemed to matter at that moment in time but the safety of her love, the safety of her bear. She could have died in the damn fire for all she cared, and as long as Rhodes survived it would be fine with her.
    They met each other like two gladiators, on their hind legs with their claws scraping for one another and their roars dwarfing even the howl of the fire. She held her breath as she watched