Bear and I II

Chapter 8

Rick hadn't gotten much writing done yesterday thanks to Jenny's visit and her teasing that Kate was his girlfriend. That and what Vincent was doing and thinking.

Still he had gotten everyone some breakfast. He also spent some time playing with Alexis and letting Kate read her book. Actually his book that no one outside of himself and Black Pawn knew anything about.

He had even checked on Kate to make sure she didn't need to use the bathroom till he finally got a little writing done. Then his alarm went off. He had given himself until a certain time to do this.

Alexis was down for her nap and Kate was still lost in her book. He used the time to go to his arctic entry where he stripped, went outside, and closed the door behind him. "Cold, cold, cold." Rick rubbed his arms and quickly changed into his bear form.

Now a normal grizzly bear weighed about 600 pounds. Rick, though, would easily weigh in at 8,000 pounds or 3.6 metric tons. He was roughly 12 feet long, surpassing any normal bear on the planet. If he stood up on his hind legs he could easily appear to be 24 feet tall and be imposing to anyone.

Rick took off loping fast toward where he knew where Vincent lived. If he was lucky he would find him home so he could deliver Jenny's message and then go back home. He would be home in time to get Alexis up from her nap. Simple.

- :: - ::: - :: -

Vincent's place was a lot more like what people might be expecting for a place outside of town in nowhere Alaska. Rick stood there on four legs and looked it over. He saw smoke coming out of the chimney so he was thinking someone might be home. Now how to get in.

Doors out here should be solid wood and that meant a heavy solid door to keep bears out since a normal bear or even Rick couldn't pull a door open. But he was far from a normal bear.

The one window he saw on this side was too small for him. Hell, even the door was too small for him. He was thinking he needed the element of surprise. And he needed to put the fear of God into him like Jenny had asked him to do.

There was just one thing left. Rick walked, and then loped till he was running flat out as fast as he could go. That door and everything around it was never going to stand up to him. He was going in!

- :: - ::: - :: -

It worked pretty much just like he had wanted. He had ducked his head a little just as he hit the door. The door itself survived but what it was attached to never stood a chance along with part of the wall. Wood went flying everywhere and even the glass in the lone window on this side shattered.

Once he was inside and standing on what was left of the door, he looked around. This was where things went to hell. Vincent wasn't alone. Like seriously not alone.

They were all in human form and sitting at a small dining room table eating something out of bowls. Soup, stew, something, not that it mattered. That was when everything went to hell and got dangerous, even for him.

One of them, and it wasn't Vincent, began to change. Now a real werewolf actually was a lot like those in the movies. They needed time to change and yes, Rick could hear bones breaking and that wasn't the only noise this made.

Rick quickly went right up to this guy and slapped the side of his head with his huge claws. It ripped his face wide open and sent him flying. Five was now four.

Rick heard more bones cracking. He turned to look and saw another one changing. This one got a paw that ripped his stomach open and allowed his intestines to fall out. Four was now three.

Rick didn't hesitate and jumped at another one and forced him to the floor. Then he pushed his head down onto the floor and put all of his weight into it. This crushed his skull and broke the floor open and shoved his head down into the space below the floor and broke his neck. Three was now two.

Rick quickly turned since he had the last two behind him somewhere. What he saw was Vincent still in human form and not trying to change. The other guy was running for the large opening that was the front wall now.

That just left Vincent. Jenny had told him not to kill but he couldn't leave two live werewolves in this area. They would just expand and be a danger to the town and the entire area.

Rick charged Vincent and slammed his head into his chest. That sent him flying into the kitchen where he hit the cabinets really hard and fell to the floor. Rick simply walked over to him and put his massive paw on his chest and leaned down. Then he opened his mouth and roared at him, allowing his spittle to hit his face.

Now Rick was snorting at him and allowing his hot breath to hit his face. Rick gave him another roar, stared down at him, and huffed and puffed at him. That was when it finally hit his nose. Vincent was scared to death. He could smell his fear. Then he smelled urine. Vincent had peed on himself.

Rick pushed his paw down a little and heard a rib crack. Rick was finished; he'd done what Jenny had asked. He then turned and ran out the front wall and ran for home.

What he didn't see because he hadn't looked up were two Bald Eagles that had been watching it all. One was watching this massive bear run away while the other Eagle was watching where the werewolf that had run away was going.

Jenny had been told that Rick was powerful and big for a bear but she had never dreamed he was so enormous or that powerful. He had gone through that wall like it hadn't even existed. Her brother called and flew off. While she did want to see how long it took Rick to get home she knew they needed to follow this guy and get friends to pick this guy up and get him very far away from town or kill him if he defended himself.

Werewolves were feared even by shifters. A shifter was different from werewolves. One was life and the other wasn't. Being a werewolf was a curse, not a life. Werewolves didn't have babies or cubs or whatever you called your child. They simply bit you and made you one of them.

- :: - ::: - :: -

Rick arrived back home and shifted while he was outside; he looked like he expected. His muddy paws translated into muddy hands, arms, feet, and legs. He grabbed a hose and hoped it wasn't blocked so he could rinse the mud off before going inside.

Stepping inside, he was soaking wet and freezing. As a bear he had all that fat and fur to keep him warm. Now he was freezing. He dried off and then put his clothes and boots back on just as fast as he could. Followed by going to the wood stove, putting wood inside it, and lighting it. He needed to get warm.

"Daddy?" She saw him sitting on the floor in front of the wood stove and there was a fire. She smiled when he waved her over and put her in his lap. "Cold?"

"I'm freezing. You can help me warm up." Rick wrapped his arms around his little girl and kissed her head. "Shadow, come." Rick patted the floor to get him to join them.

"Food?" Alexis looked up at him. She loved moose and was hoping for more of it.

"How about smoked fish?" Rick asked her since he could put fish in his smoker and still be ready for dinner since it took about 3 hours. Alexis smiled up at him. She evidently liked smoked fish too.

Rick wasn't warm yet but he needed to get the fish into the smoker. "You take Shadow outside for me while I load the smoker with fish." Rick kissed her head, got her into her coat, and out the front door with Shadow for company. Rick put on his coat and took the fish out the back door to his self-made wooden smokehouse that he built on cinder blocks. He set the fish in place and started a fire to start smoking.

Back inside he went to check on Kate and found her with his book on her chest; she was sound asleep. Rick took the book, marked her place and set it to one side, then leaned down to kiss her forehead. She was opinionated, a little too stubborn, and very lovely given that he had seen just about everything. He was even betting she was the fan of his books and not her mother.

He had to go check Alexis so on went his coat so he could go outside. Thankfully she was on the porch. But Shadow was out in the mud so he was going to have to have his feet cleaned before going back inside.

However, Alexis was sitting on the edge doing nothing so he sat down next to her. "What's wrong, Alexis?" She looked a little down but all he got was nothing.

"Are you sick?" Rick checked her forehead. As a baby and even as a toddler she was forever getting sick. Ear infections, colds, damn near everything. Thankfully no broken bones.

"Daddy!" Alexis batted at his hand on her forehead. She wasn't sick. He knew it wasn't the fish. She didn't have a birthday till next year.

"Do you want to go play as daddy bear and baby bear?" They had gone out onto his land romping round having fun but all she did was shake her head.

"Is it Kate?" He wasn't blind. She was spending a lot of time in his bedroom with her. She actually had a number of toys in there now, not to mention her own table to eat off of. The dining room table didn't get used.

"Her stay?" Alexis looked up at him with hopeful eyes.

"She can't leave till she's better. Till she can actually walk. All this mud has to freeze first." Rick waved his hand at all the mud that surrounded them. "After that she does have a home to go back to. She didn't come to Alaska looking for us. Her daddy will want her to come home." Maybe she could understand her having a daddy like she did.

"Oh." Alexis stared at the ground and her face crumpled. That wasn't the answer she wanted to hear.

Rick put his arm around her. "You get to enjoy her while she is here," he said, knowing that might not be what she was hoping for.

Rick looked out and groaned as Shadow appeared to be having way too much fun and was going to need more than his paws cleaned. But it was really too late to stop him now so he said nothing.

Except he did see something. "Looks like we have company." Someone was flying this way and the closer it got the bigger it got with quite the wing span and a white head.

It landed on his porch, slowly walked his way, and then stopped and stared at him.

"Fine!" Rick closed his eyes and put his hand over his eyes. He heard Alexis squeal, leave his arm, and run to whom he was betting was Jenny.

"Hi, Alexis." Jenny might think Rick was too old for her but that didn't stop her from loving Alexis. She was down and hugging her tight. "Thank you. My brother and I watched everything. We tracked down the guy that got away. I came to say I'm sorry you were forced to do what you did." She didn't want to say KILL while holding Alexis.

"Five werewolves are too much for this area. They were a threat to the town. But you know what this means," Rick questioned her.

"Five means there might be six and that one's in the town somewhere. Dad's already thought of that. Is there anything I can get you? I owe you for this." Jenny had just wanted him to scare Vincent. Instead he had been forced to kill.

"I'll think of something and send a message. Kate looked very happy to have the tampons, so thank you." Rick still had no intention of showing her all those condoms.

"Good. Maybe panties next time? Just send me her size and I'll fly some out for her. We have to keep your girlfriend happy," Jenny teased him.

"JENNY! Have you told half the town she's my girlfriend?" Rick really wanted to look at her so he could read her face but he didn't or couldn't.

"Of course. Isn't she?" Jenny grinned. "Bye, sweetie." Jenny kissed Alexis and let go of her. She began running and then leapt into the air and shifted, flapping to gain altitude.

"Bye-bye." Alexis watched her leave. She liked Jenny but somehow for a reason she didn't understand she liked Kate better.

"Jenny!" He was going to have to get her for this. However, Kate might enjoy something to wear that was meant for her so he would think about her offer. He wasn't even sure she bought his explanation about what Jenny had brought the first time let alone have her do it again.

He did really appreciate having her fly out and apologize for his being forced to kill. She clearly had no idea there were that many werewolves. It likely meant someone in town was now missing and dead. Killing sounded more like his dad and he hated that. But he was willing to protect the town. It was almost half shifters after all.

"I need to get some towels and some water so stay here, Pumpkin." Rick got up so he could go inside and get what he needed to get Shadow clean.

- :: - ::: - :: -

Since Kate couldn't leave the bed really, they were all eating in his bedroom again. Kate had clearly moved her tampons and douche into the top drawer. Thankfully his condoms were in the bottom drawer so hopefully she hadn't seen those. Kate's drink was on the side table and her plate was in her lap. Alexis was eating at her little table and loving it.

Rick was sitting on a dining room chair and his drink was on the floor. He had to keep an eye on Shadow since he was crowding Alexis looking for a handout. She was more of an easy mark than Rick was.

"This is amazing! What is it?" Kate took a piece of fish and put it in her mouth.

"Smoked fish from the stream out front. I have this little homemade smokehouse that's made of wood and cinder blocks out back. It's well used," Rick explained.

"Well you can keep using it for as long as I'm here," Kate said with her mouth full. She added some more and kept chewing.

"Wait till you try smoked moose." She liked fish she was really going to like this.

"Is it better than BBQ moose? Bring it on." She might be trapped in bed but he was feeding her amazing foods.

"So what does this place have that New York City doesn't?" Kate asked him. She was so sure that was where he lived before she found him here.

Rick ran through his list of why. "No sirens, no trash in the streets, no muggings, no murders for you to investigate, no drive-by shootings, no apartments that are smaller than my bedroom here and yet cost a fortune, no blackouts, no smog, no stifling heat that drives people mad."

Kate sighed since he had her there. Then she retaliated. "No restaurants, no take-out, no movie theaters, no potential for new friends, no one to date, no pool to swim in, no place to take a date if you found someone."

"All true but for right now this is the best place to be. Maybe when Alexis is ready for kindergarten I'll re-evaluate where we live. But I don't live on the 14th floor when the elevator goes out and doesn't get fixed for a month or longer if at all. It's not so old it should be condemned," Rick fired back since he had a lot more. Some of which he couldn't tell her.

"So if it wasn't New York City where would it be? Think I could make an Alaskan out of a city girl?" Rick asked her.

"You keep cooking like this and I'll think about it," Kate responded and stuffed her face with still more. "As for where would I live if money wasn't an issue? I don't really know. It's never going to happen so I don't think about it." Why wish for something that was just a dream?

"Not somewhere like Hawaii? Tahiti? The Maldives? Paris? No, too expensive. Orlando! Get a pass that allows you to go to Disney every day of the year." Rick stopped when he saw her shaking her head.

"Trying awful hard to get me in a swimsuit there, Castle." Kate tried teasing him and saw him staring at her. "Yeah." He'd already seen everything and done nothing about it. He didn't even tease her about it.

"So why Alaska? You write from home. You could be in Hawaii or Tahiti or anywhere," Kate countered since he was in nowhere Alaska.

"It's a long story. Let's just say I'm hiding from someone," Rick revealed. "He might know where I am but reaching me is something he's going to have to want to do very badly to get to me."

After he said that Kate wondered if all this guns had something to do with it. But if he wanted to keep his secret she would let him…for now.

"And Alexis? Where's her mother?" Kate queried since she doubted Rick adopted her.

"No mama," Alexis informed her. "DADDY!" She pointed at Rick and dropped the piece of fish she had in her hand. Shadow snarfed it up before anyone could even think to stop him and barely saw him do it, it was so fast. Shadow went back to waiting for the next one.

"Sadly part of the same story, so maybe later." Rick looked at Alexis since she didn't need to hear this. Maybe when she was old enough to understand he would explain it to her.

Kate looked at Alexis and wondered what could be so terrible that he couldn't or wouldn't talk about it.