Bearly Better Yeti: A World of Instinct Novella (World of Instinct Shorts) by Elva Birch

Author:Elva Birch [Birch, Elva]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-26T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

The sulfur was strong in Oliver’s nostrils, clouding his scent of Molly.

He closed his eyes, swinging his heavy head from side to side as he tried to determine where she was. It was getting dark, and although his night vision was good, his other senses were better.

He was worried for her. It was cooling off, and he wasn’t the only predator in these woods. She wouldn’t have shelter or food, and she must be lost and afraid.

There, his bear said, and Oliver wasn’t sure if it was smell or instinct that led him downhill through a shroud of grasping underbrush.

Water didn’t bother his bear, not ice cold lake water, or the warm pool of hot springs that he stepped into.

And there, to his relief, was Molly, sitting on the far bank, one of her hiking boots off as she held a phone up between them.

A phone.

With the camera pointed right at him.

That was when Oliver realized that he’d forgotten to shift back before he got in sight.

He’d been concentrating so hard on following her intoxicating scent, focused only on finding her, that he didn’t stop to think about changing first.

Maybe he wasn’t a yeti, but he was a polar bear, charging around in the wilds of Montana, where no polar bear ought to be.

Molly’s hand was shaking, but not enough that she wasn’t getting a great video shot, probably.

There would be no mistaking him in this footage.

Curtis was going to skin him and mount him as a rug in the lodge.

There was only one thing to be done. Oliver gave a huff of a sigh and shifted, standing as he went from four legs to two. That meant he was in the hot spring up to his knees, which was not an ideal place to be, but at least it was warm.

“Oliver?!” Molly’s phone dipped as she stared, white-faced, over it. She was soaking wet and shadowed in the failing daylight. Oliver wasn’t great at interpreting facial expressions and it was foggy and getting dark, but he guessed that she was shocky. And maybe a little angry. Probably more than a little angry.

“I’m…really sorry.”

“For being a shapeshifter?” Molly asked in disbelief.

Oliver gave a little guffaw. “Well, no. For not being a yeti. I know you were really hoping to find one out here.”

Molly was quiet, and Oliver worried that he’d insulted her.

“Can you, ah, put the camera down?”

Molly’s hands were shaking badly by now, and she slowly lowered them to her lap. Her gaze followed it down in chagrin. “It’s not working,” she said in a small, thin voice. “It got wet. I’m not sure how much I recorded.”

Oliver waded slowly towards her, his wet jeans sloshing uncomfortably on his calves. “You have to know that this is a secret. I…can’t let you tell people about us.”

“Us?” Oliver was close enough now that Molly was looking up at him.

“Are you hurt?” he asked.

“Sprained ankle, maybe. It’s not bad. What do you mean us? What are you?”

Tell her, Oliver’s bear said firmly.

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