Bear Ranger's Vengeful Mate: (Bear Ranger Guardians) by Serena Meadows

Author:Serena Meadows [Meadows, Serena]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-01-11T16:00:00+00:00

My father, Sam, met David and me as we entered our village. A big, heavy wolf with fur such a dark gray it was almost black, he greeted me with affectionate licks to my muzzle. His golden eyes, normally bright and energetic, held a deep grief and pain. I craved to howl my own anguish when it became clear Mother hadn’t yet been found.

“Moira,” he said, his voice thick, “David. She’s gone. I lost her scent.”

“What could have happened?” I asked, tears lodged in my throat.

“I can’t explain it.” Father turned to walk back along the narrow path that meandered through the clan’s village. “I tracked her to a certain point, then it was gone. As though she’d grown wings and flown away.”

David and I followed on his tail, passing small wooden houses built, mostly concealed, among the rocks and rugged trees. Each house was separated from its neighbor by several hundred yards; others stood higher up on the side of the mountain with foot paths leading to their doors. The clan’s home had successfully stayed hidden from humans for generations.

“Let’s try again,” I said, “maybe we can pick it up, find her.”

“In the morning,” Sam replied. “Dark will be on us soon. The other searchers are returning, going to their homes to sleep.”

“I smell a storm on the way,” David commented. “We’ll have to find her before it hits or we’ll lose all possible scents.”

As Father was a high-ranking clan member, any wolf we encountered yielded the path to us with lowered heads and tails. No few offered words intending to comfort him, as well as David and me, speaking in low voices. He accepted them with grave dignity, hiding the terrible grief I knew was tearing him apart.

Since it tore me apart, too.

“Did you smell any other creature?” I asked as the three of us entered the simple yet comfortable dwelling we called home. “Where Mother’s trail vanished?”

“No,” Sam replied, shifting to two legs in order to start a fire in the hearth. “Nothing at all. That’s what’s so weird about it. The trail just stops, and I can’t detect any tracks, or another scent. Nothing.”

David, also on two legs, went out the back to fetch firewood. In the small alcove we considered a kitchen, though it resembled a pantry more than a kitchen, I put together a quick stew of dried meat, spices, and vegetables into a pot, then hung it over the fire to cook. Turning wolf again, as the house had yet to warm, I sat beside my father to look into the flickering flames.

“Maybe the bears took her,” Sam said, his voice dull.

“No,” I told him. “There’d be bear scent all around. You’d recognize that instantly, Father. There has to be some other explanation.”

“The clan’s leaders don’t agree. They met to discuss a raid on the bears, to punish them. Use guns to shoot them down in a surprise attack.”

“No,” I moaned, my fear raging through me, “they must not do that. That would start a clan war, and none of us will survive it.

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