Page 7 of Claimed By the Guardian

He didn’t think she would listen, but then Mother racked her shotgun and aimed it straight at Cecilia.

“Why would you bring a damned fool here?” Mother demanded.

“Jesus, Mother, aim that outside.” Hank stretched his hand back, knocking the shotgun toward the window.

“I’ll aim that where I want in my house,” she said pulling it right back to Cecilia’s pale face. “And if she don’t shut up?—”

“She’s a doctor. She’s going to help fix things.”

“She can’t help if she gets us all kill?—”

Roar.

It’s hard to describe a grizzly roar up close. To someone who’s never heard it, it’s like putting your face right next to a locomotive as it speeds by. But even that is just a machine. Loud and overwhelming, but still impersonal. A grizzly roar is damned personal. It contains threat and fury headed straight at you. It can be felt in the vibration against your ribs and in every hair on your body.

And that’s what all three of them felt. A roar coming straight from the door behind the couch. Obviously, Mother had slid the couch in front of the basement door to block it. And now that he took a second to look around, he saw that she’d shoved the kitchen table and a couple chairs against the far end of the couch, too. Not that any of that would stop a mature grizzly from getting through. Fortunately, this particular bear-shifter was very young. First shift, to be exact. And that made the creature a little smaller and a lot more unpredictable.

Meanwhile, Cecilia scrambled off the couch. He let her, though it was only to pin her against the wall.

“What was that?” she gasped.

“The reason we’re here,” he snapped as they heard claws scratching at the basement door. Then he looked to Mother. “How long has that been going on?”

“Just quieted down until she started screeching.” Mother slowly tilted her shotgun to the floor..

“And the wolves?” he asked, his gaze cutting to the window. It was dark as far as he could see, but that could change at any moment.

“They been howling all night, but none real close.” She shot Cecilia a hard look. “Unless they heard her. Then we’re going to have werewolves up our ass thanks to you. And right now, ain’t none of them being too reasonable.”

They watched as Cecilia’s expression shifted into a bleak realization that they were both crazy. Her eyes grew dull and her mouth pulled into a tight frown. Her gaze darted to the front door, obviously gauging the distance and wondering if she could make it out before he tackled her or Mother shot her. Her odds weren’t looking too good.

Meanwhile, Mother obviously read the expression right off Cecilia’s face.

“Ah hell. Why’d you bring a blind person into this fight? She can’t fix anything she won’t see.” “Blind” was Mother’s word for people who weren’t in on the shifter secret. People who were too set in their own way of thinking to even consider anything supernatural.

“We have to convince her. I figured Sam might as well help with that.”

Mother gaped at him. “Sam? Sam?” She waved the shotgun wildly at the barred basement door. “Sam is trying to tear out of here to get?—”

“To the river. I know. We’ve got to stop that. It’s not safe yet.”

All shifters in their first change had an irrational need to get back to the place of their clan birth. For much of the Michigan grizzlies, that meant Gladwin state park. A whole grizzly pack protected the area just for that reason. But for the Detroit bears, wolves, and some of the cats, it was the River Rouge. Different spots, but all pretty close to one another. For the most part, this happened in the spring and every shifter helped watch for the young. There were even special cabins set up for kids who were expected to pop.

This was summer, though, and if it weren’t for the Detroit Flu, Sammy would likely have had another year before going grizzly.

“I told you not to drink the water,” Hank grumbled.

“Didn’t. But the stupid kid forgot coffee was made with water. Had one of those damned expensive coffees as a birthday treat and bam: fur, snout, and me blocking the basement door. Thought I could handle it but then the howling started.” She jerked her head outside. “Howling and roaring. Finally quieted down and then you brought?—”

Another roar cut through the room, and the hair on Hank’s arms shot straight up. He was well versed in grizzly howls, and this youngling was on the verge of wild panic.

“I’ve got to go in there,” he said. He motioned with one hand for Mother to move the kitchen table aside.

“Are you crazy?” Cecilia gasped. He still had her pinned against the wall, but he would need to release her soon. He turned to look at her, wondering just how the hell he was supposed to deal with a panicked doctor on the run while safely taking down a young shifter.

There was only one way, and damn it, he just didn’t see how it could possibly turn out well. But he really had no choice. So with a quick glance at Mother silently telling her to keep her head, he hauled Cecilia over to the bannister. Good thing he had a full stock of zip ties. He lifted her bound wrists and used another zip tie to latch her to the bannister.

“Please don’t do this,” she begged.