The Last Bears Daughter

CH 11

Leigh

She was only an hour from the Cloudy Haven pack when her father’s voice popped into her mind, ‘Pumpkin, where are you going?’

She smiled inside of Jara’s mind, her large brown timber wolf with bright golden-brown eyes, who had the shaggy brown fur of a grizzly bear. Her father never missed anything, unless he was hibernating, and then he could be woken if she was really upset or distressed about something that got through to him even in hibernation. But waking him from deep slumber meant that he was a fully ticked off bear on a rampage.

Jara didn’t hibernate at all, she being a wolf, and though they were considered by many as a half-breed, her father had told her she was a true hybrid and that was why Jara had the senses of a bear, and a bear's coat. Though her most distinctive feature was that her paws were not wolfen, she had bear paws, with wickedly long and hooked claws of a grizzly bear.

The tracks she left behind when in wolf form were like a small bear; a cub really. When she strolled on through the area. Jara’s tracks confused just about everyone that didn’t know her, for although the track left behind by Jara looked like a bear, it scented of a wolf.

‘I’m just hunting and retrieving dad, everything is fine.’

‘Who’s with you?’ he asked right away.

‘Elija, Lucas and Chrissy, I left Adriana in charge while I’m not there.’ She answered him, knew he would keep asking questions otherwise.

‘Alright, if you get into trouble…’

‘We’ll handle it, likely easily so.’ She smiled.

‘I worry Pumpkin.’ He sighed a little, ‘and you’ve been gone three weeks.’

‘I understand, maybe take a long nap.’

‘I’ve only been awake a few months.’ And she heard an actual pout in his voice, it made her laugh.

‘Go train with grandpa then.’

‘Meanie.’ He chuckled and she felt the link disconnect.

He was just a big bloody baby sometimes, though she did know that he didn’t like her being away from him or the pack. She was his only child, and he did actually worry about her. Jara returned her attention to the scent they were tracking. It was not any stronger, and they followed it, up through the mountain range, north of Cloudy Haven. Though she had it clearly in her mind, and Jara wouldn’t relinquish it until they had their prey.

There was nothing else out here to scent for miles, though they picked up the smell of water from rivers and streams, there wasn’t even any recent human traffic out here in the mountain range. Leigh knew what was where inside her home state, she’d been schooled like all the others out in the human world, kindy to year 12 all in the human world, she’d not gone to uni at all, was going to be a fighter and a martial arts expert didn’t need to have some fancy ass education to fight.

She knew that they were in the Umpqua National Forest, and that out here there was nothing, no big towns or cities; this particular mountain range ran all the way up into Washington State, though she was not intending on going that far regardless of where this track went.

They scented and tracked for a full day north at first and then east. That track she was scenting out, went right to a human highway, where those footprints led to car tyre tracks. She and her unit sighed, they’d been tracking for more than half the day, only to have that person get in a vehicle and be gone. It was very annoying.

Jara was not about to track a car on the highway, that much was a given, and she didn’t think anyone would expect her to either. They turned and headed back for Cloudy Haven. Whoever it had been had taken a very long route to come and go from Cloudy Haven.

She knew that highway ran right past the south side of the Lost Creek Reservoir, which Cloudy Haven itself was situated on the northern tip of. That person could have used that highway to get within 5klm of the pack itself but hadn’t…that was a curiosity to all of them. Why hadn’t they?

Why did they run the risk of traipsing through the woods and mountains for nearly 40klms, only to get in a car and drive off? Something was off about all of this, none of them rushed back, whoever it was, was long gone. Jara scratched up several trees on the route back, leaving her bear markings along the trail.

It might deter a single wolf, to see bear markings on the track he’d used, if he used the same one. It might look to him as though he’d attracted the attention of a normal bear, and even they were deadly to fight, for the wolfen kind. She could only hope so.

She’d seen it work before once or twice when her own father had done it. He actually scented of a were-bear, and those paws and claws of his bear, Silas, were massive. Normal human world bears had huge paws, but her fathers were bigger again than that. She knew that a bear’s tracks or claw marks of that size scared all humans and wolfen folk alike.

It was a pity that her paws were small like a bear cub. It would be more effective if they were larger like her fathers.

It took them all morning and afternoon to track that man, and it was a man from the shoe size they’d seen, and by the time they got back to the pack it was dark, they had stopped to put their clothes on.

Leigh took a necklace from the pocket of her shirt, she’d taken it off and tucked it in there before shifting, to protect it. It was a carnelian stone that was wrapped in copper wire to form the lines of the pumpkin, and then had some curling stands and three small leaves, all made from the same copper wire to make that stone look like a pumpkin. She slipped it around her neck once more.

A gift from her father, something that had started when she was 4 and had fallen into a pumpkin he was carving, and gotten her butt stuck into it and now, she got a new one every year. He thought it was very funny, she'd learned to live with it, considering he had always called her Pumpkin right from a tiny tot.

Leigh nodded to the two patrolling wolves on the border as they came to it, noted one was of her pack and the other not. The one not of Nightshade looked right at her and her unit as it approached the border, she heard her patroller; a man named Kit, ask “Any luck out there Leigh?”

“No, just a long track that got us nowhere in the end.” Her eyes moved to the other man. “You must be from the Obsidian Pack.” She stated.

He just nodded, “And you are?” he questioned right back.

“Head Elite Warrior of Nightshade.”

He nodded and stepped aside for them to all pass, likely to have his own set of rules for those coming and going from the pack, she thought. She and her unit stroll along at their own pace. There was no rush, were about halfway back to the packhouse when her body suddenly got hot all over, “Fuck.” She muttered as she stopped walking and put a hand on the tree next to her, leaned on it and took a breath in.

All three of them stopped and looked at her, “Now Leigh?” Chrissy sighed and looked around.

“I guess so.” She muttered. “Go on without me, there’s nothing you can do. I’ll report in the morning.” She told them and waved them off.

They all left, were all actually mated and neither Elijah nor Lucas could help her out right this minute. If one wasn’t mated, she would use one of them to sort this out. Those three also knew what was about to happen. They were her closest friends, only them and her father knew. If this happened back inside her pack, she could just mind-link to one of the men she’d normally hook up with and ask if they were up for a bit of fun.

But none of them were here, and she was not about to ask one of her elite to come and sate these urges she got. Thankfully, it didn’t happen often, spring time was worse than summer and those bouts of needs were dying off now. This was the only downside she had found of being part bear.

That bear part of her wanted to breed and mate. Breeding time for bears was in spring right out of hibernation and that was the worst time for her, and just because she no longer had no mate, that did not mean she escaped having those needs and wants.

It was like she was in heat, but she did not give off the scent of a heat because it was not a true heat. She just got all hot and bothered and craved being mated. That first time she had not even known what it was, and she’d not even had s*x before. She’d been out in the woods of her pack running.

It had been only a week after she and Farley had scented each other out and rejected each other, she’d found herself stumbling around in the woods all hot and bothered, much as she was now, without the stumbling and unknowing.

She had found herself face to face with the former Gamma’s youngest son, who was only a few years older than her, Blake. He’d sensed out her panic with his Gamma instincts, he’d told her later on, and she had just launched herself at him. He’d been completely shocked by her just rubbing herself all over him and then had pulled her clothes off.

Blake had taken her virginity that night, and she’d been all aggressive in nature during the entire act, pretty much demanding things of him. There had been nothing soft and gentle or loving like a first time should be, and it had been twice, not just once either, she’d been snarling at him all aggression for it to be harder, had shoved him down that second time and gotten exactly what she needed from him.

Leigh still recalled the smile on his face afterwards, and the words, “Well ain’t you just full of surprises.” He’d chuckled a little up at her still sitting on him, she’d stared at him a little mortified by all that had transpired with him that night, and then just got up and ran the hell away more than embarrassed.

That had only been the start of it, and she had actually called to Blake many times when her needs arose that spring and summer, still did sometimes in fact, he didn’t mind at all, had no mate at this time and liked the raw need and roughness she wanted. She only ever had s*x when like this.

Though right this very minute she had no one to shove down and ride the hell out of “Why now?” she muttered. Turned herself to face that tree as waves of need rolled through her, she could feel how hot she was getting, even feel the sheen of sweat across her forehead.

She had no choice but to try and sort out her own needs here in the middle of the forest, pulled her jeans off and slipped a hand between her thighs.