“Harold,” my mother hissed and glanced at my dad. “You know I don’t like that kind of language.”
“Sorry, dear.”
“I have pepper spray and my hunting knife Dad gave me for my fifteenth birthday. I’ll be fine. Promise.” I smiled. “Dad taught me all I need to know to survive out in the woods.” I glanced at my father and he grinned, his chest puffing out in pride.
“Damn right I did.”
My mother, being human, was against all forms of violence. But having a bear shifter for a father meant I learned all about surviving in the woods and how to take care of myself.
“Are you taking any of your friends, honey?” My mom went back to eating her dinner, but her focus was on me.
I shook my head. “No. This trip is just for me. With work and finals, I’m pretty stressed. So when I take my last exam, I’m going to have my car packed for the week and just head out.” I could see the pride in my father’s face, but also the worry.
He may have taught me how to survive, but that didn’t mean he also hadn’t told me about all the strangers.
He was nervous, probably more so than my mother. He knew all about how bear shifters could be. Because he’d been an outcast for falling in love with a human female who wasn’t his mate, he’d seen the ugly side of his kind.
But no matter what, he still didn’t try to hide who and what he was. Who and what a part of me was.
It was twenty minutes later when we finished eating, and as I helped my mom clean up, my dad called me into the other room. I headed into his study and saw him sitting by his desk. Being a high school English teacher meant he did a lot of work from home, grading papers, doing lesson plans. The end of the school day wasn’t the end of the day for him.
So when he opened up his drawer and pulled out a gun case—the gun case—I felt my eyes widen a little.
He unzipped the case and opened the top, turning it around so I could see his pistol. I knew it had been in his family for a very long time, something that had been passed down to the men in his family. His father had given it to him before he was shunned from his clan.
I looked between the gun and him and back again. “Dad, what is this?” Of course I knew what it was. I just wasn’t sure why he was showing it to me.
“I want you to have this.”
Surely he didn’t think I was so helpless I would need it for my short-term camping trip.
“Listen, I want you to be safe and protected, and sometimes a hunting knife just doesn’t do the trick.”
I was shaking my head before he finished. “Dad, it’s legit like a week I’ll be gone. I’m not going to the middle of nowhere. The town is like twenty minutes away.”
He chuckled in that deep, husky voice I was familiar with. “This isn’t just for the camping trip. I’ve wanted to give you this for some time. I figure now is as good a time as any.” He smiled. “You’re my little girl still, even if you’re all grown up. And I want to make sure you know how to handle yourself.” He leaned in and kissed the top of my head, and I smiled. “Be safe, but most of all be content and happy. Know what you want in life and follow through with it all the way.”
He ruffled my hair before turning and leaving me. I looked down at the gun sitting in the case and ran my fingers over the cold metal. I was glad I had supportive parents who accepted anything and everything I decided to do with my life.
Now, I just needed to realize what I actually wanted to do.
Chapter Two
Mena
I took a step back and cursed as I felt sweat start to form on my forehead from pitching the tent. I placed my hands on my hips, staring at the small two-person tent currently situated between a couple large pine trees.
I turned and went back to my car and pulled out the padded mats, setting them inside the tent, and then made a couple more trips to grab my sleeping bag, some blankets, and all the other camping paraphernalia I needed.
I hadn’t been camping in forever, but damn could I still make one good-ass campsite.
I popped the trunk and looked at the four boxes of food and five jugs of water my mother and father packed, and all I could do was smile and shake my head. I was only going to be gone for about a week, yet they’d given me enough stuff it was like I would be gone for a month.
When I looked down at my cell, I saw I had zero bars of service. But instead of worrying about that, I felt a sense of relief.
It was another fifteen minutes of getting everything situated before I finally sat down to start making a fire. Once the flames were licking across the wood, the sound of crackling filling my head, the smell of smoke mixing with the scent of evergreens and pine trees, I felt calmness settle in.
Despite my human side being dominant, my bear did come out when I was surrounded by nature. Being in the woods made my animal side content and relaxed.