Tracking the sound of her footsteps and her smell, he curved off to the left and then lapped her, getting in front of her so that she was now running toward him again without realizing it. She hadn’t learned her lesson from the lake it seemed. The trees were thick. It was dim and cool, only a tiny light making it through the tree leaves above, so she’d never see him until she was right in front of him.
As her feet crunched through the forest, he waited for her to arrive. She came flying through the twigs, glancing behind her for any sign of him. Raising up on his back legs, he let out a loud, angry roar, and she froze in place, whipping her head around to take in the giant bear she’d run straight into. She screamed and tried to run away, but it was too late. He used one of his paws to push her to the ground and then stood over her, roaring in her ear as she screamed his own name for help below him.
After he felt she’d been sufficiently frightened, he lowered his head and grabbed her pants in his teeth, letting them graze her skin without breaking it. He only wanted to scare the shit out of her, not do her any actual harm. At least for now. She tried to fight her way free but was no match for his powerful jaws. Instead, he carried her, kicking and screaming back to the house. Dropping her on the back patio, he stood over her again, this time where she had a clear view of just how big and frightening his bear was. She lay pinned beneath him, now quiet and wide-eyed with terror.
Fergus debated whether to leave her there and see if she beat on the door to get inside or if she tried to run again, but he decided it might be better just to let her know who she was dealing with. He could always clear it from her memories later. That was an advantage his family had always had over other bear clans before the last of the McNally family he belonged to was driven out of their home. They were able to manipulate the memories of humans, in essence rewinding their memories to a time before whatever they needed them to forget happened.
Eimear was moving away from him, very slowly so as not to attract attention. She was trying to make herself as small as possible, rounding her body into a ball. It’s what his father called “playing possum.” The object was to look small and likely dead so you aren’t a threat or desirable to your attacker. He’d seen it quite a few times when hunting in bear form, but she was the first human he’d seen attempt it, which was both sad and somewhat amusing.
With her watching him through barely open eyes, he began changing, his large bear body breaking apart and reforming as he resumed his human form. Her eyes widened and she unfolded herself from looking like a defensive armadillo.
“I...I don’t understand,” she managed.
“You sure don’t, but you’re about to understand very well,” he told her angrily, jerking her up from the concrete to stand beside him.
He pushed the security code into the key box that resided on the back door for the cleaners and retrieved the key to unlock the back door from it, shoving her in the house ahead of him and relocking the door behind him. She’d caught him off guard, and he’d had to shift on the run, leaving his clothes and his keys laying somewhere across the back yard.
Hauling her over to the spare room, he pushed her inside and slammed the door, cursing as he realized he didn’t have a key to lock it right now. He opened it back up and stomped inside, grabbing the rope he’d tied her up with last night from outside the door and using it to secure her to the bed. She was still in shock, not saying anything, just staring at him. He left her there and went outside to retrieve his wallet, keys, and what was left of his clothes, tossing the latter in the trash bin as he passed by it.
Inside the house, he locked her door, not bothering to untie her before he did so. It would do her some good to cool off. He walked into his room and looked at the laptop screen, rewinding to look at her in the library. A fucking paper clip. That was how she’d gotten out. He’d been busy putting things in the fridge when the silent alarm had sounded and he’d caught a glimpse of her heading for the lake. He’d come out the front to meet her before she made it to the water.