Grizzly Flying Home by Sloane Meyers Page B

through so much in the last week, and he wanted to give her heart time to heal. He figured once they were in Alaska, and she’d had a little time to recover, he could try to spend more time with her and see if the spark was still burning. If he was honest with himself, he knew he was also nervous about revealing his bear to her. He had watched both of his closest friends, Sawyer and Anderson, navigate the difficulties of explaining to a fully human woman what it meant to be a bear shifter, so he knew it could be done successfully. But the thought of looking Emily in the eye and telling her that he was part bear filled him with anxiety. He didn’t want to lose her before he even had a chance to explore his feelings for her. And he worried that she would be angry to discover that she’d been living in the midst of a group of bears without even knowing it.
    Emily had spent the last week at the bunkhouse. Just as Chance and Charlotte predicted, Ian had welcomed Emily with open arms when he realized that she needed a safe place to stay. Since Emily wasn’t a bear shifter, though, the group had all been on strict orders not to discuss shifting or do anything that would give away who they were. No one thought Emily was the kind of person to run to the authorities, since she hadn’t even wanted to call the cops on Scott. But the group didn’t want to take chances on being exposed unnecessarily.
    Luckily, the week had been a busy one, and Emily had been running around getting things done for her big move. She had spent evenings at the bunkhouse, but her days had been filled with errands to run. The strain on the smokejumpers to avoid any mention of shifting hadn’t been too bad thanks to Emily’s frequent absences.
    Chance, on the other hand, had almost constantly been with Emily. He had helped her go to her old apartment and get her suitcases of things she wanted to take with her to Alaska. Then he had helped her take the rest of her stuff to a donation center or the dumpster. He had things to donate, too, so it made sense to load all of their things into his truck and consolidate the trip. Once everything was cleaned out, Chance went with Emily to offer moral support as she filled out paperwork to formally leave her apartment. Emily’s renters’ insurance covered the damage that had been done to the unit, and, thankfully, management at the apartment complex had been willing to let her out of her lease a month early, given the circumstances.
    Chance had then helped Emily decide on a city to use as a home base in Alaska. After discussing the pros and cons of various places, Emily had settled on Kodiak. Chance had been hoping she would move there, since it was the closest major city to his hometown of Frost Peak. When Emily had asked Chance about Frost Peak, he had been vague, saying that it wasn’t a major city and she would be better off somewhere else as she started her business.
    Chance felt a little guilty about this white lie. It was true that Frost Peak wasn’t a major city. But it actually was a good place to use as a base for nature photography. The wilderness surrounding Frost Peak was nothing short of spectacular. The problem was that Frost Peak’s residents were all grizzly shifters. The only full humans who lived there were those who happened to be lifemates of clan members. Telling Emily the truth about Frost Peak would require telling her the truth about himself, and he wasn’t ready to tackle that hurdle yet.
    As Chance pulled back into the parking lot in front of the hangar, he was greeted by Sophie and Drew, Zach and Mindy’s children. The pair was jumping up and down with excitement, and ran to the truck as soon as Chance had parked it.
    “Uncle Chance! Uncle Chance!” Sophia cried out. “Did you know we’re having a barbecue tonight?”
    “Yeah! A barbecue!” Drew added. “Daddy said it’s going to be a lot of food. And a lot of desserts. Auntie Riley is making pie!”
    Chance smiled as he