In my human form, not only was I naked, but if I took a tumble from a great height, I would break bones. With my mind in a panic, I was hardly able to get it to focus long enough to shift before I dropped into free-fall. With the body of a black bear, I hoped I would fare better than I would in my human body.
I didn't have long to wonder as I hit the water hard.
The next thing I remembered I was waking up at the edge of the riverbank. Pains and aches registered in my mind. 'Where was that wolf?' I wondered. Then, as my vision came into focus, I realized: there was more than one wolf. There was part of a werewolf pack.
I lifted my head slightly as I saw the wolf who had also gone over the waterfall. I was a little jealous that the wolf looked in better shape than I was. As the wolf took a few steps towards me, another wolf snapped at it angerly.
'Don't go any closer!' He ordered the other wolf through mind-link.
I sighed. 'Don't tell me that you want to fight me, or something stupid.' I complained to them through mind-link. 'I just had a fight with a water fall and I didn't win.'
I heard a few wolves snicker.
'I told you!' exclaimed the wolf, in a female voice. 'I told you she was a human that changed into a bear, and not just a regular bear!'
'Well, forgive us for thinking you just hit your head too hard on a rock.' chimed in a third wolf.
'You are a shifter then.' The male wolf stated. (He seemed to be the one in charge.)
'Yes', I answered.
'Why did the two of you go over the water fall again?' He asked.
'Well, you see…'I began, but was interrupted by the female wolf. 'I told you already! I smelt my mate and was searching, and then I ran into her.'
I snorted a loud bear snort. 'Are you serious? You are on the trail of your mate, but then decide to detour when you came across me? I'm not a threat to anyone! Maybe, living on your own in the forest could be considered a bit unusual, but…'
'No.' She interrupted again. 'I followed the trail of your scent and I found you!'
'Me?' I thought confusedly, then the look on my face turned to one of shock as I understood what she meant. 'No… are you saying…'
'You are my mate!' she exclaimed sounding both happy and pleased with herself.
I didn't move or say anything. I didn't know what to think. I didn't know how to feel. So many different thoughts and emotions ran through me at once and it was extremely overwhelming.
Why did she seem to think I was her mate? Why did she not try and talk to me before instead of just running at me? If I had been human, I would have died going over the waterfall. Did she see me naked when I was in human form? Or did everything happen too fast for her to see anything? As far as I could recall, a shifter- werewolf pairing had never occurred before.
'Why do you think I am your mate? Shifters don't have mates. I have never heard of a werewolf having a shifter mate before.' I finally asked.
The other werewolves looked at her with interest.
'I know you are my mate. My wolf knows you are my mate.'
The gathered wolves nodded in agreement. This seemed to make sense to them. The bossy male wolf stepped forward.
'I am Alpha Tim this is my pack. I believe this is the first time in our history a wolf has a shifter mate. On behalf of our pack, I welcome you.'
'What is your name?' the female wolf asked me, 'I'm Mel. Well, Melissa, actually, but everyone calls me Mel.'
I didn't want to give my real name. I was in hiding, after all. But I didn't think ahead enough to make up a fake name ahead of time. My brain hurt as I tried to think of a name. What should I say?
'Liz.' I thought at last. 'My name is Liz.'
'Liz? Like short for Elizabeth?' Mel asked me.
'Yeah.' I quickly replied.
She smiled brightly. 'Nice to meet you, Liz'
I smiled noncommittally. I tried to stand to stand up and shake the excess water off my fur. I winced at the pain of moving my muscles. There seemed to be many bruises under my layers of fur and fat.
Mel noticed my reaction. She whined in sympathy and wagged her tail at me. 'Are you badly hurt?' she worried.
'No. I just think I have a heck of a lot of bruising under all this fur.'
'Come with us. We will get some supplies to fix you up a bit.' Alpha Tim suggested.
I hesitated. I could survive without their help. I wasn't critically injured. I had Tylenol back at my camp to help with pain. But I didn't have anything for bruising, and at this moment, I had a lot of that.
Mel noticed my hesitation. 'Come with us. It's alright. Nothing bad is going to happen to you.' She took a few steps towards me. 'I am sorry about the waterfall. My wolf just got too excited. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. It makes me sad that you are hurting.'
'Okay. I will go with you.' I decided at last. 'But I won't be moving very fast.'
The wolves turned away from me and began leading off into the trees. I did a slow bear amble after them. It was partly because of my bruising, and partly because bears don't usually walk fast to conserve energy.
It was a long hike through the woods before we arrived at our destination. Mel walked beside me the whole time. I let her talk all about herself as walked, only half paying attention as my thoughts kept interrupting my focus.