There's nobody to be seen when we reach the beach. The sun is setting to our right, turning the gently lapping waves a beautiful shade of orange. The trading ship is anchored far out and there's no boat in sight. It doesn't look like anyone will be coming from the ship, but maybe they're late.
Torben looks like he's anticipating a threat. He's in a defensive stand, ready to shift any second. The other bears are similar, except for Húnn and myself. I trust Alis to come out and shift us if the need arises. She can shift faster than the guys, but it's her doing the shifting, not me. All I do is open my mind to her and let her take over. It still goes against all my instincts, but it works. And if I expect her to let me have full control while we're human, I better give her the steering wheel when we're a polar bear.
I chuckle to myself. Yup, we're a polar bear, occasionally. Life is strange.
"Yes, it is," a melodious voice says behind us, making me jump. It's the girl from earlier, as I predicted. She looks the same, except that her green eyes are glowing now. Like cat's eyes that are hit by light. Creepy.
Torben takes a protective stance in front of me. Silly man, I know how to protect myself. I can feel Alis watching, close to the surface, ready to jump.
"Thanks for coming," the girl says, looking at us curiously. That makes her even creepier. She looks at us as if we're strange, unusual, even though she's the one with the glowing eyes.
"Isla, would you mind calling off your bears?"
"They're not mine to call off," I reply coldly, but I notice that Torben's claws retract at my words.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure they are," she laughs brightly. "Just because only one of them is bound to you doesn't mean the others don't belong to you."
"How do you know that?"
"Isla sweetie, I know a lot more than you think. And feel free to voice your suspicion to the others. They can't hear your thoughts like I do."
Stunned, I steel my mind, doing the same that I usually do when I try to keep out Alis.
"Not working," the girl says cheerily and I glare at her.
"What suspicions?" Bertie asks quietly.
I sigh. "That she's one of the Fates."
"Before you all faint from shock - no, I'm not one of the Fates," the girl giggles. "I'm only their lowly messenger. Servant, if you like. Lover, occasionally. Have you figured it out yet?"
Dumbfounded, we all stare at her. I was right, she's not a normal girl. She's definitely not the age she seems to be. And probably dangerous.
"Have we figured what out, exactly?" I challenge her and Torben shoots me a proud glance.
"Why you're on Inchbrach. Why this island is special."
"I'm sure you're going to tell us."
She sighs. "Yes, but only because I have better things to do than babysit a horde of bears. The Ladies want to see you and Inchbrach is the place you'll get to do that. There's a portal somewhere... but telling you where wouldn't be any fun!"
She laughs brightly and runs off, leaving us without looking back.
I'm stunned.
"What just happened?" Húnn asks, just as confused as I am.
"Well, we either met a deluded young girl or a servant of the Fates. Take your pick," Arnold says drily. "I never heard of them taking on servants. I always thought they work alone."
"So you knew about them before this?" I ask, my mind spinning.
"They're a legend, but so are werewolves and werebears. I tend to keep an open mind about it all, even if some of it doesn't turn out to be true. There's usually a grain of truth in every fairy tale."
"He's very wise like that," Bertie says lovingly and puts an arm around his partner's waist. My heart warms at the sight of those two lovers. One day, I want to be like them. Except that I'll have four bears to cuddle, not just one.
"So what do we do now? She spoke of a portal, any idea what she could mean?" Torben asks our hosts.
"No clue. We've never noticed anything unusual while roaming the island. But then, we've not exactly been looking for portals. I didn't know such a thing exists."
Torben frowns. "From tomorrow, we'll search the island. Arnold, Bertrand, do you have a map we can use to assign areas? And Isla, you should try and ask Alis if she knows anything about portals or even whether the Fates really have servants."
"There's a map but it's not very accurate. It's from before the Drowning, but we've marked the current coastline on it." Bertie sadly shakes his head. "I can't believe this used to be a village far away from the sea. I'd never have thought..."
"None of us did," Arnold comforts his partner. "I think people would have looked after our planet much better had they known what the Drowning would do."
They had a portal back in Arcadia, but not for the Fates, just for the Gods. Most of them dwelled on Earth but sometimes they disappeared through the portal and wouldn't say where they went.
Alis is back and this time, her sadness doesn't overwhelm me. I didn't even notice that I'd let down my barriers. Maybe it was that girl with her strange mind-reading abilities.
"What did it look like?" I ask aloud before noticing that the men don't know what I'm talking about. "Alis says she's seen a portal before," I explain.
A marble gate, two big columns with a shimmering ethereal fabric in between. Like silk, but magical. It was always guarded and we humans weren't allowed to get close. But even from the distance, it looked both beautiful and dangerous.
Why dangerous?
It felt strange like it was trying to suck you in.
I can almost see her shudder. If it worries Alis, then it should warn us all to be careful.
Everything seems to be spiralling out of control. When did the world become so complicated? I've only just got used to bear shifters existing - and being one of them - and suddenly there's Fates and Gods and portals. And girls with glowing eyes. This time it's me who shudders. I'm glad creepy girl is gone. Although she ran off and didn't take a boat back to the trading ship, so is she still on the island? Or did she disappear through the portal?
"We should follow her tracks," I suggest. "If she went through the portal, that will save us having to search for it."
"That would almost be too easy," Torben mumbles but he doesn't challenge me. I know it's not the best idea ever, but better than just randomly searching the island.
"Ràn, you're our best tracker, go with Isla and see what you can find. The rest of us will be back at the house."
They leave while Ràn starts taking off his clothes. Oh. Of course, tracking is going to be the easiest as a bear. Silly me. Instead of undressing myself, I watch. Ràn is broad and muscular, his chest a chiselled landscape that begs to be touched. His arms are big and I notice that even without having shifted, I can see a bit of the bear in him. I resist the urge to touch him and focus on the ground instead. It's neutral. It doesn't upset my ovaries. It doesn't make me want to jump one of my men.
I take a quick peek just as he steps out of his jeans. Oh. My. Bears. He's aroused and looking at me, now only wearing my bra and trousers. This is not going to end well... or at least, not productively.
I clear my throat. "The tracks might get old if we don't leave now..."
I don't want it to be true. I want to do... things with him here, fun things. Taking advantage of the fact that we're already mostly undressed.
"Yes, we should get a move on," he says hoarsely, obviously just as sad about that as me. Curse this quest. I'd much rather hibernate in our little cottage with just my four men.
With a sigh, I take off my jeans and underwear and lower my mental barriers, giving Alis access. She shifts us quickly and I take a backseat as she and Ràn begin to run back towards the village, following the scent the strange girl left.
I can hear her whispering to Ràn's, but I try not to intrude on their conversation. She rarely gets the chance to chat with the others' bears, so I don't want to take that away from her.
Instead, I watch as we run through the snow, tiny flakes whirling up all around us. It's almost dark, but the snow is reflecting the moonlight enough that we can still see where we're going. The track is leading us away from the beach and inland, but not towards the village. We seem to be heading to one of the hills in the centre of the island, but it could be any of them. Although I know we've explored them thoroughly on our hunts so I can't imagine there being a portal on a hill somewhere. And we didn't find any caves either that might hide it.
Guess there's nothing to be done but wait and see.
Ràn comes to a halt when we reach the beginning of a wide glen. Orson, Ràn's bear, sniffs the ground. "The tracks disappear here. Like she dissolved into thin air. No footsteps, no scent."
He walks around the valley entrance, searching for a trace of the girl, but from his hanging shoulders, it's easy to see that she's evaded us. It would have been far too easy.
He looks so disappointed that I feel like I have to do something. Only when I'm standing naked in front of him do I notice that maybe it's just Orson who's sad, not Ràn. But it's too late, I've shifted and now I've made my intentions clear. There's only one reason why I'd shift to a human at this moment. And that reason is Ràn.
I stretch out a hand and approach the bear. His beautiful dark brown fur blends into the night, but his eyes are glistening with moonlight. He's beautiful in his own, furry, big way. He watches me cautiously. I'm having to keep reminding myself that this isn't just Ràn, the man I've slept with. It's also his bear, who doesn't like to be touched. Or is it Ràn who doesn't like it? I really need him to tell me at some point. If I know why he can't stand human touch while he's in his bear shape, I can maybe do something about it. Help him.
It breaks my heart to see how he watches me as if I'm about to do something bad. I could never hurt him and I'm sure he knows it. That he flinches away from me now is instinct. I hope.
I pull back and cross my arms in front of my chest. Even with my new bear abilities, standing naked in the snow is a little cold. This was a bad idea. I'm making a fool of myself. Silly, silly Isla.
I turn around in order to shift back, to let Alis take over and sink into humiliation.
A hand touches my shoulder and this time I'm the one to flinch. I didn't even hear him approach. For someone so big, he moves very quietly.
"What's wrong?" he asks in his deep, grumbly voice, and nudges me to turn around. My ovaries faint when I do. Of course, he's naked, I should know that, but seeing it... him... in the flesh. Oh Isla, stop being so swoony.
There's nothing wrong with appreciating his masculinity, Alis reassures me drily and I am tempted to throw her out of my head.
Go away, Alis! This is private!
Oh darling, nothing is private, you should know that by now.
Despite her words, she disappears, leaving me and Ràn alone.
"What's wrong?" he asks again, lifting my chin so I look straight into his dark eyes.
"Nothing," I mumble. "I just felt a little silly, shifting like that."
He laughs. "You're not silly. You're delicious."
He clears his throat and even in the darkness, I can see a faint blush cover his cheeks.
"Not delicious..."
I chuckle as he searches for the right word.
"... appetising?"
My giggles turn into laughter.
"Tempting?"
I stand on my toes and press my lips against his, shutting him up before he can say anything else. I'd rather not think of myself as a tasty morsel this bear is planning to enjoy. I want to do this on my own terms.
He responds by wrapping his arms around me, but his lips stay closed. I nudge him with my tongue, making it obvious that I want more than just my lips on his, but he doesn't react.
What's wrong? From the way he holds me and the bulge pressing against my naked belly, it's clear that he wants me. Then why isn't he kissing me properly?
I end the kiss before it's even started and look at him questioningly.
"You didn't let me finish," he whispers and I raise my eyebrows. Seriously?
I sigh. "What were you going to say that's so important?"
He smiles bearishly. "Mine."
Then his mouth is all I can think about as he kisses me with passion, his hands roaming over my back, his tongue invading me, his whole being surrounding me. I melt into his kiss, my lips moving without my doing. This is primal, nothing more, nothing less.
Somehow, we end up rolling in the snow, never-ending our kiss as we explore each other's bodies, even when he enters me and we begin to move in synchrony with each other. Our moans combine into a song of love, higher and louder with every thrust.
The snow around us begins to melt when we come together, entwined in body and mind.