Werebear

Shadows

I called out of work the next day. My dick and my ass were still sore, and I needed to think. I spent some time researching the retreat center and got direction and a phone number. “Just in case,” I thought. “I’ll talk to the boys tomorrow night. There’s no rush.” I spent the rest of the morning looking up werebears on the internet. Nothing. There was plenty about werewolves and it all seemed to be conjecture or fiction, but the real thing, the beast I had encountered, was a blank. I didn’t think it was a conspiracy of silence or anything. I thought it had just gone unnoticed. After all, the beast was still human. He could easily walk among us without causing alarm. Plus, he didn’t kill people, he just fucked them and let them go. They may be changed by it, but they still seemed normal on the surface, and the change could just be put down to compulsive or obsessive behavior, self-destructive, perhaps, but not suspicious.

By lunch time I had had enough of that. I decided to go for a walk to clear my head. I wasn’t really paying attention, I just stepped out and headed off in a random direction. The neighborhood was safe and well laid out. I knew the streets well. All I really wanted was fresh air and sunshine. The traffic was normal for a Friday and I found that comforting. I approached an area that functioned as a small retail center. There were a couple of strip malls and some fast food venues, so I decided to get something to eat.

I picked up something from a small food truck that was based there and sat on a nearby bench. The beauty of the day and the normalcy of my surroundings allowed me to relax for a moment. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to inhale the scene. And then I felt it. A shadow. I opened my eyes, but there was nothing, just the normal hubbub of a weekday marketplace. I closed my eyes again, but the shadow was gone.

It was probably just my imagination I told myself. After last night I was bound to feel a bit paranoid. I went home via a different route, just to keep things from getting boring. But then I felt it again. Distant, but not too distant, and keeping pace with me. Again, I looked around but could make out nothing. I stopped and I could feel the shadow retreat. I turned around and decided to retrace my steps. I felt nothing for a long time and was beginning to think I had an overactive imagination, when it was suddenly there again, but this time it was moving towards me, getting closer. I sat on another bench and waited. I was in a public square in broad daylight surrounded by lots of people. What did I have to fear?

I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing. The shadow had stopped. It was fairly close, but still out of sight. Then I sensed another shadow coming from another direction. And then there was another. Soon there were six. They all stopped at roughly the same distance from me. I recognized the feeling as the same I felt last night when the harem left me in the cruising park. I suppose that individuals from that group could be randomly wandering around the city, but it seemed unlikely that they would all just happen to position themselves equidistant to me as if surrounding me.

The confirmation came when suddenly I could feel five of the shadows withdraw, not one by one, but in perfect synchrony. I was left sensing only the first shadow. After a few moments, that too disappeared. I sat for quite a while pondering this. Did they know I could sense them? Was this some kind of a warning? I got up and headed straight for the apartment. I felt no shadows along the way, but I still rushed to get home. I locked the door and checked for intruders. No one had broken in while I was out. I was safe.

Again I tried to return to normalcy. I gathered ingredients to make one of my favorite meals. There’s nothing like mundane household tasks to keep one grounded. I was chopping onions when the shadow returned. I felt its slow approach and this time it didn’t stop. As it drew closer, I went to the window. I lived on the third floor, so I could easily see people on the street level, but I was high enough to not draw attention to myself. I watched the people walking by below, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The shadow continued to draw closer until it felt like it was right on top of me. Still, I didn’t see anyone I recognized or anyone who looked suspicious. I was again beginning to doubt my own senses, when an unassuming man in jeans and a tee shirt stopped in the middle of the sidewalk opposite me. He slowly turned toward my building and looked directly at me with a knowing smile. He grabbed his crotch and shook it at me, then he turned and walked away.

That was enough to convince me. I couldn’t wait for tomorrow night. I made a quick call to the retreat center. Starlight answered the phone. “When I told him it was me, he began to make happy small talk. I stopped him. “Is Sniff there?”

“Yeah,” he said, “I think he’s doing a bit of repair work on one of the cabins. Do you want me to have him call you?”

“No, I’m coming up.” I kept it short and vague. “Something has happened, and I need his advice. Can you let him know? I’m leaving now.” Starlight immediately understood the gravity of the situation and said there would be a bed available if I needed it.

I arrived just as they were finishing their communal meal. Sniff didn’t hesitate when he saw me. “Are you alright?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. He placed a hand on the side of my head and looked into my eyes. I don’t sense anything malevolent, so, first things first, we saved you a plate. Eat.” I remembered that I had left food on the counter and knew I would have a mess to clean up once I returned. I was thankful for the food. In my haste I had not eaten, and I didn’t even realize I was hungry until Twinkle-toes put the plate in front of me.

He and Starlight joined Sniff and I in the dining room. Some of the residents were doing clean up around us, but they kept their distance as much as possible so we could have privacy for our conversation. “I’ve asked the boys to be here,” Sniff began. “they know as much as anyone and have probably seen more than most. They will probably have some insights into whatever has happened.”

I was glad for their presence. “Good, I said. “I can use all the help I can get.” I hesitated, not knowing where to begin. “First, I owe you an apology for not believing you last week. I should have taken you more seriously.”

“No apologies necessary,” he assured. “I didn’t expect you to believe me. What changed your mind?”

“They did.” I closed my eyes, remembering the very personal encounter I had last night. “The harem.”

“You’ve run across some of them again?” he asked.

“I went looking for them last night.”

He drew in a breath. “That may not have been wise.”

“It wasn’t.” I shook my head. “I know that now.”

“Tell us what happened.” He laid his hand on mine. “Every detail you can remember, it may be important.”

I cast my mind back to the previous evening and began. I could feel the shame and humiliation all over again, and when I hesitated they gave me a moment but urged me to continue, When I had finished retelling my encounter at the cruising park I opened my eyes and was astonished to see Sniff in tears. I looked at the others quizzically and Starlight informed me, “He is a natural empath. He just relived that whole experience with you.”

“Why would you open yourself up to such risk?” Sniff asked bewildered.

“You said the harem was harmless. I didn’t think I was taking a risk.”

“Did I say harmless?” I could see him searching his memory. Then he shook his head and looked to the floor. “It’s my fault. I wasn’t clear. By harmless I simply meant that they were not capable of changing you like the werebear can. They are still men, however, and men trapped in a hopeless situation. They are still capable of violence. If I had thought for one minute..” He choked up with guilt and couldn’t finish. Twinkle-Toes squeezed his hand and got up to made him a cup of tea.

“I don’t blame you.” I said. “I just made a stupid decision. Anyways, that’s not what brought me here tonight. Something else happened today. Something that made it clear I wasn’t safe.”

I had his attention again, and again he laid his hand on mine and asked me to relay the entire story. When I was finished Sniff thought for a long minute. Then he asked, “Could you sense the shadows surrounding these men when you first walked into the cruising area last night?”

“No,” I mused. “I recognized a few of them, but I had no sense of shadows as they surrounded me last night. It was only as they were surrounding me today that I sensed them.”

He held his tea and breathed in the raising steam. “Was that the first time you felt the shadows?” He asked, “think! How did you know these shadows were connected with the harem?”

“I felt something last night, very briefly. But it was vague and unfocused.” I paused to speculate about my own intuition. “I only guessed they were the harem today because they felt a bit like the lightening I sensed when they left me in the cruising park last night.”

“Ah, So, you felt the shadows departing last night, but you didn’t feel them approaching?” he seemed to have an idea.

“Alright boys, I have a question for you. You’ve kept a close eye on these guys. Do they always bottom or do they sometimes top?

Twinkle-Toes volunteered, “I’ve seen them top each other when the bear isn’t around, but I’ve never seen them top someone who wasn’t already one of them. It’s like they’ll step in to service one of their own, but they aren’t willing to share cum with outsiders.”

“Keeping it in the family. And yet the biker topped you, didn’t he? He not only shared his cum with you, he forced it on you.” Sniff thought for a minute, then he turned to Starlight. “You’ve been watching them longer than anyone else. It was you that identified this hot spot. How long has the biker been part of this group?”

“That’s easy, He’s been there as long as I have been watching them. In fact, he has outlasted everyone else who was there when I first found them. He is the last of the original group.”

“And just how active is he? Does he get fucked by the bear every month.

“Like clockwork,” Starlight laughed. “They all do, really, but the bilker has been getting more and more assertive, sometimes trying to get fucked two or three times in one night. I wasn’t really surprised when he interrupted the attack and insisted on getting fucked right then.”

Sniff pondered, as if he were trying to solve a puzzle. “This could point to coming trouble, but it could also work to our advantage. If only I could be sure.”

“So?” I wasn’t in the mood for riddles. “What’s going on?”

“You were right to call.” He shook his head as if it would clear his mind. Then he looked at me and said, “You are being monitored. They are learning your patterns so they can bring the bear right to you after his next transformation. I’ll be able to explain things better in the morning. For the moment you are safe from him, but the harem is watching you and you know what they are capable of. I think you should stay here tonight while I try to come up with a plan. When you return home, I want the boys near you at all times. Do you have room for them in your apartment?”

“I can make room,” I smiled. “We’ll figure something out.”

“Good,” he seemed more hopeful. “Well, there’s nothing more to do about it tonight and the evening is young. We are hosting a weekend retreat. It just started. They are in their opening circle in the great room right now, then there will be a couple of workshops you could join in with later, if you’re interested.” He could tell I wasn’t so he continued, “or you can just hang out and relax. The hot tub is always fun.”

“I love hot tubs, but I didn’t bring trunks.”

The three of them just looked at me like I was stupid until I remembered where I was.

“Oh, um…the hot tub it is then.”