บท 66: Chapter 61: Mountain Bear Shifters

"Be careful."

Roel warned Ulanni and Jeayan as they trudged up the hill.

Sweat dripped down their necks and backs as the sun shined down on them. It was a hot sunny day with little wind in the air. To say that it was sweltering Monday morning was a perfect statement. There was no shade around as there were only few vegetation growing in the mountain. From the bottom of the hill to the top, all they could see were sand and soil.

It has been hours since they climbed up the hill to get to the bear shifters' territory. According to the report that was given to the Alpha, there were some rogues that were found to roam near the area, where the bear shifters lived. Hence, to get more information on the sightings, they decided to ask for the bear shifters' cooperations.

Although the wolf and bear shifters do not get along well but it was not beyond hatred. Just dislike. Bear shifters believed that wolf shifters were sneaky and nasty whereas wolf shifters had always thought the latter to be smelly and lazy. They don't really seem to click. Thus, their territories between each other were mostly far apart.

The more they climbed the hill, the stronger the scent of the bear shifters was. What worried them was the fact that the smell of the rogues were growing faint. They further worried that they might probably have got the wrong information or that the rogue had long gone from the area.

Once they were nearly at the top, they could see that on one side of the slope, there were some caves.

Being cautious, the three shifters slowly walked towards the cave, thinking that it was probably the home of the bear shifters.

However, before they could get any closer, they could hear growling from behind.

They whirled around to find four huge brown bears, standing at eight feet tall, snarling at them. Both Ulanni and Jeayan went into a defensive mode whereas Roel just stood in front of them.

"What are you filthy mutts doing here?" one of them growled in a raspy voice.

"Good afternoon," Roel greeted politely. "Is this area your territory?" he continued to ask courteously.

The other three bears continued to snarl and growl at Roel. The shifter who had spoken earlier kept quiet. It then raised its right paw, a signal to tell them to be silent. It seems like this shifter was the leader of them.

The bear shifter then narrowed its eyes at Roel and asked back, "What's it to you?"

"We would like to ask whether you have encountered any werewolves in the area, other than us," Roel said. These bear shifters seem to be the ones who lived in this area and they were probably the right people to ask about the activities happening around there.

The shifter snorted in disgust. "Other werewolves? You mean, those foul-mouthed mutts that came here and started to assume that this was their territory?"

Roel, Ulanni and Jeayan looked at the shifter in surprise. "Where are they?" Ulanni asked urgently. "Are they still here?"

"Where?" one of the bear shifters, who was standing behind the one who spoke earlier, repeated with a grunt. "Dead!" it spat out. The dislike and repulse towards the rogues radiated strongly from these shifters.

Roel and the other two were shocked. Was the rogue too weak or the bear shifters too strong? Wasn't the report a few days ago? How did they get to the rogues so fast?

Just then, Roel sniffed the air and turned his narrowed eyes towards the one who said the rogue was dead. "Should I trust you?" he asked in a warning tone.

The bear shifter narrowed its eyes back at him. "Do you think I'm lying?"

Roel just kept quiet and stared at the shifter.

Moments later, the leader who told its fellow shifters to keep quiet let out a long breath and said, "One escaped."

"I see," Roel said slowly, crossing his arms across his chest.

"They killed one of our brothers," the bear shifter said solemnly. "We've been going around the area looking for that b*stard. It seems that they had been staying here for months. I'm not sure what it was they were looking for but we will stop at nothing to get him back for the death of our brother."

All of them knew that the bear shifters don't have a great sense of smell, compared to the wolf shifters. Hence why Ulanni had come forward and said, "Let us help you. We will go and help you look for the rogue."

The bear shifter shook its head. "No. We will do it ourselves. An eye for an eye."

"But with our abilities, we may be able to help you faster," Ulanni argued. Other than the fact that they wanted to help, they too wanted to ask questions to the rogue; on their plans and whatnot.

One of the other bear shifters stepped forward and growled. "What part of the word, 'No', don't you understand??" he snarled.

Jeayan flinched from the outburst of the shifter that she unconsciously hid behind Ulanni in fear. It was her first time seeing other kinds of shifters and she had heard stories of how cruel and horrible bear shifters were. So, it was no surprise if she was a bit jumpy.

Roel immediately stood in front of the two women, worried that they might receive backlash from the bear shifters. "Then shall we see who will find the rogue first?" he challenged. He had enough of these uncooperative shifters. If they do not want to cooperate, he has no choice but to look for the rogue themselves.

The leader narrowed its eyes at Roel.

The two groups of shifters kept quiet, both sizing each other up.

After a few minutes, the leader of the bear shifters exhaled a long breath and said in its raspy voice, "Fine, we will cooperate with you but first, tell us. What will you do with the b*stard?"

Roel turned towards Ulanni, who then nodded at him. He turned back to the bear shifter and answered calmly, "We want to bring him back to our pack for an interrogation."

One of the bear shifters then roared with anger. "No! You're not allowed to do that! We will be taking him and then we will kill him!" he spat out heatedly.

"We will interrogate him and once we're done, you can do whatever you want with it," Roel said, not budging on the issue. He was determined to bring the rogue alive since they need more information and that rogue was their source of information.

The bear shifters went quiet again. Looking at their stance, it seems like they were discussing among themselves, using their mindlink.

Shortly after, the leader then looked straight in Roel's eyes and said, "Fine. We will cooperate with you. Let's discuss further in our place."

Roel sighed inwardly in relief. He looked at the leader and nodded. "Very well. Let's," he agreed.

The four bear shifters immediately changed into their human forms. Jeayan let out an embarrassed gasp as she squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to look at the four naked men in front of her. Roel immediately stood in front of her, shielding her.

Ulanni only looked calm as if she was used to the nakedness.

The one who they assumed was the leader stepped forward, unmindful of his nudity. The man looked young as if he was only in his early thirties. He looked quite handsome too with his adonis look and dark brown eyes. He was a few inches taller than Roel with a slim but muscular body. He has tousled light brown hair, which was thick and lustrous.

He held out his hand and introduced himself. "My name is Storm Ainge. The leader of the Mountain Bear Shifters."