Bears Of Forest Heights

Prologue

ZOEY

The wind whipped my hair up around my face, but it felt wonderful. In fact, everything felt good. Graduation was only a week ago, but it seemed like it had already been years. I sat in my room on the window sill, letting the breeze flow in. The summer was a blank slate, and decisions had to be made. At the moment, I kind of felt like I was on the top of a mountain, the whole world below me, any direction I wanted to go. No doubt the direction I wanted would not be what my parents approved of.

My sister died ten years ago. She’d been the wild one, partying, boyfriends, in trouble in school. She’d been out with three friends, and they’d all gotten drunk and decided to drive home. The car had wrapped around a tree. All three of them passed away that night.

That had been one of the worst mornings of my entire life. Mom and Dad had cried like I’d never seen them before. My sister was never coming home again. It was awful.

For the decade since, I’d been an absolute angel, terrified that I would worry my parents or add to their heartache. Great grades, nice friends, extra-curricular activities, the whole nine yards. I was sure they felt great about how my life was going.

I, however, felt suffocated. I needed a release, something exciting! For once in my life, I wanted to be bad. I’d never had a drink; I’d never done more than kiss a boy. Shoot, I’d never even done silly things like skinny dipping. This summer would be different. I had three months before college, and I was going to live, damn it!

“Zoey?” Mother called.

I sighed. She knew I preferred to go by Zo. I’d tried to tell her for over four years now.

“Yeah?” I called. It wasn’t the moment for that argument.

“Aunt Patty is on the phone. She has a really cool question for you.”

I frowned as I swung my legs around and walked to the hallway. Mom was there with her cell phone, smiling down at it. She handed it to me as I gave her a suspicious look. Why did I feel a scheme afoot?

“Aunt Patty?” I asked.

“Hey there, Zo, how’re you doing?” she asked.

It was nice to hear her voice. Scheme or not, I’d always loved Aunt Patty. She was the coolest relative I had, and she always remembered I liked going by Zo.

“I’m good. What’s up?” I asked.

“Well, I was talking to my little sister there, and I mentioned that it had been way too long since I’d seen you. And, well, I wondered if you wanted to have a little adventure before you go off to college. Do you want to come up to Idaho and hang with your crazy aunt for a few months?”

My jaw dropped, and I looked at my mom, an amazed smile spreading on my face. “Are you guys for real?”

Mom nodded as Aunt Patty said, “Well, hell yeah, I am.” She chuckled. “Does that mean you’re coming?”

It was like a dream come true. A whole summer, thousands of miles away from anyone who knew me? Other than Aunt Patty. I could be whoever I wanted, do what I wanted, and no one I knew would ever find out.

I couldn’t stop my voice from raising an octave. “Uh, yeah! That sounds amazing! Oh my gosh, I’m so excited.”

After only a little cajoling that night, my dad agreed too, and three days later, I was on a plane for the first time in my life.

The ride was the most exhilarating thing ever. I’d managed to talk my mom into not going with me for the trip up. She’d wanted to go with me on the flight and spend a day or two there before flying back. I’d told her how much I wanted to experience traveling by myself, and to my surprise, she’d relented. My immense surprise.

Happy as I’d ever been, I sat for hours looking out the window watching the entire world flow by under me. I’d figured I would nap for a while, but that never happened. I was way too excited to be on my first semi-adult adventure.

The plane landed in Boise just after lunch, and I felt like a full-blown adult getting my carry-on and making my way off the plane. Walking down the terminal, I saw Aunt Patty waving to me like a lunatic. I laughed and jogged over to give her a hug.

“Holy crap! You’re really here!” She yanked me into her arms and hugged me tight.

“Looks like it,” I said into her hair. “It’s good to see you too.”

We went to baggage claim and got my stuff. I was having a hard time focusing as I watched everyone around me, wondering where they were going, where they’d been. It was kind of crazy how many people were coming to and going from Idaho. I’d sort of pictured a tiny little airport with potato farms as far as the eye could see.

Not so. Boise was crazy big. It was no Charlotte by any means, but it was a much larger city than I’d imagined.

We ate lunch at a neat little pizza place near the airport, and then made the forty-five-minute drive to Forest Heights. The urban environment quickly faded to the more rural setting I’d originally imagined. There were a lot more trees and mountains than I’d thought there would be. Again, my imagination had painted Idaho as flat potato country. Nothing like I’d expected.

We did pass a few farms, and one midsized town before I saw the sign welcoming us to Forest Heights. It was the cutest little town I’d ever seen. It even had the classic downtown main street area. I wasn’t sure what kind of trouble I could get into here, but I was definitely going to try.

“We’re going to stop by the store before we get to the house. I want to stock up the fridge and pantry with stuff you like. Sound good?” Patty asked.

I nodded as we turned into a small market on the far end of Main Street. I got out and went in with Patty. It was definitely small—I doubted they would have many of the things I was used to from the mega-marts back home. Though, I was pleasantly surprised to see hummus and organic guacamole. I walked around the store with a hand-held basket while Patty pushed around a shopping cart.

As I stood in front of several shelves of crackers, deciding which kind I wanted, someone behind me asked, “Oh...my...God! Where did you get those shoes?”

I turned and found myself looking at a pretty girl about my age, maybe a little older, with thick blonde hair pulled high into a ponytail. Her bright blue gaze was locked on my sandals.

Shifting from one foot to another, I tried not to be too awkward. “Oh, hey. Uh, yeah, I got them online actually. They’re super comfortable.”

“They look great on you! My name’s Kim, by the way. Are you new? I’ve never seen you around before.” She beamed as she waited for me to figure out how to form words.

“I’m Zoey, I go by Zo. I’m actually from South Carolina. I’m up here visiting my aunt for the summer.” That was a lot of information. Had it been too much? “And I’m eighteen.”

“Holy shit! That’s awesome. Do you live by the beach?” Kim asked, her eyes locked on mine now. “And I’m nineteen!”

I laughed. Everyone asked that. “No, more like central South Carolina.” I shrugged. “I’ve been to the beach a bunch, though.”

“Ugh, I’ve never been. Trying to save up for a trip to Jamaica for my twenty-first birthday though. Still a few years away. It’ll be great! Nude beaches? Rum? Hot dudes with abs? Can’t fucking wait!” She had a serious potty mouth, which was great. I did, too.

I laughed. I liked this girl already. I asked, “Do you want to hang out sometime?”

Kim nodded vigorously. “Hell yeah, let’s do it! There’s actually a party I’m going to tonight if you wanna come.”

A party? Like a real party? I had never gone to a real party. The closest I’d been to were birthday parties. Even for teenagers, they’d been super tame, daytime affairs.

“Absolutely,” I said.

I gave her my number and my aunt's address. “Text me when you’re on the way,” I said excitedly. Kim agreed and we parted ways with big smiles.

Unlike my parents, Patty actually seemed excited for me to go to the party and that I’d already made friends with someone.

“So, you don’t mind if I go?” I asked.

She blew out a big breath. “Of course not. Have fun! I mean, my gosh, you’re only young once. Just not too much fun, you know what I mean?”

“Okay, cool! Thanks!”

The rest of the day went by quickly as Aunt Patty showed me the house, where I’d be staying, and I settled in.

My nerves were absolutely shot all day. The time passed like a snail on downers, but finally, Kim pulled up. We got to know each other a little bit better on the ride. Compared favorite boy bands, foods, and hair dyes. Typical teenage girl stuff.

It was almost eight o’clock before Kim and I pulled up at what looked like a warehouse. A ton of cars were parked in the parking lot. So many that we had to find a spot in the grass with a dozen other cars. How many kids around here had their own vehicle? Kim did, but I’d assumed this would be a high school party.

I got out to the steady thump of music. That was when the butterflies started. My stomach made little flips as we turned toward the imposing building.

“Let’s go, girly!” Kim said and sashayed past me. She’d chosen a tube top and the shortest shorts I’d ever seen in my life. My bathing suits had more fabric than she was wearing. I followed her in, feeling a little self-conscious about how I’d dressed. It was a simple summer dress, and the sandals Kim had loved so much. I had no idea what proper attire was for something like this.

I walked in and immediately realized I was in over my head. Not high school, not at all. The air was thick with the smell of beer, whiskey, cigarettes, and what I thought must’ve been marijuana. No one looked younger than twenty-five, at least other than Kim and me. Most of the men looked old enough to be my dad, with most all of them wearing leather jackets.

Some had full leather ensembles, pants, boots, everything. Someone bumped into me, and before I fell, I grabbed a nearby table, trying my best not to lose my balance. I turned and looked wide-eyed at a woman wearing knee-high leather boots, a leather thong...and nothing else. Her breasts swung freely, and she laughed as she bent over a table and quickly snorted a line of white powder up her nose. I glanced down at the woman’s breasts and saw a strange design tattooed just above her collarbone almost on her neck. It looked like an animal with an open mouth. Several men near her had the same symbol stitched on their jackets or tattooed on their arms or chests. It looked almost like a bear.

Oh, crap! Where am I?

I grabbed Kim’s arm and stayed close to her as she made her way to a group of the youngest-looking people in the room.

I whispered in her ear, but I had to talk kind of loud over the music. “Who are these people? Why do they have that symbol on their clothes and stuff?”

Kim looked at me confused, and I watched realization dawn on her. She laughed and shook her head.

“Oh, whoops!” She laughed. “I didn’t tell you! This is a shifter party. A bunch of people here are bear shifters.”