Spencer’s hands shook as he fit the translating device into Dora’s ear. As soon as it was in place, he stepped back.

“Team,” Aldo said, connecting his own Ear-COM with Dora’s and Spencer’s. Dora winced, then shook her head as though trying to shake a fly off her fur. “Dora, can you hear me?”

“I can hear you better than I want to,” Dora answered.

“Uh … it’s nice to meet you, Dora,” Spencer said awkwardly. He forced a smile. Dora shot him a blank stare, then turned her back on Spencer and Aldo. She walked a lap around the inside of her home before speaking again. She passed each of the four big, perfect trees in the four corners of the square building, circling the stream that made a soothing, babbling sound as it ran through the middle of the room. The section of the building hidden from the outdoors by a wood-and-iron wall and gray curtains was outfitted similarly to the bears’ cave-like bedrooms in Bearhaven. It was the only part of Dora’s home that was covered by a roof. She must sleep there.

“All of this is mine,” Dora said at last. “My home. Do you know how I used to live?”

Spencer gulped. This wasn’t how he’d imagined the conversation going, but Dora had taken charge.

“I used to live in a tiny cage with my brothers at Gutler University. You see my muzzle? You see no fur here?” Dora thrust her head into their faces, showing them the furless patch of skin on her jaw. It matched the one on B.D.’s own muzzle. “Margo always put the food outside the bars of our cage. We had to push our jaws through the bars to eat. Every bite hurt but we were starving. It was a bad life but at least we were together. Then your family came and took my family away. But not me.” She glared at Spencer. “And my family left me. You think a bear can survive like that? Starved and hurt all the time with nobody to trust? No. Did that matter to your family, or mine? No. Nobody came back for me.”

Spencer opened his mouth to explain. Mom and Dad had gone back for Dora, but they were too late. Dora had already disappeared from Gutler. Dora bared her teeth at Spencer, and he closed his mouth.

“Pam took me from Margo and Ivan, and now I live here and have all the food I want without any help from my family or yours,” Dora went on bitterly. “You came here thinking I needed you to rescue me? Ha! Now look where you are. I am free here, and you are trapped. You all need me to save you. But why should I help you? I don’t need any of you, just like none of you—none of you—needed me all these years.” Dora sat back on her haunches in front of Spencer and Aldo, glaring at them both.

Spencer didn’t know what to say. He understood why Dora was so angry. She had spent twelve years thinking she had been abandoned by her family and forgotten by humans she had once trusted.

“Dora,” Aldo started, “B.D. has never recovered from losing you that night at Gutler, and neither have the Plains.” The bear’s voice was calm; he sounded more like his father, Professor Weaver, than he ever had before. “They have all been looking for you on every single rescue mission. They built Bearhaven, and every day they wished you were there. They have saved over one hundred bears, and every single time, on every single rescue mission, they hoped the next bear they’d save would be you.”

“How would you know that?” Dora snapped. “You two are just cubs. You can’t possibly know how I feel.”

Aldo hesitated.

“I know how you feel,” Spencer spoke up.

Dora narrowed her eyes at him.

“I know because my family was taken away from me, too. And I know what it feels like to be the one who’s safe. It doesn’t feel … better. I’m missing a big piece of my life, too. I won’t ever stop trying to get my parents back. And I know you don’t like my parents right now, but they did try to rescue you again. You weren’t at Gutler anymore, and they couldn’t find you. B.D. really does look for you every time he leaves Bearhaven. And even at Bearhaven—”

“Quiet,” Dora cut Spencer off. He thought she was just tired of listening to him speak, but then he saw Aldo’s ears twitch.

“Pam?” Aldo asked, his eyes locked on Dora. Spencer strained to hear what the bears were hearing.

“Yes.” Dora sat back on her haunches. Spencer couldn’t read her expression. “He’s coming. If you try to leave now he’ll see you,” she added. Her voice was flat, like she didn’t care what happened to Spencer and Aldo next.

“We’re trapped … ” Spencer whispered.

“Hide,” Aldo ordered.

Spencer sprang into action. He sprinted into the darkest corner of Dora’s home and pushed the heavy gray curtain aside, stepping in behind it. He was careful to fit his body into one of the folds.

“You’re safe there, Spencer,” Aldo said, confirming Spencer was hidden from view.

“What about you?” Spencer asked.

“Tree,” Aldo said after a second. Then the Ear-COMs fell silent.

Spencer tried to take a few deep breaths, but the air caught in his throat. Had they gotten through to Dora? Would she cover for them? Spencer didn’t know, but they were at Dora’s mercy now. It wouldn’t take much for her to give Spencer and Aldo away to Pam.

Spencer heard footsteps on the path just outside.

“Good evening, Dora.”

He’s here.