“Here’s another one.” Sheriff Brody flipped through some reports as he wrapped up his weekly presentation to the Town Council of Grizzly Cove. “A request that we keep our eyes peeled and information sources tapped in the disappearance of a seven-year-old bear shifter girl in Pennsylvania.” Brody shook his head. “Not sure why they’d think we’d have any better luck than anyone else in finding her, but there it is. Somehow, Grizzly Cove has become the epicenter for all things bear related.”
“Personally, I don’t mind that in the least,” John Marshall said. He was the Alpha of the town, the strategic thinker all the others followed by choice. “I like the idea of knowing what’s going on in the wider world of bear shifters, and I’d like them to think that they could come to us if they need help.”
“Are you changing our mission, John?” Brody asked, while the rest of the Town Council looked on with interest.
They were all old friends and comrades from the days they’d spent in a very unique Special Forces unit, fighting evil in every corner of the world. They had each decided to follow John’s lead when he’d laid out the plans for this new town and retirement from active duty.
“The town mission remains, as it has been, to build a place for us to settle and find mates, and welcome Others who need a sanctuary from the evil that stalks us.” John shook his head. “I didn’t anticipate the full furor of what’s come at us here, and I sure didn’t realize we’d be stirring up things in the ocean, but we’ve adapted and overcome. We’ll continue to do the same. The thing is, I’ve come to conclusion that the time for us to keep acting without regard to other bear shifters is at an end. The enemy could pick the rest of our kind off easily, one by one, if we stick to that path.”
“Like the little girl.” Brody nodded at the paper in front of him. “She was abducted from the playground at her school during recess.”
“It’s a sad state of affairs when cubs aren’t safe in their schoolyards,” John said, shaking his head. “I think, more and more, we’re all going to have to help keep track of each other. I’ve spoken to the Lords about this, and I’m going to give them another call once we finish here. I want to propose that we volunteer to be the clearing house for bear shifter issues. We all know Rocky Garibaldi has been doing the job for years, but he’s got a family now, which is rightly, his first priority. Plus, incidents have escalated beyond what he can handle on his own. We have the manpower, the technology, and the experience to keep track of any problems our fellow bear shifters might encounter. We also have skilled personnel we can deploy to help solve those problems, if necessary, and a pretty broad network that seems to grow every day. So, what do you guys think?”
“Would it be just for grizzly and brown bears?” Sven, the town’s doctor and resident polar bear, wanted to know.
“You know I’m more than willing to help polar bears and even pandas if they want it, but aside from our one and only token town koala—who is, by definition, a marsupial and not a bear—I think we’ll limit it to actual bears. Brown, black, white, or any combination is okay with me.”
There were nods of agreement all around when Zak, a black bear and owner of the town’s premier restaurant, spoke up. “What about the other species that have joined us here in recent months?”
“I can’t speak for the mer, but if they want to do the same for their people, I don’t see a problem with it. They, as you know, have stockpiled a lot of money and power in the human world, but they lack any real military skills or contacts on land. I anticipate they may reach out to us for help if a situation arises—which is already happening on a small scale as Trevor and his mate, Beth, try to sort out the mess her stepfather left behind with SeaLife Enterprises.” John mentioned the giant conglomerate that had been turned to evil by Beth’s late stepfather, which was now in the process of cleaning house. “I also know that a few of our comrades are already working for SeaLife, troubleshooting problems around the country. I think we can do the same on a bigger scale, if needed. As a group, we have more military and ex-military connections we can call on, if the mer want to foot the bill. Especially if we need to hire mercenaries.”
The former Special Forces soldiers all around the large table nodded their agreement. John was glad to see they were all taking this as seriously as he was. They’d had a good time in the idle after they’d all retired and moved to Grizzly Cove to build the town, but evil had caught up with them sooner than he’d expected. They’d dealt with it as best they could, and the town was still standing. John counted that as a victory, though there was still a lot of work to do.
Getting back into the game—even in this small way—was another step toward making Grizzly Cove the place where all bears could find help and sanctuary. He wanted the place to be more than just a town. More than just an escape. He wanted it to be a place that served their fellow shifters and the Light. Bringing aid to those who needed it and keeping track of the innocents that might otherwise get lost in the shuffle.
They had a quick vote just to satisfy the democratic requirements they had imposed upon themselves, and the motion passed unanimously. John closed the meeting with a lighter heart, though the idea of that little girl, snatched from her schoolyard in Pennsylvania, still laid heavily on his mind. He couldn’t help her. Not from way out here in Washington State, but he hoped that they’d get to a point, in the not too distant future, where such things were possible.
“I’ll call Rocky and the Lords this afternoon and let them know we’re ready to step up,” he told his friends, and the meeting broke up soon after. Grizzly Cove was about to put themselves on the shifter map, so to speak. Officially. It was a big step, and John counted it as a positive one.