Chapter 9: The Bear’s Response
Anika watched as Rowe’s attention snapped toward the hospital doors, his body tense and coiled like a spring ready to snap. The bear followed his every movement, its amber eyes narrowing. Anika could feel the change in the air—an uneasy shift, like the calm before a storm. The bear was waiting, but for what?
Rowe stood motionless for a moment, staring at the doors, and then, without warning, he moved toward them. Anika’s instincts screamed at her to stop him, but the bear’s growl stopped her in her tracks. It was deeper now, more forceful. The sound vibrated through the ground, as if the bear was warning Rowe—or perhaps, warning everyone.
“Mr. Rowe,” Anika called out, her voice sharp with urgency. “I told you, you can’t go in. Not until we know more.”
Rowe didn’t stop. His pace quickened, and Anika could see his jaw clenched tightly, eyes wild. He wasn’t listening. His focus was solely on the hospital, and there was something about his gaze now—something desperate.
The bear, still positioned between them and the doors, growled again, louder this time. Its massive form seemed to swell, its muscles taut with readiness. Anika instinctively stepped back. The tension was palpable, the situation spiraling out of control. She couldn’t let Rowe anywhere near Evan until she figured out who he really was and what his connection to the bear was.
“Rowe!” she snapped, stepping forward and blocking his path. “Stop. You don’t have access. You’re not the father I expected.”
Rowe’s face twisted, his expression suddenly one of fury. “I am his father!” he shouted, his voice breaking with an edge of anger. “You think you know everything? You don’t know what’s going on here.”
Anika’s heart raced. There it was again. That crack in his calm facade. It was a slip, but it revealed more than Rowe probably realized. He was trying too hard to convince her, to convince everyone.
“Why didn’t you mention how you knew where to find him?” she pressed, her voice steady but firm.
Rowe’s eyes widened for a moment, the flicker of fear returning, but he quickly masked it with a sneer. “I was looking for him. What’s the problem with that?” His voice was too sharp, too rehearsed.
Anika stared at him, her suspicion mounting. Before she could respond, a new noise reached her ears—soft at first, but growing louder. Footsteps. Fast, urgent.
Behind them, the doors of the hospital swung open, and a new figure emerged into the light.
The bear’s growl deepened.
Anika turned sharply, her breath catching.
To be continued…