Alaska Twilight by Colleen Coble

muttered. He tugged his Ruger Blackhawk out of the holster and cocked it. If the bear charged, there would be little time to respond. If Kipp’s stupidity caused two cubs to grow up without their mother, he’d throttle the man. He stepped over the alder and followed Kipp.
    Kipp whistled a tuneless melody. The sow turned to look. She snorted and bounded from the water, her massive paws igniting the water with her fury.
    Kipp raised his hands to indicate he was harmless, then turned to face Denny. “This is Kipp Nowak, and I’m in Alaskan brown-bear country. This is a mama bear I’ve named Sos. Isn’t she beautiful with her two cubs?”
    The cubs lifted their heads from their meal of fish and looked at the approaching man. One bawled, and the sow charged the men. The cubs squalled, tucked their tails, and ran for all they were worth to the safety of their mother.
    “Look down and back away,” Tank called. He stopped in place, praying the bear would realize they were no danger. The ferocious expression on the sow’s face must have frightened Kipp. He dropped his gaze to the ground and took a step back. He wet his lips and tried to whistle again.
    The tuneless sound seemed to enrage the sow. She charged them again, stopping about ten feet away and huffing. She turned sideways to demonstrate her size, then popped her jaw and turned back to make direct eye contact. Her eyes sparked with a murderous rage. “Keep backing away. Don’t look at her,” Tank said softly. He backed up to allow Kipp room to get past him. If he needed to shoot, he didn’t want Kipp in the line of fire. Denny had already hightailed it back past the alders.
    The other man was alongside Tank, then moved past him. “Don’t turn and run,” Tank said as he passed. Kipp didn’t listen. As soon as he was three feet away from Tank, he bolted.
    The sow snarled and charged again. Tank was going to have to shoot. He held his breath and prayed. The bear swerved off just as Tank’s finger tightened on the trigger. She ran past her cubs, then circled back to face him again. She charged once more. Tank tensed and waited. He didn’t want to shoot her unless he had no choice. The look in her eyes as she bore down on him told him this was it. She wasn’t going to stop.
    Maybe he could frighten her. That often wasn’t the wisest thing to do, especially with a sow with cubs, but he didn’t want to hit her. He took aim and shot over her head. The boom of the gun stopped her forward charge. Her claws dug into the soft ground as she tried to stop. She loped to the side and ran back to her cubs. She nudged them away from the river, and with a last departing glare at Tank, the three disappeared into the woods.
    Tank’s skin was damp with perspiration. He swiped his sleeve over his forehead. That was the closest he’d ever come to actually having to shoot a bear. Rage began to build in his belly. He stalked back to the rest of the group. “Don’t you ever do that again,” he said tightly. “Those cubs need their mother, but they came a hair’s breadth from losing her today. And all because you had to play hotshot. They are wild animals, Nowak, not cuddly toys or pets. One more infraction like that, and I’m done. You can find someone else to guide you.”
    Kipp met his gaze, but he was pale. “She was the maddest bear I’ve ever seen.”
    “Can you blame her? She was protecting her babies. This was not a circus bear. This was a sow protecting her cubs. What did you think she would do—just let you waltz up and handle her cubs? Think again. If you’d reached out to touch one of them, you would have pulled back a bloody stump.”
    Haley made a small sound of protest. He glanced over to see her rubbing her leg. He swept his gaze around the rest of the group. “Is that clear to all of you? No approaching the bears.” Aware he was overly severe, he softened his tone. “I’m thinking not only of your safety, but of the bears’ as well. When they get