Bearly In Control by Kim Fox Page A

bear form. It was only when Connor found him eating out of a dumpster behind a Chinese restaurant a few months ago and offered him a job that he had started to live in his human form. Connor had been rehabilitating him and helping him to live among humans. But he still had a lot to learn. Like how to stop phasing every time a stranger looked at him funny.
    Connor pulled out Edwin’s train ticket. “The city is no place for a werebear,” he said, “and definitely no place for your bear.” He leaned in close. “Whatever you do don’t phase.”
    “Or you’ll end up with a tranquilizer dart in your neck and wake up in a circus riding a tricycle with a propeller beanie on your head,” Sidney said. “I’d pay good money to see that.”
    Connor pushed Sidney away but he was so large that he didn’t budge. “I’m going to sell you to the circus,” he warned. “As a sword swallower.”
    “I can’t swallow swords,” Sidney replied.
    “Exactly.”
    The train chugged down the track and Edwin flinched as it passed them. It was so big and loud. Edwin had fought dominant bears bigger than him and had made packs of wolves whimper before his paws but this was absolutely terrifying. His hands shook and his face twitched as he felt the comforting feeling of his bear surging towards the surface.
    A hard slap across his face stopped him mid-phase. His bear slunk back down within. “No phasing,” Connor snapped.
    Sidney was shaking his head. “He’s not ready boss.”
    “Yes I am,” Edwin spoke up. He wanted to see Grace. He had to see Grace. His bear had been torturing him since she left, begging him to go see his mate. To claim her once again.
    Connor studied Edwin’s face and exhaled long and hard. He pulled a picture out of his back pocket and handed it to Edwin.
    It was of the six of them: Connor, Edwin, Sidney, Rebecca, Angie and Grace standing in front of the guest house. He rubbed his thumb over Grace’s face, trying to feel her soft skin, her luscious lips. He immediately felt calm and centered.
    He could do this. He would do this. For her.
    “Okay,” Connor said, stepping to the side. The doors of the train were open and the passengers were already getting on. Connor handed him the ticket. “It’s okay. You’ll be okay.” He seemed to be reassuring himself more than Edwin. “Just get on the train. Remember what I told you.”
    Edwin picked up his bag and headed to the train on wobbly knees. He squeezed his ticket in his fingers until the paper crumpled. The train was so big, the surfaces so smooth, the engine so loud. You’ll be okay. Just like Connor said. He pictured Grace’s long blond hair and slender hips. He remembered her smiling and lying in front of him naked.
    Remember what Connor said.
    He took a deep breath and walked towards the open door. He stopped in front of the man playing guitar with his case open in front of him. There was money inside. Coins and a couple of bills. That must be where we pay. Edwin dropped his ticket in the guitar case and walked up the stairs.
    “Hey man!” the guy called out.
    Edwin hurried towards a window seat and sat down. He placed his bag on the seat next to him so nobody would sit there.
    Sidney was shaking his head with his hand over his eyes as Connor bent over the guitar case.
    Connor ran into the train and handed him the ticket. “Wait until the ticket agent asks you for it,” he said.
    This was so confusing. Why couldn’t Grace come stay with him in the woods? She had said there were too many mosquitoes and that she just had to show him around New York. She said that she was going to show him the best clubs in the city. Edwin wondered why she wanted to show him so many weapons.
    Edwin waved to Connor as he walked back beside Sidney.
    “I hope he doesn’t phase,” Connor said. Edwin could hear them from his seat with his enhanced shifter hearing.
    “Think he’ll last the trip?” Sidney asked.
    Connor shook his head. “I don’t think he’ll