Phantom Warriors: Talon (10 page)

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Caitlin continued to take her shots, always conscious of where the bears were in regard to her location. Risk wasn’t a job requirement for a nature photographer, but it was certainly an occupational hazard.

She switched out lenses on her camera and fired off a few more shots. With any luck, she’d be able to sel some of these photos, so she could pay for this last minute trip to Alaska. Caitlin had come up here to lend support to her friend Aly, who’d caled a week ago, heartbroken over the fact that despite there being a ton of single men in Alaska, she hadn’t been able to find a husband yet.

As if that was ever a goal worth achieving… She roled her eyes and glanced once more through the camera lens. The bears were stil frolicking, two bals of white against a blanket of soft powder, but it no longer mattered because she’d lost the light.

Without the right lighting, the shots wouldn’t turn out, so she decided to cal it a day. Caitlin had just lifted the camera to put it in the bag, when a deep rumbling growl sounded behind her. Her breath locked in her lungs. The sound came again—louder.

The blonde hair on Caitlin’s neck stood on end and she froze too frightened to move, to scared to blink. Maybe the bear hadn’t seen her, but even as the thought crossed her mind, Caitlin knew she’d never be that lucky. She put her camera down and slowly turned to find a thousand pound male polar bear standing ten feet away, panting and staring at her.

With her white coat and matching pants and gloves, she had no doubt he thought she was a chubby oversized baby seal. His primary food supply. She knew enough about bears to know there was no way she could outrun him. And the gun she’d brought wasn’t going to do much at this close range, even if she could reach it in time.

He took a step forward and lowered his head. Crap! This was not how she’d planned to die. Caitlin whimpered and scooted deeper into the snow bank, praying it would somehow protect her.

The bear lunged. She threw up her hands in a pathetic attempt to ward off the attack and screamed.

There was a loud thud folowed by a roar of anger. Caitlin’s eyes flew open in time to see a silvery white bear flying threw the air towards them. Oh god, now there were two of them.

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