Bears VS Wolves (Team Shifter 1)

“There’s a robbery in place at Beans,” I tell the operator. “I’m going in.” I toss my phone on a bench and shift, tearing my clothing in the process. Then I throw myself through the window of the coffee shop. The glass shatters all around me and shards go flying, but I’ve got a one-track mind.

I have to stop this guy before the cops get here.

The noise is enough to distract every single person in the café, including the perp. He turns around, shocked as I throw myself at him. The barista who, just a few minutes ago, was abrupt and cold to me, looks terrified. She jumps back behind the counter as I knock the guy to the ground. He lands on his back and looks up at me. He starts to reach for one of the guns he had with him.

Yeah, he had multiple weapons, but I growl, stopping him without a word.

He holds perfectly still, and he’s only shaking a little.

“You don’t understand,” he yells. “Let me go!”

“Don’t let him go!” Silver Hair, from earlier, approaches. She looks at me and nods. So she recognizes me, at least by scent. “He was robbing the place.”

“It was a misunderstanding,” the man says.

“Tell it to the judge!” A patron yells dramatically.

I mean, really?

Was that necessary?

But there are police sirens in the distance and I know that soon, the local cops are going to show up and take this guy away.

Silver Hair looks at the barista, and then over at the woman who was rude to me earlier for being an outsider.

“I hope you know what this man just did for you,” she says.

“W-w-what?” The barista asks, shaking.

“He’s the man you didn’t want to serve,” Silver Hair says. She shakes her head in disappointment. “Just because someone is a stranger doesn’t mean they’re a bad person. It certainly doesn’t mean they aren’t worthy of your respect or kindness.”

“I...I...”

Silver shakes her head again. She practically clucks her tongue. Then she looks at me.

“Bear,” she says. “I don’t know what your name is, but I’m proud of you. You did a good thing here today. You saved a lot of people and you caught a very bad man. Did you know there have been several robberies of small shops in the area over the past few weeks?”

I didn’t.

“I’m going to venture a guess that this guy is behind at least a few of them. Either that, or he knows who is.”

She reaches out and touches my arm.

“You did a good job.” The woman seems proud of me, and somehow, that makes me feel a little bit better.

She looks around at the other patrons. I’m still holding the dude in place and everyone else is kind of standing in shock.

“Well?” Silver says. “Someone get our hero some clothes. I’m pretty sure he ripped his trying to save us from this guy.” She looks back at me and smiles. “I know you’re new, but something you’ll learn about Claw Valley is that many shifters here are, well, rather small. Me? I’m a rabbit. Most of the people in here now are other types of small, non-predatory animals. We’re timid around newcomers, but that’s a self-preservation instinct. What you’ve done, well, is wonderful. Thank you for everything.”

Someone rushes outside and comes back a minute later.

“I have a spare set of clothes in my car,” the guy says. He thrusts a pair of sweats and a shirt toward me. “They’re all yours. And thank you.”

I go ahead and shift. There’s no point in trying to be modest or hiding somewhere else. I can’t exactly leave the building in my bear form unless I throw myself back through the window, which is something I’m definitely not interested in. Once I’m in my m

an form, I make sure that the other people are watching Mr. Robber, and I dress quickly.

“Thank you,” I say to the guy who brought me clothes.