Being the Bear

"Couldn't Sam? I see... Yes. OK, don't worry. Yes. Three days, tops." Vic continued to talk as Walt watched Rusty pull his legs back and Moose push them back even further as he moved his cock into position. Moose grunted and backed off a bit to reposition as Vic put down the phone.

"Son, we need to talk." Vic nudged Walt into the hall while Moose and Rusty, oblivious, continued their bear breeding business on the couch.

Walt looked closely at his papa bear. "What's doin'?"

"That was a friend; an old friend. I'm needed."

"So... go. We can hold down the fort for a few days here, no problem." As soon as he said it, he knew by the expression on Vic's face that it wasn't going to answer his need.

"I would, but this is likely to be more than a few days, and you know as well as I do that Rusty is about to change. I need to be here."

"Papa, if you friend needs you, go. I know you feel like you need to be here just in case, but really, it'll be OK... he's more my responsibility than yours, anyway."

"What do you mean, 'your responsibility'? You didn't change him." They had been over this ground before.

"No, but Moose did, and in a way, I changed Moose."

"Oh, let that go, man, you had nothing to do with that. That was all Moose's doing, and a load of trouble it's caused us. More, now, actually." Vic spoke urgently. "I can't just leave you and Mitch to deal with Rusty. By himself, you could handle him, easy. But if his first change doesn't go smoothly, if he doesn't control his bear... well, I worry that Moose will freak. I know you're a match for Moose in human form, son, but as a bear, he'd be a real handful for you and Mitch to control. And if you add a wild Rusty into that, I don't know if you two could handle them on your own. And we don't need two werebears running amok in the woods. I saw early season campers yesterday and today. I know we're remote, but can you imagine the problems if those two tore into a campsite?" Vic put a paw on Walt's shoulder. "Son, I need to go, but I can't leave you guys."

"But, papa...."

"Nope. This is important, and I can't see any other way around this." Vic had come to a rapid decision. "We'll have to take them with. Now, you get Mitch and tell him to pack for a road trip. Bring clothes for a week, we'll need to take two vehicles. Cash, too. Cold weather gear, we're going to Canada."

"Canada?"

"Go. I'll explain everything at supper. I need to go tell those two sex fiends in there that there's been a change in plan." Vic stomped off to the living room while Walt went in to break Mitch's quiet afternoon.

The cabin soon resembled an anthill poked with a stick. Of all the bears, Moose seemed the least upset. 'Woo hoo, a road trip!' was his attitude. Rusty was nervous and plainly would have preferred to stay put. Vic was preoccupied, and was overheard muttering to himself. It fell to Walt and Mitch to do most of the packing, and they talked quietly amongst themselves as they packed. Soon, Mitch's new truck and Moose and Rusty's SUV were squared away and the bears adjourned to the kitchen for a hasty supper.

"Well?" Walt spoke for them all. Each was burning to know what was going on.

"I know all this is sudden," Vic started.

Moose interrupted, "I'll say. Why all the mystery? Come on, spill." Vic peered over his coffee mug at Moose.

"Boy, you need to work on your patience." He took another sip of coffee, then continued. "That phone call was from an old friend, a bear named Boris. We go way back. He needs help and has called a couple of us old buddies up to his place in BC. He wouldn't call like this if it wasn't important.

"What's wrong?" Mitch asked.

"He didn't give many details, but I've never heard Boris rattled like this before." Vic looked at his family. "This must be important. I told him we'd be there in a couple of days..."

"If it's that important, why not fly up there?" Moose interjected. Coach gave Moose an 'are you serious' look.

"What?" Moose was still puzzled.

"Can you imagine Rusty changing on a plane?" There was a pause while he let that thought sink in. "We have to go by road, I can't take that chance. Besides, Boris is half a day from the nearest airport anyway. If we drive in shifts, we can be there in three days, easy. And if Rusty here starts to change, we can find a motel along the way, or worst case, off the road somewhere." Rusty looked thoughtful. Vic turned to him.

"Son, I know this isn't what we'd planned, and I'd much rather you have your first change here. But we'll all be there with you, and it's not every werebear these days who can claim to have had their first change out in the true wilds of nature." Vic was doing his best to put a good face on things for Rusty's benefit. Mitch reached under the table and gave the coach's knee a squeeze.

"Anyway, most of the guys there will know Walt, and I've told Boris about Mitch. That will be a little dicey, Boris is asking only old friends he's known to this." Vic looked at Moose and Rusty. "You two will need to be on your best behavior, and don't be surprised if you're asked to make yourselves scarce."

Both bears started to protest, but Vic raised a paw. "I know, I know. But we'll just have to wait until we get there and see the lay of the land. I know Boris – this isn't something minor. He trusts me, and he knows Walt. You guys are different. He'll mean no offense, but he's not likely to want new weres in this situation."

"Should we just stay here, then?" Rusty asked.

"I don't want you to be on your own with your first change. I know Walt and Mitch would be here for you in every way. They're good bears and you'd be in good paws, what with them and Moose here." Vic looked around the table. "But I want to be with you, too. But, I can't ignore Boris. I owe him." He sighed. "Sometimes, being a bear isn't all that easy. Things like this are part of it. Responsibilities."

Vic put his coffee mug down. "So... we all go. If nothing else, this will give our two newest bears here a chance to soak up some more werebear history and culture." He looked pointedly at Moose and Rusty. "You two are on cleanup tonight and you need to check your oil and tire pressures. I want an early start and no delays tomorrow." Moose and Rusty rose and began clearing the table. Vic, Mitch and Walt headed for the living room.

"That was a nice job there, Papa," Walt said. "And thanks for the compliments."

"I meant them," Vic growled. He looked at his cub and sighed. "It would have been better if Rusty had already had changed, then I could go on my own. But I'm glad I'll have you and Mitch along. It'll be nice to have your company." He pulled Walt to him and gave him a long kiss. He turned to Mitch. "You've got a way with Moose. You can talk him down, talk sense into him. With me, he seems to want to, well, challenge. I'm depending on you to keep an eye on him when Rusty changes." Mitch nodded.

"I think we'd all better hit the sack early tonight. We've got a lot of driving ahead of us. I'll ride with Moose and Rusty to start with, you two take your truck. We can all spell each other driving, and I can fill you guys in on what you're likely to face when we get there."

After the kitchen had been squared away and the vehicles checked over one last time, five bears found their way to bed and soon the cabin was silent except for the soft snores of big bears.

In the darkened room, Vic gently shook Mitch and Walt. Mitch was curled around Walt, his belly to Walt's back and butt, his arm draped across Walt's furred chest. "Wakey, wakey. Time to hit the road."

The two both groaned sleepily then stretched. "Aww, Papa... you got clothes on." Walt grinned sleepily.

"Because I knew if I came in here nekkid, you'd want sex, and we got work to do. Up, up!" He prodded Walt with his foot. "Breakfast in ten." He hurried off to wake Moose and Rusty.

The kitchen was warm with the smells of oatmeal, eggs, toast, and thick grilled ham slices. "Just a scratch breakfast, we can get more on the road. Dig in and then get dressed. I'll take out the trash." Vic watched for a moment as the boys began to eat, then padded off to take his own shower.

Moose, Rusty, Walt and Mitch made short work of the food at the table. Soon, dressed and the dishes cleaned, lights set on timers, doors to the cabin locked and the security system armed; they were piling into the vehicles. Moose, Rusty and Vic got in Moose's SUV, Walt and Mitch in Mitch's truck.

The faintest streaks of early morning light were still an hour away in the eastern sky as they pulled out. Mitch looked back a bit wistfully as he piloted his truck behind the SUV. Walt reached over and squeezed his mate's thigh. "S'OK, we'll be back soon enough. You OK with driving?" Mitch smiled and nodded.

Walt settled back in the seat to doze. "Wake me when you need a break."

The two vehicles headed north first, to pick up I-80, then west to the I-5. "We'll skirt Sac to avoid traffic. Five's a boring drive, but it 's relatively straight and quick. I want to make time," Vic, who was navigating, told Moose, who was driving. "We should be able to reach Washington by nightfall, spend the night someplace there, then get across the border by nightfall the next night, then Kamloops by mid-day then on to Chase and Lewis Creek. In the meantime, we can spell each other driving and nap in back if we need to. And I need to fill you guys in on some things you can expect when we get to Boris' place."

The miles unrolled as the bears passed through Alta and Colfax, Penryn and Roseville, finally skirting the just-peaking morning commute traffic in Sac. They stopped for snacks and a potty break in Woodland, traded drivers, and headed north again on the I-5. Walt was driving now while Mitch rummaged through the CD's to feed to the truck's player. The king cab made it easy to tip the front passenger seat back and doze, semi-reclining. In the SUV, Vic was giving Moose and Rusty a crash course in Werebear 101, centering mostly on were legends and some 'family' background on some of the bears they were likely to meet at Boris'.

They stopped for a late lunch in Merlin, before climbing the Sexton Pass in Oregon. Regular changes of drivers, and the occasional stop to pull off the road to pee and refuel, kept them reasonably fresh. Nightfall saw them north of Salem. They decided to stop for the night at Woodburn.

"I'd rather have a small out of the way motel, with separate cabins if possible," Vic said.

"There's something," Rusty said, idly scratching his chest while peering out the driver's side window. "How about that?"

"That's the ticket!" Vic said, and Rusty turned in, with Mitch following.

The 'Bide A Wee Motor Court' turned out to be a real blast from the motoring past, with the cabins named for old cars, and the decoration in the lobby/office leaning towards Early Rural Garage. But the beds were comfortable enough, if somewhat short; and the bored and sleepy desk clerk was uninterested in them or their travel plans. Vic insisted on bunking with Moose and Rusty, 'just in case'.

Mitch and Walt were both so tired they fell asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the pillows. Vic, however, was restless; and spent much of the night watching the slumbering pair, alert for any sign of Rusty's change. But Rusty slept soundly, seemingly untroubled for a change by the weirdly violent dreams he'd been having for weeks.

The next morning, they were off at dawn. A breakfast stop at Oregon City was enforced by Moose. "Man, I GOTTA eat." The constant rumbling of his stomach, punctuated by the sleepy snores of Rusty, convinced Vic of the necessity of stopping.

Vic was once again navigating, urging them on, with Walt driving the red truck behind. Vic took them off the Interstate to avoid the mess of Portland traffic and by midday, they found themselves in Puyallup.

"Where are we?" Moose asked, roused from his nap by the stopping of the SUV at the gas pumps. All three got out of the vehicle to stretch cramped legs and backs. Rusty scratched vigorously at his chest and belly, and got Moose to scratch up and down his back.

Rusty pointed to the gas station's sign.

"What's that... Pull up??" Moose was looking at the sign directing customers to pull forward and shut off their engines.

"No, doofus. Puyallup!" Rusty swatted the bigger man with a folded map. A tussle started between the two, broken off when Vic came around the back side of the SUV after the attendant started the pump.

"I vote for lunch," Vic stated, as Walt and Mitch drove up. "I saw a Denny's sign just up the road."

Walt and Mitch got out and also bent and stretched, Mitch reaching his arms as high over his head as they could go, his sweat shirt riding up over his belly.

Unobserved, a boy of about high school age stared hungrily at Walt's thick belly fur, briefly glimpsed as his parent's car pulled away. The boy stared back over his shoulder eyes sharply focused, a yearning look on his face.

The five stood and talked while their vehicles filled with gas. Vic excused himself to make a phone call from his cell. Another car, with a tired mother and father in the front seat, two quarrelsome kids in the back was just finishing it's fill up at the next island. The windows were rolled down, and the mother was fanning herself.

"Mommy," the younger girl said in a penetrating voice, "all those men have beards. Are they Santas? The short one looks like Santa!"

Her older brother piped up, "You are SUCH a dweeb, Lisa. There ain't no such thing as..."

"Shut it!" his dad angrily said, reaching around in a futile attempt to swat his son and keep him from spilling the beans on Santa to his younger sister.

"Don't... just, don't," his mother snapped. "If you do, your dad will whup your butt so you won't be able to sit for a week! You want to make this trip a misery for us all, with Lisa bawlin' all the way to Aunt Marge's in Seattle?"

"Ain't no such what?" Lisa interjected, dodging an attempted pinch by her brother. "What's a 'misery'?"

The boy immediately started chanting, "Lisa's a misery, Lisa's a misery!" Young Lisa aimed a particularly viscous kick at her brother.

"OW! MOOOOmmmmmmm!!" The car moved off, leaving the four bearded men watching, bemused, as what looked like World War Three started in the back seat of the car.

"I predict trouble between here and Aunt Marge's," Rusty laughed.

"Undoubtedly," Walt said.

"So... Denny's OK?" Vic said, poking his head out of the driver's side. The others nodded their assent, paid the attendant, and headed down the highway.

Sipping coffee after finishing off steaks and fries, and before ordering dessert, Vic spread out a map and calculated distances.

"We've made good time, boys. We should be able to make it to the border before nightfall. And I've got good news. It won't be motel beds tonight." He grinned.

"How come?" Mitch asked.

"Walt, you remember Danny?" Vic asked.

"Yeah, vaguely," Walt answered.

Vic turned to the others. "I've got a buddy, we go back a ways. Danny lives outside Seattle, but he owns a vacation place in BC, just over the border. That was him I called. He says we're welcome to use the place to stay. He can't get away from work, and I explained the short notice, but he's cool with that. So it'll be big comfy beds for us tonight."

"Excellent!" Walt raised his coke glass. "To comfy beds!"

"Here, here!" The clink of glasses caught the attention of the waitress, who drifted by their table again. "You ready to order dessert now?"

"Hon, you got apple pie?" Vic asked.

"Yeah, fresh baked," she said, idly snapping her gum.

"Well, how 'bout we make this simple. Just bring us two, OK?"

"Two slices?" she asked eying the mound of dishes.

"Two pies," Vic growled.

The waitress scratched her head, wrote something on her pad, and sauntered off, gum snapping loudly.

"Kids," Vic and Walt said together. The others laughed.

Once they had finished their pie, they hit the road again. Vic was determined to cross the border by nightfall and set a smart pace. Rusty proved adept at finding surface roads and state highways that avoided the worst of the urban congestion on I-5. Walt and Mitch doggedly followed the big SUV. The sun had set about a half an hour before they reached the border crossing. The lines weren't bad at all, and after a rather cursory inspection and the usual questions, they were waved on.

Moose was driving. "OK, boss... where to now?"

"Follow Canadian Highway 5 to Hope. We turn off there."

"Done." Moose drove on through the dark as the moon rose, and when they reached the small town of Hope about an hour later, Vic called out directions for Moose to follow. Soon, they were off the traveled roads and deep into wooded terrain.

"Watch this, Moose. It's supposed to be 2.1 miles on the right. Danny said it's hard to spot the road."

Moose concentrated on avoiding ruts and watching the odometer. "There it is!" he shouted, cranking the wheel hard right as he almost missed the track. It was nearly obscured by trees and brush.

"Watch it!" Rusty cried as the sharp turn tossed him into the door handle in spite of his seat belt. The two vehicles bumped and lurched their way down the path until it broke open in a large clearing, with a sizable log cabin at one end. The nearly full moon illuminated everything with a pale bluish light. Mitch's truck swung around and pulled up in front of the door. Moose braked next to him.

"Lordy, but I have to pee!" As the bears tumbled out of their vehicular prisons, Moose all but ran to the trees. Walt and Mitch shrugged, and followed suit. Vic and Rusty joined them. Five strong streams crossed and steamed in the cool Canadian night air.

"Gods, your bladder must be HUGE," Rusty said to Moose.

"Big feet, big hands, big balls, big... bladder, I guess." Moose grinned and reached over to gave Rusty's cock a squeeze as he shook off. The others were shaking off and zipping up when Rusty said, "Ummm... I feel all itchy. There isn't any poison ivy around here, is there?"

"Too soon in the season, I think," Mitch said, but Moose was staring at Rusty.

"Uh, Coach, look at this, will ya?"

Vic squeezed out his last drops and shook twice, then tucked himself back in his jeans and buttoned his fly. He turned and stepped over to Rusty. All but Rusty had were- enhanced sight. Although not as good as some animals, their night vision was better than the average human's by a good measure, and with the moonlight, he had a clear view of Rusty standing there, shivering.

"You cold, son?"

"No, I feel... strange, like, I'm... OH!"

Rusty suddenly dropped to all fours, and moaned in pain. Moose made a move to pick him up but Walt put a restraining arm in front of the big man. "Not yet, he might snap at you." Rusty's body seemed to be expanding, his somewhat loose clothing was filling out. The four bears standing around could hear the fabric stretching even over Rusty's growling and moaning. It was like watching an old episode of the Incredible Hulk as his sweatshirt split down the back. Rusty's worn and faded jeans soon followed with the sound of tearing denim giving up an impossible task. The tatters hung from him and then fell away. Rusty's skin began sprouting thick fur as his limbs elongated. His pelvis swiveled into a new position, and his coccyx lengthened slightly. He groaned with the effort, moaning and panting as his chest barreled out and his lungs grew larger. He shuddered as his skull began to re-shape, the foramen moving with his spinal column so it was more to the back of his skull than the base. He grew larger bit by bit, and the others could hear bone and sinew snapping and cracking as Rusty's bones reformed themselves and his muscles realigned to support his new frame.