Instead of scaring off the mama bear, it only infuriated her more. Probably because he dared to shoot the gun in the vicinity of her babies. Babies who were frightened and bawling their little lungs out. The sound fueled on mama as she took a swipe at Jed, tossing him up the bank like a ragdoll. He screamed. The sound was so awful it caused Mel’s blood to run cold. Mama lifted her massive head, the black muzzle of her nose twitching as she caught the scent of fresh blood. Mel’s blood. The bear rose on her hind legs and roared. She was huge and looked even larger from the prone position Mel was stuck in. Fear choked her. Every muscle inside Mel screamed, to run, but she was strapped down, laid out like a fresh buffet for mama and babies. She could hear Jed’s feet scraping the coarse sand from where the bear had thrown him. He was going to get them both killed if he didn’t stay put and play dead.“Jed, don’t move,” she said in a flat, calm voice, though everything inside her was quaking.
