2
Her voice was the only thing that distinguished her as one. Colin had been lying out in the hammock watching the stars—it was too beautiful and warm a night to stay in his cabin—when he’d heard a hard grunt and rustle from his vegetable garden.
It had sounded human rather than ursine—he didn’t worry about bears here…much. When he’d looked, there was a light shining low under his plants. Not stopping for shoes or a flashlight, he raced out to scare away the poacher. He’d put a lot of time and care into his garden and no midnight skulker was going to rob him.
He’d been stopped in his tracks by what he found. Between the zucchini and the pumpkins lay a fully clad firefighter, and one that was making no effort to get up.
By the reflected light off the nearby leaves, Colin had seen a hard
