I was looking forward to this one after being impressed by Jeschonek's story on Drabblecast this week but I didn't care for this one.
So, where was the sweater? And what is "cable-knit" anyway, and how is that detail relevant enough to be worth the premium real estate in the title? I believe in the importance of titles and so a title that means nothing to me is a huge missed opportunity.
So... All "bears" are actually Fey skinwalkers or just the guy that the protagonist happened to be dating? Why doesn't this guy turn into a bear when he crosses over?
So the Russian dude is what, a fairy? Why does he have a Russian accent? If he's just a regular Russian dude why does he have a Coliseum in Fairy?
Why does he suddenly unleash his fury at the end? Why didn't he do it earlier and try to save his boyfriend?
Throughout the whole thing, it felt like two disparate stories that had been completed on their own, found to be unsatisfying by themselves, and so were brutally severed and slapped together with Crazy Glue. Which didn't really improve the picture. The initial scene just seemed to be there for the sole purpose of getting the spec element on the first page but served no real narrative purpose and gave away what little ending there was, also setting up a huge rift between that first scene and most of what came after, a rift that I never felt was really bridged. It just seemed like it was hurriedly slapped together with no thought to how the final product would look.
There's just too many questions raised and glossed over, the story felt too hacked together, the ending was given away in the first lines, and I didn't come away with anything to really ponder. This one not for me.