“I would’ve never guessed,” Max added.
Carter noticed Max was gazing longingly at the photo. Carter snorted and slapped him on the back. Max’s cheeks turned red.
“Well, boss,” Carter said. “I’m ready to get out there and track this little lady down. Where should we start looking?”
“Both Montana and Wyoming state police have started a manhunt,” Burke said. “She ran off the road near Tepee Creek. You should go out on patrol right on the western edge of the park and keep your eyes open. I suspect your abilities may come in handy on a case like this. Just remember not to shift in front of anyone.”
“Is she armed?” Max asked.
“They didn’t find weapons in the vehicle.” Burke shrugged. “But that doesn’t mean anything.”
“I’ll find her,” Carter resolved.
Burke’s lips curved up in an amused smile. “Well, good luck. You boys have got a lot of ground to cover. For her sake, I hope you do find her. I can’t imagine anyone lasting in this wilderness for long with nothing but the clothes on her back. She doesn’t look like the outdoorsy type.”
“She doesn’t look like the fugitive type, either,” Max noted.
“True.” Burke nodded. “It’d be wise not to get too comfortable. She may look harmless, but don’t let your guard down. You never know.”
Carter rolled his eyes. There was no way a girl like her could ever pose a danger to a grizzly, whether he was shifted or not. Even if she did have a gun.
“All right then,” Burke said, heading toward the door. “I’ll leave you to it.”
“Does this mean we’re done with the paperwork?” Carter asked hopefully.
Burke grinned. “Set it aside for now. But careful, Carter. If you do catch her, you’re gonna have an even bigger stack to sort through tomorrow!”
Carter groaned.
3
Jules leaned down over a creek and filled her bottle. The water was frigid against her skin, turning her fingers pink and stiff. She’d been moving for hours. At first she’d run as fast as she could, no idea where she was going. Her only goal was to get as far away from the road as possible. The sound of sirens grew more and more distant until they disappeared entirely, replaced by the eerie quiet of birds and a gentle breeze stirring the branches of the pines. By now her muscles screamed for rest, and her lungs felt like they might collapse from exhaustion, but she had no choice but to press forward.
She loved nature, but her version of outdoorsy was more about a leisurely hike in the woods or sitting by a campfire near a secluded lake, not running for her damn life. But the adrenaline that coursed through her veins allowed her to push her body far past its usual limits.
She had no clue where to go. She didn’t want to get lost out here, but even if she did, it was better than the alternative. When she was young, her father had given her a thorough education in survival training. She knew how to make shelter and start a fire. She knew which berries were edible. She even knew how to set traps to catch little critters. Hell, if she had to, she’d eat insects. Whatever it took to survive, she was willing to do it.
Her best option was to hide out here for as long as possible. Jules wasn’t sure how long it would take before the cops gave up on their manhunt. She hoped it wouldn’t last more than a few days. After all, it wasn’t like she was a murderer or anything. When the coast was clear, she’d return to the highway and hitch to the nearest town. She had $260 in her wallet. She’d cut her hair and dye it blonde and find some way to make it down to Salt Lake City to meet up with Nick. He’d know what to do from there.
If she was really lucky, maybe she wouldn’t need to go to all that effort. Nick had limitless resources, as well as a lot of friends in and around Yellowstone. If he received her text, perhaps he could send someone out to find her before the cops did.
Dread grew in the pit of her stomach like a lead weight, but she tried to ignore it. Thinking about Nick made her tense up. She wanted to believe he’d take it all in stride. But... maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe he’d... no.
You know what he did to Jake.
She shivered and pushed the thought from her mind.
As the cold water filled her belly, cooling her entire body, her eyes scanned the wilderness that lay before her. Past the stream was a wide meadow with tall green and yellow grass that extended hundreds of yards to a tree line. It was a thick forest of skinny, straggly pine trees with peeling white trunks stretching on for miles before ending at the base of a sheer rock cliff.
Walking brazenly out into that open meadow would be a bad idea. She’d have to stay in the trees and go around. There might be helicopters scanning the ground. She had to stay hidden.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Her body was aching terribly from the strain of non-stop movement, so she harnessed thoughts of languishing in a cold, dirty prison cell as motivation to keep running.
Max gripped the steering wheel of their ranger-issued four-by-four pickup. It bounced and wobbled over rocky, uneven terrain. They were on an old logging road that hadn’t been maintained in decades. It was deteriorating and would soon disappear entirely and become indistinguishable from the surrounding wilderness. But this was their best shot. He’d drive as far as the road would allow.
Knowing the terrain of Yellowstone like the back of his hand, Max figured the fugitive would likely head northeast from where she’d left the highway. If that was the case, this road would directly intersect her path. It may have been a long shot, but it was all they had to go on.
Carter sat in the passenger side, gripping the paper with the photograph on it, staring intently. He licked his lips and growled as if he were holding a plate of fresh grilled salmon.
Max chuckled. “You’re pathetic, you know that?”
Carter cast a sharp glare at Max. “What do you mean?” he grunted.
“It’s like you’ve never seen a pretty girl before.”
“I can’t help it,” Carter said. “There’s just something about her.”
“When was the last time you got laid?” Max asked with a smirk.
Carter ran his fingers through his tangled mane of golden blond hair. “I can’t even remember. But it’s not about that. There’s something about her, in particular. What’s her name again?”
“Jules Robinson.”
“Jules,” Carter sighed. “Like music to my ears.”
Max snorted and shook his head. “What are you going to do if you find her? Claim her as your mate? I don’t think that would work out so well.”
Carter leaned forward and let out a roar of a belly laugh, one so loud that it shook the truck. A hulking beast of a man, tall with bulging muscles, and sporting short auburn beard on his square jaw, Carter was as masculine as it gets. Yet when he smiled and laughed, his bright sky-blue eyes sparkled with a youthful radiance, and the roundness of his cheeks gave him an endearingly boyish charm.
“Carter, seriously,” Max continued. “She’s a criminal. She’s obviously involved with some very shady people. If she senses you’ve got a crush on her, she’ll use it to manipulate you, I guarantee it.”
Carter regained his composure. “Yeah, yeah, Max. You think I’m an idiot, but I’m not.”
“Oh, I know you’re not,” Max said. “Just be careful. If you really want to mate with this Jules girl, well... prepare yourself for nothing but conjugal visits for the next twenty years.”
Carter shrugged, smiling ear to ear. “If that’s what it takes. She’s worth it. I’m starting to think she is my fated mate.”
Of all Carter’s outlandish claims, this one took the cake. Max rolled his eyes. “Uh-huh. I sincerely doubt it.”
“My mom used to tell me that when my bear chose a mate, I would know immediately,” Carter said.
Max stiffened.
“That’s what the elders have always said, too. And Max, I’ll tell you right now, I’ve never felt this way about a woman, human or bear, ever.”
Max’s knuckles
whitened as he gripped the steering wheel. This conversation was making him uneasy.
“Carter, you haven’t even met her yet,” he objected. “You’re basing all this on just one grainy photo? I think your mom probably meant you’d know once you met her.”
Carter shrugged. “All I can say is that my bear is roaring for her. I’ve never experienced anything like it. I think the message is loud and clear, Max. Jules is the mate I’ve been waiting for all my life.”
Max inhaled deeply, trying to refrain from snapping and yelling at his best friend, which he had been to do. Damn bear temper.
Carter smiled mischievously. “I know you’re jealous. I saw the way you were gazing at her photo like a lovesick cub.”
Max’s cheeks flushed red-hot. He cleared his throat. “That’s not true.”
“Liar.”
Max didn’t answer.
“It’s okay.” Carter grinned. “I don’t mind sharing.”
“Sharing, huh? So we’re both fated to the same woman?” Max scoffed.
Carter shrugged. “I don’t see why not! I mean, it’s happened before. My great Grandma was human. She was mated to two bears, the chiefs of the clan back in that time.”
“Lucky her,” Max grumbled.
Carter’s ridiculous notion was putting him on edge. As much as he hated to acknowledge it, there was something about this woman, and it bothered the hell out of him.
But fated mate?
Please.
Max knew better than anyone that fated mates were a complete fabrication. He theorized that ancestor chiefs came up with the myth thousands of years ago as a way of ensuring that mates stayed together, to strengthen family bonds and keep the clans stable. It sounded good, but only in theory.
In reality, it was complete nonsense. Sure, there was such a thing as love, and he’d known couples who believed they were fated, but after what his own family had gone through, he had a hard time believing there was anything fated about it, other than maybe the misery.
But damn if he didn’t feel some kind of spark the instant he laid his eyes on Jules Robinson. Somehow, despite the low quality of the printed photograph, it felt like she was gazing right into him, piercing into his ursine soul. As if she knew him already, and he knew her. But unlike Carter, he was able to keep his thoughts to himself. When his cock had grown stiff with an aching urge as his eyes had studied her curvaceous figure, he’d managed to stifle his growl and keep it under wraps. Well, mostly.
He didn’t want to admit it to Carter, or even to himself, but he was giddy at the prospect of meeting her face to face. He hoped they would be able to find her before the cops did, for that very reason.
But what did it matter? This woman clearly wasn’t as sweet as her photograph indicated. She was a drug trafficker. And for all he knew, maybe she was into even dirtier business than that. She was a cold-hearted criminal, willing to do whatever it took to escape and survive. Not some harmless little angel.
So despite his complicated feelings, Max acknowledged that nothing would ever come of it. They would find her—if they were lucky—arrest her, ship her off to state police, and get back to the office to fill out even more lovely paperwork.
End. Of. Story.
He just hoped that Carter was sensible enough to treat this matter seriously and not do anything stupid. Where Max’s bear showed itself most in his hot temper, Carter’s manifested as a tendency to act on instinct and gut feelings.
Up ahead, a large tree had fallen over the road. Max eased the brakes and slowed to a stop.
“The two of us can lift that out of the way, no problem,” Carter said.
Max shook his head. “No, I think we should get out here. Let’s split up. I’ll head north, and you keep following the road. Keep your eyes open for any tracks.”
Carter nodded, and the two shifters got out of the truck. They each picked up their respective pack and headed out in different directions. Max silently hoped he’d find her before even Carter got to her.
Three hours later, Carter was still trekking through the woods. The day waned, the low sizzling sun casting beams of orange and red through the branches of the pines. He’d found nothing so far. Not even a footprint or a broken branch that might offer the vaguest clue where she was headed. The logging road had pretty much disintegrated into nothing, and now he was walking through pure wilderness, using his internal bearings to stay on a steady eastern path.
The walkie talkie hooked on the side of his belt gave a static blip. Carter picked it up and pressed the button. “Found her yet?”
“Nothing,” Max’s voice cut through the static.
“Me either,” Carter replied. “But I’m not giving up yet. I can smell her out here. I’m getting close.”
Carter could sense Max rolling his eyes, even though he couldn’t see him.
“Yeah, right,” Max answered with an edge in his tone. “Listen, Burke wants us back at the office by nightfall. We should probably start—”
“No way!” Carter said. “You won’t see me again until I’ve got her in cuffs.”
“Carter!” said Max, exasperated. “This park is huge. It’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack.”
“She couldn’t have gotten very far,” Carter said. “I’m gonna shift and keep looking. I’ll stay out all night if I have to. If she makes a fire, it’ll make my job a lot easier.”
“I doubt she’s dumb enough to make a fire.”
“You’re right,” Carter conceded. “But still.”
There was silence on the walkie talkie. Finally, “Well, I’m not giving up, either.”
Carter snorted. “Jealous, huh?”
“Shut up, Carter.”
“All right, I’m shutting this thing off and tossing my bag. I’ve been itching to shift all day. I can’t take it anymore.”
“Whatever, man. Good luck.”
Carter set down the walkie talkie. Then he undid his belt and undressed. He peeled off every article of clothing until he was completely bare, his skin glowing like bronze in the light of the setting sun. Then he stuffed his clothes, walkie and gun in the backpack and searched for a good hiding place. He found a nook in a hollow tree trunk and stuffed it inside. He’d already torn three ranger uniforms to shreds. The department had paid for the first, but after that he was on the hook. He broke into a lope, branches rustling behind him.
4
The sun was setting, and Jules’s feet were terribly blistered. She wore a pair of sandals that were super comfortable in her everyday life, but they were not suitable for hiking in the least. Note to self: start wearing boots.
Every step sent stabs of sharp pain through her feet and legs. Exhausted and weary, she collapsed to the ground, leaning against a fallen log. She wiped the sweat from her brow, and that’s when she saw it.
At first she thought she was seeing things—a wishful apparition in her exhausted delirium. But no. Off in the distance, between the trees, a wooden structure stood. It was old and dilapidated. An abandoned cabin, she guessed. The roof was half sunken in, obviously rotting. She forced herself up and gritted her teeth against the pain as she approached it.
She pushed open the door and squinted at the dark, musty interior. A cast-iron oven sat in the corner. Against the right wall, a twin bed with a single ratty sheet laid over the exposed springs of the mattress. There was a wooden table with brass cups and plates strewn all over. And one tin can. She zeroed in on the can, swiped it up and was filled with elation when she realized what it was. A full, unopened can of molasses baked beans. She grinned, overjoyed at her luck. She’d actually get to eat a decent meal tonight. If she could get the damn thing open, that is.
She looked around the room, searching for a suitable tool, when a noise from outside sent a shiver of cold fear down her spine. She froze.
It was a low growl, the sound of it vibrating through her bones. It grew louder. The boards of the front entrance to the cabin creaked under the weight of heavy paws. Through the slit of the
open door she saw it. The sun reflected on the silver-tipped fur of a hulking beast. A grizzly bear.
She didn’t dare move. Maybe it didn’t know she was in there.
Stay still. Don’t do anything rash, Jules. Remain calm, cool, and collected. You know, like the opposite of how you acted with that cop.
She knew that you were supposed to make noise when bears were around, that you never wanted to startle them, but she was frozen with terror.
The grizzly sniffed around, grunted, then let out a deafening roar that pierced her eardrums and filled her with terror. She trembled and struggled to control her breath.
To her relief, the bear turned and trotted slowly away. But she wasn’t going to move. Not until she was absolutely certain it was gone. Miles away, even.
She didn’t hear a thing for what seemed like ages. No footsteps, no bushes rustling. Nothing.
Then there was a sharp crack from outside in the distance. She couldn’t figure out what it was exactly. She detected a man’s voice, and she once again seized.
“Get out of here,” the man shouted. “Out! Get out! Scram!”
The smacking sound continued, louder and louder.
Jules shifted slightly, craning her head to look outside. A tall, bearded man with golden blond hair was swinging a large stick at a boulder. He stopped and tossed the stick away before turning towards her and briskly approaching.
Her heart pounded in her chest. She backed up and looked around the room for a hiding place. There was nowhere. She felt like her brain was short-circuiting. In an instant the man was at the cabin.
“Miss? You okay?” he shouted.
He shoved the door fully open and stepped inside, having to duck his head, the collapsed ceiling too low for his height.
“Oh, thank God, I wasn’t hallucinating,” he said, grinning. “I knew I saw a person out here!”
Jules only stared, rigid with apprehension. But as her eyes traveled over his body, her fear eased slightly, and she was struck by his sheer masculinity. He was a huge guy, well over six feet tall, and thick all around, with bulging arms practically tearing out of his blue t-shirt. He wore tan shorts and sneakers with no socks. His hair was a mess of wavy golden locks that grew down to his jaw, and he sported a short-cut beard. His eyes were large and curious, the color of the clear blue sky above Yellowstone. He was the epitome of masculinity, yet appeared friendly and soft, somehow. Warm.
Safe with Her Bears Page 2
