An Alpha's Tempest (Water Bear Shifters 4) (3 page)

Ben furrowed his brow in thought. Although the whole crew was smart, he was known as the brains in the group. Whenever a particularly complicated problem arose, the crew usually asked him to step up and figure it out. And he had never let them down yet. Well, until now. He hadn’t been able to figure out the scientists’ location yet. But he would. He wasn’t giving up until those men were stopped. And organizing a network of bear shifters gave him the opportunity to take some action, instead of sitting here making himself crazy by going over the same notes again and again.

“Sure, I’ll do it,” Ben said. “I’ve got a few ideas that might work.”

“Awesome. Thank you so much,” Neal said. “Should we plan to reconvene for another in-person meeting in a month or so to get updates on your process?”

“Yeah, a month should be plenty of time to get the ball rolling,” Ben said. “I’ll send out emails, too, when I get something implemented. But in-person meetings are always nice. It’s good to see everyone. Hopefully, in the not too distant future, we can meet to hang out for fun instead of just meeting to discuss the scientists’ threats.”

Neal raised his beer bottle. “Cheers to that,” he said. “You boys are gonna have to come visit Glacier Point for vacation sometime. It’s beautiful in the summer, when the sun stays up twenty-four hours a day. Everyone should see the midnight sun at least once in their life. I know the sun stays up a long time here in Kodiak, too, but it’s still not the same as the complete twenty-four hours of sunlight we get back home.”

“We’d love to take a trip up there,” Brett said. “I know the girls would love it, too. Aubrey’s been asking me when we can get out and see a bit more of Alaska. And I’m sure Jade and Caroline feel the same way, right guys?”

Ace and Lance nodded in agreement, and then Brett couldn’t resist one more stab at Ben. “Of course, Mr. Bachelor over here thinks he’s too good for women, so maybe he also thinks he’s too good to travel with a bunch of old married couples.”

“Shut up,” Ben said, launching a throw pillow in the direction of Brett’s face as the rest of the group laughed. Brett easily ducked and missed the shot, and Ben just rolled his eyes.

“You guys are just jealous because I’m not tied down like you. But enough talking. Who wants to order some takeout? These snacks are good, but I need something else to keep this bear appetite of mine satisfied.”

“I’d love to order some food,” Lance said. “Caroline’s been on one of her artist kicks and has been painting all week, so she’s barely even thought about food. I’ve been eating microwave dinners at home, and it’s not cutting it. I need some real fuel.”

“Alright, let me grab some takeout menus from the kitchen, then, so we can figure out what we want,” Ben said as he stood. Just then, the mobile phones of all the men sounded an alarm in unison. Ben frowned and looked down at his phone to see a weather alert flashing.

“Big storms coming through,” Ace said, looking at his phone, too. “It’s supposed to be that way all weekend. I have a feeling our on-call shift on Sunday is going to result in several actual missions.”

“Yup,” Ben agreed, sliding his phone back into his pocket. “All the more reason to fuel up now. I’ll go get those menus.”

Ben glanced out his kitchen window at the ominously gray skies as he grabbed the menus. It was definitely going to be a busy weekend for the Coast Guard Rescue Crews. Ben smiled. These were the weekends he lived for—the adrenaline had already started pumping through his veins. He looked up at the clouds and winked, before issuing a challenge to the gathering storm.

“Bring it on, Alaska. Bring it on.”

Rhythm shivered violently and glanced over at Evan, who, somehow, was still managing to continue breathing. Every time she looked at him, she feared she was going to see that he had finally succumbed to the disease in his body and the freezing cold of the air and water around them, but he was a tough guy. He hadn’t spoken in several hours, concentrating the entirety of his energy now on breathing in and out. But he was still breathing, at least.

For how long, though, who knew?

Rhythm wasn’t exactly sure how long they had been out here. Last night, she had seen helicopters in the distance, their searchlights sweeping over the water as a thunderstorm rolled in and the wind and waves grew progressively more violent. Her heart had leapt with hope that her mayday call had been heard, and that they would be saved soon. But, after a few hours of searching, the helicopters had turned around. Rhythm wasn’t sure if they would be back. If they had been responding to her call, and hadn’t found her, they might have given up hope and figured she had sunk to a watery grave along with her boat. Rhythm tried not to think about that possibility, even though she knew it was a very good one.

The storms had continued all night, tossing an exhausted Rhythm around on the waves like a rag doll. Morning had brought a reprieve from the rain and thunder, although the wind still blew quite briskly. Gray daylight was just beginning to peek over the horizon, its intensity muted by the thick cloud cover. Rhythm was beginning to wish that she hadn’t found the survival suits. If she had just been tossed into the water, she would have frozen to death long ago, true. But at least this would all be over by now. She had a feeling she was only prolonging the inevitable by floating around hoping for a rescue that would never come.

For another hour, as the sky continued to lighten to an even brighter gray, she floated and prayed. Every so often, she checked on Evan to make sure he was still alive. She was beginning to accept the fact that he was probably going to die, even if they were rescued soon. But at least his family would have a body to bury. Bile rose in her stomach again at the thought of what the lab had done to him. She couldn’t believe a company could hold itself out as a provider of healing medicine, and then treat human life with such disregard.

Rhythm’s eyelids drooped, and she willed herself to keep them open. She had to remain alert and keep her wits about her. The wind was picking up even more, warning of another storm’s imminent approach. She sighed, and tried to will away the tears stinging at her eyelids. She didn’t know if she could survive another round of storms, with ice-cold rain pelting her face and huge waves flinging her around with no mercy. The first few raindrops started falling and Rhythm looked over at Evan, then had to look away. She couldn’t bear to meet his eyes. His expression made it clear that he knew, as well as she did, that this was the end. They weren’t getting out of here alive.

But just as quickly as Rhythm gave up hope completely, she felt her heart leap with excitement. When she had turned away from Evan, she found herself staring at a small speck on the horizon that looked like a helicopter.

“Oh my god,” Rhythm whispered through her chattering teeth. “Please let that be a rescue helicopter. Please, please, please!”

She strained her eyes to watch, her heart pounding faster and faster as the helicopter came closer and she could clearly see its bright orange color. The words “United States Coast Guard” were visible on the side of the aircraft, and Rhythm felt the tears starting to sting at her eyes again—this time with joy.

“Come on, come on,” she said, waving her arm feebly although she knew the movement probably did nothing to help make her more visible. “Just a little more this way. Please don’t fly away again and leave us behind.”

The helicopter was flying a wide back and forth pattern in its search, and Rhythm wished more than anything that she had a flare to shoot up. But all she had was a small, blinking signal light, which wasn’t much help in the harsh gray daylight and rain. Still, she kept waving her hand and the signal light, willing the helicopter to fly closer to her.

Whether or not it was her willpower or dumb luck that caused the helicopter to fly its pattern directly toward where Rhythm and Evan were floating, Rhythm would probably never know. All she knew was that she was filled with an overwhelming sense of relief when the helicopter came to a stationary hover right above them, and a Coast Guard rescue swimmer jumped from its open door into the churning water. The tears did fall then, running down her cheeks and mixing with the rainwater that was coming down more rapidly by the second.

“Evan! Evan, we’re saved!” Rhythm cried out, looking back over at Evan. He barely blinked his eyes in response, and Rhythm felt her heart clench with regret when she looked at him. He wasn’t going to make it much longer, rescue or no rescue. Still, she put a smile on her face and tried to act upbeat for him. At least his final moments weren’t going to be spent floating in despair.

The rescue swimmer had reached them now, his strong arms cutting easily through the violent waves. He paused for a moment to look back up at the helicopter and gave them some kind of signal, which they responded to by beginning to lower a large basket from the aircraft door. Then the man turned back to face Rhythm.

“I’m petty officer Brett Smith with the United States Coast Guard. You’re going to be okay,” he said, introducing himself.

Rhythm felt her tears flowing faster at the soothing, confident sound of his voice. “We’ve been out here all night,” she choked out. “I was beginning to give up hope.”

“You’re okay now,” Brett said. “We’ve got you. I’m going to lift you up in the rescue basket, and then lift your friend.” Brett began untying the rope that held Rhythm and Evan together in the water.

“You should lift him first,” Rhythm said. “He’s really sick. I don’t think he’s going to make it much longer, to be honest.”

Brett looked over at Evan, who managed to lift a hand in greeting. Rhythm suddenly realized that Evan’s bear feet were going to have to be explained once his survival suit came off, and she got a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach. But she would have to worry about that later. Right now, she just needed to make sure Evan got out of this water as soon as possible. The rescue basket had been completely lowered to them now, but Brett wasn’t moving toward it. He was treading water, and staring at Evan with a funny expression on his face.

“How do you know this guy?” he asked, giving Rhythm a suspicious look.

“Uh, I met him at work,” Rhythm said, keeping her statement vague. She was trying to see whether any of Evan’s tufts of fur were showing or something. Why was Brett so suspicious all of a sudden?

Brett just nodded. He took a deep, purposeful breath, and then got back to the business at hand.

“Okay, I’m going to get him in the basket and the crew in the bird will lift him up. As soon as he’s safely inside the chopper, they’ll lower the basket back down and I’ll send you up. Don’t worry, though. I’m going to stay down here with you to make sure you’re okay until the rescue basket comes back.

Rhythm nodded, and watched silently as Brett slid Evan into the basket with some effort. Although Brett was obviously very strong, Evan was a tall man, and getting him situated in the basket in the midst of the swirling waves was no easy task. As soon as Brett felt satisfied that Evan was secure, he gave a thumbs up sign to the helicopter, and the crew above them started pulling the rescue basket back in. Once the basket had cleared the water, Brett spoke into the radio that was located inside his mask and goggles.

“Take a close look at this one, Lance,” Brett said, glancing sideways toward Rhythm as he spoke. “I think he’s one of us. I’m not sure if the other survivor is aware.”

Rhythm frowned, not sure what Brett meant by that, but feeling a little like she was being talked about in secret code. She didn’t have much time to worry about it, though, because soon the rescue basket was being lowered again, and Brett was helping her into it. She held on tightly to the sides as the basket started lifting upward, leaving a large stream of water behind it as it came away from the surface of the water. Rhythm shuddered as she took in the wide expanse of water all around them. She could hardly believe that the crew had been able to find her out here, but she was extraordinarily grateful.

When the basket reached the helicopter, another huge, muscular man pulled her in and helped her out of the basket.

“I’m Lance,” the man said, flashing her a confident smile. “I’ll be taking care of you for the ride back to the air base. Sit tight for me for a minute while I get Brett out of the water, and then I’ll help you and your friend out.”

Lance made sure Rhythm was safely seated on the side of the helicopter next to where Evan was lying, and then he turned his attention back to the open door of the aircraft. Rhythm watched as he started lowering a huge rope out the door. She could hear the chirping of his headset as he communicated by radio with the pilots and Brett.

“Both survivors safely on board,” Lance said. “Rescue swimmer is attached to hoist cable and ready to lift.”

The helicopter lurched back and forth every now and then from the gusts of stormy wind, but the pilots seemed to do an excellent job of keeping the aircraft steady. A few moments later, Brett appeared in the door of the helicopter and climbed in with Lance’s assistance. After unclipping himself from the hoist cable, Brett shut the door.

“Swimmer on board. Let’s head back to the air station,” Lance said into his headset. Rhythm felt the helicopter turning around and picking up speed, and she glanced out the window to see the gray waves rushing by below them. She shivered, hardly believing that she had been down in those waves for well over twelve hours.

The next thing she knew, Brett was kneeling next to her, helping her take off her rescue suit and giving her the warmest blanket she had ever felt in her life. He offered her some water, and she took a few sips, but her throat was so dry that it had become swollen, and it was hard to squeeze the liquid down her throat.

Suddenly, she realized that Lance, who had been leaning over Evan to take his vitals, was beginning to take off Evan’s survival suit.

“Wait! Stop!” Rhythm said, feeling panicked. Lance glanced up at her in surprise, a questioning look in his eye.

Rhythm faltered for a moment. How was she going to explain to these military men that Evan was a bear shifter, but that he wasn’t dangerous and really just wanted to go home to die with his family? She didn’t want them to cause trouble for Evan. Not when he’d been through so much already.

“Ma’am?” Lance asked, his hands paused on the zipper of Evan’s suit. “Did you want to say something? Your friend is severely hypothermic and dehydrated. I need to get him some medical attention as soon as possible.”

“It’s just…listen, um, he’s really sick,” Rhythm said.

“I can see that,” Lance said, starting to grow impatient. “That’s why I need to help him out quickly.”

“No, I mean, he’s
really
sick. Not just from hypothermia. From a virus. And he’s probably going to die from it and there’s not much anyone can do. He just wants to go home to die with his family. You’re going to see when you take off his survival suit that he’s a little, uh, different, from normal humans. But please just help him and don’t make a big deal out of it. He’s harmless, and only wants one last chance to see his clan. I mean family. One last chance to see his family.”

Lance and Brett exchanged glances, and both were silent for a moment. Brett started to say something, but Lance held up a hand to stop him.

“It’s okay, ma’am,” Lance said. “We’ll take good care of your friend, no matter how different he is. We can talk about it later, but right now we just need to get him some medical attention.”

Rhythm nodded, thinking that they had no idea just how different Evan actually was. But what choice did she have other than to let them help him? She sat quietly, wrapping her blanket tightly around herself and trying not to appear as panicked as she felt.

“What’s going on back there?” a voice came squawking through Brett’s headset as one of the pilots spoke to him. “Is the guy one of us, like you thought?”

Brett glanced at Rhythm, and then at Lance. Lance, who was already halfway finished with unfastening the survival suit, nodded up at Brett.

“Yeah,” Brett said. “Definitely a bear shifter. Looks like a grizzly.

“No shit!” the pilot said. “Is the girl a shifter?”

“No, she’s human. But she seems to know about him.”

“How does she know him?”

“I’m not sure. We’ll get to that later. Right now we need to focus on taking care of the guy. He looks really sick, and it looks awfully similar to me to the virus that killed off the pandas in the Great Epidemic.”

Rhythm swung her head around in surprise at Brett’s words. This guy knew about bear shifters, and about the pandas being wiped out by a virus? She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again promptly. She wasn’t even quite sure what she wanted to ask at the moment. Her head was swimming in confusion.

“Shit,” came the pilot’s voice again. “If it is a virus like that, this guy’s not gonna make it.”

“Shit is right,” Lance said, as he finished taking off Evan’s survival suit. “Guys, we have a problem. We can’t take this guy back to the air base.”