She had never expected to actually be matched with anyone when she'd signed up. She wondered what he was like, and what he was doing right now.
Justin had scared off every boy and man who ever could have taken what he called her “flower”. Now she was twenty-two years old and had never been touched. Except by Justin.
She recoiled in revulsion, thinking about every time he had done something to her. Right then, he burst into her tent with a frown on his face.
"What are you doing, Lola?" Justin yelled.
"I'm just getting ready," she said, patting the last of the moisture out of her hair.
"You aren't even dressed yet. If we can’t run this operation efficiently, then we’re wasting our time," he said.
Lola grumbled under her breath and pulled thermal underwear over her damp t-shirt.
Justin walked toward her as if he was going to grab her. Out of nowhere came the sound of digital pinging. Both of them stood stock still in their steps. Justin glared at her. She gasped, pressing her hands to her heart.
"What is that?" Justin demanded. "Do you have a cell phone in here?"
"Of course not!"
Her heart was beating a million miles a minute. He stormed past her, toward her cot, and lifted the thin mattress off the base. She'd hidden it in a dugout spot in the frame, but he felt around and found it easily. He pulled it out and shoved it into her face.
"This is a cell phone!" he yelled.
Justin flicked his hand across the screen and looked at what had made the pinging.
"What is this? ‘Lola, please wait for me’, from Mate.com?" he roared.
"It's a game," she said.
She couldn't believe he’d found her phone. How had it suddenly pinged in her tent? She could never get cell reception in camp.
"I knew that carrying this Wi-Fi hotspot would come in handy," Justin said, taking a black device out of his pocket. "I'm using it to find spies, but I never expected one to be you."
"I was just bored."
"Don't think I don't know what Mate.com is. That website is exactly what we're fighting against. Those monsters can't be allowed to mate with human women. It's unnatural and disgusting. It must be stopped," Justin screamed. "I can't believe that you would subject yourself to this. Who is this shifter?"
"I don't know," she said, wondering what the text meant. He'd said “wait for me”.
"How could you do this, Lola?" Justin demanded. “I thought you supported the movement. Why are you here, little sister?" Justin said moving dangerously close to her.
He was standing over her with his hands on his hips, her cell phone crushed in his fist. He reached out and grasped her neck with his empty hand, squeezing slowly until she couldn't breathe.
He stared into her eyes. "You are on thin ice, little sister," he said. "I would watch myself if I were you."
He looked down at her, staring at the outline of her breasts under her thermal underwear. He reached up and squeezed her breast. She tried to back away but he wrapped his other arm around her and leaned down to kiss her cheek.
"You know," he said. "Today is the anniversary of our father's death. He always told me to protect you. That you are my sister. But a real sister would never betray her brother, so I guess you aren't really my sister. Are you?"
"I am your sister.”
"The way I see it, if you betray me, Lola. You aren’t my sister. And if you aren't my sister, then you're just the camp whore," Justin sneered, slowly stepping away from her and letting go of her breast.
She let out a breath she was holding and backed away.
"It was just a game," she said. "I was curious and bored, please forgive me, brother."
"I forgive you, for now," Justin said.
He turned and stormed out of her tent, her cell phone in his hand.
Lola continued getting ready for a day in the lab. She put on her thin jacket and grabbed her facemask, irritated that she had lost her cell phone. The shifter had said “wait for me”. What did that mean? Where was he going? How long would it take for him to come back?
She couldn't ask him any of those questions because Justin had taken her cell phone. He had a gun case full of electronics he’d taken from people over the last year.
He'd actually shot a man for bringing in an iPad mini into camp. Lola didn't know if the man had survived or not. All she knew was that the next day, he was gone.
Justin had suspected him of being an undercover agent, spying for the police or the FBI. Justin was paranoid, but he should be, what he was doing to the people of Fate Mountain was horribly wrong.
5
Gauge grabbed his pack and slung it over his back, following the two men up the mountain. He’d come to learn the driver’s name was Harley. The younger passenger’s name was Chris.
They drove far into the most rural parts of the mountain and parked the truck in a secluded barn at the edge of the wilderness. They went on foot from there, trudging up rough terrain, into the most remote parts of Fate Mountain.
The rocky landscape was still cold in the summer time. The pine trees grew sparse at the higher elevations and the air was thin. They continued walking through the forest, patches of frost still lay on the ground. Gauge followed the other men, walking confidently over the rough trail.
They went on for two hours before stopping in a clearing. There were three horses tethered to trees, waiting for them. They transferred their packs to the horses and climbed onto the saddles. Continuing up the mountain, at times even the horses struggled to climb. Night fell and Chris and Harley decided it was time to make camp.
They laid out a tarp and had a second to sleep under for warmth. They didn't light a fire so Harley pulled out his kerosene stove and heated a few cans of baked beans for their evening meal.
Gauge was glad to have warm food in his belly, he needed stamina for what lay ahead. He thought briefly of what he would do when he got home. Maybe he would take Lola Lockheart out to dinner at the Lodge when he returned.
He thought she would probably like that. He knew that he would definitely like that. Gauge’s bear rumbled just thinking about it. He shook his head and finished up his baked beans. He cleaned up his things, climbed in his sleeping bag under the tarp and went to sleep.
Harley and Chris only slept for a few hours before waking up again. Gauge rolled out of bed, wishing for a few more hours of sleep. He liked to get his rest, like any bear. But these guys were raring to go so he went along with them.
They packed up the camp and saddled up the horses before hitting the trail again. It was another half a day's ride before they came to the first sentry lookout on the way to the compound.
They brought the horses up the trail and into the compound. At the center of the compound was the gaping mouth of the cave. Gauge dismounted his horse and handed it off to a man who'd come to take the horses.
Inside the cave Gauge could see the laboratory equipment and massive barrels of chemicals. Everything had been packed in by horse or by foot. Unless there were some other trails that Gauge didn't know about. He was already begrudgingly impressed with the operation.
No wonder it had been so impossible for him and the rest of the bear patrol to track it down. Stonewall666 definitely had done his job. Harley and Chris told Gauge to follow them further into the compound where there were lines of tents nestled between the trunks of dense evergreen forest. There was still snow in the crevices and dark corners below craggy slopes.
Harley and Chris told Gauge to drop his pack near his cot in the tent the sentries shared. Gauge slid his pack under his cot and followed Harley and Chris outside again.
Gauge noticed that the camp didn't have any wood burning fireplaces, stoves or fire pits. They were that careful about keeping their presence unknown.
The men took Gauge on the rounds of the sentry towers, introducing him to the other guards. Everyone was packing a military grade semiautomatic rifle. They took Gauge to the main sentry tents and equipped him with similar gear
.
As they were about to leave the munitions tent, a man with jet black hair and dark eyes strode into the tent. He fisted his hands to his waist and looked Gauge up and down.
"This must be the new recruit," the man said. "Anarchy161?" he asked.
"That's right. Stonewall666?"" Gauge asked.
"Justin Lockheart," he said, reaching out to shake Gauge’s hand. “This is my compound.”
"It is an honor to be on board,” Gauge said giving Justin a salute.
"I assume Chris and Harley have informed you of our rules. We don’t allow electronics in the compound. If you’re found with electronics, you face the greatest consequence.”
"Understood," Gauge said.
Justin Lockheart stepped back and turned around to exit the tent. Now Gauge had a name and face. This was his kingpin. The leader of this drug pushing militia was Justin Lockheart. Gauge had his man.
He knew he needed to play it cool and gain their trust. He needed to find the right moment to call in the Bear Patrol. From what he'd seen in the munitions tent, direct assault on the camp could mean the loss of many lives. That was the last thing Gauge wanted.
He followed Chris and Harley out of the tent and up the trail toward the sentry tower for his first shift. The sentry getting off duty climbed down the ladder. Just as Gauge was about to climb up into the lookout, he smelled the most intoxicating fragrance he’d ever smelled. Lemons and roses and apple pie. He turned abruptly and saw her standing there. It was Lola Lockheart. Of course, Justin Lockheart’s sister.
Gauge felt his heart quake inside him, and his bear charged against the back of his mind, roaring. He had to force himself to change his body language so Chris and Harley wouldn't catch on. He turned back to them and frowned.
"There's a woman in the camp," he grumbled.
"It's Justin's stepsister," Chris said. “You aren’t allowed to talk to her.”
"She's the only woman in the camp," Harley said apologetically.
"I thought we were all living by the ideals we discussed on the deep web, but I understand why Justin would want to protect his stepsister," Gauge said.
“She’s not allowed to leave,” Chris said. “Remember that.”
Not allowed to leave? Was Justin keeping her here? Gauge wanted to asked, but left it for now. His inner bear was going mad. It had never been so excited in his life. The polar bear was roaring and pacing back and forth behind Gauge’s eyes. It pawed at the ground with a tortured roar.
Gauge squeezed his eyes closed and then opened them again before climbing quickly up the ladder. He hunkered down in the deer blind, doing his job as a sentry for the camp.
The blind was equipped with binoculars. Gauge took them off the hook and brought them up to his eyes. He had a three hundred sixty degree view if he leaned around the tree trunk. As he was looking through the binoculars, he took a slow sweep of the area and scanned over Lola. He stopped to watch her.
She looked the same as she did in her picture. Maybe a little thinner, but pretty and curvy. Her hair was thick and lustrous, bouncing around her shoulders over the thin camo jacket she wore. She was walking into the forest by herself. Gauge wanted more than anything in the world to follow her and to speak to her.
Had she gotten his text?
Then Gauge considered it. Did Justin allow Lola to have electronics? Was she in on this crystal operation?
He watched his mate disappear into the dark forest, and Gauge knew that she couldn't be a part of this place. He couldn’t believe his girl wanted to hurt all of the people Justin Lockheart had hurt. Chris said she wasn’t allowed to leave. Gauge imagined that the young woman caught up in this circle of sociopaths probably didn't stand much of a chance to have her own life. The idea that Justin Lockheart was keeping her here disgusted him to the core.
That must be it. Why else would she be here? She would never do what Justin Lockheart had done to the people of Fate Mountain. He could sense deep in his heart that she was a kind and generous soul who would never want to hurt anyone.
He knew at that moment that the most important thing in his life was to protect Lola and to save her from her stepbrother.
6
Lola came back from the forest holding a pail of the first huckleberries of the season. She had taken to harvesting wild food for her own sustenance because the camp so often lacked anything other than military rations and wild game.
The men in the campout compound were more than happy to go hunting, but if she wanted to eat anything other than meat and flour three meals a day, she had to go and find it herself.
The pipeline up and down the mountain was so crowded with transporting crystal there was little space for anything else. Justin did keep a store of things like sugar and coffee, but most of those things he kept for himself and his closest advisers. Lola was not among them.
Justin didn't trust her at all and he never had. Part of it was because she was a woman, and in his personal philosophy, women were not built for leadership. Something about how women were put on earth to be cared for and protected by men. He had some pretty strange ideas, which she wouldn't really have cared about if not for the fact that he was keeping her prisoner in his psycho land.
She emerged from the woods, popping a huckleberry into her mouth. When she looked at the tree line across the compound, she saw a man emerging from a lookout. It must have been a new guy because she didn't recognize him at all.
When he turned and stepped into the bright sunlight, Lola had to take a step back. There was something about him that absolutely glowed in her eyes. She wanted to reach out and touch the light. Where had he come from? How could any man who supported Justin seem so delicious? She looked away and continued past the guard tower where the man stood.
He caught up to her and spoke. She was so lost in anxiety that she hadn't heard what he said. She turned to face him, fear and longing mingling in her heart.
"What?" she gasped.
"I asked where the latrine is?" he said with an uncomfortable look on his face.
The man had a dark beard and dark hair with shining brown eyes that invited her deep into his soul. He rubbed the back of his neck as if he were embarrassed by his question.
"The latrines are across the compound behind the tents," she said, pointing in the direction of the latrines.
"Thank you," he muttered. "What's your name?"
"I'm Lola Lockheart," she said challengingly. "I'm Justin Lockheart’s stepsister."
"I heard he had a woman in the camp," the man said. "But I had no idea that she was so beautiful."
His skin flushed behind his tan, and he looked like he had just put his foot in his mouth. Lola rolled her eyes and started to walk away.
"I'm not supposed to talk to you," she warned. “And if you want to keep your head attached to your body, I suggest you don't speak to me again."
"Sorry," he muttered. "I just needed to know where the latrines are and I noticed that you are really pretty and… Never mind. Thanks for the help."
"Don't mention it. Seriously, don't mention it," she said, walking towards her tent.
She'd spent the last twelve hours mixing drugs and another hour harvesting huckleberries. She was ready for some rest. But instead she found Chris sitting on her cot looking at her irritably.
"What are you doing in my tent, Chris?" she said, sitting in the one other folding chair she had next to her table.
She’d known Chris since elementary school, and he was one of the few people Justin ever let talk to her. Lola suspected Justin would eventually give her to Chris as a prize for his loyalty.
She set the bucket on the table and started eating the huckleberries. Chris rose from her cot and dipped his dirty hand into her bucket, taking a huge portion of what she’d harvested. She looked up at him with a shocked expression, her mouth hanging open.
"What?" he asked. "We share everything here."
"Then why haven't I had any coffee in the last six months?" she asked.
"You can take that up with Justin," he said.
"What are you doing in here, Chris? This is my private place. Justin wouldn’t like you in here.”
“Justin is suspicious of you. I would hate to see something happen to you if he questions your loyalty. I’ve always seen you as a friend.”
“That’s great, Chris,” she said, hiding her sarcasm. “I see you as a friend too.”
“Justin told me you had a cell phone," Chris said, folding his arms.
"Just because I had a cell phone, doesn't mean that I'm not loyal to Justin. It just means I’m bored out of my mind. I haven't been off this mountain in a year. I'm sick of it. So I had a cell phone? It doesn't mean anything," she said.
"He said you signed up for Mate.com. That shifter/human dating website," Chris said. "Is that true?"
"I was just messing around. I told you; I'm bored."
"How can you be bored with so much to do?"
"I'll tell you a little secret, Chris. Believe it or not, cooking crystal was never my dream as a little girl."
"You never were very ambitious," Chris said, moving to the tent flap.
Lola didn't want to counter his logic by informing him that not wanting to be a drug dealer was not the same as not being ambitious. But she didn't bother. Chris was so far up Justin's butt that she didn't think he could ever come out.
His one saving grace was that he wasn't quite the psychopath her stepbrother happened to be. Not that Justin wasn't trying to change that.
7
Gauge didn't know what had gotten into him. One of the first things they’d told him was that he couldn't talk to Lola, but he had walked up to her and talked to her anyway. And of all the things he could've said, he asked her where the latrine was. What was he thinking?
He realized he wasn't thinking. It was his bear who was doing the thinking, and he couldn't let it happen again. Ever since he’d been matched with Lola on Mate.com, he hadn't been able to get her out of his mind. Then he came to find her at the compound, in the middle of his undercover investigation.