“What is the big deal?” Juliet asked, raising her palms to the air.
“Look at this,” Quinn said, rushing toward her and pulling down the neck of her shirt.
What Juliet saw marking Quinn’s skin made her mouth drop open in shock. There were bite marks, deep in Quinn’s neck. They had healed over somewhat but the marks were still fresh.
“What is that?” Juliet demanded.
“You know what this is,” Quinn snapped, tears glistening in her eyes.
“I do know what it is, but how did you get it?” Juliet asked.
Quinn let go of her shirt and turned away, crossing her arms over her chest and tilting her face toward the floor. She sniffled and frowned, looking as if she might lose it at any moment. She breathed a heavy sigh and turned back to Juliet.
“I got it by being stupid,” Quinn admitted.
“What happened last night?”
“I went to the brewery with Drew. That beer is like super alcoholic or something. I don’t know what the fuck happened. One minute we were in his brewery, drinking that beer, and the next minute we were in his bed.
“Why did you let him mark you?” Juliet asked.
“That’s not all I let him do,” Quinn said, flopping her arms down at her sides.
“What are you talking about? Tell me what happened, Quinn.”
“We had sex. It was mind-blowing, from what I can remember. I felt so alive. On fire. Like I’d never felt with any other man. I wanted him. I wanted him to fill me with his seed. I wanted to know what it felt like to be his. To be owned by him completely.”
“Did you have unprotected sex last night?” Juliet asked.
“Yes. I asked him to come inside me. I asked him to mark me. After he told me he believed I was his fated mate, something happened to me. It’s almost like I lost my mind. I couldn’t help it.”
“You asked for it? Why?”
“I wanted it. I truly did. But now I regret it. Do you have any idea what being marked by a shifter means?”
“Of course I do, Quinn. I’m dating a shifter,” Juliet said.
“Then you know how serious this is. This essentially means that I’m his…wife,” Quinn said.
“What are you going to do?” Juliet asked.
Quinn had always been impulsive, but this was a whole new level. How could she let a shifter mark her when she was just going to change her mind the next day? It was stupid and unfair. It made Juliet realize how she was being to Levi. He’d given her everything a woman could ask for, and she was rejecting him for being so wonderful to her.
“I’m going to have to leave,” Quinn said.
“Leave?”
“I can’t see him again.” Quinn started throwing clothes into her suitcase.
“Don’t you even want to say goodbye?”
“I can’t. Don’t you understand?”
“I don’t think you’re being fair.”
Quinn looked up at Juliet, her eyes big and wet. She pressed her lips together in a hard line and a tear slid down her face.
“Don’t you think I know that? Do you think I want to hurt him? Those feelings I had last night, they were real. I still feel them. But it’s not natural to feel that way. It was like some kind of shifter spell. I can’t explain it, but I don’t think it’s right. Feelings that strong, they can’t last forever. He confused me somehow with his talk of being fated mates. It’s just going to turn out like every other stupid relationship I’ve ever been in. I can’t take that, not with him.”
“A shifter spell? Seriously?”
“I don’t know. It was pheromones or something.”
“Or maybe it is fate?” Juliet said.
Every word Quinn spoke made Juliet feel more willing to commit to Levi.
“Do you believe in fate?” Quinn asked, zipping up her suitcase.
“As much as I believe in spells,” Juliet said sarcastically.
“No matter what it is, it’s not natural. Things just don’t work that way. I have to leave now, Juliet.”
“Aren’t you going to tell him why?”
Quinn the slid into the desk chair and jotted a note down on a piece of lodge stationary. She stood and shoved the folded piece of paper into Juliet’s hands.
“Give this to him. My shuttle leaves in ten minutes,” Quinn said.
Juliet reached out to give her friend a hug. Quinn’s body was stiff and anxious as she returned her friend’s embrace. Quinn pulled away and hurried to the door, turning back to Juliet to say, “Thank you,” before disappearing out the door.
Juliet sighed and looked down at the paper. She left it folded, not wanting to intrude on her friend’s private communication. She hated to be the one to give the message to Drew. Juliet knew that Quinn needed someone to help her now. Her friend had gotten herself into a predicament, and Juliet would be there for her just like she always was for the people she cared about.
Now Juliet had to go find Charlotte and comfort her through the stress of having her groom missing the day before the wedding. With all of Quinn’s drama, Juliet had almost forgotten about Charlotte. Levi had told her there was a walkie-talkie in his office, and that she could ask Kelly, the receptionist, to get it for her if she needed anything while he was up at Alpha Station.
Juliet took the elevator down to the lobby and asked Kelly to help her find the walkie-talkie in Levi’s office. The middle-aged woman smiled at Juliet and asked her to follow her down a staff hallway along the side of the kitchen behind the dining room. They came to Levi’s office door. Kelly unlocked it and opened it for Juliet to walk inside. Both women looked around the well-organized office that displayed Levi’s degrees and military accomplishments, a tidy desk, rows of bookshelves and a comfortable seating area in the corner. It was exactly the kind of well-functioning office she could imagine Levi working in.
“Here it is,” Kelly said, walking toward a bookshelf.
Kelly plucked it off the shelf and handed it to Juliet. After thanking Kelly, Juliet hurried back upstairs. She stood outside Charlotte’s door and stopped for a moment, letting out a soft sigh. Poor Charlotte. Juliet knew this must be really hard for her. Not only was it the day before her wedding, her beloved fiancé was missing on the treacherous, snowy mountain. Juliet rapped her knuckles on the door and a moment later, it opened.
Charlotte’s face was worried and her eyes were rimmed with red. She beckoned Juliet into the room and closed the door behind them. The two women sat down in the armchairs beside the window and Charlotte looked up at Juliet hopefully.
“Have they discovered anything new?” Charlotte asked.
“They found some tracks in the snow. Another wilderness expert was added to the team,” Juliet explained, not wanting to give Charlotte any bad news.
“Where did the tracks lead?” Charlotte asked.
“They’re still following them,” Juliet said, only slightly bending the truth.
“What’s that walkie-talkie for?” Charlotte asked.
“I can use it to contact Levi up at Alpha Station.”
“Can we contact him now?”
“In a minute. I wanted to ask you if Quinn told you anything about last night.”
Juliet still had the note wrapped up in her back pocket.
“What’s going on with Quinn?” Charlotte asked.
Juliet had to think fast. She didn’t want to have to add any drama to Charlotte’s life. Telling her Quinn’s personal business wasn’t her decision to make. But Quinn had left, leaving Charlotte with one less bridesmaid. As the maid of honor, Juliet had to say something to salvage Charlotte’s faith that the wedding wouldn’t be a disaster.
“Quinn got really sick. She has to go back to Portland to see the doctor.”
“Oh my God. Is she okay?” Charlotte asked, momentarily forgetting her own troubles.
“She should be, after she sees the doctor.”
“What’s wrong with her?”
“She had alcohol poisoning.”
“H
er health is more important than walking down the aisle in my wedding. Can we contact Levi now?” Charlotte’s voice quivered.
“Of course,” Juliet said, trying to figure out how to use the walkie-talkie.
She finally figured out what button to press and hesitantly brought the gadget to her face.
“Juliet to Alpha Station,” she said, copying the lingo they had used up on the mountain.
“This is Levi,” he said.
“You have any updates?” Juliet asked.
“Shane is skirting around the southern side of the mountain, meeting Drew and the others from a different direction.”
“Has he found anything?” Juliet asked.
“Since he’s in bear form, I have no idea,” he said.
“What?” Charlotte said, baffled.
“Thanks, Levi.” She could hear him chuckle before the walkie-talkie blipped out.
“They have more acute senses in animal form,” Juliet explained.
“But they still can’t find Harry,” Charlotte said, covering her face with her hands.
“Don’t worry, Charlotte,” Juliet said, patting her friends back. “These guys are the best. If anyone can find Harry, it’s the Rescue Bears.”
Charlotte began to sob softly into her hands, and Juliet looked out the window. The sun was setting over the western mountains, tinting the lake water with a pink and orange glow. It would be dark soon, making it harder to find Harry. Juliet sat beside her worried friend, hoping that her date, the man who called himself her fated mate, would come through.
Chapter 14
Levi leaned against one of the poles to the canopy at Alpha Station. Corey’s keyboard clicked behind him as he waited for updates from his crew. Night had fallen and the chances of a successful rescue had plummeted. It was Harry’s second night in the forest and prospects for his survival were not good.
Corey’s software had analyzed the data and suggested Shane go around the southern perimeter of the mountain to join Drew. Corey’s data analysis had never been wrong before, but Levi was beginning to have his doubts.
Shane couldn’t give updates in bear form. Angus and Zach were closing in on Drew’s location and none of them had picked up Harry’s trail. With so much on the line, failure was not an option. If his rescue crew couldn’t find the groom, it would not be good for business. Levi rubbed his forehead and looked at Corey.
“Does your magical computer have anything new to add?” Levi asked.
“It isn’t magic. It’s rudimentary artificial intelligence using probability generation algorithms.”
Levi had no idea what that meant but smirked and nodded his head as if he did. Shane had been out on the mountain for several hours now. If he was going to help the crew, it was about time he did something.
The walkie-talkie buzzed awake with Angus’s voice. “Big Bear to Alpha Station. I am now at Brew Bear’s location.”
“Ski Bear. What is your location?”
“Closing in on Brew Bear and Big Bear,” Zach said over the walkie-talkie. “Nothing new to report.”
“Dammit,” Levi said to Corey.
“How are things going with the girl you met on Mate.com?” Corey said, changing the subject.
“They were going fine. But I think I messed it up by moving too fast.”
“So you think she’s the one? Your fated mate?”
“I do. I don’t know how she feels about it, though. She’s a human, so her instincts are different from mine. I can’t just present her with a diamond ring two days after meeting her. That wouldn’t go off very well.”
“Do you want to marry this woman?” Corey asked.
“I do. She’s my mate. She’s perfect for me in every way. You should know that, since you invented the matching system,” Levi said.
“It wasn’t a question of whether or not my matching system works. It still astonishes me that people want to pair up like that.”
“This coming from a guy who’s making money off of a dating website,” Levi muttered.
“It was more about the experimentation that the money.”
“Don’t you ever want to find your mate?” Levi asked.
Corey rubbed his chin and looked away, contemplating the question.
“Not really. I’ve seen what relationships do to people. Shifters in particular. It isn’t always hearts and flowers. People get hurt. People have expectations and obligations. It doesn’t always lead to a happily ever after.”
“I’ve never seen a shifter who was with his fated mate who didn’t live happily ever after,” Levi said defensively.
“Doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.”
“I thought you are all about analyzing variables.”
“Yes, I’m about analyzing variables. If you do not mate with anyone, there is a zero percent chance of having your heart broken. In my opinion, those are excellent odds.”
“But you also have a zero percent chance of having all of the good stuff that goes along with being in love.”
“A small price to pay,” Corey said. “I don’t have time to mess around with emotions like love.”
“Suit yourself. But I’m not the only one who signed up for your dating website. I know Drew went off with one of the bridesmaids from the wedding last night.”
“We’ll see how that goes for him,” Corey said, turning back to his computer. “If you want to claim your mate, I’m not going to try to discourage you. It’s just not my thing.”
“Fair enough.”
The darkness was enveloping the camp now that the sun had set. Levi checked in with his crew every fifteen minutes, hoping each time that they would have something new to report.
It wasn’t until several hours later that Shane’s voice came over the walkie-talkie, sounding excited. “Wild Bear to Alpha Station. I think I found him.”
“How did you get a walkie-talkie, Wild Bear?”
“I snatched it in my mouth before I left. Boy, you guys are boring to listen to. Even muffled by my bear’s tongue.”
“What is your location, Wild Bear?”
Shane reported his location to Levi. Corey started inputting the information into his computer, and Levi told the rest of the crew to converge at Shane’s position.
“Chief Bear, I found strange tracks in the snow, like makeshift snowshoes leading toward the caves along the southern edge of the mountain.”
“Do you scent anything?”
“That’s what made me follow these tracks in the first place. I’m going to inspect the first cave.”
“Be careful you don’t wake up any angry bears,” Levi said, his mood lightening for the first time in hours.
He waited several minutes until Shane reported back.
“Wild Bear to Alpha Station. I have eyes on target. He’s cold. Probably has minor hypothermia and some frostbite. Requesting assistance.”
“Alpha Station to Wild Bear. The rest of the crew is on its way. Do what you can to warm him up until they get there.”
“That was a close one,” Levi said to Corey.
The rest of the crew found Shane and Harry, updating Levi every few minutes. They strapped the shivering groom to a rescue sled and began the arduous journey of pulling him out of the mountain. Shane shifted back to bear form to pull the sled back down the mountain.
The other men wrapped the groom in thermal blankets, strapped him to the sled, and helped attach it to Shane. Having Shane be responsible for the rescue of a man who was in that bad of shape gave Levi pause. At this point, however, there was no real reason not to let Shane take the reins.
Levi saw Shane’s grizzly emerge from the inky darkness at the edge of Alpha Station with Harry’s sled in tow. The EMTs, who had arrived several minutes before, hurried to take Harry and put him into the ambulance.
The rest of the crew arrived about an hour later, and they worked together to break down Alpha Station. Corey was the first to leave with his computers in the back of his SUV. Drew and Angus drove back into town togethe
r, and Shane took his motorcycle back down the mountain. That left Levi alone in the darkness where Alpha Station had once been.
He wasn’t quite sure why he hesitated to leave. Corey’s words about fated mate relationships not always working out had gotten inside him and were messing with his mind. He knew that Juliet was the one. He could sense that beyond a shadow of a doubt. Every fated mate relationship he had ever known, be it with a shifter or a human, had worked out in the end. Levi was from a wealthy family and traveled in prosperous social circles. Perhaps it had insulated him in privilege.
Even the best relationships could be rocked to the core by prejudice and poverty, two things many shifters had to deal on a daily basis growing up. Levi got into his car before driving down the road to the highway. When he arrived back at the lodge, he noticed a text message on his phone from Juliet.
Harry will be fine. Wedding is still on for tomorrow.
What a relief. Harry certainly was a brave man to go from being lost in the mountains to the groom at a wedding the next day. Levi had a feeling he knew what love could do for a man. He wanted that for himself. He texted Juliet back, letting her know he had arrived at the lodged.
Just made it back. Good to know everything will be all right with the happy couple.
He had hoped that she would text him back by the time he arrived at his apartment, but his cell phone stayed quiet. Levi took a shower and climbed into bed, more grateful than ever for his comfortable home in his comfortable life.
As confused as he felt, he would have to sort it out in the morning. No matter what Corey said, Levi could not argue with his bear’s need for a mate. The man in him needed exactly the same thing. He wanted Juliet. She belonged to him. He wanted cubs to leave his legacy to. No amount of pain could make him stop wanting any of those things.
Chapter 15
Juliet woke up the next morning to find Levi’s text on her phone. She had been fast asleep when he’d arrived the night before and regretted not being awake to greet him. After Quinn’s speedy departure, Juliet knew what she needed to do.