Burning Rescue: BBW Werebear Firefighter Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Scarlett Mountain Firefighter Werebear Shifters Book 1) (3 page)

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Donovan headed up the trail on his ATV. The guys had the small blaze on Applewood almost under control. The winds were not cooperating and the unusually high temperature today made the fire all but impossible to completely contain and it could easily flare up overnight. He looked down the embankment as he rode up the trail. Isabelle hadn't been seen by anyone since she'd left the hotel for her hike. Several hikers reported going up trail two mid-morning and had not seen her. Donovan shuddered to think what would happen to this young woman if she had to spend the night alone on the mountain. There were mountain lions and other predators she could encounter. If she had fallen and been injured, she could be very difficult to reach.

The sun was already beginning to set and the light would be soon gone. At the peak of the trail, he had yet to see her. "Son of a bitch! Where are you?" Frustrated, Donovan stopped the ATV and climbed off. He retrieved his binoculars and scoured the hillside for any evidence of the missing young woman. The light faded and the hillside twilight glow made it difficult to make out the embankment at the bottom of the hill. There was a creek closer to trail one, but the hikers had all been told to avoid trail one due to the smoke.

His brothers had been able to keep the fire from coming over the mountain despite the high southwesterly winds. The setting sun and lessening evening winds would definitely help them get an advantage overnight. Scanning the grounds for any sign of her was proving fruitless. Donovan headed back to his ATV to grab his phone. Zak and Colton should be headed back from Applewood and could help him.

"Fuck! What the fuck?" Donovan feverishly searched his bag for his phone. "FUCK!" He realized that he's left it on his desk. "Damnit!" Donovan kicked a rock and it rolled down the hill. Donovan hopped back on his ATV and tore ass down the trail back to the firehouse. The tires screeched to a halt and he nearly ran into the wall as he jumped off and ran to his desk. Zak and Colton were on his computer watching a replay of the weather forecast. "Don, she's saying winds will be calm until about midnight and then they're supposed to shift and come from the north tomorrow."

"Great! Fucking great!"

"What's going on?" Colton asked.

"Fucking hiker is missing, and I can't find her. Laylah says she wasn't properly dressed, and she isn't answering her phone. It's probably dead. I hope she's not. Fuck!"

"Alright, take a deep breath, man. You need to calm down so you can think clearly. What trail was she on?"

"Laylah said she was told to go up trail two. They were told to let all the hikers know not to use trail one today because of the smoke."

"And you didn't see any signs of her on trail two? Is it possible that they didn't tell her and she took trail one?"

"I suppose. I don't know what that new desk clerk is doing down there. First she checked her in when she wasn't back, so who knows if they even told her which trail to take. Damnit!"

"It's fucking dark out now. If she's conscious, she's probably scared shitless by now."

"Okay, we're here to help. Seriously, take a deep breath. We'll find her. She's going to be okay."

Donovan grabbed his phone off his desk and frantically dialed. "Laylah, did anyone there tell Isabelle Wilson to take trail two, or did you just assume that's the one she took?"

"Um, Jen said that she told her to take trail two, that she told everyone to take trail two after you put down the order."

"You said that she left first thing this morning. When did she leave on her hike?"

"It says in the log that she left about a quarter till eight."

"Laylah! We put the order out at 9:00 to close trail one."

"I'm sorry. Amber checked the box for trail two on the hiker sign-out sheet."

"Son of a bitch!" Donovan slammed his phone down and covered his face.

"What? Do you think she took trail one?" Zak and Colton exchanged glances. "Dude, I've never seen you so worked up about a missing hiker like this. You need to breathe. We'll find her, okay?" As captain, Donovan always remained cool and collected. This was a side of him that none of his brothers had ever seen.

"Yeah, we better fucking find her quick. Listen, I'm going to head back up there. I'll scour trail one and bring her back. You guys stay here. I've got my phone. I'll call you if I need any help. Just keep an eye on the fucking wind. Head over there immediately if there are any flare-ups."

Donovan headed back out on his ATV. Sweat glistened on his brow and the cool night air felt good pouring over him and cooling his enraged skin. Trying to find her in the dark could be all but impossible. Smoke poured past him as he climbed trail one. Even as a firefighter, he never got used to the way smoke burned his eyes and throat. As he reached the midway point of the trail, his ATV began to sputter.

"Fuck! Not now." Donovan looked down at the gauges and realized that he had ignored the flashing red light indicating that the fuel tank was empty. He climbed off the ATV and grabbed his flashlight. He shone the heavy beam of light down the hill. A beam of light bounced back into his eyes. Walking toward the light, he realized it was a cell phone. He picked it up and saw that the front face had been obliterated. The case was light pink with black flowers. He turned the flashlight so that the beam shone on the creek below.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket to call Zak. "No signal? Really? Come on!" Donovan shoved the phone back into his pocket.

*******

As the sun set and the sky grew darker, Isabelle tried not to panic. Her ass ached from sitting on the hard ground, and twigs and random dry blades of grass irritated her arms when she lay down. The stars began to peek out one by one. Stars continued to appear as the sky darkened, and Isabelle was soon covered in a virtual astral blanket above her. She sobbed periodically as the pain from her leg radiated through her body in waves. Rolling over onto her stomach, she again tried to crawl toward the top of the hill. As she put pressure on her knee, a fierce pain shot through her and she fell flat on her face. She managed to push herself over onto her back and looked up the stars.

"Just my luck, I get asked out on a date by the sexiest man I've ever seen, and now I'm going to die out here, alone on this mountain. Probably get eaten by a cougar when I could be getting eaten out by a firefighter right now. I'm so fucking stupid." The sound of her own voice offered little comfort.

Exhausted, she could barely keep her eyes open. A tear rolled down her cheek as she closed her eyes.

*******

His bear remembered her scent. Donovan had been in denial about his dream woman being the missing hiker. He hoped that it wasn't her and that she was safe in her hotel room, but deep down he knew that it was her out here somewhere, scared and alone. Of course it was a new moon, so there was little to help him see. Donovan's firefighter brothers were all bears, but nobody in town knew their secret. At least, he hoped nobody knew. Alone in the dark, he needed to find her soon. The temperature would probably drop into the low thirties tonight and he shuddered when he thought about how the cold would affect her if she spent the night out here.

"Where are you, Isabelle?" Donovan set her phone down on the seat of his ATV. He hoped that the shape her phone was in wasn't an indication of her condition. "You've got to be around her somewhere." Donovan took a deep breath and looked up at the stars. This mountain and the view were breathtaking. The blanket of stars above felt like a billion helpers guiding him to his dream girl. Donovan thought of Isabelle's beautiful smile and amazing body. Instead of being out here in the cold, he wished she was in his warm bed with her breasts pushed up against his chest while he ran his fingers through her chocolate brown hair. He heard rustling toward the creek and raised his flashlight to see what it was. On the hill toward the creek he spotted a tennis shoe. The rustling noise stopped and he saw the source out of the corner of his eye. A mountain lion was perched on a rock next to the water and was watching something or someone.

As much as he wanted to avoid it, he no longer had a choice. Luckily, he was able to shift without removing his clothes. This neat trick was part of the curse Donovan and his brothers bore. Over the years, he and his brothers had avoided some potentially awkward situations by not having to strip naked in order to shift. Donovan shifted into his bear and headed toward the mountain lion. He hoped that the big cat would be easily scared off without too much of a fight. He crept closer to the animal and he soon saw what the mountain lion was watching. Isabelle was lying on the ground on her back. Her jeans were torn and he could see that she was bloody. She looked like she was unconscious. As he approached her, he could smell her and see that she was breathing. He felt relieved that her injuries didn't look too bad. The mountain lion looked aloof. He sat perched watching his prey. Donovan headed toward the rock hoping to get the big cat to run away. It didn't budge. Slowly, he crept closer to the big cat, creating a target between it and Isabelle.

Donovan locked eyes with the cat. Its ears went back as it let out a growl. He needed to establish the upper hand and run the cat away from her. The big cat leapt off the rock and landed on top of him. Its teeth sank into the back of his neck and Donovan stood up on his back legs, throwing the cat from his back. He turned and charged after the cat and swiped its face with his razor-sharp claws. A bloodcurdling scream shocked him and they both looked in the direction of the scream. Isabelle was on her belly, trying to army crawl away from them. The cat lunged in her direction and Donovan forcefully knocked his weight into the cat blocking it away from her. The bear showed no signs of stopping and the angry cat soon realized that on this night, it was no match for the powerful bear. It quickly dashed away up the hill and was soon out of sight.

Isabelle was sobbing and trying to crawl away. She let out a cry every time her knee touched the ground. Donovan knew that she was probably just as frightened of him as she was of the mountain lion. He sat down away from her and kept his distance. He could never hurt her, but had no way of communicating that to her. She was clearly injured, and even if he was able to get away from her and shift back, he couldn't leave her alone with the mountain lion nearby. Isabelle soon stopped crawling and never took her eyes off the bear. Her breathing was labored, and she was obviously in pain. She rested her head in her hands on the ground.

He slowly crawled toward her and she never took her eyes off him. As he got closer, he realized that she wasn't afraid of him. She had a look of wonder in her eyes. He stopped and sat down. She lifted her head and watched him breathe, their eyes locked on each other.

*******

Isabelle's body was aching and cold. Although she had tried desperately, she couldn't climb to the top of the mountain. The smell of smoke was stronger now. Her eyes burned and her throat felt raw. Thankfully, the bear had run the mountain lion off, but she didn't know if it would be back. She watched the bear stare at her. She had always assumed that if she ever faced a bear out in the woods, it would clearly be the end. But there was something so peaceful about this bear. He simply sat staring at her. She was afraid to take her eyes off him, fearful that if she did, he would pounce on her and that would indeed be the end.

Isabelle could feel the cool night breeze blowing across her body and the smoke was growing thicker. Her mouth and throat were dry and she soon started coughing. She watched a helicopter take off from the roof of the firehouse. Isabelle hoped that it was coming to look for her. But it headed over the mountain toward the thick plume of smoke.

*******

Donovan didn't know what to do. She was injured and clearly couldn't walk. He could carry her to the top of the ridge, but he wouldn't be able to carry her all the way down the trail back to the hotel. He didn't want to shift back because the mountain lion wasn't far away and could come back at any moment. Her eyes were fixated on him and heavy. Her blinking got slower and he watched her close her eyes for a moment and then open them, valiantly fighting her exhaustion. She closed them again and her breathing steadied. Donovan scooted closer to her hoping that his warmth would radiate to her and she wouldn't be as cold. He watched her sleep and waited.

The sky soon began to lighten and with first light, she was safe enough for him to leave her. He got up and quietly made his way back up the hill to the ATV and shifted back. His phone was of course dead and the ATV wouldn't start. He took off in a sprint down the trail toward the firehouse.

Exhausted, he pushed the button for the big door to come up. The firehouse was empty, and he assumed that all of his brothers had spent the night in Applewood trying to keep the fire from coming over the ridge onto Scarlett Mountain. He grabbed a blanket and the keys for another ATV and hauled ass back up trail one to Isabelle.

The ATV screeched to a halt as he reached her body. She was lying on her back, her eyes were open and she was staring at the sky. She appeared to be mumbling and was shaking from the cold. Donovan grabbed the blanket and ran to her, quickly covering her shaking body.

"Isabelle! Isabelle! Can you hear me? It's me, Donovan. It's going to be okay." Donovan drew Isabelle up into his arms and cradled her against his chest. Her skin was freezing to the touch. He couldn't make out the words she was trying to say.

"You're going to be okay. I'm taking you to the hospital." Donovan knew that he needed to reassure her that she would be okay because she probably believed she wouldn't be. He picked her up and headed to the ATV. Donovan held her tightly against his chest and they rode back to the firehouse.

He carried her to his truck and got her safely inside. The hospital was at least an hour away and he didn't want to wait for an ambulance. He ran back inside and grabbed a couple water bottles to help get her hydrated. Isabelle's skin was sunburned and dry. She wouldn't open her eyes. He climbed up next to her on the seat and put the water bottle to her lips.