Page 20 of Mitchell’s Untamed Mate (More Than Human #2)

“ W hat was that?” Mitchell asked, looking toward the opening of the cavern.

Tracy had been wrapping some of the carvings she had found and now set them down on the top of her backpack. Others in the group had frozen, their eyes on the entrance to the cavern. She stepped over the log and headed for the opening. Mitchell followed closely behind her.

“That was gunfire,” she said, listening.

“Hunters?” Connell asked, coming up beside them.

Tracy shook her head. “No, automatic artillery, military.”

“I estimate a mile, maybe two from here,” Jace said.

Mitchell glanced around the cavern, silently counting off who was there. He frowned when he saw Mallory, Rand, Elaina, and Cyrus, but not Jayden. He twisted and looked at Thomas.

“Where’s Jayden?” he asked.

Thomas motioned to the entrance. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her.”

“Jayden went out before the sun came up,” Timmy said.

Mitchell glanced down at the little boy. “Did she say where she was going?”

Timmy shook his head. “No. She told me not to tell anyone unless they asked. She said she would be back later.”

“Mitchell, the shifters....” Tracy said, her voice fading with worry as all eyes turned to the opening.

“We need to be ready. Everyone, move to the back of the cavern. Connell, Thomas, Chaz, secure the back tunnel. Paulette, Harmony, you help the elders. Harry, Tom, gather the emergency supplies. Janna, you, Maria and Kelsey help gather the younger kids and take them to the safe area,” Mitchell ordered.

Tracy knelt on one knee in front of Timmy. “Timmy, I need you to put your shoes on and wear your warmer clothes.”

Timmy nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

Tracy rose and looked at him. “What is your plan?”

Mitchell studied the entrance. It was too large an opening to defend. Their best plan was to move everyone to a narrow tunnel at the back of the cavern and hope whoever was coming didn’t see it. The tunnel splintered in different directions. They used two sections during inclement weather as bathrooms for the group. There were three other sections where time and weather had split the rock. Those sections were long and narrow, but deep. It was possible they could hide in them. If they were lucky, whoever had fired the weapon would think they had abandoned the cave and not search the narrow cracks in the mountain.

“Is it possible it is your people?” he asked.

Tracy glanced back at him with a troubled expression. “I don’t know. Unless something bad happened, I can’t imagine them shooting. You don’t think Jayden—” her voice faded on the question.

Before he could answer, Jayden appeared in the entrance. “I had nothing to do with what’s going on,” she announced.

Mitchell's expression twisted into a scowl as he locked eyes with Jayden. Her outfit was a striking combination of a white, rabbit-furred coat and bleached leather trousers. Her white-blond hair was shielded from the cold by a snug white fur cap. Against the snowy backdrop, she appeared ghostly, her figure blending into the white landscape.

“Where have you been? Did you see anything?” he demanded.

Jayden glanced at Tracy before returning her attention back to Mitchell. “Blood about two-hundred-yards from here. There were two different spots. I was coming back from checking my traps when I spotted the footprints in the snow. There were at least two, whoever they were. From the amount of blood I saw, I don’t think they are alive.”

“Where did the bodies go?” Tracy asked.

Jayden shrugged. “There was a line of droplets going over the cliff but no tracks. If I had to guess, I’d say whoever attacked the guys has flown off with them.”

Tracy shook her head in disbelief. “That’s impossible. There are no shifter bird species large enough to lift a full-grown shifter off the ground. Hell, Rigo is built like a tank and even he couldn’t lift a full-grown shifter more than an inch or two off the ground in his Golden Eagle form.”

Jayden leaned on the lance she was holding and gave Tracy a piercing glare. “I know what I saw.”

“The gunfire we heard was farther away. Did you see anything else?” Mitchell said with an impatient wave of his hand.

“No. I’m sorry, but my first instinct was to make sure everyone else was okay. Once I saw the tracks and the blood, I focused on the cave. I was afraid that—that the Others had killed some of us and the blood was from someone here. I can go see what is going on now that I know everyone is alright. They are, aren’t they? Everyone—no one is hurt?” Jayden asked, her voice growing terse with emotion as she looked around him.

“Everyone here is safe. I have them moving to the back of the cave. I don’t want you going back out. It is better if we stick together,” he said.

“My brother and the evac team should be here within the hour,” Tracy said.

“We may not have an hour. If whoever is out there is this close, we need to stop them. Our first priority is to protect the clan,” Jayden argued.

Mitchell looked outside. Jayden was right. If two attackers had made it as close as a few hundred yards, that meant there were others—including those who had attacked whoever was out there. He needed to assume they were a threat as well.

“Jayden, I want you and Tracy to stay here. I will go,” he said.

Tracy touched his arm and shook her head. “No. I will go. In my grizzly form, I can cover more ground. I’ll also smell another shifter, and if it comes down to a fight, I have the best chance. There are few shifters who can defeat a grizzly.”

“Are you immune to their weapons?” he asked.

She hesitated and shook her head. “No. I’m not immune to bullets, but I’ll know they are there before they can use them.” She tapped her nose. “Gun powder is pretty strong.”

Jayden lifted her chin. “I’m faster and quieter than you, Mitchell. I’m also already dressed for it. Tracy and I will go. The clan needs you here. You are a better fighter.”

Fear threatened to choke him as he studied the intense expressions on the two women standing in front of him. Deep down, he knew they were right, but it went against everything in him to let them go into the unknown where they would face danger. He looked over his shoulder. Paulette and Elaina were guiding a weak Cyrus toward the back while Maria and Kelsey were trying to calm the little ones.

“Go, but…,” he paused and looked at both of them with an intense stare before he continued, “you better watch each other’s back and get back here in one piece.”

Jayden rolled her eyes at him and made a face at Tracy. “He’s always trying to take the fun out of things. You’d better get used to it.”

Tracy released a chuckle at Jayden’s wry sense of humor. “Thanks for the warning. Let me shift. Do you think—could you carry my clothes in your pack?”

Jayden’s eyes widened with confusion before she nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

Mitchell shielded Tracy as she quickly stripped. He handed each piece to Jayden as she did. Jayden kept casting wary glances their way as Tracy removed her clothes. He grinned when Jayden scrambled back as Tracy transformed into her grizzly.

“Holy shit! I saw—I—That’s pretty unreal,” Jayden muttered, straightening. “So, what now?”

“Now, we hunt,” Tracy replied, her voice deeper and slightly rumbling.

"Wait, hold on," she said, her eyes widening in astonishment. "You can talk... in that form?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I guess I’ll lead the way.”

Mitchell placed his hand on Tracy’s thick, dark brown coat and caressed her ear. She turned her head to look at him. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers.

“I love you, Tracy Bearclaw. Come back to me,” he murmured.

I told you!

“You bet your ass I will,” she said before giving him a huge lick across his cheek.

“Ew!”

Mitchell snorted at Jayden’s response. The amusement on her face told him Jayden was more curious than offended by Tracy’s bear’s show of affection. Tracy released a rumbling growl and followed Jayden out of the cave.

He watched them go with a sense of apprehension and guilt. Once again, he felt the weight of his responsibilities pressing down on him and the choice he had to make. Send the woman he loved into danger or protect his clan. It hit him hard when he realized he had chosen his clan.

Jayden paused and pointed to an area ahead of them. Tracy’s dinner plate sized paws helped keep her from sinking into the deep snow as she approached the area. Dark red stains marred the pristine snow with droplets leaving a vivid trail toward the section that dropped off.

She sniffed the blood. Her head jerked back and she shook it frantically back and forth with distaste in an effort to dispel the nasty scent. Jayden crouched down beside her.

“What is it?”

“Bear,” she replied as nausea roiled in her stomach. “Where’s the other?”

“Over there,” Jayden said, scanning the surrounding area before she rose.

Images of Ty lying dead at the bottom of the ravine almost made her throw up. She pushed the thought away. It wasn’t her brother. She knew his smell. Hell, they had both skinned their knees enough over the years to know the scent of each other's blood pretty well.

A duplication of the first area was visible behind a rock outcropping. She bent and sniffed the area. The hair on the back of her neck rose and she sneezed.

“Coyote,” she shared. “We need to follow their tracks. I haven’t heard any more gunfire.”

“They could have come from anywhere. Sounds echo in the mountains. It’s hard to tell where they originate or how far away they are sometimes,” Jayden said.

“There’s only one way to find out,” Tracy muttered.

Together they moved down the trail. Tracy didn't bother to step in the tracks of the men. Her paw prints would be easy to identify. Forty minutes later, they reached another area marked with blood. The scent had been carried on the wind, helping Tracy to pinpoint the location.

Once again, there was blood, but no bodies. A shiver of apprehension ran through her. This time, she was able to identify another bear, a hyena, and a lynx. She jumped when Jayden reached out and touched her side.

“What’s wrong? What do you smell?” Jayden asked, her voice hushed as she warily scanned around the forest.

“These were all apex predators. From the amount of blood, I would be shocked if any of them survived. I don’t know anything that could kill this many… and take the bodies with them,” Tracy said unable to keep the tremble out of her voice.

Jayden studied the ground. “This is crazy! There aren’t any tracks. It’s as if whoever killed them was a ghost and the bodies just disappeared. What kind of shifter could do something like this?”

Tracy looked at the snowy landscape and shook her head. “None that I’ve ever met,” she admitted.

Jayden scowled at her. “You’re not making me feel good about this. If you’ve got Others that can do this, how do we know you guys won’t just pick our bones clean?”

Tracy glared back at Jayden. “I don’t eat meat,” she snapped.

“Well, someone… or should I say some thing does!” Jayden scoffed.

Tracy ignored the taunt and returned her attention to the area. “Let’s do one more sweep and head back. My brother and the team should be arriving to evac everyone any moment. I’ll turn this over to my aunt and let her deal with it. She’s got people who figure this stuff out on the payroll.”

Jayden nodded, glancing around them again. “Sounds good.”

Tracy didn’t want to admit that she wanted to get back to the cave and get the hell out of there. She had a sense they were being watched. By what, she didn’t know, and after seeing what they had found, she wasn’t sure she wanted to find out.

“Fuck this. Climb on my back,” she ordered, looking over her shoulder at Jayden.

Jayden stepped back and looked at her in confusion. “Why?”

“Because I can move a hell of a lot faster than you in the snow and it feels like we are being watched. I want to get the hell out of here before whoever did this comes back,” she snapped.

Jayden twirled in a tight circle and slowly backed up until she bumped into her. Tracy tried not to wince when Jayden pulled on her fur as she scrambled onto her back and dug her heels into her side. Releasing a puff of air that sent a fog of frigid air rolling out in front of her, she rolled her shoulders.

“Hang on,” she ordered.

Tracy set a steady pace for the first few hundred feet to allow Jayden time to adjust her grip. She weaved in between thick trees and plowed through snow drifts as if they weren’t there before she picked up her pace as a sense of urgency filled her that they were being followed.

She didn’t want to risk looking over her shoulder as they sped through the forest as if the shifters from hell were on their heels. Jayden leaned forward as she swerved under a fallen tree that was wedged between two others.

Tracy dug her long claws into the snow. The faint but familiar thump, thump, thump, thump of helicopter blades overhead spurred her onward over low brambles, fallen trees, and around boulders. Her breaths came in pants and she pulled in the frigid air through her nose into her starving lungs and released it through her mouth in a steaming fog of mist.

They cleared the forest and began their climb at the same time as a helicopter hovered near the entrance to the cave. Six men, dressed in black SBSI tactical gear slid down long ropes to the ground. Tracy huffed and puffed as she climbed. Jayden’s hands tightened on her sides, and her knees and heels anchored her to her back.

“Who are they?” Jayden yelled above the noise of the helicopter.

“Rainbows and unicorns as far as I’m concerned,” Tracy shouted back.

Tracy bowed her head to the side against the ice crystals biting into her as the second helicopter deposited more men along with the first group. She slowed her pace as the helicopter lifted to a safe distance.

Relief struck her when she saw her brother remove his helmet. With a cry of relief, she threw herself at him, forgetting she was still in her bear form. Ty grunted at the impact and fell onto his back in the snow. Tracy held him down and licked his face over and over until he muttered a curse.

“Jeez, Tracy. Get ahold of your bear. You’re embarrassing me in front of all the guys,” Ty grumbled.

“Thank Goddess that isn’t your blood. It isn’t, is it?” Van demanded, reaching down to help Ty up when she stepped to the side.

“No. There is more in the forest. I don’t know who it belongs to,” she said.

“Steady now.”

“Keep your paws off me, beast,” Jayden snapped.

Tracy looked over her shoulder. Jayden was slapping Peterson’s hand away from her. She shook her head when Jayden backed up and swung her spear menacingly at Peterson and the other shifters who had arrived.

“Give me a minute. I need to shift and let Mitchell and the others know it is safe,” she instructed.

“We’ll wait,” Ty promised.

“Jayden, I’ll need my clothes,” she said, walking toward the cave entrance.

Jayden followed her, walking backwards with her spear still pointed at all the men who watched them in silence. She paused when they entered the cavern to give her eyes time to adjust. The interior looked as if it had been frozen in time.

No fires burned in the pit, though she could still smell the lingering scent of smoke. A rack with a partially woven blanket made from plant fibers stood in front of Anna’s space. The curtains were tied back on LaTrisha and Timmy’s space with a wooden toy lying on its side. The only thing that looked out of place was the modern tent set up where she and Mitchell had spent their nights.

“Here are your clothes. I’ll go let the others know we are here and it’s safe to come out,” Jayden said, thrusting her bag at Tracy.

Tracy gripped the strap of the bag in her mouth and carried it over to the site she and Mitchell shared. She dropped it and transformed. She had just finished dressing when Mitchell appeared. Her breath swept from her when he wrapped his arms around her and captured her mouth in a deep, passionate kiss.

“I love you. I love you,” he murmured, kissing her throat, jaw, and eyelids before capturing her lips again.

She moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck. The kiss held an edge of desperation, fear, and relief. But most of all, it held love.

He loves me. He said he loves me. He loves me.

The thought swirled over and over in her mind as she let it sink in. She parted her lips, inviting him to deepen the kiss, and kissing him back with the same elation and love. It was only when she heard the dry chuckle of her brother that she reluctantly pulled away to look over her shoulder at him with a scowl.

“We were freezing our asses off. Thankfully, Connell invited us in,” he replied. “Hey, Mitchell.”

“Hello, Ty.”

Tracy turned back and buried her face against Mitchell’s chest. She breathed deeply until she had her pounding heart back under control. Only then did she tilt her head, give him a crooked smile, and step back to address her brother.

“There’s someone or something out there. I don’t know who or what it is, but it took out some serious apex predators. I think the only way we’ll know who they were is from their DNA,” she said.

“Van, Peterson,” Ty called.

“We’re on it, boss,” the two men responded, already on the move.

“There may be more. I can lead you to them, or maybe Jayden can,” she said, looking around for the other woman. “Where’s Jayden?”

Mitchell looked at her with a grim expression and shook his head. “She is probably with Elaina and Cyrus. Thomas is with them.”

Tears burned her eyes. She had only spoken to the old human a couple of times, but he had always looked at her with compassion. She looked to her brother.

“I’ll get a medic to see if there is anything we can do to help,” Ty murmured.

She nodded her thanks. Peterson and Van were talking on the radio. She imagined they were calling in some extra help. She leaned back against Mitchell, watching as the members of his clan slowly relaxed among the shifters who had arrived.

Timmy was asking a million questions while Macon was growling and telling all the soldiers that he was a bear. Even Dawson and Charles weren’t immune to awe at the way the men were dressed or the excitement of flying. She couldn’t help but notice that Timmy had taken off his shoes again. Soon he would have all the shoes he wanted without worrying about messing up the ones his mother made for him.

“Are you ready to go home?” Mitchell murmured near her ear.

She sighed and leaned back against him when he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Would you be surprised if I said no?” she asked.

His warm breath brushed over her when he chuckled. She smiled with contentment and wrapped her hands over his. It hadn’t been easy, but she had done it. She had found the humans she had dreamed about her whole life—and fallen in love with one of them.

“I love you, Mitchell,” she murmured, feeling the last of the threads bonding them fall into place.