Page 6 of His Reluctant Mate

Relief to have found her flashed through his brain. Now to see if he could find out what had caused her to brave the arctic cold without the proper equipment. “What happened to you, Dr. King?”

Her eyes filled with fear and urgency. “They’re dead. They killed them.”

“Who killed them? Who did they kill?”

“My colleagues. The company is hiding the data... the methane... it’s worse than anyone knows. Marcus—my boss—ordered the security team to kill them and then destroy the facility to cover it all up. He doesn’t know I managed to download the information before I escaped.”

“So, without a plan, you just ran off into the wilderness? Shifter or not, that wasn’t a particularly good idea.”

“Aren’t you paying attention? There’s something going on. Something they don’t want anyone to know.”

Joe frowned and managed to suppress his growl. Someone had tried to harm his fated mate? That wasn’t something he was inclined to let pass.

“How’d you get out?”

“I climbed up into the ducting through the vent and then got to the woods. I’ve been trying to make my way to safety… somewhere I can give the information I have to the authorities. Someone needs to go out there and confirm it. The company I work for is trying to cover something up that could have disastrous consequences for the environment.”

Joe walked over and looked out the window, his suspicions confirmed. This was no ordinary rescue, and they weren’t going anywhere tonight or for several days. Melinda was in danger and now, so was he. But there was no turning back. He couldn’t ignore someone in need, especially when the stakes were this high.

“We’re not going anywhere until this snow lets up. Rest now,” he said, his tone gentle but firm. “You’re safe here. We’ll figure this out.”

“If you don’t want to help me,” she started, tossing the covers back.

“I didn’t say that, Melinda. But if we’re not safe out in this storm, neither is anyone looking for you. Besides, it’s dark and you’re exhausted. Why don’t we get some sleep, and we can reassess the situation come morning.”

Joe sat by the fire as Melinda drifted into an uneasy sleep. His mind was racing. If she was right—and he had no reason not to believe her—someone would be trying to get to her to get whatever information she might have. Outside, the storm worsened.

He tried to call Asher to let him know he’d found Melinda, but the phone’s signal could not cut through the static created by the storm. It and the wilderness were as harsh and unforgiving as his memories, but he couldn’t let the past, the elements, or whatever had driven his fated mate to risk her life to paralyze him.

This time, it was personal. It was his fated mate. He had a chance to make a difference, to save her life. To find his own happily ever after as so many of his friends had been doing of late, and he wouldn’t fail. Not again.

CHAPTER 4

MELINDA

Melinda awoke slowly, her body aching and her mind foggy. She lay on a cot in a small, dimly lit cabin, the warmth of a nearby fire a stark contrast to the freezing cold she had been immersed in. Blinking, she tried to piece together her fragmented memories. The last thing she recalled was escaping through the vent in the research facility and making her way to the woods, stumbling through the snow, her strength fading as the storm closed in around her.

From time-to-time, she had unbundled her clothing, shifted back to her human form and placed the flash drive against her skin where her core temperature would be the highest in order to keep the information safe. Had the flash drive become too cold, the data might have been corrupted or even lost. Preserving its integrity had become a primary goal in her survival.

She had escaped from the research facility via the duct work as an Arctic fox. Using her ability to connect with the magnetic fields deep within the earth, she was able to home in on the best route to civilization that was not connected to the research center.

The research center. Even thinking about it made her head hurt and her stomach churn. She still felt as though she’d been hit by a truck and wanted to puke.

She turned her head and saw the man who’d rescued her sitting by the fire, his rugged features illuminated by the flickering light. He looked up, sensing her gaze, and gave her a reassuring smile. He was a shifter, but something far more dangerous and predatory than a fox. Despite his help, a part of her remained wary. She had no idea who he really was or what his intentions might be.

“Feeling better?” Joe asked, his voice gentle but edged with concern.

Melinda nodded slowly, pushing herself up to a sitting position. Her body protested, but she ignored the pain. “Thanks for saving me,” she said cautiously. “Who are you? Why are you here? Where are we?”

Joe waved off her gratitude. “I just did what anyone would. My name is Joe Crawley. You’ve got a lot of people worried about you. Asher Wells, who’s in charge of the park rangers, is a friend and asked me to join the search. You’re lucky I found you when I did. I knew this emergency shelter was here, so I carried you. That storm’s only getting worse.”

The wind howled outside, the cabin walls creaking under the force of the blizzard. Melinda shivered, both from the cold and the fear that had settled in her chest. She needed to get to safety, to reach someone who could help expose the conspiracy she had uncovered. But the storm outside made that seem impossible.

“Why were you out there in your human form?”

“I have information I need to get out. As an Arctic fox, it would be hard for me to protect the data so whenever I had to cross an open field, I shifted to my human form. Then when I reached a wooded area, I removed my clothes and shifted back.”

Joe shook his head. “That can’t have been easy.”

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