Page 41 of Mitchell's Untamed Mate

“That only happens when you let me and Ty in the kitchen,” Tracy snorted.

“Hey, speak for yourself.It was your brilliant idea to put the pizza in the toaster oven on broil,” Ty protested.

Lena sighed and shook her head at him.“Tracy is good at one thing—boiling water.Even then, she tends to get distracted.She's burned up more than one of Martha’s prized pots.”

Art chuckled.“Martha does get a little twitchy whenever Tracy enters the kitchen.”

“Thanks for bringing this up again, bro,” Tracy muttered, buttering a scone and popping it into her mouth.

“The meals she cooked were good,” Mitchell defended, looking at the group.

Ty laughed.“Let me guess, the freeze-dried meals where all you had to do was boil the water?”

“I’d like to see you do any better,” she scoffed.

Mitchell listened to the cheerful banter between Tracy and her brother as he polished the food off his plate.He didn’t miss the way Tracy kept adding more.Every time he would clear a spot, she would add a pastry, roll, or delicate baked egg in a crust to his plate.He finally placed his hand over hers when his stomach felt like it would explode if he ate another bite.

Art cleared his throat and sat back.A hush fell around the table and the mood turned more serious.Lena reached over and curled her fingers around her husband’s hand and gave him a smile of encouragement.

“Mitchell, I believe you've heard about the temporary compound that's ready for you,” Art began.

“Yes.Tracy said it was—” He paused, searching for a way to agree without giving away his people’s location.Shaking his head, he realized that it was a moot point.They already had a general location thanks to Ella… and Mitchell.“She said it was near my people.”

“It’s in the Park’s protected region.There was an old lodge surrounded by cabins back at the turn of the century.It was closed down nearly forty years ago after the lodge burned down.It’s off the beaten trail, near Mt.Seal.The cabins have been maintained enough that it won’t take much to fix them up.There’s a road that leads to a few trailheads, but there’s nothing else along that stretch.This makes it easy to shut that area down,” Ty shared.

“I don’t know where this Mt.Seal is located,” Mitchell confessed.

“Tracy, could you please get the maps while we clear the table?”her father requested.

Tracy nodded, rising as her brother, Ella, and their mother cleared the table, stacking the dirty dishes on a nearby serving cart.Art lifted the carafes of coffee and tea.Mitchell retrieved his glass of water before Ella could whisk it away.

“The old lodge area works well because the infrastructure is already available.It’s remote, but not too remote to transport supplies in and out.There is always work being done on the Park, so it shouldn’t attract any attention,” Art explained.

Mitchell nodded, listening as the older shifter described how a fence had been erected around the perimeter already and the cabins had been refurbished along with raised canvas tents that would help with lodging, storing, dining, and medical care.His mind swirled with all the information Art was conveying.

It was obvious those involved had thought through what would be needed.Ella slid back onto the chair to the right of him while Tracy returned with the maps and spread them across the table on his left.He shot Ella a surprised look when she cupped his hand.

“They asked me to help with the planning.I picked this location for a reason,” she murmured, glancing at Art under her eyelashes.

“This is Mt.Seal.It’s in the northwest corner of Lake Otterman,” Tracy explained, tracing her finger on the map to show the spot.

Mitchell swallowed as he stared at the detailed map.The large swath of green was surrounded by tiny dots indicating shifter towns.All doubt about the viability of the humans remaining hidden disintegrated.If he took this map back to his clan, they would see there was no hope.

His gaze connected with Tracy’s and he knew that wasn’t true.There was hope.It just came in a different form.Survival would necessitate that he and the remaining humans adapt, accept change, and move ahead.

“I will speak to my people,” he said, looking around the group at the table.

“I could go with you—” Ella said.

“No!”

Mitchell looked up, startled at Ty’s harsh denial.The other man’s face flushed.Ty’s eyes were locked on Ella’s and he was shaking his head.Mitchell frowned and his eyes narrowed at the man’s heated refusal.

“You have to remember this isn’t just about us anymore,” Ty said, his voice softer and filled with concern.“You’ve been sick.”

“I’m not sick.I’m pregnant.There’s a difference,” Ella scoffed.

“You can have children with?—”

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