It was early and it would take them a couple of hours to get to an arranged meeting place near the town of Deer Lodge. Robert didn’t say anything for a long time.

“How is Charlie’s mate doing?” Randy asked, trying to break the frosty atmosphere.

Robert let out a sigh. “She’s doing really well. The doctor just took her off most of her restrictions. Couple more weeks before she can travel. We always go to my brother’s place in California for Christmas, I don’t know if we’ll make it this year. Were you with your family for Thanksgiving?”

“I was,” Randy replied.

“I’m sorry, man. I’ve been so pissed off, I wasn’t even thinking you might be in the same boat I’m in.”

“That’s alright. Do you want to talk about it?” Randy asked. “Sometimes it helps.” Most of the SAR team members were shifters. Randy was a black bear.

“Damn it.” Robert punched the dash. “I fucked up. I just found my true mate and I had a fight with her before I left.”

“Wow. Congratulations. That’s great, but why did you fight?”

“She wanted to come with me.” Robert stared out the window.

“She should have known you couldn’t bring her with you. Not on a Search and Rescue.”

“I told her, but she wouldn’t listen. When I told her she couldn’t come, she told me she’d leave and go home to Oregon.”

“What!” Randy was shocked. “Maybe she isn’t your true mate. A true mate wouldn’t do that. Is she a shifter?”

Robert nodded his head and answered. “Yes, she is and I haven’t even seen her shift. We’ve only known each other for two days.”

“Did you bond with her?”

“We bonded with each other.” He rested against the headrest. “I love her so much. I asked her to wait for me, I can only hope she does.”

“But if she’s your true mate, why would she say that?”

“The past year has been horrible for her. She was one of the girls that Charlie saved in Oregon. She’s been through hell, rejected by life in general and her family because of what happened. Even those bastards that kidnapped her rejected her in the cruelest of ways, you couldn’t start to imagine.”

“Yeah, Charles told me about some of that. Poor kid.”

“I love her so much, Randy. All I can do is pray that she stays with Charlie and stays safe.”

Heidi listened to Robert declare his love for her. She had no doubts he loved her. She didn’t make a sound, but tears fell unchecked. The tears finally stopped and she fell asleep until she was jolted awake when the truck came to a stop. She could hear men talking. She carefully looked out and could see a large crew truck being loaded with supplies. Someone yelled to them that there was a meeting, they could load their gear when they were done.

Heidi watched them all enter a nearby building. This was her chance to find a place to hide. She grabbed her bag and got on the specially designed rescue vehicle. It carried eight to ten men and all their gear. There were several rows of seats. She kept her head down and snuck to the very back and settled on the floor behind the last seat. She wrapped Becky’s coat around her to stay warm and rested her head on her bag. All she could do now was wait and hope she wasn’t discovered.

It wasn’t long before the SAR team got in the vehicle and they were on their way. They had already been given the run down on the campers that had been reported missing. A married couple with three young children between the ages of four and six. Twin boys, age four and a six-year-old girl. They were supposed to be home before Thanksgiving and never made it.

“Why in the hell would a family go camping in the middle of winter with young kids?” Robert commented to the crew in general. No one replied.

“Relax, Robert,” the crew chief told him. “We’ll be at the check point in an hour. Get some rest, you won’t have a chance later.” Everyone hunkered down in their seats and tried to get what little rest they could. Heidi, hiding behind the seats, did the same.

They finally arrived at the designated checkpoint where two snow-cats were stored, ready for them. Everyone piled out of the crew truck, grabbing their gear as they went. One of the men made one final check in the truck to make sure they weren’t forgetting anything and found Heidi.

“Hey, Chief Stanton, could you come here please, we appear to have a stowaway.”

“What?” The crew chief climbed back in the truck and found his crew member standing over a young woman. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

She was about to answer when Robert got back in the truck to find out what was keeping the chief.

“Son of a bitch. Heidi, what the hell are you doing here? I told you to stay with Charlie,” Robert yelled, rage washed over him. He was furious.

“You know this woman, McCormick?”

“Yes sir, she’s my mate. She must have snuck into the truck. Could I have a moment alone with her, sir.”

His chief gave a nod and headed for the front of the truck.

“God damn it! I told you to stay put.  Now you’re going to jeopardize the whole operation.”

“But I wanted to be with you. I can help.”

“Heidi, can’t you understand, this is my job, you can’t be here, I don’t want you here.”

The captain couldn’t hear the conversation at first, but as it heated up, it got louder until things came to a head.

“I hate you, Robert McCormick.” She screamed at him. “I never want to see you again.” Fury blinded her. “I’ll go back to China.”

“Fine. Until you do, stay away from me.” Robert stormed off the truck.

He chief was dumbfounded. He watched Robert storm off and looked back at the unhappy woman in the last seat. Something wasn’t right here. This was his mate. He was just going to leave her like that? He’d better do something about this and fast. He went to talk to her.

“Heidi? Your name is Heidi, right. My name is Tom Stanton. Are you alright?”

“No,” she said sadly. “I knew he would never accept me, I’m damaged goods. He is just using this as an excuse because he’s not man enough to admit it.” Tears ran down her cheeks and she angrily brushed them away. “I’m sorry if I have inconvenienced anyone, I will find my way back, your men are waiting for you.”

“You think you can walk back the way we came, it’s miles of deep snow. No, you stay here and we’ll take you home when we get back. I’ll leave the keys so you can start the truck for heat when it gets too cold and you’ll find some extra food packages under the last seat. Do you know how to start a car or truck?”

She nodded her head.

“Can you shift to keep warm if you get too cold? What kind of shifter are you?”

“A bear.” She didn’t tell him she was a panda. 

“Okay. You stay put and stay warm. There are some extra blankets back there, use them. Understand!”

She just nodded.

“Do you love him?”

She nodded, “Yes, very much.” She didn’t say another word.

The chief left it at that. There wasn’t anything else he could do until they got back. He yelled at his men to mount up, they had lost campers to find. The snow-cats headed out, they had about three hours of daylight left.

 

                                                       *****

Heidi watched them go. Now she had to figure out what to do next. She didn’t want to be there when they got back. She couldn’t bear to look at Robert, her heart was breaking. If she didn’t make it through the snow, she didn’t care.

Heidi put a couple of food packets in her bag and a blanket. Becky’s boots were a size too big. She found a survival kit that had ace bandages in it. She wrapped an ace bandage around each foot to take up the extra space. She still had the socks Robert had given her that morning. She put them on over the wraps. The wraps would help keep her feet warm.

She pulled on a second pair of sweat pants and her other sweatshirt. She found the green cardigan she had worn the night before. She didn’t realize she had put it in her bag. She carefully folded it and laid it on the seat. Robert could give it back to Jackie. She didn’t have any gloves, but she found a pair of work gloves in the truck. She was all set.

Heidi didn’t want to go back the way they came. She decided she would go in a different direction. She had no idea where she was, she didn’t even know what state she was in. She was a bear, she should be okay. As a last thought, she returned to the truck, picked up two more food packets, and the survival kit, and stuffed them in her bag. Maybe she would survive. If she did, she could start a new life where no one knew who she was.

She figured she had two, maybe three hours of daylight and she started out. It had started to snow and she hoped it would cover her tracks. She turned around one time to look at the crew truck.

“Good-bye Robert. I love you.” She quickly turned around and left, heading into the forest and mountains that loomed ahead of her, she didn’t look back.