The SAR team searched for the campers. It was almost dark and they hadn’t found any sign of them. Chief Stanton called it a day and told the team to set up camp. They would start again at dawn. Robert hadn’t said a single word the whole time.

After everyone was settled and ate a hot meal, they sat around a camp fire. One by one, they retired for the night. Normally they would sit around and talk, but Roberts frosty attitude had everyone avoiding him. The last two sitting at the fire was Robert and Tom Stanton, his crew chief.

“What happened, Robert?” Tom asked.

“When?”

“Oh, I don’t know? This afternoon. Yesterday. When the fuck do you think.” Tom was losing his patience. “Talk to me, Robert. You’re no good to me right now. The whole team is off because of it and we depend on you. You give us ideas and opinions where to look. You haven’t said a fucking thing all afternoon.”

“Sorry.”

“Sorry? That’s all you have to say?”

“Yeah, that’s all I have to say. What do you want me to do? Apologize? Say I’m sorry? I don’t know what to tell you.” Robert was angry.

“What about the girl?” Tom asked.

“What about her. She hates me. You heard her, she wants to go back to China.”

“She loves you, Robert. She told me before we left.”

“Fucking hell,” Robert let out a long breath. “I love her, Tom. I just can’t get my head around the things that were done to her.”

“Hmm, that must be what she meant when she said you didn’t want her because she’s damaged goods. She said you weren’t man enough to admit it and you were using your job as an excuse to not be with her.”

“She said that? I told her I love her. We bonded. Why would she say that?”

“Maybe, because that’s how you’re treating her. What happened to her, Robert?”

Robert hung his head and got his thoughts together. He spent the next hour telling his crew chief what he knew. What he didn’t know, was the rest of the crew, who he thought where sleeping, silently listened to his story. They were horrified and their hearts ached for their friend and his mate.

Not only did Robert tell him what happened to Heidi and what her boss was doing in detail, he told them what he knew about the others.

“My god. And she’s still enduring extreme cruelty.”

Robert just nodded.

“Robert, you have to get over this. You obviously love her. She’s your true mate. You’ve bonded. Do you have any idea what it will be like for both of you, if you let her go?”

“Yes, I know. I watched my father slowly die when we lost my mother.”

“And you want to go through that?” The Chief asked.

“No, I don’t. Fuck. I don’t know what to do. How do I fix this? I love her, Tom, with my whole being and my bear is so pissed off, he has abandoned me. What am I going to do?”

“Wake up your fucking bear. Go rub some trees.” That got a chuckle out of him. “Go. I know you’ll find us if we leave before you get back at dawn.”

“Thanks Tom.”

Robert retrieved his backpack and stripped out of his clothes. Once everything was in the backpack, he shifted and took off into the dark.

His crew chief watched him go. He hoped Robert could work things out. He was no good to SAR if he didn’t.

 

                                                    *****

Robert’s grizzly ran and ran, until he almost collapsed. It felt good to be out. He needed it more than he knew.  He laid in the snow. He must have fallen asleep because it was almost dawn when he woke. He was nearly buried in snow during the night. He stretched and stood. He gave himself a good shake to rid himself of his snowy blanket. He stretched again. He had no idea where he was, but that was okay, he’d find his way back.

Something in the trees caught his attention. A reflection. He made his way through the trees. He had to be careful no one saw him, if people were around.

It was a motorhome. It might be the camper Search and Rescue was looking for. He dropped his backpack, shifted and quickly got dressed.

“Hello in the camper. Anybody home.” He approached the camper and knocked on the door. When no one answered, he tried the door. The door opened and he looked in. “Anyone here?” Still no answer.

Robert entered the motorhome to see if there were any clues as to who owned it. It was neat and clean. There was a box of toys pushed under the table out of the way. He found the registration clipped to the visor. It was registered to the Olson’s, that was the family that was missing. He continued to look around. The dishes were washed and in the drain board, the beds were made. Everything looked normal, like they might have gone for a walk. Then he saw a framed photo on the wall. A man and a woman, and three bear cubs. One of the cubs looking a little older than the other two. “Oh my god, their shifters.”

Robert made sure everything was in its place. He could make his way back to the SAR team, but that would take time. He needed to start looking for the campers. He took a picture of the camper and left a note on the door in case the campers came back or the SAR team found it. They would know he had been there and was searching for the missing campers.

The fresh snow made it difficult to follow tracks so he had to shift. Once he shifted, he could use his senses to smell and hear. He circled the camper several times until he got an idea which way they went. The scent was very weak, but it was there. He followed the scent for about an hour when he started to smell something he didn’t like. The smell of death. The smell of rotting flesh.

Robert came across a gruesome scene. Two adult bears had been killed and skinned. If a shifter is killed in its animal form, it stays that way. Anyone coming across the remains would just think it was a bear, unaware the there was a human there as well. Their skinned bodies left to rot. Robert had no doubt, this was the missing campers. Apparently, they had shifted and poachers found them and killed them. They were in a national park and should have been safe from hunters. He didn’t see any signs of the cubs.

Robert took pictures with his phone. That was all it was good for. He didn’t have a cell signal. He couldn’t make a call. He made his way back to camper and then headed in the direction of the campsite he had left the night before. He was half way back when he saw the snow-cats heading his way. He immediately shifted and was dressed by the time they got to him.

The snow-cats stopped. The crew got out of the snow-cats to see if Robert had found anything.

“Any luck, Robert?” The chief asked.

“They’re dead, Tom. They were shifters.”

“Shit. How?”

“Looks like poachers. I found the camper and followed their scent from there. I found two skinned adult bears.”

“Any sign of the kids?”

“No, thank god, but that doesn’t mean we won’t find their bodies as well.”

“All right, show me where,” Tom told him.

He took them to the motorhome. One of them would have to drive it back. There was no way a tow truck was going to get to where they were at. If it got stuck in the snow, they could use the snow-cats to pull it out.

Then he took them to the bodies. Two of the crew members immediately lost their breakfast. Robert and Randy searched the nearby wooded area for bullet casings and anything that might be a clue to the poachers. They found several shells, a glove, an empty cigarette pack and a credit card receipt. That could be their ticket to finding the poachers. Luckily the snow hadn’t covered up the evidence under the trees.

The bodies were wrapped up and placed on the back of one of the snow-cats. These were humans, they deserved to be buried properly, not left for the scavengers. While the bodies were being taken care of, the rest of the team searched for the cubs, but couldn’t find any tracks and they didn’t find any bodies. They searched for the cubs with no luck.

They started back. Randy drove the motorhome and luckily didn’t get stuck in the snow.

“What’s the plan, Chief?” Robert asked as they ate a hot meal at the campsite from the previous night. “How long will we search for the kids?”

“I don’t think there is any point searching on the ground. I’ll call in airborne when we have a signal. We’ll return to our check point and park the snow-cats. We need to get the bodies taken care of.”

Robert gave him a nod. He knew he’d have to face Heidi.

“Have you given your situation any thought?” Tom asked.

“I have to make it right. I can’t let her go,” Robert told him. “All I can do is ask her to forgive me and keep my fingers crossed.”

“Good boy. Have faith, she loves you.”

“I hope so.” Robert got up and gathered up his gear. It wouldn’t take long to get back to the check point. He’d have to face Heidi and he was praying she wouldn’t reject him.