Levi loved the feeling of having his mate by his side as he directed his crew on a rescue mission. Nothing was more stimulating or gratifying than having Juliet near him. He could smell her scent even through the sharp mountain air and the layers of clothes she wore to keep out the cold.

The guys weren’t having any luck up on the mountain and had lost the trail of the hikers. Harry, the groom who was lost, had hiked up into the mountains with his friends the night before. At some point, Harry had separated from the other men. Believing that Harry had gone back down the mountain, his friends had doubled back to meet him at the trailhead. When the men arrived at the trailhead, Harry was nowhere to be found. They had waited for him for several hours before returning to the lodge and reporting his absence.

One of the men hadn’t been too drunk to drive, but the rest of them had been completely inebriated, including Harry. They had been smart enough to put on their outdoor gear before driving up into the mountains. What these men were thinking, Levi couldn’t even begin to imagine. He was a bear shifter and an ex-Navy SEAL. He had been trained in wilderness survival from the time he was young, not to mention his natural instincts. These human men, who knew nothing about the wilderness, walking off into a dangerous snow-covered trail, at night, while drunk, was something he couldn’t comprehend.

But that was Levi. He wouldn’t put it past several of his own crew to do exactly the same kind of thing. The worst part was that the groom had gone missing right before his wedding day. Levi couldn’t help thinking that it had been extremely inconsiderate to the bride.

Be that as it may, Levi was determined to find the man and save the wedding, not only for the bride, but for his own business. It wouldn’t be good if they lost the groom before the very first wedding at Fate Mountain Lodge. He had gone off on Levi’s watch, and Levi felt somewhat responsible for what had happened at the parties the night before.

“Delta Crew, it’s time for you all to split up. Geek Bear’s analysis is coming up empty-handed. Big Bear, continue north into the mountain. Ski Bear, head the east away from the trail. Brew Bear, you head west.”

“Chief Bear, we haven’t seen any footprints for half a mile,” Drew said.

“Track back to the last time you saw footprints. That’s where I want you and Ski Bear to diverge from the trail. Big Bear, continue on up the trail to the north. Maybe the target started walking alongside the trail and is stranded up there.”

Levi clicked off his walkie-talkie and turned to Corey, who was analyzing the maps, the probabilities of Harry’s movements, and various other data sets.

“If you have any suggestions, this would be the time to share them,” Levi said.

“I can’t predict where he went. There are too many variables.”

Levi turned away from Corey with a frown and faced Juliet who was sitting on a folding chair next to the heater that kept Alpha Station warm. He sat beside her and offered her a cup of cocoa from the pot they kept at their refreshment table.

She took the cup of cocoa and brought it to her pretty mouth. The chill air made her honey colored skin radiant and her hazel eyes glow. She looked anxious but happy that he had turned his attention to her.

“You don’t have any leads?” she asked, her worry evident in her tone.

“We’ll find him. We are just having some setbacks right now,” he said.

The last thing he wanted was for her to see him fail. Over the last year that he had been rescue chief, they hadn’t lost a single person. Every mission they had gone on as a team had been a success. He intended for this one to be no different.

Juliet’s phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket.

“I have to take this. It’s Quinn,” she said.

“Not a problem.”

He stood and turned to face the parking lot of the trailhead to see Shane pull up on his motorcycle. He was already dressed in snow gear and hiking boots, parking his motorcycle beside Levi’s truck.

“What the hell are you doing here, Shane?” Levi demanded as Shane approached him.

“I heard you needed some help out here,” Shane said.

“Who told you that?” Levi said, fisting his waist with both hands.

“I did,” Corey said.

Levi turned and glared at his computer geek friend. How dare Corey go behind his back like that? Corey might be the most analytically intelligent of the entire crew, but that didn’t give him the right to go over his alpha’s head.

“I’m sorry, Levi,” Corey said. “I never would have done it except I ran a probability analysis on bringing Shane into the equation after Angus suggested it. Shane’s skills will be beneficial on this mission.”

Levi looked from Corey to Shane and back again. “I don’t appreciate you undermining my authority, Corey. We will have words.”

Levi glanced at Juliet, who was busy talking to her friends. Her back was toward them and she was obviously not paying any attention to what the men were talking about. That was a relief to him. He did not want her to see his crew defying him this way.

“Brew Bear to Chief Bear,” Drew’s voice said over the walkie-talkie.

“Come in, Brew Bear,” Levi said.

“I found more tracks to the west. They seem to have diverged from the main trail further south than where the other men turned around. But I followed them as far as they went. They just stop. I assumed he tracked back, but I can’t pick up his trail anywhere.”

“So, your variables are beneficial to this mission,” Levi said to Shane. “What can you do that the rest of us can’t?”

Levi was not above asking for suggestions. You didn’t get to where he had as a leader without taking the suggestions and advice of his crew. That had never been an issue. Which made Corey going behind his back that much more irritating. But at the same time, Levi could almost understand Corey’s hesitance to suggest Shane come on the mission. Especially after completely dismissing Angus’s suggestion a few hours ago.

“While the rest of you might be experts, I know the wilderness better than anyone,” Shane said. “I’ve lived in these woods for a year, through the snow and the storms. I understand how the wilderness works. It’s like a sixth sense for me now.”

“So you’re a psychic?” Levi said sarcastically.

“No. But I’m the best expert in wilderness survival that you’ve got. Do you want me out there finding this groom and saving your ass or not?” Shane said.

“I want you to skirt around the southern slope and meet up with Drew. Corey, give him the coordinates. The others are headed to Drew’s location now,” Levi said.

Shane sat down and started removing his clothes. Juliet hung up her phone and turned to Levi, her expression full of concern.

“Shane, what are you doing?” Levi barked.

“I’m going in bear style,” he said, pulling down his pants.

“We can’t coordinate without a walkie-talkie,” Levi said.

“Can we talk for a minute?” Juliet said, averting her eyes from Shane’s naked form.

“Of course,” he said, following her around the side of the truck to where they could speak in private. “What is it?”

“Quinn came back and she’s really upset.”

“Didn’t Quinn go off with Drew last night?” Levi asked.

“Yes. And she’s telling me she has to talk to me right now.”

“Holy fuck, these men,” Levi said. “Excuse my language.”

“It’s fine. But I don’t know what’s going on with Quinn. It’s not like she’s never been out with a man before, believe me,” she said.

“We better get you back to the lodge,” Levi said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’ll drive you,” he said, before turning to Corey. “Relay any information that you get to me immediately. I’ll be back in less than an hour. Shane, meet up with Drew. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Yes, sir,” Corey said.

“I’m going in bear form,” Shane said, padding out into the snow in his bare feet.

“Fine. Your bear senses might come in handy. This isn’t the first time we’ve used our animal senses on a mission. Just please, stay in control of your bear.”

Shane roared, and his body broke apart and reformed into the shape of a grizzly bear. Juliet stood there stunned, her mouth hanging open as Shane pranced out into the snow.

“Sorry you had to see that,” he said, opening the truck door for Juliet.

She climbed inside, wordlessly. He couldn’t help being irritated at his crew, but compromise was a hallmark of leadership. He couldn’t let them believe that they could walk all over him and not listen to his directions, but he had to pick his battles with these guys. As their leader, Levi knew there was a fine balance between cooperation and authority.

He climbed into the driver’s seat of the truck and pulled out of the parking lot and back onto the road. Juliet was silent as she rode along beside him, her eyebrows knit together in worry.

“Do you think Drew did something to your friend Quinn?” Levi asked.

He couldn’t imagine Drew being sexually aggressive to a woman who didn’t want him to be. It went against everything in Drew’s nature.

“I don’t think it’s that. I think it’s something she did,” Juliet whispered.

Juliet was such a sweet, sensitive little thing. He could tell how worried she was about her friend’s well-being. It made his heart swell and burst to be with her. Everything in him told him that she was his other half. She was that part of him that was missing. The sweet inner softness, full of empathy and love for others. Levi was a good-natured man, but he could never match Juliet’s goodness. It was her nature to be kind, unassuming, and sweet.

It made him love her. It made him want her. Made him want to wrap her up and keep her and protect her from all harm, forever. She was like an angel to him, glowing and white. Pure like the snow falling on the green limbs of evergreens in winter.

“You are so kind to be so concerned about your friends,” Levi said, pulling up in front of the lodge. He parked the car, and she turned to him with a confused expression in her eyes.

“I’m not that kind. And even if I am, it’s probably what makes me so weak,” she said.

“You are anything but weak,” Levi said, his shock evident in his tone.

“I am. I could never do what you do. I can’t tell anyone to do anything. I can’t even keep myself from being walked all over,” she said, gripping the door handle.

“Who’s walking all over you? Quinn?” Levi felt the rush of anger in his gut and his bear growled toward the surface. If anyone was hurting his Juliet, they would get a piece of his mind.

“No. She just said something that reminded me of what’s going on at home,” Juliet explained.

“What’s going on at home?” Levi asked, growing even more concerned for his mate’s safety.

“I’ll tell you about it another time. You need to get back to the rescue mission,” she said softly.

She unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned over to kiss him on the lips. The kiss was brief, but it made a spark ignite inside him. As he watched her open the truck door and hop out onto the pavement, his desire burst into flame.