Sean was in his human form and walking as fast as he could. His senses were completely tuned into one thing, and one thing alone. Eden. And not losing sign of her.

The others—Griz, Cross, Judge, Cedric, and Jenner were far enough behind as to not distract Sean from her scent.

Ciara the Intuitive had gone with Mae to find Camden and… what? Sean wondered what in the world the Intuitive was there for. He’d forgotten to ask when they’d all been together, and now, his focus, and his bear’s focus were channeled to finding Eden.

There came a point in Sean’s tracking of Eden’s scent where the smell of her was overcome by another—smoke. That’s the point he took off at a run. A quick glance behind him verified Griz, Cross, and Judge had picked up the odor of smoke and were following.

Finally, breathless, he reached a cabin in the depths of the woods. He didn’t know the cabin, wasn’t even sure whose property it was on. All that mattered was he was sure Eden was in that building. Or had been.

Griz and the other guys pulled up short next to him. The two wizards were trailing behind on the path but were within sight.

Cross inhaled. “Shit.

“Damn,” Judge echoed the same sentiment.

A scream cut through the forest’s sounds. And it came from inside the cabin.

“I’m going in.” Sean sprinted toward the cabin.

“Right behind you,” one of them said.

Coulda been Cross. Coulda been Judge. Sean didn’t take the time to look back to see.

Sean shouldered the door open and was greeted by smoke and flames. He dropped low and in a split second had surveyed the scene.

A woman was outside the back door, her clothing on fire. It wasn’t Eden. Another woman lay on the ground before him. Also, not Eden.

He pointed to the prone woman, and glanced back. “Cross, one here. Not Eden. I’ll check the rest of the cabin.”

He didn’t have much to check. There, in a cleared-out area, with a horse blanket over it, surrounded by and in the midst of flames, a black panther.

“Jesus,” he hissed under his breath.

The panther’s fur was singed. He leapt over the couch and threw the blanket off the panther’s face and discovered that was the only place that hadn’t been touched by the fire.

He roared, a guttural sound that came from deep within his chest. A sound released by his bear.

Later, if asked, Sean would have been hard-pressed to explain what happened. He’d been unable to keep his bear from shifting. And within seconds, his bear had taken control of his body, sinew stretching, bones realigning, muscles bulking up. He was in his bear, and seen knew exactly why. There was no way his human body could have carried Eden’s panther out of the cabin without burning.

Swiftly, with more speed than one would imagine a large bear could manage, Sean’s bear hoisted the panther and was carrying her toward the door, heedless of the flames that tasked his fur and seared his paws.

Once outside, he laid her gently in a bed of pine needles and leaves. He watched her body, looking for signs of life and was rewarded when her chest rose then fell. It wasn’t a great reward, nor was it much of a rise, but it was a gift to Sean and his bear, because they’d begun to fall into the depths of despair that she was not alive. His bear nuzzled her face, nudging her carefully to wake her.

Why is she out like this? Smoke inhalation?

Sean wasn’t trained in the medical field. He had no clue. Swiftly, he shifted into his human form, and this time the discomfort of his body’s adjustments to his new size were not hidden by the adrenaline he’d used to run into the building.

His transformation was excruciating, but he sped it up in his haste to tend to Eden’s panther.

In his human form, Sean looked around and spotted Griz. “She’s out. I don’t know. Smoke?”

Griz sprinted toward him and knelt to examine her while Sean ran fingertips over her singed fur, then stripped his shirt off and used it to rub away the soot that had settled against her fur.

“What do you think, Griz?”

“Not sure. I’m calling Mae to get Doc to your place. Let’s get her to your vehicle ASAP.” With that Griz leapt from a kneeling position to a sprint toward a shed nearby.

Within seconds–seconds that lasted forever–Griz was back with a blanket, tarp, and fence posts. “We’ll make a carrier from these.” He tossed the items to Cross and Judge. “Quick, let’s get her to the Sean’s SUV, then to Doc.” He yanked his cell from his pocket and was punching the screen, then raising the phone to his ear.