Chapter Twelve – Kit

Kit walked in his human form along the main road out of town, while Ollie paced beside him in his shifted form. It was a stretch of the imagination, but if anyone reported seeing Dr. Malvern walking out of town with a cougar, he would laugh and say it was their imagination, he’d been accompanied by a plain old cat, and the snow must have distorted their view.

Looking up at the big flakes as they fell from the sky, Kit reckoned they would get away with it too, since the snow was coming down as thick as it had last night. Soon the tracks Ollie had been able to pick up, which he swore belonged to Louise, since he’d been able to catch her scent near his apartment, would be gone. That was why the dragons were such a good idea.

He glanced down at his phone, and reread Suzie’s text. She was a smart woman, and she was his.

“Oh, hell!” Kit exclaimed, his eyes still turned skyward. The cougar by his side stopped and looked up too, and Kit was certain the cat was silently registering the same shock. “I never thought I’d see such a sight.”

Way above them, silhouetted against the snow-laden clouds, three dragons were soaring through the air. When they were above Kit and Ollie, Kit lifted his hand and waved in a salute. The largest dragon puffed out a plume of smoke, and the three dragons drifted off further into the distance.

“If we don’t find Louise with their help, we are likely never going to find her,” Kit told Ollie.

Ollie gave a brief nod, his cat eyes large and amber as he turned his attention back to the trail they were following. Kit returned to scanning the horizon, as much as the poor visibility allowed. He looked from left to right, and front to back, hoping he would see Louise. As the snow grew deeper around them, his concerns escalated. Hypothermia would become a real problem for her soon. She was completely unprepared for this weather. He knew because the first thing he’d done when Ollie told him Louise had left, was to send him back inside to check what she had taken with her. The answer worried Kit. If Ollie was right, she had walked back out of town in the same state she had arrived in. Underdressed and unprepared.

Kit picked up the pace, and the cougar jogged along by his side. “We need to find her soon, Ollie.”

The cougar gave a plaintive yowl and inched in front, his nose to the ground, but the tracks were disappearing. They were blind down here, searching for a woman who might be anywhere.

Beside him, the air shimmered and Ollie fell into step with Kit on two legs. “The tracks are gone.”

“I figured as much. Look, we could go faster, but our best chance is the dragons. They can see so much more than us. So we pace ourselves, and keep looking, and wait for any news.”

“Agreed,” Ollie replied. “But I feel so useless.”

“I’m used to it,” Kit admitted.

“Really? I thought, being a doctor, you had more control than most people.” Ollie gave Kit a sideways glance before returning to looking around them.

“Most of the time. But then there are the times when there is nothing you can do. I am not a god, I can’t work miracles. And that is hard, seeing the faces of parents and knowing there is nothing more I can do.”

“Huh. I never thought of it like that,” Ollie said.

“It’s tough.” Kit sighed. “Just like this. It’s out of our hands, if Louise really doesn’t want to be found, there are so many places she could hide.” Kit didn’t want to upset Ollie or make him panic, but they had to consider that Louise was beyond their help. No matter how much Kit wanted to find Louise, he could not risk Ollie’s life, or that of the three dragons.

“She came here because of me,” Ollie said.

“Is that what she told you?” Kit asked.

“No, but there is no other reason for her to come to Bear Creek.”

“She left Storm in Bear Bluff. Is there someone there she might have come to see? A person she might be heading toward now?” Kit asked.

“No. I told you, she doesn’t know anyone here. But she knew about the hospital in Bear Bluff. When we I first moved here, I broke my arm, and she came to see me in hospital, wrote on my cast and everything.” Ollie smiled softly, but there was a sadness in his eyes. “Why couldn’t we be mates?”

“Because that is not the way of it,” Kit said gently. “Fate has the right woman lined up for you.”

Ollie huffed in response. “A woman I may or may not find. While Louise was there, a warm, real human. And what about her? What about Louise? She gets to choose, but she can’t choose me?”

“I understand what you are saying, Ollie. But it’s not my choice, and it’s not yours.”

“Really? Because I have been thinking, and I’ve decided to screw fate. I’m going to take care of Louise and the baby.” Ollie’s face was firmly set. “I am going to make a choice.”

“And what happens when your true mate walks into your life and turns it upside-down?” Kit asked.

“I don’t care,” Ollie insisted.

“Believe me, Ollie, you will.” Kit stopped and turned to face Ollie, placing his hand on the young man’s shoulder. “You don’t think I haven’t asked myself these same questions? You don’t think I’ve skirted around these same decisions?”

Ollie shrugged, looking mutinous. “I don’t know.”

“Well, I have. And let me tell you, until yesterday when Suzie walked into my life, I thought I could do things my own way. I’ve fostered children because I so desperately wanted a child of my own. But nothing fills the void. Not until she walks into your life and rips your heart from your chest.” He put his hand over his heart. “And then she puts it back in, but it’s different, the whole world is different, and you don’t want to go back.”

“But what about Louise?” Ollie asked.

“You can be there for her, you can be everything you need to be for her. But don’t ever make a promise you can’t keep. Ever. And let me tell you, this is one you cannot keep.”

Ollie opened his mouth to speak, but before he did, Kit’s phone beeped in his pocket. The two men locked eyes and shared a moment of hope as Kit plunged his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

“Did they find her?” Ollie asked.

Kit lifted his eyes to meet Ollie’s. “Yes. She is unconscious.”

Kit lifted his head and looked skyward. The thrum of wings heralded the arrival of a dragon, and in its talons, it held the limp body of a human.

“Louise!” Ollie yelled.

“Shh, we don’t want people looking this way.” Kit looked around quickly; thankfully, they were on an empty stretch of road. With the added shroud of snow blanketing them, there would be little chance of anyone seeing a dragon.

“Is she dead?” Ollie asked as the dragon placed the woman carefully on the ground. In an instant, Kit was by her side, checking her vital signs, while Harlan shifted into his human form just above the air and landed in the snow with a plop.

“Can’t risk leaving any tracks,” Harlan explained. He looked up and waved at the two dragons circling above them. “How is she? We can get you close to the hospital if you need us to. But not all the way, it’s too risky.”

Kit nodded. “We need to get her warm. Can you take her back to my house? I have a full medical kit and a warm fire. Her pulse is strong and her breathing is normal. She looks exhausted.”

“Are you sure about the hospital?” Ollie asked nervously.

“Let’s get her warm and dry first, and we can make a decision if we need to.” Kit nodded at Harlan.

“Your call. And anyway, since we could not land too close to the hospital, if that is your next move, we need to make a plan. You’ll need someone with a car to pick you up on the outskirts.”

Kit nodded. “I have people I can call on if we need to do that. Or I can drive.”

Harlan shook his head. “I’ve seen the road going up to your house. A small avalanche has blocked it about a mile from your house.”

“Damn it,” Kit cursed. “OK, please take Louise with you. We can run home. I’ll text Suzie and let her know to expect you.”

“Sure.” Harlan walked away from them, and shifted, his dragon wings dipping down and lifting him off the ground in one fluid movement. It was impressive how well-controlled the dragon shifter was. But then he’d had a long, long time to master the art of being a dragon.

Kit tapped Ollie on the shoulder. “Are you OK?”

“I think so.” He watched the dragon as it carried off Louise. “I’m not sure which shocks me more.”

“Yeah, the dragon does it for me,” Kit admitted. Quickly sending a text to Suzie, to warn her about Louise’s arrival, he then shifted into his bear and took off at a run toward his house on the hill. As his short bear legs devoured the ground, he thought over how he planned to get Louise to the hospital if that was what they had to do.

There were several people he could call. But there was another idea he wanted to run past Harlan, although the dragon shifter might not like it. But it would at least mean he would be able to go into work tomorrow too.

His bear grinned to himself. Dragon shifters. I never thought I’d see one, let alone four.

Me neither, Kit agreed. But he sure was glad Suzie had one on speed dial.