“Cryptic.”
She laughed as she tipped the boots over and crashed them together to remove any spiders or little critters making their home inside. Peering in didn’t help, so she gathered her courage and slipped a hand in. Slowly. Very slowly.
When all she hit was sole, the sense of relief was powerful.
Of course, she wasn’t as lucky in the second boot.
Her scream died away in time for guilt to descend as she heard Shaun’s frantic yells.
“Gem. What the fuck is wrong?”
“It’s okay. I’m okay.” Her skin crawled as she pulled out a dead mouse from where it had been jammed into the toe of the boot. “I was having a girly moment. Sorry for scaring you.”
The banging died down, and even through the walls his sigh was audible. “Princess moment, eh? Is something dead?”
Poop. “You know me too well.”
“Not nearly as well as I plan to. So what’s the thing I need to see? And I’m not trying to rush you, but I’m getting hoarse from yelling. Is outside a possibility?”
“Nag, nag, nag.” Gem grabbed the curly cord she’d spotted poking from the box and gave a light tug. A microphone pulled free, followed by the corner of a boxlike object. She shoved aside the rest of the pile and rescued her find.
With her treasure under her arm, she made her way to the window.
“Good news, I can do this. Give me two more minutes.”
Shaun chuckled. “It’s not like I’m going anywhere…”
Gem wiggled boxes closer, making a platform under the window. As she hauled one away from the wall, she spotted a fire extinguisher and fire axe, nabbing the latter happily. “Okay, I’m making some noise. Don’t worry, it’s demolition time.”
“Have fun!”
There was something freeing about swinging the axe, forcing the few remaining struts on the one side to bend enough she could reach the outer layer. After spreading what was left of a rotting blanket over the glass shards, she shoved the far-left section of the storm shutters away, the loud screech of metal on metal ringing through the room.
The bright morning sunshine matched her mood as she dropped both her discovery and the axe to the outside ground, crawled up on the window ledge, and wiggled her way out.
Intense satisfaction sparkled like tiny bubbles inside. She didn’t want to shout, she was too full of pride and happiness. Instead, she grabbed her supplies and walked cautiously around the perimeter of the building. On the off-chance there was someone hiding in the area, she wasn’t going to walk into another trap.
Nothing but fresh air, the gentle noises of the tundra, and after her second corner, the front door with a deadbolt lock hanging from it.
She emptied her hands and knocked.
Shaun’s soft response came from just on the other side of the door. “I knew you’d do it.”
That he was already there, waiting for her, was huge. The impulse to burst out with a confession of love was so strong—but she still wanted to wait. “Thank you. Now, I need to get you out. Let me try this. Careful, it could get noisy.”
She swung at the lock, the first couple blows going off-angle and accomplishing not much more than making her ears ring. Then she turned the axe around, using the blunt backside of the head, and the metal twisted.
“It’s working, Shaun.”
“Woohoo, break me outta here, love.”
Another half-dozen blows were all it took. The lock fell into two pieces with a satisfying crash. She opened the bolt and drew it back. The door swung open, and she found herself lifted high into the air, spun in circles as Shaun squeezed her tight.
Then his lips were on hers and they were kissing. Mouths locked together, tongues tangling. She clutched his broad shoulders and smiled against him.
They drew apart, both grinning like fools.
“Well, so much for being trapped.” Shaun examined her carefully, his fingers skimming over her. “You okay? Nothing happen when you screamed? No cuts, no…”
“I’m fine. But thank you for asking.”
She cuddled to his side as he twisted to take in their surroundings. “Well, at least I don’t have to worry about getting shot or beat on again. Man, they did abandon us.”
“Probably figured I’d be trapped and why bother to stick around.” Indignation rose. “I wish I could give them a piece of my mind. If they’d been wolves…”
Shaun hugged her again. “I’m pretty sure that’s why they were bears. You and I together can do a lot of damage to another pair of wolves, just by how strong we are. But all the hierarchy power in the world doesn’t work against different breeds of shifter.”
Under her ear, his heart pulsed with steady beat. “I’m ready to go home.”
He lifted her chin, smiling even as he shared the bad news. “Sorry, but that’s going to take a bit of work. The markings on the station give me a rough idea of where we are. I know from my days plotting trips up to Old Crow we’ve got a ways to hoof it. Still, in wolf we can do it. You okay with that?”
Gem batted her lashes at him. “You don’t want to call for a ride?”
Shaun raised a brow, and she snuck out from under his arm, grabbed her discovery and held it out to him. “Of course, I’m not positive this works, but I’m pretty sure I saw a flashlight in the prison room, that will have batteries. Plus, there were a lot of other wires and things in the room I broke out of. I figured a smart guy like you would totally be able to make this work.”
Shaun accepted the box from her, delight on his face. “You found a bloody ham radio.”
“Is that what this is?”
He nodded. “Damn, you scored big. Come on, I think we should order in room service with this thing. You want anchovies on the pizza?”
They moved back into the station. Gem buzzed with excitement to have been able to play a vital role in saving not only herself, but him. They worked together well as a team. And as he pulled apart the flashlight and twisted wires, Gem watched her mate, content to be at his side.
Chapter Fifteen
Waiting for the rescue team to reach them took less time than Shaun expected. Then again, he should have been suspicious when he used the ham radio and discovered word of their kidnapping was already common knowledge, at least in the wolf-shifter world.
When the first person out of the chopper was Caroline, Shaun wasn’t surprised. She was Evan’s assistant after all. But the tall, slender man who crawled out after her made his fur stand on end.
Gem squealed. She raced forward and threw herself at the man Shaun assumed was her father. Oh boy. On a scale of one to ten, running away was looking like a twenty-seven. The stern look the dude tossed his direction was pretty damn clear in showing what the old man thought of his baby girl’s choice of companions.
Good thing Gem’s mate selection wasn’t up to her father. Shaun smiled broadly.
Caroline made her way to his side. The most extraordinary colours decorated her face. “What the hell happened to you?” he asked.
She tossed him a grin. “You seen your face in a mirror lately?”
Oh, right. “There were three of them. They caught me from behind. They used laser beams and rancid pudding.”
“You forget to duck?”
He couldn’t get over her bruises. “I’m serious, Caroline. Has the world gone mad?” He sniffed. “Holy shit, you’ve been fucking around with Evan.”
She was laughing too hard to be offended. “No, the world isn’t mad. Or no madder than usual. Yes, Evan and I are seeing each other. Get over it. I’m here to escort Mr. Jacobs ‘to the rescue’ since he refused to remain behind. Evan is already working on getting a bead on the guys who jumped you—thanks for the note to start looking in Chicken. The bear shifters we talked to in Dawson were outraged that any of them would stoop to kidnapping—we have their full co-operation as well. Anyone laying a hand on Gem in the future will be given clan discipline, which I hear is actually tougher than what wolves hand out. Go figure.”