Page 34 of Lion Conquers All
“Yes,Vraka. Of course, but I could help—”
He glared hard at her. She was pregnant. The announcement hadn’t been made yet, but she was far enough along that she should be aware of the pregnancy. The she-bear was stubborn. Just like her brother.
“Yes,Vraka.” She bowed her head, accepting his choice without more arguing.
He kissed Naomi, reveling in the blessing she was and had bestowed in his life. The Reyleans had come through the portal with nothing. He’d lost everything. And then there she’d been, a beacon of light to his soul. A chance a new beginning. They had come so far. All of them had. Now there were children. Their tribe was growing and strong.
“Stay safe.” He whispered the blessing into her hair.
“You too, big guy. Keep the flames to a minimum.”
He laughed from deep in his belly. “Will do.” Then headed down the steps and around to the side of the cabin where their truck was parked. “Let Aarav know I’m on my way.”
14
AARAV
The office was buzzing. Patsy was on the phone with the Search and Rescue team from Anchorage. His brothers were on their way from the volunteer firehouse. And the whole tribe was supposedly coming to the sheriff’s station.
Aarav’s skin was on fire.
So much emotion.
So many shifters all in one place.
The town was arriving in droves. Everyone who had any hiking ability whatsoever was standing outside waiting for instructions. Gaven was pinning up the maps and instructions to each blind his late wife had built. Then marking them on the giant map on the board. Each red circle represented a place where the kids might be.
There were over two dozen blinds to check. The storm was rolling in faster than we could get organized.
He could send shifters deeper, further up the mountain, but not humans. He’d already spoken to the Roberts and given them the unfortunate update that the kids weren’t where they’d hoped to find them.
“Anchorage guys will be here in five to six hours.” Patsy’s voice shouted over the crowd in the office.
“Thank you.” He let his voice boom back toward her.
“Which ones are furthest away, Connie?” He met her gaze and she knew exactly what he was asking.
She glanced at the table in front of her. Reached for papers, then stopped. “You can’t.” Her words were so quiet. No one but Aarav could hear her. “They can’t. It’s not safe.”
He shook his head. “They know. But they can still get further than any of these other people.”
She gave a half nod, grabbed a stack of papers and freshly printed maps. “There are fifteen that there’s no way we can get to before the storm covers the area and visibility is zero. Vehicles won’t make it out. If they can’t hike out on their own, they will be stuck.”
He took the papers from her hand. “Understood.” He hurried from the office, weaving his way through groups of people all asking how they could help. The whole town seemed to have shown up. The problem waseveryoneknew what the storm rolling in meant. Everyone was in a hurry.
He stopped at the top of the walk in front of the sheriff’s doublewide. “Listen up.” His voice boomed across the completely full parking lot. “I can’t tell you how proud I am at how many of you have shown up to help us find these kids. Most of us know what those clouds above Denali mean for this search. And if you don’t, it means we are running on a clock. A short one.”
Murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowds of people as they quieted.
“I have certain places that need to be checked before we move to grid searching. Gretchen’s mother worked for the national wildlife service. She had blinds all over the park. I have directions to all of them. Some are too far up the mountain to check until the storm blows over. But if you’re willing and you have a really good radio and a snow machine at your disposal, I’m willing to send you right now. We have to be smart. I can’t afford to lose more people on the mountain when we need to be focused on finding Sam and Gretchen. Is that understood?”
More agreement and nodding.
“If at any point the storm starts coming down hard. You abort the search. That is an order.”
Connie stepped up next to him at the rail. “If you have a snow machine and long distance radio charged and ready, move toward my truck.” She pointed across the parking lot where her EMT emergency vehicle was parked.
“If not.” Aarav continued. “Please stay close. If the storm breaks tomorrow, we will need you for grid searching. Anchorage Search and Rescue will be here in an official capacity by this evening. Due to the storm, it’s likely they won’t need volunteers until tomorrow at dawn.”
