Read An Alpha's Tempest (Water Bear Shifters 4) for Free Online

chirping of his headset as he communicated by radio with the pilots and Brett.
    “Both survivors safely on board,” Lance said. “Rescue swimmer is attached to hoist cable and ready to lift.”
    The helicopter lurched back and forth every now and then from the gusts of stormy wind, but the pilots seemed to do an excellent job of keeping the aircraft steady. A few moments later, Brett appeared in the door of the helicopter and climbed in with Lance’s assistance. After unclipping himself from the hoist cable, Brett shut the door.
    “Swimmer on board. Let’s head back to the air station,” Lance said into his headset. Rhythm felt the helicopter turning around and picking up speed, and she glanced out the window to see the gray waves rushing by below them. She shivered, hardly believing that she had been down in those waves for well over twelve hours.
    The next thing she knew, Brett was kneeling next to her, helping her take off her rescue suit and giving her the warmest blanket she had ever felt in her life. He offered her some water, and she took a few sips, but her throat was so dry that it had become swollen, and it was hard to squeeze the liquid down her throat.
    Suddenly, she realized that Lance, who had been leaning over Evan to take his vitals, was beginning to take off Evan’s survival suit.
    “Wait! Stop!” Rhythm said, feeling panicked. Lance glanced up at her in surprise, a questioning look in his eye.
    Rhythm faltered for a moment. How was she going to explain to these military men that Evan was a bear shifter, but that he wasn’t dangerous and really just wanted to go home to die with his family? She didn’t want them to cause trouble for Evan. Not when he’d been through so much already.
    “Ma’am?” Lance asked, his hands paused on the zipper of Evan’s suit. “Did you want to say something? Your friend is severely hypothermic and dehydrated. I need to get him some medical attention as soon as possible.”
    “It’s just…listen, um, he’s really sick,” Rhythm said.
    “I can see that,” Lance said, starting to grow impatient. “That’s why I need to help him out quickly.”
    “No, I mean, he’s really sick. Not just from hypothermia. From a virus. And he’s probably going to die from it and there’s not much anyone can do. He just wants to go home to die with his family. You’re going to see when you take off his survival suit that he’s a little, uh, different, from normal humans. But please just help him and don’t make a big deal out of it. He’s harmless, and only wants one last chance to see his clan. I mean family. One last chance to see his family.”
    Lance and Brett exchanged glances, and both were silent for a moment. Brett started to say something, but Lance held up a hand to stop him.
    “It’s okay, ma’am,” Lance said. “We’ll take good care of your friend, no matter how different he is. We can talk about it later, but right now we just need to get him some medical attention.”
    Rhythm nodded, thinking that they had no idea just how different Evan actually was. But what choice did she have other than to let them help him? She sat quietly, wrapping her blanket tightly around herself and trying not to appear as panicked as she felt.
    “What’s going on back there?” a voice came squawking through Brett’s headset as one of the pilots spoke to him. “Is the guy one of us, like you thought?”
    Brett glanced at Rhythm, and then at Lance. Lance, who was already halfway finished with unfastening the survival suit, nodded up at Brett.
    “Yeah,” Brett said. “Definitely a bear shifter. Looks like a grizzly.
    “No shit!” the pilot said. “Is the girl a shifter?”
    “No, she’s human. But she seems to know about him.”
    “How does she know him?”
    “I’m not sure. We’ll get to that later. Right now we need to focus on taking care of the guy. He looks really sick, and it looks awfully similar to me to the virus that killed off the pandas in the