Her Wild Hero

Derek nodded but didn’t say anything. He made no move to check, though.

Giving Derek a nod, Angelo walked over to the bodies. Tate fell into step beside him while Landon climbed into the helicopter. Two of the dead men wore marine uniforms, so it was obvious who they were. A rain slicker had been draped over the third, and Angelo held his breath as he crouched down and moved it aside.

“He was DEA,” Tate said, his face a mix a relief and sorrow as he gazed down at the dead man.

Angelo knew how he felt. Covering the man with the slicker again, he stood up. A few feet away, Derek breathed a sigh of relief.

Landon came out of the helicopter shaking his head. “No one in there.”

“That’s good,” Tate said. “That means two other people made it out with Declan and Kendra, along with the crew from the chopper.”

Clayne jogged up. “Cut the list of possible survivors by two. I found the pilot and copilot…they didn’t make it through the crash.”

Tate swore. Angelo couldn’t blame him. They’d come out here looking for survivors and so far they’d already found five bodies.

“I know it looks bad, but at least we know that Kendra, Declan, and at least three of the others made it out,” Angelo reminded him. “We’re going to find them.”

Clayne disappeared into the jungle with Ivy and Tanner without a word. Probably searching for some sign or scent of which way Kendra and Declan had gone. Even though the shifters were circling the site a mere fifty feet away, Angelo could barely see them.

“Damn it gets dark fast out here,” Derek said, as if reading his mind.

“You guys from the 5th spend too much time in the desert,” Carter said as he pulled out his NVGs. “You forget what it’s like in the jungle. The sun probably won’t go completely down for another thirty minutes, but under this canopy it might as well be midnight.”

Angelo rummaged in his pack for his own goggles. As soon as Ivy and the other shifters found a trail, they’d be on the move, and he wanted to be ready. Now that they knew Declan and Kendra were alive, there was no time to waste.

“What are they doing out there?” Butler asked as he attached his goggles to the Ops-Core Ballistic helmet he’d pulled out of his rucksack.

“They’re tracing all the different scents around here.” Landon quickly put on his own gear. “They’ll be able to tell how many of our people left this site, which way they went, if any of them were injured, and most importantly, if they were followed.”

Carter let out a low whistle. “They can do all that?”

Angelo flicked on his goggles and adjusted his helmet straps just in time to see Landon nod. “They can do all that. And they can do it damn fast. So let’s make sure we’re ready to go when they are.”

While they waited, Angelo pulled out his poncho, then glanced at Derek. “Give me a hand, would you?”

Derek didn’t ask what he needed a hand with, but he quickly figured it out when Angelo crouched down beside one of the dead marines and wrapped the poncho around the body. When they were finished, Derek took out his poncho and covered the other marine. Carter did the same to the DEA agent. It wouldn’t protect the remains as well as burying them, but it was all they had time to do and it might keep animals away for a time. They’d barely finished when Ivy, Clayne, and Tanner came back. Their eyes glowed in the darkness.

“What’s the situation?” Landon asked.

“Four people walked out of here,” Ivy said. “Declan and Kendra, and two others. Locals probably.”

Tate let out a breath. “What about the third crewman?”

Clayne shrugged. “No sign of him.”

“Kendra and Declan were okay after the crash, right?” Derek asked.

“Looks like it,” Clayne said. “They didn’t hang around here for long, though.”

“Declan would know the smoke from the wreckage would draw the hybrids like flies. He would have gotten everyone away from it as fast as he could,” Tate said. “Do you know which way they went?”

Ivy exchanged looks with Clayne. “Declan and Kendra headed out going due west, directly away from the landing zone.”

Landon frowned. “Kendra and Declan? Not the others?”

Clayne shared another look with Ivy. “The other two headed out on their own, going almost due south.”

“Why didn’t they all stay together?” Butler asked.

Tate swore softly. “Because they saw Declan shift during the ambush. From their point of view, there isn’t much difference between him and the hybrids.”

“So what do we do?” Carter asked. “I know you brought us in primarily to rescue your friends, Captain, but we aren’t just going to abandon the other two, are we?”

Everyone turned to Landon, and Angelo was once again struck by how people naturally turned to him for leadership. Always had, always would.