Caleb: Military Heroes (The One I Want Series Book 3)

by Ellie Masters

With first aid rendered to both girls, Caitlyn faced a difficult decision. The boulder the girls had sheltered behind last night wouldn’t provide sufficient cover from the advancing storm. She needed to either build something or find something more suitable. Fortunately, she knew these mountains well.

  After fashioning a splint for Sally’s busted ankle, she stretched. It was decision time.

  “Look, we need to find shelter.”

  “I thought you were here to rescue us?” Jenny whined while Caitlyn gritted her teeth.

  “I am, and we’ll get you out.” Before the girls could protest, she continued on. “I left markers and they know about where I left my snowmobile.”

  “About where? What do you mean about?”

  “Look, Sheriff Johnson knows which direction I headed. He knows the general area, and I left markers telling them which way to go. My thought is to get you out of here, but I wasn’t expecting the degree of Sally’s injuries. There’s no way we can carry her up and out of here. We’d be more likely to get caught out in the open.”

  Sally bit at her lower lip and said nothing, letting Jenny do the majority of the talking. Caitlyn feared she was in more pain than she was letting on.

  She tried to calm the girls. “I know this sounds scary, but you need to trust me. I know these mountains and I know where we can wait out the storm. We’ll leave a path the others can follow and everything will be okay.”

  “How can you be so sure?” Sally’s tear streak face stared up at her and her lower lip trembled.

  Hadn’t she answered that question? “This is what I do for a living.”

  “What’s that? Because you don’t look like the mountain rescue type.” Jenny’s quip had Caitlyn biting her tongue.

  She didn’t need these girls questioning her every move. They didn’t have time for that nonsense.

  “I’m a guide which means I’m the one who brings the mountain rescue teams up to the mountains to train.” It might be a stretch saying that, but she had trained many of her clients in basic survival skills. Their top priority was shelter and warmth. Those were easy, but not if the girls were going to question everything.

  “Jen,” Sally gripped her calf and stared at her ankle, “let’s listen to what she has to say.”

  Well, at least one of them was listening to reason. Caitlyn took another look around. “Listen, there’s a cave I know close by. It’s less than half a mile. With Jen and I working together, we can get you up there.”

  “Up?” Her voice shook. Sally didn’t look convinced she could walk at all.

  “The splint will protect your foot, and Jen and I will be your crutches. The snow is getting a little deep, but we’ve got Bear to forge ahead and break the snow. That’ll help. Once we get to the cave, Bear will stay with you while Jen and I grab firewood. I’ve got emergency blankets in my pack and even a small emergency heater.”

  “A heater?”

  It was a small can of jellied fuel which would provide enough warmth to keep Sally from getting hypothermic while she and Jenny built a fire. She explained what they needed to do while canvassing the girls’ remaining pack.

  “We leave behind what we don’t need.” She turned to Sally. “We need you as unencumbered as possible. Now, while Jen does that, let’s get your boot back on.”

  In less than ten minutes, she had the girls ready, their confidence boosted, and half a mile to navigate uphill with a treacherous injury. A quick check on the radio revealed only static. Taking her knife out, she cut strips out of Sally’s bright pink backpack and tied one to a branch on the downside of the girls’ camp and placed two pointing up. The men would know to follow the proper direction.

  She and Jen hoisted their packs and bent down to help Sally to her feet. The three of them made their way out into the snow. Bear took point, knowing exactly what she needed from him. Rather than bounding over the snow, he barreled his way through, forming a path the girls could follow.

  Halfway up a particularly steep area, Sally collapsed between them, crying out in pain. “Just go on. Leave me.”

  Caitlyn bent down to help Sally out, only to hear Jenny’s scream.

  A ball of brown fur launched at them.

  The mountain lion knocked her to her back and ripped into her pack with teeth and claws.

  Jenny and Sally screamed.

  They would bring down the entire mountain if they kept that up. The pack saved Caitlyn’s life, giving her a chance to free her father’s gun from her hip holster. She aimed just as Bear rushed the mountain lion, pushing it off her back.

  The cat hissed and spit. Its low rumbling growl ripped through the girls' screams as it tore into Bear. All Caitlyn could see was brown and black fur spinning against the snow as Bear fought for his life.

  Chapter 6

  Caleb

  Spending the night bivouacked on the snow hadn’t been a part of Caleb’s grand rescue plan, but with darkness making it impossible to follow the tracks left by Caitlyn’s snowmobile, he had little choice but to stop for the night.

  Rushing led to mistakes, a lesson her father instilled on them both at a young age. He woke well before dawn, packed his gear, and pulled Tom’s snowmobile out of the drift.

  Only a faint depression remained of Caitlyn’s tracks. No longer fat and fluffy, the temperature had dropped which changed the makeup of the snow. It fell in tiny slivers.

  He secured everything on the snowmobile and headed out. The higher he climbed into the mountains the more difficult it was to follow her path. He lost sight of it and stopped to think about what to do next. Pulling out his binoculars, he scanned the way ahead. Off in the distance, he spied two blaze orange pendants tied to an overhanging tree branch. The pointed ends arrowed down, and he knew what they meant.

  Caitlyn wouldn’t have marked her spot unless something forced her from her snowmobile.

  Like him, she’d spent the night outside. A flattened area beside the snowmobile showed where she pitched a small tent. A ring of rocks buried beneath two inches of snow revealed the remains of a campfire.

  She’d stripped the snowmobile, taking everything with her. Her snowshoe tracks pointed down the hill. Next to them, he could see where Bear plowed through the snow.

  Knowing Caitlyn, she would have broken camp early, trying to get a start on the day, and attempting to stay ahead of the approaching storm. She must have seen something to lead her down that hill. He bent over the ring of rock, testing for residual heat. The ground was cold, and the fire extinguished, but there was still the faintest warmth in the stones.

  She couldn’t be but an hour or two ahead of him. A quick return to his snowmobile to grab his gear had him pulling up short. He bent to inspect the ground, thinking he saw Bear’s tracks at first, but there was no mistaking the tracks of a mountain lion, and a bold one at that. He should go after Caitlyn but took a moment to follow the tracks. The cat had circled Caitlyn’s campsite through the night. Some were fresh and pointed down the hill.

  He checked his weapon, concerned about the unusual boldness of the animal.

  With his snowshoes strapped on, he headed down the hill. Rather than following Caitlyn’s tracks, he kept his head up, looking for more blaze orange hanging from overhead branches.

  A smart girl, Caitlyn knew Sheriff Johnson would send men to her position once daylight broke. Her signs told them where to go. He called in and gave a brief status update before heading after his girl.

  They had used the technique of marking their path when they were younger. If one of them headed up the mountain without the other, they left signs for the other to follow. It started when they explored the old mining paths on their dirt bikes and continued as they brought their motorcycles up the trails. One particular cave, close to here, was one he would always think of with fondness.

  They’d shared their first night alone in the wilderness as preteens near there. He kissed her the first time in that cave, and years later they lost their virginity together. His heart swelled with the memo
ries of their young love and he gritted his teeth with the knowledge of what he’d given up.

  His astute gaze picked out the path the mountain lion took. It stalked Caitlyn and Bear. From the straight angle of her tracks, she didn’t seem aware of the danger creeping up on her. Concerned, he picked up his pace and came upon a flutter of pink near the river. Scraps of a backpack and tracks all around told him everything he needed to know.

  Caitlyn had found the girls. He scanned the area, looking at the tracks and realized one girl was injured. Three sets of prints headed up with Bear charging ahead.

  Excited to be close, he picked up his pace. Then he heard a scream, a dog’s warning bark, and the growl of a predator.

  He pulled his rifle off his back.

  Years of rigorous training set him on autopilot. This was what he trained for; seek, destroy, and defend.

  The muscles of his thighs burned as he raced up the hill. Chilly air surged into his lungs. Despite his exertion, his heart thudded low and slow as he scanned the path ahead. He saw two animals locked in a deadly whirlwind of fur, one brown and the other black. That had to be Bear, who was the same size as the mountain lion, but unlike the mountain lion, didn’t have fangs and claws meant to kill.

  Caleb dropped to a knee and lifted his weapon. Easing his breaths, he sought a clean shot, but the two animals tangled together. A growling, spitting mess, there was no shot that wouldn’t kill Bear.

  While he tried to get a shot in, a gunshot rang out, echoing in the mountains. That had to be Caitlyn, but her aim went wide. The noise separated the animals, and in that opening, he locked on the mountain lion and squeezed the trigger.

  A clean shot to the heart, the mountain lion went down as it leapt for Bear’s throat. Bear staggered beside it, looking confused. He stepped toward the cat, nose down, head canted to the side, then fell on his side.

  “Bear!” Caitlyn’s cry caught Caleb’s attention and emotion overcame him.

  Memories of their childhood flooded his mind, promises he made, and then broke. Pain ripped at his insides, shredding his guts and tearing apart his heart. He needed her in his arms.

  He slung his rifle over his shoulder and raced up the hill.

  Caitlyn glanced toward him, looking to see who had arrived, but she didn't pause to figure it out. Instead, she turned to where Bear had fallen. Her sobs carried down the hillside and powered his stride with the need to be by her side.

  "Caitlyn!" he called out.

  But she didn't answer.

  All around them, snow swirled, kicked up by the winds as the leading edge of the storm powered into the mountain. They were out in the open, with an injured girl, and no hope of making it back down the mountain. Not if they wanted to live.

  He knew what Caitlyn had in mind.

  He rushed to her side, only to find her cradling Bear's head in her lap. Blood matted his fur. His tail lay limp on the snow and a whimper escaped with each of his breaths. He didn't know how seriously Bear had been injured in his fight with the mountain lion, but they needed to get to shelter before the blowing snow reduced their visibility and made it impossible to find their childhood cave.

  He bent by Caitlyn's side, unsure what to do. An unusual awkwardness overcame him. Did he pull her into a hug? Kiss her? Did he sit by her side and lean against her? This wasn't the reunion he envisioned. He settled for wrapping an arm around her shoulder and placing his hand over where she held Bear's head.

  "You're safe." Needing to feel their connection, he pressed his lips to the top of her head and repeated himself. "You're safe."

  "Bear!" Caitlyn's sobs ripped through the air.

  He released Caitlyn to see how bad Bear's injuries might be. He couldn't stand the thought of her losing her dog, not on the day of their reunion. While they needed to press on to the cave, Caitlyn would never leave the dog behind.

  He knelt beside Bear. Beginning at his neck, where Caitlyn rocked Bear in her arms, he ran his hand down Bear's body. Trained in basic buddy care and first aid, he pretended Bear was one of his teammates wounded in battle.

  Blood soaked Bear's coat. There was a gash over Bear's shoulder which looked to have cut down to muscle, claw marks on his belly, and puncture wounds on his back and in his throat where the mountain lion bit into him. There were other cuts, claw marks from the mountain lion's back feet which gouged Bear's belly, but he saw nothing life-threatening.

  "He's going to be okay." He returned to Caitlyn's side.

  Her teary eyes locked onto him. "Caleb? Is it really you?"

  "In the flesh." He tried to lighten the mood with his signature smirk, but Caitlyn didn't bite.

  What she did was swipe at her cheeks, erasing the evidence of her vulnerability. A hardened mask set her expression to stone. She bent down, kissing Bear, then struggled to her knees.

  "A storm is approaching,” she said. “We need to move.”

  "Hun, I think it's here."

  The wind whipped at them, stirring up snow from the ground to mix with what fell from the clouds. He couldn't see back the way he'd come.

  "We need to get to the cave." She stood and brushed at the snow of her pants. "Sally's ankle is broken."

  The two girls huddled in the snow. Extending his hand, he offered a smile and what he hoped was a little reassurance to one of the girls.

  "Hello there, I'm Caleb."

  A girl with dark hair sniffed and wiped at her nose. "I'm Jenny and this is my friend, Sally."

  "Nice to meet you." He glanced at Sally. "Looks like you're a little beat up. Don't worry. There's a cave not too far."

  "Yes," Jenny said, "Caitlyn was taking us there when that cougar attacked us."

  "We call them mountain lions around here, and that one won't be hurting anyone anymore."

  A quick inspection of the girls revealed large gashes in Jenny's shoulder. Blood matted the remnants of her jacket. "Let's get you to the cave, warm you up, and we'll let this storm pass."

  Caitlyn came to stand beside him. Her cheeks were devoid of tears and her expression hardened when she looked at him. Despite her attempt to be strong, and hide her emotions, he could see relief spilling from her eyes. She wasn’t alone, even if she pretended there wasn’t something still between them.

  He pulled her to his side. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you.”

  She wasn't ready to hear anything more, and he hesitated to say anything else. Except something stirred in his heart and his gut twisted. How would he ever be able to leave his girl behind again?

  Those were questions for another day. He turned his attention to the problems at hand.

  "I'll carry Bear—"

  "I'll take him," Caitlyn interjected.

  “We’ll argue about this around a fire, but you and I both know I'm better suited to carry him than you. You help the girls to the cave and I'll take Bear. He's injured, but nothing life-threatening, although I don't think he should walk."

  "He doesn't know you," she countered.

  "No, but he trusts you."

  He didn't want to argue, but Bear remembered him. Recognition sparked in the dog's eyes. Also, Bear had allowed him to examine him for injuries, laying still, for a friend.

  "How about you help Bear onto my back? Let him know I won't hurt him." They had a lot to catch up on, and history to revisit. The relief shining in Caitlyn’s eyes every time he looked at her told him there was still something to salvage between them.

  But then what?

  One look was all it had taken.

  He wanted a forever with her by his side, but he still had obligations to the Marines.

  Would she be able to forgive him for following his dreams? Because the Marines and Delta Force weren’t done with him yet.

  Chapter 7

  Caitlyn

  Caitlyn trudged to the cave, supporting Sally between herself and Jen. Mostly, she bore Sally’s weight while Jen complained. Behind them, Caleb carried Bear, handling the weight of her pup far easier than she could.
He’d been right, and it pissed her off.

  Everything about her current situation seemed to be irritating. The biting cold sapped her strength, not to mention the deep snow slowed their progress. Sally’s injury made the ordeal that much harder, and Jen’s constant complaining grated on her nerves. Bear’s injuries worried her, but she trusted Caleb.

  He said Bear would pull through. Right now, that was the only positive thing she had to hold on to. She slogged up one more step, bracing on the hillside while Sally tightened her grip and hopped up. Jen’s footing slipped. Again.

  The storm had arrived in full force, decreasing visibility with its driving snow, biting cold, and howling winds.

  If she didn’t know this area as well as she did, they would be lost. But these woods were as much her home as the small cabin she shared with her father growing up.

  They passed an outcropping of boulders where she skinned her knee when she was ten. That was the first time she tried rock climbing without a harness. Caleb had been there, reassuring her with his soothing words and gentle eyes.

  That grouping of tall pines just above acted as a base camp on many of the nights she and Caleb spent on the mountain growing up. Caleb’s gentle strength helped her feel safe during the darkest nights. They slept in each other’s arms for years before they discovered the cave. The following year things changed between them forever when they shared their most intimate first.

  Each dip and rise of the landscape was indelibly imprinted on her mind, and she drew on those memories to guide everyone to safety while ignoring Caleb’s sudden reappearance and how it made her feel.

  The first emotion sweeping through her had been fear. Fear for Bear as he fought the mountain lion. Fear over the crack of a gun going off that wasn’t hers. Then fear as a stranger raced toward them, charging up the hill.

  Fear transformed into a sudden and overwhelming sense of wonder and heart-stopping awe, because their rescuer had to be a thing out of her dreams. She hadn’t believed her eyes, but there was no denying who ran toward them. She knew everything about Caleb, from the way his eyes twinkled when he laughed, to how his smile heated her skin, to the power coiled within his body and couldn’t deny it was him.