“He okay?” Misty called down.
“Mostly,” Ty called back up. “Hurt his shoulder and took a good bump on the head. He should definitely get checked out, but it doesn’t look like he’s in any real danger.”
Misty’s shoulders relaxed. “Good, I’ll let the others know.”
“We should still get a team up here to get him out,” Ty said. “No one should really be free-climbing this without any equipment or spotters.”
“Says the man who went down with his bare hands and a dumb teenaged boy.”
“That was different,” Ty protested. “There was someone in danger.”
“Uh-huh.” Misty shook her head and turned away to radio the others.
Ty felt a surge of affection and relief. Zeke was safe, and likely to recover without a problem. He and his mate were together. Ty had already managed to do something useful for the inhabitants of his new home.
Overall, a good day’s work.
***
Misty
Misty waited on top of the rock, looking down at the forest below, and so she was able to see the first movements in the trees.
Soon, the dark shapes resolved into a full pack’s worth of big cats. She’d never seen anything like it. A lion, a panther, a tiger, and a lynx headed the group, and then behind them, almost invisible against the dark snow and rock, a phalanx of snow leopards, close the ground and moving so smoothly they seemed to flow over the landscape.
As she watched, one of the leopards spotted her, and bounded ahead of the group. It leapt, grabbing onto an outcropping in the stone with its claws, and scaled the side of the small cliff as though it were climbing a ladder. The others followed suit, graceful and quick, and the panther and tiger, and then at last, the lynx and the lion.
At the top, everyone shifted back. The leader of the snow leopards turned out to be Cal, the head ranger at the Park and the final missing member of the old Marine crowd. The rest of them she knew by sight, though not well: tall, quiet Grey; easy, affable Jeff; then Zach and Teri, a mated pair, and Zach’s brother Joel and his mate Nina—Mavis’s daughter—and of course Mavis and Colonel Hanes. We must have the largest pack of snow leopards in North America, she thought all of a sudden.
“Cal,” she said, coming forward to shake his hand. “Thanks for coming out so quickly.”
“Of course,” he said instantly. “Where’s the kid? Medical attention needed?”
“Nothing emergency, thank God,” Misty said. “Ty would probably appreciate a second set of eyes, and then it’s just getting him up and out of there, and back to town to see a doctor.”
“You got it,” Cal said, then turned back to the group and started giving quiet, sharp instructions.
What followed was the most coordinated series of actions Misty had ever seen. The rangers and the veterans quickly split into two groups, with one climbing down into the little ravine—just as gracefully in human form as they’d been as shifters—and congregating around Ty and the two boys.
There was a short exchange between them, and then Zeke was lifted between two sets of hands—Cal and Joel—and carried smoothly to the side of the rock, where Grey, the biggest of them, took the boy on his back. Someone had brought a set of rope—wrapped around their waist when they shifted, probably—and Zeke was quickly secured to Grey, while another rope was lowered from the top. Grey started to climb up, with the others following closely and ready in case of any difficulty.
Meanwhile, Carlos, Wilson, Ken, and Nate were at the top with Misty, bracing the rope and leaning down to help Grey over the top and get Zeke out of the makeshift harness.
It was all over in minutes, and Misty had to marvel at the ease and efficiency. Zeke was blinking in surprise.
Behind them, Ty and Ryder climbed up as well, and everyone breathed for a moment in the cold night air.
Then Misty step
ped forward. “Son,” she said to Zeke, “you’ve caused everyone a hell of a lot of trouble tonight.”
He winced, pulling his shoulder up. “Uh,” he said. “Sorry.” He looked sheepishly around at all the adults standing with them. “That you had to go to all this trouble.”
Misty let out her breath. “We’re just glad you’re okay, kid.”
He blinked, his eyes going wide. “You are?”
He sounded so surprised. Misty rubbed her forehead. “Yes,” she said. “Believe it or not, Zeke, I really don’t want you to get hurt. I’d rather have you around.”