Free Bear in Mind by Moxie North Page B

hadn’t called yet for lunch. He wanted to rush over to her office, but he needed her to choose to come to him.
    Cage finally looked up from his paperwork, “She’ll call, she probably just got busy,” he tried to assure him.
    Wyatt gave him a chin lift as the phone on the desk rang.
    “See, I bet that’s her now,” Cage offered picking up the receiver. “Rochon Enterprises. Yes he’s here, one moment. It’s for you,” he said gesturing to Wyatt.
    Reading the look on Cage’s face, Wyatt grabbed the receiver with a fast grip. “This is Wyatt.”
    “Hello Mr. Rochon, this is Deputy Shriner from the Washington State Patrol. We are calling to verify you are the owner of a 2014 red F150, license plate ROCHON 3?”
    “Yes, that’s my truck,” he said, his stomach starting to knot.
    “Was your vehicle stolen Mr. Rochon?”
    “No, I loaned it to a friend last night. What is this about,” he demanded urgently. His bear was roaring in his head now and he could feel his body start to shake.
    “An officer located your vehicle off the 101 this morning. It had crashed through the guard rail and fallen over into a ravine sometime in the night. There was a single female passenger. The last names didn’t match, so we contacted her family first before locating the owner of the truck.”
    Wyatt felt his world start to slip away from him.
    “Is she okay?” He managed to whisper.
    “The truck?” The Deputy replied.
    Holding back his bear and the fury inside him he tried to remain calm when he said, “No, Deputy, the woman, Jinger McCann. Is she okay?”
    “Well she’d been there most of the night, she was unconscious when they transported her to County this morning. I’m afraid I don’t have any other information on her at this point. Your truck is a total loss, it looks like it must have rolled when it went over the embankment. We found brake fluid on the road. We think it might have been a mechanical issue.”
    “I don’t give a flying fuck about the truck!” Wyatt yelled into the phone.
    Seeing his brother losing it, Cage grabbed the phone back and apologized to the deputy getting what further information the man had before hanging up the phone.
    Wyatt couldn’t think, he couldn’t breathe. His mind was racing through the facts that he had. His mate was hurt, unconscious. She was alone all night in the woods, injured and he’d let her leave alone. He didn’t even ask her to call when she got home. He would have known something was wrong when she didn’t call. She wouldn’t have spent the night, in the cold alone and hurt.
    Conner reached over and waved a hand in front of Wyatt’s face, he knew better than to touch him right now. “Breathe man, your claws are out.”
    Wyatt saw his fingernails had elongated, he could feel his teeth long and sharp in his mouth and the muscles in his back were spreading as his bear fought to take control.
    “Settle your bear, we don’t have time for this,” Cage called out. Without a word, he headed towards the door and gave Conner a look to grab Wyatt.
    Wyatt didn’t resist being dragged out to his brother’s truck. They loaded in and Wyatt looked out the window and felt the heavy weight in his chest. His mate, he’d finally found her and had already failed her. What if he lost her before they ever had a chance at the life the fates had promised them? He hadn’t claimed her, what happened to a shifter that didn’t claim his mate? He couldn’t imagine ever wanting anyone other than Jinger, he’d rather die.
    The ride to the hospital was in silence, his brothers knowing there weren’t any reassuring words that would soothe his beast.
    Pulling up to the front Wyatt jumped out and left his brothers behind as he ran inside. He ran to the reception desk and asked about Jinger.
    “I’m sorry are you family,” the elderly women behind the counter asked.
    “I’m her boyfriend,” Wyatt responded.
    “I know the rest of her family is in the ICU waiting room on the