His phone battery died about halfway to the hospital, drained by the cold no matter how many times he left the frigid metal next to his skin to warm up. The location app had been only moderately helpful, since it got confused with all the snow, but it at least got him on the right street to make it to the hospital. Because of course it wasn’t a real, well-marked hospital. It was a secret, semi-underground shifter hospital that treated all manner of magical beasties. So it was off the beaten path and harder to find than any hospital should have been.
So he wasn’t in a great mood when he arrived and plowed through the half-frozen doors to the emergency department. “I’m looking for Dr. Rossi.”
A tall, striking woman with rich brown hair and sharp brown-gold eyes glanced up from where she reviewed something on a computer. “I’m Dr. Rossi. Are you here for frostbite treatment? You look… cold.”
And from the way her nose wrinkled, she was one of the beach people, not the skiing people. Jameson took a deep, steadying breath so he didn’t immediately roar in frustration. Noelle was waiting for him, and Kara and her baby needed help. “No, I’m going to take you to Kara and the bears. She’s in labor and there’s a problem. Owen should have called you.”
Her dark eyebrows rose. “You’re kidding. In that blizzard? What the hell is wrong with you? There’s no way we can make it…”
“There’s a sled,” he said. Jameson struggled to remain patient. He didn’t want to threaten a woman. He really didn’t. He’d damn well truss her up like he did to Noelle, though, if it meant saving Kara’s life and keeping Noelle happy. He wasn’t going to let this December end up a shitty disappointment and a painful memory. Not if there was anything he could do to prevent it. “And I’m going to tow it. You won’t have to do anything but sit there.”
She took a deep breath, eyeing him, then shook her head. “You’ll die of hypothermia, and I’m not going to…”
“Look, lady.” He had a whole list of shit he would have called a male doctor, but he didn’t want to unload unpleasant names on a lady doc. Particularly since the one in front of him probably turned into a very dangerous animal and he wasn’t a fucking idiot. “A woman and her baby will die if we don’t get out of here now. I’m not going to take that chance. I’ll be fine. Get your coat and wrap up in the sled, and we’ll be there in a couple of minutes. Bring some hot chocolate if you want, I don’t fucking care. But we’re going.”
Another cool look, and one of the orderlies got up to try and intimidate him. Jameson was too tired for that shit. He ran his hands through his snow-crusted hair. “I’m a fucking polar bear. There is nothing in this hospital that is going to scare me or change my mind. So little wolfie over there — or whatever the fuck you are, dude, I don’t care — isn’t going to even slow me down. Doc, the second your ass is in the sled, I’m shifting and then a polar bear is going to take you for a ride.”
She didn’t look happy about it, but the doctor finally retrieved her coat, a huge bag of supplies and a mobile kit, and wrapped herself up in so many layers she almost didn’t fit on the sled. Jameson tossed her his coat, too, for good measure, as well as the cell phone. “Call them for an update while I pull. This is going fast.”
She wanted to argue or at least challenge him, he could see it in her face, but the doctor had barely opened his mouth before Jameson shook loose the restrictions of his human body. The polar bear roared free with one thing on his mind: get back to Noelle. Find his mate, keep her safe, and save the mate’s best friend and newborn cub. Done. A little blizzard wasn’t going to stand in his way.
He stretched up on his hind legs, just to make sure the orderly and everyone else in the waiting room understood what facing the world’s largest land predator actually looked like, then dropped down to four paws. The whole building shook and the doctor rolled her eyes again. “Yeah, okay, fine. You’re a big scary bear. Let’s go.”
Jameson snorted and kicked a little snow as he returned to the sled and took the rope in his teeth. He’d have to be careful not to dump her out of the sled on the turns, but maybe when they got closer to the gym, he’d let her roll once or twice. Just for a lesson in humility. His snout wrinkled in a bear grin, then he turned his attention back to finding his way to the gym. Even though he couldn’t hear her, he told Noelle he was on his way.