An Alpha's Tempest (Water Bear Shifters 4) by Sloane Meyers Page A

gray eyes and dark brown hair. He’d looked at her with such concern, that she’d been tempted to read into it that he was interested in her. But then she’d told herself to stop being ridiculous. Of course he was concerned. He was part of a rescue team. It was his job to be concerned. She had managed to quiet down her silly little crush, but now that she knew he was on his way up to her room, she felt those same butterflies again.
    She smoothed her hair back, and hoped that she looked okay. She didn’t have any makeup with her to put on, but at least she had gotten out of bed this morning to wash her face. Rhythm rolled her eyes at herself as she realized how ridiculous her thoughts sounded. Here she was, in a hospital bed after almost dying the day before, and she was hoping that she looked pretty. Rhythm generally felt that she was a decent-looking person, but no one was at their finest sitting in a hospital bed with no makeup on. Besides, odds were pretty much one hundred percent that Ben wasn’t coming here to ask her out on a date. He probably wanted to ask her another question about the scientists, since his crew was trying to stop their operation. Rhythm wished she knew more, but her knowledge was pretty limited. Still, she’d help in whatever way she could. Those jerks needed to be stopped.
    A knock sounded at the door, and Rhythm took one last deep, steadying breath.
    “Come in,” she called out.
    The door opened slowly, and Ben stepped inside. She’d thought he looked handsome yesterday, standing out in the drizzly weather, but she’d been totally unprepared to see him in a crisp, unwrinkled Coast Guard pilot uniform. She’d been so busy noticing his eyes yesterday that she hadn’t even realized just how tall and muscular his body was. Even through the fabric of his uniform, she could tell that every muscle on his body was sculpted and toned. His posture was impeccable, and his eyes had that same concerned look that had set her to swooning the day before. Rhythm suddenly wished that she had at least gotten up to make sure her hair wasn’t a total mess before he made it up to the room. Too late now. She put on her brightest smile, and hoped she didn’t have total bedhead.
    “Hey,” he said softly. He had a deep voice, with a soothing quality to it. “How are you feeling?”
    “Okay,” Rhythm said. “I still feel tired, but other than that I’m fine. I’m mostly just worried about what to do next. I can’t go home now. The scientists know where I live, and I’m sure they’re watching the place.”
    Ben sat down in the stiff armchair next to Rhythm’s hospital bed. “That’s one of the things I came to talk to you about. We were hoping that you might be willing to stay in Kodiak for a while, and help us out with our efforts to find and stop the scientists. We don’t have a lot of leads, and you’re the first person we’ve met who has actually worked for them.”
    Rhythm looked down at her hands, which were folded in her lap, and tried to decide how to answer Ben. “I do want to help you,” she said, still not looking up. “But the logistics of staying in Kodiak won’t be easy to figure out. I don’t have a job, and I don’t have a lot of savings. Where would I stay? How would I eat? I’m not sure there’s much work in my field here in Kodiak, so I don’t even think that I could get a job.”
    “You can stay with one of us, and we’ll provide you with food. If you need money for anything, just ask. When this whole ordeal is over, which we really hope will be sooner rather than later, we’ll buy you a plane ticket to wherever you want to go. Just, please, consider helping us. We’ve reached a lot of dead ends, and these men need to be stopped. You saw what they did to Evan. He isn’t the only one who has suffered that fate.”
    Rhythm finally looked up at Ben. “If I stay in Alaska, though, won’t I be in danger? These men sound really dangerous, and I’m sure they’re