Bear The Fire (Firebear Brides 4) by Anya Nowlan

it’s going to be,” Royce called back.
    “And we almost flew straight into the fucker,” Slate said, the tension evident in his voice.
    They’d been so low that the flames had licked around the body of the aircraft for a second before Slate could get them out of there.
    “Shit, we’ll never be able to get to this with Old Bell,” Redmond said as they circled the blaze, which was gaining ground quickly.
    An idea materialized in Rhodes’s head and before anyone could say anything about it, he was up and grinning like a maniac, tearing through the packages of gear.
    “What the hell are you doing?” Royce asked, before the common realization dawned on all of the firebears.
    “You’re not thinking about going in?” Ragnar asked, dubious. “It’s too big already. You’ll never put it out on your own.”
    “But I can slow it down until you guys get here. Call in the locals, whoever can come. I’ll try to establish a perimeter and see if I can contain it a bit,” Rhodes shot back, already sliding into the jump jacket and pants and checking the buckles on the parachute.
    He slung a back-pump on his back and secured his hand tools, like a shovel and a Pulaski—a single-bladed axe with a grub-hoe at the end. The fire looked like a gobbler, the kind that goes fast and hard and destroys everything in its path, and Rhodes knew well that he wasn’t going to be enough to stop it. But adrenaline was pumping in his blood and his ears were ringing with expectation. Maybe this was exactly what he needed to clear his head.
    “He’s right,” Redmond said thoughtfully and Rhodes ignored the worried glances between his firebear brothers.
    “Of course I’m fucking right. I do this for a living. Drop me, go back, Slate gets the helicopter, fills the bucket, and comes back while you guys take the trucks and get as close as possible. Or some of you can rappel in with Slate while the others lead the locals in. We need to move fast unless you want to lose this whole mountainside. And if it goes through here, the only other place it has to descend on is Shifter Grove,” he shot back, saying all the things he knew his brothers already knew.
    He double-checked his buckles and safeties and Redmond was doing another check for him in silence, going through the motions.
    “You’re good to go,” Redmond said, patting him on the shoulder.
    “No fucking heroics. Kali would kill me if I let you die out there,” Ragnar growled, turning around in the co-pilot’s seat and giving Rhodes the evil eye.
    “Yeah, yeah. Just roll around the pillar and let me out upwind, Slate!” Rhodes called, undoing the latches on the back door.
    It wasn’t the kind of airplane meant for smokejumping, but he didn’t care. Air whipped in his face as the other four Hamiltons stood back, and he could vaguely hear Slate radioing back to Shifter Grove, letting the local boys know it was time to suit up and move out.
    “Good to go!” Royce called at one point and Redmond clapped him on the back.
    Grinning like a fool, Rhodes tossed himself out of the back of the airplane, whooping as he tumbled through the air. That was what living was about! The smell of burning bark and pine scraped his nose even upwind of the fire, and the giant pillar of black that the mountain had hidden from them before was growing and growing right before his very eyes. He could hear the airplane whipping around, speeding back toward Shifter Grove as he clung to his harness, studying the ground for a safe landing spot.
    Odds were he was going to end up in a tree and would have to make his way down with over a hundred pounds of gear stuck to him. It was a lot to carry, especially when every minute was important to cull the progress of the fire, so he maneuvered himself to get as close to the edge of it as he could.
    At the very last moment, he pulled the cord and the parachute opened in a plume above him, tearing him back into the sky before allowing a safe descent.
    As Rhodes