Taking slow, deep breaths, he fought to remain conscious. At least the man who’d tripped the alarm and shot Sailor twicebefore he could tackle him, before they rolled over the edge of a steep mountain face, was in worse shape than he was. And the human did not have his rejuvenative shifter powers.
Kodiak, in his polar bear form, was carrying the human down the mountain. Sailor hoped he made it because they needed answers that only he knew.
Looking around, Sailor sighed with relief when they broke out of the trees that ended at the clearing not too far from the administrative building. Sullivan picked up the pace, causing him to grunt with every bounce. Sailor managed to remain conscious until Sullivan walked into the processing center on the first floor where Kevin Anderson, the panther shifter EMT, kept the humans healthy and dealt with whatever shifter injuries they couldn’t heal on their own.
Once in the treatment room, Kevin and Diego pulled him off Sullivan’s back and lifted him onto the operating table. Sailor roared with the increase in pain, then grabbed the arm of the man who’d moved his upper body.
“Get Lily. I need my mate,” he grunted before his eyes fluttered, and a black wave rolled up and consumed him.
CHAPTER 15
Lily could not stay in her seat, no matter what Chef Marshall threatened her with. After the third time she’d popped up and began to pace back and forth across the back of the classroom, he gave up and allowed her to move.
As she did, her body began to hurt like someone had beat on her. She cried out when a spot in her shoulder and another in her leg began to burn with pain.
Falling to her knees, she began to cry because she knew the pain was not hers but was Sailor’s. She was feeling it through the mating bond that was slowly growing between them.
When Poppy’s Daddy, Diego, appeared in the doorway, his hands and shirt covered with blood, Lily raced to him.
“He needs you,” the shifter said, stepping back to allow her out of the classroom.
“Where?”
“I’ll take you to him.” He held out a hand, and she did not hesitate before laying hers on it. She allowed him to set the pace though she really wanted to race to Sailor’s side.
Entering a set of double doors, Diego pulled her to a stop and said roughly, “You’ll have to stay quiet and allow Kevin to do his job, no matter what it might be. Hold Sailor’s hand and talksoftly to him. Tell him you’re there and assure him that he’ll be okay. He might need to take some of your blood, but we’ll deal with that when the time comes.”
Lily nodded but didn’t say a word. Her mouth was too dry to try to talk. When he finally released her, she pushed through the double doors and raced down the hall. The door at the end was closed, so she hesitated a moment before pushing it open just enough to slip through.
Once inside, she inched her way around the edge of the room until she could see Sailor’s face. It was lax, and his entire body was limp on the table. She let out a gasp when she realized he was unconscious. Kevin and Sullivan were working with an intensity she’d only seen on medical shows when the patient was dying.
The beeping of a machine sounded too loud and too fast to her ears, but at least it proved Papa was alive.
“Don’t just stand there, girl. Get over here and talk to your Daddy. He needs to hear your voice in order to find the strength to fight.”
Moving as fast as she dared, Lily approached the table and reached for his hand. Leaning down so her lips were an inch from Sailor’s ear, she whispered, “I’m here, Papa. Your little flower is here. I’m safe.”
Sailor took a deep breath, and as he released it on a long sigh, the beeping began to slow.
“Finally,” the black-haired man who had been guarding the door to the classroom earlier said, though his hands never stopped what they were doing.
“Is he going to be all right?” Lily asked, half afraid of the answer.
“As long as he behaves himself and doesn’t go falling over any more cliffs, he should be just fine. Your assignment and challenge for the next three days will be to keep him in bed,resting so his body can fully recover even after his wounds have healed.”
Lily frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Sailor’s injuries will heal completely in the next twenty-four hours. But it will take at least three days before the blood he lost will be back to normal levels. In that time, he needs to rest and eat lots of red meat if you can get it in him. As his mate, you’re the one person he’ll listen to even if you are a Little girl. We’re depending on you to keep him quiet so he will fully recover. Can you be Big Lily for the next three days?”
She nodded. “I can do that.”
“Good girl. We’ll all be around to help and will just be a phone call away, but you’ll ultimately be in charge of his care.”
Lily nodded again, though she was feeling a bit overwhelmed. Changing the subject, she asked, “Do you know what happened?”
The answer came from Sailor instead of one of the other men in the room. “Man came out of nowhere, sneaking through the woods. I chased him in order to trip the alarm. He shot me, and then my beast took over fully. I’m not exactly sure what happened until Sullivan and the others found us at the base of that cliff. What happened to him?”
“He didn’t survive the trip down the mountain,” Kevin answered gently. “Kodiak and his team are trying to figure out who he is, which might explain the whats and whys of his being here.”
