Page 78 of Protected By Her Mate

Hush, I tell him.None of this is your fault. Edie would’ve found a way to get to me no matter what we did. She waited 140 years for me to show up in your life. That is an insane amount of patience.

He doesn’t respond, but his mind calms and his wolf relaxes.

After another minute of cuddling on the floor, Luke starts to squirm, wiggling away from me. Using his sleeve, he wipes the last of his tears from his cheeks and says, “Mom, this lady pretended to be a cop and picked me up from school, but she wasn’t a cop and Principal Louis let her. Dallas saw me with the principal, and we should probably tell him I’m okay. He might be worried when he finds out I’m not at school…”

I gently cut off what could turn into a lengthy blow-by-blow of the events leading up to our reunification. “We’ll tell him, but more importantly, are you hurt?”

Lennox whines and rises to his paws, nuzzling the back of Luke’s shoulder.

Luke winces and nods. “The wolf lady bit me on my back when she was holding onto me. Lennox didn’t have to bite me when he carried me.” The last sentence is said with enough annoyance that I’m relieved. If he has enough presence of mind to be upset that one wolf bit him and the other didn’t, then he’ll be okay.

“Let me see.” I gently turn him so he’s still sitting in my lap but facing away from me. I pull the collar of his shirt down enough to see the nasty bite marks on his shoulder. It makes me want to murder Edie with my bare hands.

I know the feeling, Lennox says gruffly in my head.

I smile at him and say out loud, “Please turn human, Lennox. We need your cool logic and another pair of hands.”

He dips his head and steps away from us, shifting to his human. “I’ll be back,” he says, striding to his bedroom. He returns seconds later, buckling the belt on a pair of jeans.

“Oh, Lennox, you’re hurt!” I gasp, beckoning him to come to me. He crouches next to us and I reach out to examine the nasty gash on his chest but before I can touch him, Luke launches himself into Lennox’s arms, startling both of us.

“Thank you for saving me,” Luke says, burying his face against Lennox’s neck.

My heart melts and the last of my terror recedes as Lennox’s arms close around Luke. He drops his head to Luke’s and whispers softly to him, telling him how brave he was and how proud Lennox is of him for doing all the right things during his ordeal.

Tears fill my eyes and I embrace both of them, holding the two people in the world who mean the most to me.

“We need to get him to a hospital,” Lennox says.

“I don’t want to go!” Luke pushes away from us giving Lennox a betrayed look.

Lennox looks surprised, but I explain, “We’re not taking you for needles, sweetie. But a doctor should look at those cuts on your shoulder and make sure you didn’t bang your head.”

He stares hard at me, worrying his lower lip. “I didn’t bang my head, mom. I promise.”

Lennox’s lip twitches and he says, “If your mom has a good First Aid kit at home, we can probably take care of you there.”

“Of course she does,” Luke says.

“Of course I do,” I repeat, slightly offended that Lennox would even have to ask the question.

“It’s up to you, then,” Lennox says, gently depositing Luke back in my arms and standing. “Hospital or home?”

“Home,” Luke and I say at the same time.

As much as I would like the reassurance of a doctor looking at Luke’s injuries, I don’t want to upset him further. I’ve had medical training and should be able to take care of both him and Lennox.

Lennox finishes dressing and we head over to my apartment in an unmarked police cruiser. “I’ll be outside for the night in case you need anything,” the officer says as we leave the car.

Luke grabs my hand as we head into the building. I suspect it’ll be a while before he’ll be okay letting me out of his sight, which is fine by me. Losing him today, even if for just a few hours, was one of the worst moments of my life.

Why do we need police protection?I ask Lennox through our link, not wanting to upset Luke.

Lennox opens my apartment door and waits for us to walk through before following.It’s a precaution. We know Edie was involved with ASHRA, but we don’t know how far her influence goes within the group. I suspect it was limited to New York, but I still have questions about the bombings. We don’t know if there’s still a bomber out there or if they were picked up in the bust.

Are we in any danger?

I settle Luke on the couch and head for the kitchen to prepare a snack for him. With a glass of milk and a plate of cookies in front of him, Luke is the happy seven-year-old he was this morning, his brush with death nearly forgotten.

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