Page 114 of Knot Her Mountain Men

“The police are going to want to talk to you,” Kit told Morgan, gently lifting her face. “You’re probably not feeling up to it, but I imagine they’ll need a statement, maybe some pictures of your injuries.”

Morgan nudged Pumpkin away, staring down at herself as if she hadn’t even realized she’d been hurt. “Oh god.” She flipped on her bedside lamp, bringing her arms into the light so she could see better.

“Your heat hormones probably drowned out the pain,” Ryder said. “We got you as cleaned up as best we could.”

“I can call,” Maverick offered. “Not even sure who to call, but I’ll do it. Do you think we need an ambulance for him?”

“Probably,” replied Morgan.

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Maverick disappeared to contact emergency services.

Morgan leaned her weight back against me, Pumpkin draping herself across our laps, head tipped up to keep a watchful eye on her mama.

No one said much while we waited, Ryder and Kit tucking closer.

Maverick popped back in. “Okay, they’re getting the sheriff out of bed for this since Brandon is wanted for attempted murder. They’re sending two ambulances, one for him and one to check over Morgan, and a few more people to get details to add to the investigation and get him off the trail. Bear, you’ll probably have to guide them since you’re the only one who knows where he is.”

I nodded my assent. I didn’t usually travel in the dark, but I would bring Pumpkin with me just in case.

“How about a bath and some food while we wait?” Kit suggested.

“Should I wait if they have to take pictures?”

“We can take some ourselves,” Maverick said. “They said that would be okay as long as we were thorough.”

Morgan winced as she crawled from the nest. We got her into a simple pair of panties and hooked on a bra, tucking the straps out of the way. We didn’t need anyone outside of the pack seeing her naked. She had already been through enough today.

We took her into the bathroom to get the best light, and Maverick took a few full body shots, getting close-ups of the finger mark bruises, the numerous cuts covering her legs, and the impact bruising on her hips and shoulders. Her jacket had protected most of her upper half, but her leggings hadn’t done much to guard her legs against the undergrowth in the forest.

“Thank you for telling them,” Morgan whispered to me.

I tilted my head in question.

“That they could bond me. I wasn’t sure if you actually would.”

“You’re happy?”

“Feels weird to say with everything that happened before and everything we’re going to have to deal with shortly, but yeah. I am.”

That was all I needed.

After a warm bath in Bear’s arms, the others hovering close by to gently wash my hair and clean my skin, I was feeling considerably more human. Having all four of them in the bond with me was overwhelming, but in a good way. They balanced each other, and even with all of the worry flickering, the undercurrent was all love. I’d never felt so steady in my entire life, never been so convinced I was wanted.

Now they were all mine.

My pack.

My alphas.

My home.

“They’re here, sweetheart.” Maverick popped his head back into the bathroom, where Kit was braiding my damp hair for me. Kit finished up quickly and I pulled on the sweater Maverick offered to cover up my nightgown.

One set of paramedics checked me over, taking my vitals and performing a rapid response hormone test to confirm our claim that I had been recently in the heat and that was why no one had called for Brandon. I had orders to get checked over at a clinic if I felt worse in the next couple of days, but they otherwise had no concerns for my healing.

Bear led the recovery team with Pumpkin, and Maverick went as well to interpret as necessary. I didn’t like either of them being out of my sight, but the retrieval team would never find Brandon in the dark without them.

While they were gone, Sheriff Marks took my statement, sitting across from me at our dining room table while I sipped a cup of tea. “You’ve got some damn good luck, Ms. Harris.”

---