Page 964 of One More Kiss

Chapter3

Reis wanderedaround the swimming pool at least three times, searching for the source of the scent. His gorilla was beating his chest and roaring at being so tantalizingly close yet unable to find the source.

“Hey, Reis, you’re really starting to freak me out, man.” Hudson followed in Reis’s wake, keeping up a constant stream of prattle even though Reis never acknowledged the other gorilla. His focus was solely on finding the source of that primal aroma that compelled him so completely.

“Yo, Earth to Reis. Scanning for signs of intelligent life… none detected. What are you even doing, man? We’re supposed to check the first aid kits. Look, there’s the first one.”

He pointed at the orange and white first aid kit hanging on a hook beside the pool. Reis ignored it and stalked right on by.

“And there goes the first aid kit… Look, man, if you’re not going to take this seriously, fine, but have the decency to just call off or quit. Don’t come here and do this halfassed.”

“Hudson, do you smell that?” Reis rounded on Hudson.

He frowned, his face contorted with confusion. “Smell what? All I smell is chlorine. In ape form I might be able to smell better.”

Reis growled low in his throat. “I can’t be imagining it. I can’t…”

Reis passed beneath one of the HVAC vents and got a strong whiff of the delectable aroma. His eyes dilated, and his gorilla beat its chest and roared at the moon. This was it. This was the best scent ever.

The scent of his mate.

“Hey, are you all right?” Hudson shook Reis’s shoulder.

Reis ignored him, his eyes fixed on the woman standing on the diving board. She moved with an avian grace, long legs swishing as she backed up to the beginning of the diving board.

Reis watched as the woman took a deep breath and then ran for the end of the board. She was poetry in motion, a living work of art as she moved with liquid dexterity. She hit the end of the board and lifted off into a brilliantly dazzling aerial display and—

He winced when her head cracked the diving board on the way down. Her limp body plunged toward the water and entered with an echoing splash.

The lifeguard was practically asleep. The man stood there staring at the pink-tainted water where she’d gone in, appearing utterly dumfounded. Reis didn’t hesitate. He shoved his phone into Hudson’s hands and dove into the pool after the woman—his mate.

He swam over to where the female had disappeared beneath the placid water. It seemed Reis’s dive broke the lifeguard from his trance as the man arrived at roughly the same time and plunged into the depths first.

While Reis… Reis fought against his gorilla. The ape didn’t like deep water. In the wild, gorillas couldn’t swim because they lacked the proper distribution and amount of fat to achieve buoyancy.

Reis in his human form could swim, but he knew that this part of the rescue would be better suited to a trained lifeguard. The man came up with the unconscious woman in his arms, and he helped the lifeguard get her to the edge of the pool.

To his surprise, she breathed normally. Maybe a diver’s instincts had kept her from filling her lungs with water. Or maybe there was more to her than met the eye. He knew she was a shifter, but he couldn’t tell what kind.

One thing was clear, though. She was his mate. Of that he had no doubt.

“Careful,” Hudson said as they struggled to get her out of the water and onto a backboard. Reis checked her identification bracelet. Kiley Hampton. She didn’t look like a Kiley. Then again, he’d been told he didn’t look like a Reis, either.

“She might have damage to her vertebrae,” Hudson said as they got her strapped on at last. “I saw her hit her head.”

“Yeah, me too.” Reis fussed with the straps and neck brace, not wanting to risk his mate. Everything had to be perfect for her and she had to be all right.

Hudson grimaced at him. “Will you settle down, man? What’s gotten into you? I’m the backup,” he used their codeword for beta, “but you’re not acting like you’ve got your shit together. Just tell me what I can do to help you get back to where you need to be.”

Reis sighed and then lowered his voice so only shifters could hear. “I think she’s my mate.”

Hudson gaped. “Are you sure?”

“Yes… no… maybe.”

“It might explain why you’re so protective—” The lifeguard tried to take her pulse. Reis roared him away as a flash of jealousy burned through. “Not to mention the possessiveness.” Hudson sighed. “Okay, so maybe she’s your mate. I wonder what troop she’s from?”

“I don’t know, the chlorine is messing with my nose. I can tell she’s a shifter, but not what kind. Regardless, we need to get her out of here.”

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