Page 968 of One More Kiss

Chapter5

Reis stoodoutside of Kiley’s room at Sacred Heart, striving to keep his mounting rage under control as he listened to Anton berate, belittle, and proposition Kiley—his mate.

Reis had blown through the doors of Sacred Heart Hospital in a foul mood to begin with. He’d spent hours in the JP emergency room lobby waiting for news on Kiley, only to find she’d been transferred to Sacred Heart.

Hudson pointed out the transfer was a good thing, but Reis had been in no mood to hear his opinion. He—and his gorilla—only knew that once again his mate had been taken from him. Reis had insisted on traveling to Sacred Heart immediately.

Of course, every person ahead of them on the road wanted to go twenty miles under the limit. What should have been a fifteen-minute drive turned into an hour-long ordeal of traffic jams and honking horns. His gorilla longed for the cool, dark beauty of the natural jungle.

Instead, he was cramped in by mountains of concrete, kept separate from his mate. He continued to smell her scent, clinging to his still-damp clothes. All he wanted was to be with Kiley and make sure she was safe.

By the time he’d finally found out Kiley’s location and traveled to that floor, he found that media from the diving conference had followed Kiley to the new hospital.

Bunch of ambulance chasers.

Reis had scattered the media like flies before a gale. The doctors were a bit harder to keep out but not impossible. Least of his worries were the Lookie Lou civilians who just wanted to see what all the yelling was about.

Hudson spent his time trying to calm Larry—Kiley’s coach. Reis felt he owed the man a certain amount of respect, but he had his limits. Pandering to a puffin shifter was not gonna happen.

Larry kept complaining about the fact that Reis wanted to go into Kiley’s room. “What do you mean that big gorilla is her mate? You must be out of your mind.”

Hudson smiled and tried to smooth his ruffled feathers, no pun intended. Reis had left Hudson to it and turned his own attention to the conversation going on inside of Kiley’s hospital room.

Reis decided he did not like Anton within seconds of the man opening his mouth. The way he spoke to Kiley was more than just rude. It was filled with sneering contempt and not one ounce of empathy for her life-threatening injuries.

Kiley didn’t like Anton either, as evidenced by her verbal riposte of his attempt at a pass. Her distain was in her tone with how little respect she had for the apparent alpha of her nest. Reis wasn’t certain of Anton’s species, but he knew he was an alpha, like him.

No. Maybe an alpha, but not like me. No others are like me.

Reis’s lips peeled back in an eager grin. What Anton didn’t realize yet was that Reis was the only alpha in Kiley’s life that mattered now. He didn’t know… but he was about to learn.

Okay, Anton. Time for me to lay down the law… and time for you to take a hike.

Reis strode right between the bellowing Larry and the placating Hudson, stopping them both cold.

Larry sputtered. “Hey, wait, you can’t go in there.”

Reis ignored him and marched boldly into the room. His nostrils flared as he caught the sweet, delicious scent. He closed his eyes and basked in it for a long moment before opening his eyes and meeting Kiley’s gaze.

She looked anxiously back at him, as if not sure what to make of his presence.

Anton stepped in between Reis and Kiley, his eyes narrowed dangerously. “Excuse me, who the fuck are you?”

“Who the fuck am I?” Reis shoved his event lanyard ID from the World Diving Championships in Anton’s face. “Doctor Reis Edwards, at your service.”

Anton leaned away and scowled. “Listen, Mr. Edwards—”

“Doctor.”

“I’m sorry?” Anton tilted his head to the side.

“It’s Doctor Edwards, actually, not Mister.”

“Yeah, well, she doesn’t need a doctor. She’s going to be just fine.”

Reis glared down at Anton and crossed his arms over his massive chest. “Kiley will be fine once you leave her the fuck alone.”

Anton’s mouth dropped open in shock. “What in the hell are you even saying? Some stranger who comes in here—”

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