The sound of a heavy-duty cart rolling toward them grew louder, and then there were males lifting Seneca onto it and hurrying him away.
She followed, paws silent on the pavement, her heart pounding in worry.Seneca was hurt.He was unconscious.She couldn’t lose him.
She wouldn’t.
The males moved the dolly to the bears’ paddock and pushed him over the grass away from the gate and then moved him off it.
“He’ll be okay,” a male said.
Sunny looked up and realized it was Justus.She yowled.
Hehadto be.
Doc Paula was digging in her bag and pulled out a small packet.“He’ll heal once he shifts.I’m going to wake him up now.”
She cracked the packet and waved it under his nose.
Nothing happened.
Sunny snuffled him, leaning close to pick up the sound of his heart beating.
Then Seneca’s body jerked and he roared so loudly that the ground vibrated.With a growling groan, he shifted back to human.The deep wound in his side healed, slowly but surely, as he groaned and opened his eyes.
“Sunny?”His eyes went wide, his brows high, then he pressed a hand to his side.“Ouch, shit.That fucker.”
“He’s dead,” Justus said.“Your mate took him out.Bad.Ass.”
Sunny sat on her haunches and her whiskers twitched.No one had ever called her a bad ass before.
Doc Paula checked his side as it healed and gave him some wipes to clean his skin.“I’m off to help the others.If you need me, holler.I don’t know much about tiger shifters, but if she’s like other big cats, she’s stuck in the shift for a few hours.If she can’t shift back, though, lemme know.”
“Thanks, Doc,” Seneca said.
He reached for Sunny and she moved to him with a purr.
“You did so good, sweetheart.You protected me when I couldn’t protect you.I’m so fucking proud of you.”
If she could cry tears of joy, she would have.
She settled beside him as the security team congratulated her for her quick thinking and putting an end to the fight.
For the first time since the smoke bomb had appeared, she took a moment to reflect on what had just happened.
She’d shifted.
And killed Dario to protect her mate.
Something that she’d always hoped would happen had happened when Seneca was in danger.She was a shifter now.And she’d kicked ass.
Seneca couldn’t believe how beautiful his mate was.
And such a fierce fighter.
She took down an alpha to save his life.
He scratched behind her ear and she purred.She stretched out next to him, her fur glistening in the late morning sun.
Normally, he would have been stuck in his shift for a few hours too, but Doc Paula had used special smelling salts on him to push him to shift to help his body heal faster.He wasn’t sure if Sunny would have trouble shifting back since it was her first time.
