by Moxie North
He grabbed hold of the door again, his paw squeezing through the small space. He thought of Poppy, he thought of their future children, and he sent all of those feelings in his mind towards the metal. His heart was full and it was going to stay that way.
The metal moved, he doubled down his concentration and the metal under his paw turned to taffy, warm and malleable, it allowed him to peel it back with minimal effort. Making a hole big enough for himself, he pushed through and ran to Poppy. He sniffed her over and knew she was still alive. Barely.
Shifting back to his human form, his bones shortened and snapped back into shape. The hair receded and revealed freshly healed skin without a burn. He scooped her into his arms and ran for the entrance. He made it out to the lawn and someone threw a blanket around his naked shoulders. He placed Poppy on the ground and medics swarmed him.
Her face was black with soot. It looked to him as if some of her hair was singed and beyond that he couldn’t see where else she was hurt. Her breathing was shallow and she looked pale underneath the dirt.
“Help her, please,” he moaned.
They didn’t respond because they were already doing everything they could. She looked so small and to an untrained eye she didn’t even look alive. He could hear the raspy breaths going in and out. It wasn’t much, but it was hope.
A pair of breakaway pants were presented to him and he pulled them on while they worked. A t-shirt came next and he accepted it without thanks. He couldn’t take his eyes off his mate.
“We need to move her, Zane,” the first paramedic said. He couldn’t remember his name so he just nodded. They had her on a backboard, with a brace around her neck, her face covered with an oxygen mask. There wasn’t much he could do without hampering their efforts.
He felt a firm hand squeeze his shoulder and saw Conri standing behind him. His eyes on Poppy as well. Brushing against his leg, he saw Trent and Troy standing guard, both wolven letting out a whine.
She meant something to everyone. She was their future. All of theirs. The One True Mates were worth more than gold or silver. They were priceless.
Chapter Twenty-Three
She was dreaming. Her heaven had consisted of warmth and loud noises. Then she thought she might have been in a zoo because for a brief moment she could have sworn there was a bear staring at her. Then she didn’t remember anything else. If it was heaven, it wasn’t as nice as she expected. There were no clouds, no angels. She’d at least thought she could meet her father. Didn’t she get some kind of free pass?
Then there was pain. Different sorts. Her shoulder, her lungs, even her hand. They didn’t last because they were replaced with a warmer feeling that flowed through her veins. She was in a fog, hearing things through layers and layers of cotton wool in her ears. She was so comfortable she wasn’t sure if she was breathing. But then why would you need to breathe in heaven?
The voices she kept hearing were far away. They were insistent, she could tell that much. They were speaking to her and around her.
It was a little annoying, they were disturbing her rest and it was rude.
“Poppy, love, open your eyes.”
The voice was little more insistent this time. It sounded deep and comforting. She wanted the voice to continue, it soothed her. It was Zane, she thought. She had to hear it again to know for sure.
“Enough is enough, you’ve slept long enough, baby. I need to see those pretty eyes of yours. Some of your sisters are here. They want to meet you.”
That was nice. Family, her mother. She wondered if her mother was there. But why would they be in heaven with her?
“Poppy Woodall, you open your eyes right now before I lose my shit. You can’t leave me, I just found you. So open your eyes so I can send home the hundred or so people here waiting to see if you’re okay. They don’t even know you and they’re worried about you.”
Poppy was liking the soft place she was, but Zane wanted her to do something. She needed to do what he wanted. She owed him so much. He’d been kind to her, he loved her, and they were dynamite in bed. All things in his favor.
Digging through the layers of fog and comfort, she tried to climb towards his voice. She just had to get close enough to the warmth of his voice and she could tell him she was okay and that he didn’t need to worry. Besides, as far as deaths went, this one barely hurt at all.
Zane was holding her hand and cupping her face with his other hand. The doctors had said that it looked like there was a small bump on her head from something glancing off her and hitting her shoulder. It didn’t dislocate it, but it was badly bruised. The doctors assured him that the head wound was superficial. That her unconscious state was probably from the lack of oxygen and general trauma. They seemed confident her current state was temporary.
He didn’t want temporary, he didn’t want her in the hospital at all. He’d barely made it to her in time. There could have been a dozen different scenarios that could have ended without him being able to still touch her and talk to her. Khain could have killed her outright. He could have kidnapped her to Pravus. He could have done any number of things that would have had her out of his arms and out of his life forever.
As he spoke to her, he kept up a banter. He wanted her to know that shiften she had never met were worried about her, and anxious to hear if she was alright. Her half-sisters Cerise and Dahlia had stopped by, but once they saw the state that Zane was in, they decided to give him some space. He knew he was growling and probably couldn’t look more angry and aggressive than he was in that moment. His mate was injured and until she looked at him and gave him that sweet smile he wouldn’t stop worrying.
He couldn’t live without her softness and love. He knew that for certain. He’d had a taste of what he had been missing. Everyone deserved a piece of heaven.
“Come on, I know you can hear me. I won’t stop talking until you open those eyes.”
Focusing on her lips and her eyelashes he waited for a sign. She was breathing steadily and they had moved her off the mask to a nasal cannula. Leaning over, he placed a soft kiss on her mouth. Her warm breath tickled over his lips.
Leaning back, he saw her eyes twitch, then twitch again. “Thatta girl, you’re almost there,” he encouraged. Her mouth opened a tiny fraction and then closed. She was trying her hardest, he could tell.
Holding his breath, he saw her eyes flutter and start to open. She blinked a few times then focused in on him.
“There she is.”
“Zane?”
“Who else would be staring at you and ordering you around?”
“True, you are the bossiest bear I’ve ever met.”
“I’m the only bear you’ve ever met.”
“True. Where am I? I thought I died. It was fluffy where I was,” she said with a small smile.
“Fluffy? I’m thinking that might be some of the medication they have you on, sweets.”
“It’s nice. I like it,” she said trying to close her eyes again.
“No, no closing your eyes. The doctors need to come check you out. Then you have some visitors.”
“Is my mom here?”
“Yes, she seems to have accepted the situation better than most.”
Poppy smiled. “She’s probably happy she’s been proven not clinically insane.”
“Well, either way, the doctor says you’re going to be fine. I’m going to go get them.”
“You’ll come back, won’t you?” She looked genuinely worried.
“Baby, there isn’t anything that could keep me from you.”
Zane left to get the doctor. He spoke loud enough to the assembled masses after the doctor went to check Poppy.
“She’s awake. Thank you, everyone. I can’t tell you what it means to me.”
Tex came up and gave him a clap on the shoulder. “Not all wolven are that bad. Well, except Mac.”
Zane had heard about him and he understood the joke. He was glad he could smile. He felt like he still had a chance with his mate. He ha
d more time to get her to love him.
Poppy’s sisters Cerise and Dahlia passed by in him a flash on their way to the room. That was a reunion he was going to stay back from. He wasn’t even sure how to deal with introducing them to her. He was going to pull the man card and leave it to them.
An SPD officer came up to him then that he hadn’t met before. “Sir, they found this at the fire. Does it belong to your mate?”
Zane took the phone and even through the soot and smoke he could smell her scent on it. It looked intact. He turned on the screen and checked her log. Her last calls were to him. Conri had returned his phone that he’d left in his car earlier. Pulling it out of his pocket, he opened the screen and saw he had text messages.
Backing up to the last time he talked to her, he started reading through them. One after another, she’d poured her heart out to him. Telling him how she felt, what he meant to her. Finally he saw the video she had sent. He hit play in the waiting room that was slowly starting to empty. Poppy came on the screen. She was crying and scared, she told him the things she’d said in her text. The sight of her terrified and leaving him her last words brought him to his knees. Sliding to the floor, his knees hit the tile and he leaned over with a wail.
An arm came around him and he looked up to see he was surrounded by bearen and wolven that didn’t question his pain. Some of them knew his feelings of grief first hand. He’d almost lost his mate as many of them had before. Except they didn’t get to take their mates home. They’d lost them forever.
Zane was overwhelmed with sorrow and gratitude at the gift he had received. He wasn’t going to lose his chance again.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Seriously Zane, are you going to keep following me around?”
Poppy had been out of the hospital for three days after having spent two days in care. It seemed a bit much to her, but she’d quickly learned that the shiften treated the True Mates like the finest porcelain. It was sweet, but overwhelming. The only relief she got from it was the fact her half-sisters were strong women that had already found their place in this new world.
She had been able to visit Ella and meet her babies even though Zane insisted on carrying her everywhere. She was embarrassed until she was informed that everyone was used to it with Willow and Bruin.
Seeing the babies, she knew that her life was going to be just as amazing very soon.
“Yes, I’m going to keep following you around. We’re going to have to figure out how you can go to work with me.”
“Oh, that’s terribly practical.”
“Babe, we gonna argue about this again?”
“Yes, we are.”
“You said you loved me.”
She had, not just in the messages she’d left him, but every moment since she’d woken up. And he had told her in return even more often. She figured he was actually keeping a tally. Poppy also had the doctors try to confirm what Khain had told her. Even though the doctors were shiften they said they couldn’t guarantee anything yet. But they also didn’t deny it was possible.
Poppy felt different. Like there was something growing between her and Zane that had nothing to do with their regular bedroom session or their constant contact. No, she was sure that they were going to be parents in the future.
“That’s because I do. And speaking of that, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Anything. Do you need something, want something?”
“Sort of. I want us to get married.”
“You want to get married?”
“I want to complete our bond. I don’t need more time.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. But, not until your family can be here.”
“Babe, I told you I don’t talk to my dad.”
Poppy had heard all about his dad. That was a long and rocky road they were going to have to work on. “I mean your real family, Renley and Beau. They have been with you since you were little. I don’t want to do this without them here.”
Zane smiled at her. “You’re perfect, do you know that?”
“Yes, my mate tells me daily. But I’m serious. Do you think they can come?”
“It’s busy season for them right now, they would have a hard time getting here,” he said with a frown.
“Then we wait. Unless you’re not okay with that,” she said.
“I’m okay waiting. I’m not going anywhere and neither are you.” He could say that without any doubt. Once was enough for him to learn there were more important things now than his job. “ I’m your shadow from now on.”
“Can you not say shadow, please?”
Zane got a look of horror on his face. “Fuck, babe that was bad. I’m sorry!”
Poppy gave him a laugh and hugged him. “Just promise you won’t ever swear around our kids.”
“There is no possible way I can make that promise. But I can teach them how their mother is the most amazing woman on the planet and will be the best mother in the world.”
“Gee, I really hope I don’t let you down.”
“Not possible.”
Poppy kissed Zane with all the love she had in her. They were mated, the ceremony could be planned and their futures, although unsure, would be filled with happiness and love for as long as they were together.
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Also by Moxie North
Recommended reading order on my website at moxienorth.net
PACIFIC NORTHWEST BEARS
Be My Bear
Bearly Cooking
Bear in Mind
Bear With Me
Bearly Healed
Bearly a Memory
Bearly Breathing
Angel: Rochon Bears
Rainier: Rochon Bears
Finely: Rochon Bears
PACIFIC NORTHWEST COUGARS
Cougar’s Victory
Cougar’s Luck
Cougar’s Gift
REDEMPTION MC
Wounded Wolf
SOUTHERN SHIFTERS KINDLE WORLD
Stick Shifter
Rough Edges
ONE TRUE MATE KINDLE WORLD
Bear’s Embrace
NOVELLAS
Jingle Bears
Valentine’s Surprise