Page 82 of One True Mate

Jason Westin's hand was on my arm and I knew it wasn't good. He was worried and prepared to whisk me away before my powers set free on all who attended. I was having to fight back to reign in my control as I watched in utter disbelief.

Andon chomped down hard on Kyle's right front paw that was protecting his neck, and in that moment, I felt every ounce of pain my mate was suffering and I held my arm close to my chest, dropping to my knees, and screamed out in pain. I saw blood flowing from my right hand and the pain continued as I screamed. I was vaguely aware that all cheers had stopped and all eyes turned towards me.

Kelsey,I heard Kyle scream through our bond.

I couldn't respond, too shocked by the pain and blood, but I heard a large growl and felt my powers being pulled from me as Kyle channeled everything we both had in a full on attack of Andon. Jason dropped to his knees gasping at the same instant. Kyle's power, my power, and the pack's power combined crippling Andon in the flash of eye as Kyle sank his teeth into his neck. I tasted his blood and fur in my mouth, spitting and gagging on the invisible taste of it, and felt the snap of his neck despite being nowhere near him.

The second the wolf's life extinguished, Kyle changed and ran straight for me, screaming my name both through the bond and aloud. The others parted ways and watched in solemn shock as he reached my side. My entire body was shaking uncontrollably.

“Move back,” I heard a voice demand. “Give her some space. Kelsey, breathe, come on honey, just breathe for me.” A familiar voice I couldn't quite place encouraged me.

“Dude, I thought you said things hadn't escalated this far.” I finally recognized Micah's voice as he scolded Kyle.

“It hadn't. I mean, seriously, we were telling you the truth. This is entirely new. I swear.” He rambled. “Just promise me she's going to be okay.”

Micah started to lift me, but Kyle growled aggressively.

“Okay, okay,” he said backing up with his hands raised in retreat. “Jesus, Kyle, you're fueling the full Westin Pack power now, you gotta calm down, man. You carry her. She's mostly just in shock. Her hand is already healing at the same pace as yours and since you were in wolf form, that's accelerated. Your adrenaline is so hyped, I doubt you're feeling a thing right now.”

Kyle reached down and carefully picked me up. “I got you, baby. You're safe now. Nothing's going to happen to you.” Kyle crooned reassuringly in a soft lulling voice and I fought the darkness threatening to overtake me. Just before my eyes closed, I saw three faces sternly watching the scene from a distance. Who were they? I wondered.

When I came to, I was tucked snuggly into bed. My bed. Mine and Kyle's. I was home. I deeply inhaled the familiarity of our combined scents. The air was tainted with that of other wolves. Opening myself to my wolf hearing I heard low mumbled voices from down the hall.

Kyle?I tried to reach out through our bond and immediately heard footsteps running down the hall.

“She's awake,” I heard him tell someone just before opening the door to our bedroom. “Hey sleepyhead. You had me really worried. How do you feel?”

I began to sit up, expecting my head to throb and my hand to ache, but nothing. Hmm. Okay, so I sat up all the way and shrugged. “I feel fine.” I examined my hand. Not even a scratch. “Look, all healed too.”

Kyle smiled and held his out to show me, “Mine too.”

I yawned and stretched. My head was a little foggy.

“Doc gave you a sedative to help you sleep, but you took to it a little too well.”

“What do you mean?”

“Kels, you've been out for two days.”

“What?” I exclaimed sitting up quickly. “Two days?”

“Yeah, babe, you had me terrified. The whole family's been here off and on keeping me from panicking. Are you sure you feel okay?”

I did a quick self-assessment. “Yeah, I feel fine, perfectly normal.” And then tears started flooding my eyes and I jumped out of bed and threw myself into his arms. “I thought I'd lost you. I was so scared.”

A soothing but strong hand rubbed my back reassuringly, easing the tension and fears as I cried in his arms.

“It's okay, I'm here.”

“This is real, right? If not, I don't even care, as long as I can feel your arms around me.”

He chuckled. “It's real and I'm here.”

A throat cleared behind us before I even had a chance to kiss him.

“Hello, Kelsey,” Micah said. “Can I run a few tests on you, just precautionary.”

I looked up at Kyle and he nodded and smiled reassuringly.

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