Page 18 of Rumble of the Crumble

“My pride mate, Randy, inhaled smoke too. He should shift,” I said, to distract myself when my mate's possessive thoughts made my belly tremble in a way that didn’t scare me.

She grinned at me. “Is that your way of saying I was right?”

“We both were.”

“Fair enough.” She glanced through the gap in the door. “Which one is Randy?”

“The one with pink hair.”

She pushed the door fully open and yelled for her co-worker. “We need one of the pride here, stat. The guy with pink hair. And all the pride members need to shift.”

I sat on the gurney. “Test me again.”

“Okay.”

A minute later, there was a knock, and she ushered in Randy. She blocked whoever was with him. “There’s no room for you, big guy. Let me finish with Leonidis and you can come in.”

I grinned at the disgusted protest from Tartie. “Hold your clippers, Tartie. Let me convince the nice EMT I’m fine and then you can hop in.”

Randy rolled his eyes as the EMT shut the door. “He’s kinda freaked.”

I patted his arm. “Of course he is.” I wish my mate was similarly freaked about me instead of ignoring me.

I’m not ignoring you. And we will talk about you letting that woman touch your mane.

Maybe it was time I went after him and set him straight. “Ready to cut me loose, ma’am?”

She grinned at me. “You can go. Thanks for the advice and, well, letting me see your true side.”

Randy turned to me, wide-eyed. “You shifted in front of a human?”

“You’ve got to shift and shift back or your lungs will burn,” I explained. “You think you’re okay, but I promise you, you’ll feel so much better once you’ve shifted.”

I hopped out before he could question me further, and grabbed Tartie’s bicep. “He’s got to shift to get rid of the smoke damage. The EMT will explain. She’s human, but she’s willing to listen to us.”

Tartie gave me a curt nod and pushed by me to get into the ambulance, the usually laid-back stalk only focused on being with his mate.

Trying to center myself, I took a deep breath and regretted it, coughing as the smokey air hit my lungs.

“You need to go to the hospital,” Butch said as he appeared at my side, pulling me closer.

“I’m fine,” I muttered, still a little disgruntled and excited. “I’ve shifted and my lungs are fine. Anyone who’s inhaled smoke needs to shift.”

“All the pride has shifted after we got the EMT’s message, and the town has promised beds and soil for everyone.”

Then Butch surprised the heck out of me by wrapping me tightly in his arms, sticking his nose in my hair, and inhaling despite the smell of smoke clinging to me. “I’m sorry I didn’t stay with you in the ambulance. That was wrong. You’re my mate. You deserve better,” he mumbled into my hair.

I tried not to scowl at him, but he couldn’t see any way because he never took his nose out of my hair. “Is this about the woman touching my mane? I know you’re the sheriff. You have a job to do, no matter how I feel.”

He didn’t let go, I was flush against him, my face pressed into the crook of his neck. “No. You’re my mate, and I know we’re not… fully together, but my priority is you. I want you to know that, and that Crimson reamed me out for leaving you.”

I raised my head, dislodging him to lean back so I could see his face. He was avoiding the whole mane touching issue, and I let him for now. “She did? What did she say?”

Butch looked rueful. “Everything I just said, plus a whole lot more about having a mate. She was right. That’s why I came straight over here… for you.”

“I should have warned you through our link,” I admitted, “you know, before, but I knew they’d call, and it was all so busy.”

Butch’s arms tightened, a flash of pain filling his eyes. “We should have been together. If anything had happened to you…” He trailed off and I could feel his fear through our link.

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