Page 46 of Guarding the Doctor
She was staring at Xi’s body, her face pale. “I killed her.”
“You saved our lives,” I corrected, cupping her face. “Stacy’s, Yuri’s, and mine. You did what you had to do.”
“I know. I just...”
She took a shaky breath. “I’m a doctor. I’m supposed to save lives, not take them.”
“You saved three lives by taking one,” I said firmly. “Xi made her choice when she decided to betray her country and hurt innocent people for money.”
Kathryn nodded slowly, and I could feel through our bond that she was accepting this, processing it. She’d be okay. I’d make sure of it.
“What about you? Are you hurt?” she asked. “I was worried when you didn’t come back.”
“That didn’t mean you should come racing in here putting yourself in danger,” I said sharply, my adrenaline replaced by fear as I realized how badly things could have gone today. “You should have stayed up in the Emergency Department with Martha like I told you.”
Kathryn stepped back and glared at me.
“May I remind you who took down Dr. Xi while you and Yuri were locked up?” she asked. “Who knows what would have happened if Stacy and I hadn’t come to save you two. You could both be dead by now.”
From the other side of the broken window I heard Martha chuckling. I turned on her.
“You were supposed to be guarding my mate, not letting her play hero.”
Martha shrugged. “She was very clear that she was coming after you with or without me. What was I supposed to do? Tie her up? If you think you can control her, good luck. She’s got a mind of her own. And she’s a hell of a shot.”
Lois gave Kathryn a pat on the shoulder that made her take a step back to keep her balance.
“You sure do. For a human, you’ve got grit,” Lois said, giving her an actual smile. “Nice work in there.”
I’d never seen Lois smile at anyone besides her mate before. It was a bit disconcerting.
“At least someone appreciates me,” Kathryn said archly.
“Well, I’m going to need to call in a cleaning crew for these bodies.” Lois was back to her grumpy self. “I’m going to have a buttload of paperwork to do with the damned cops now too. I hate it when you kill the bad guys, it’s so much extra work for me.”
“We can go, boss wolf, yes?” Yuri asked. His hand was wrapped around Stacy’s, and she was leaning into his side. “I take mate home and make ginger tea.”
Stacy’s cheeks turned pink. “I can’t believe after years of seeing people’s gangrenous limbs and festering wounds I lose my lunch over an eviscerated wolf. I’m so embarrassed.”
“I will take care of you mate,” he said earnestly. “You will come back to my den with me.”
Stacy gave Kathryn a quick hug, promising to text her later, then left with a visibly happy Yuri. I had a feeling those two were going to be officially mated before the night was over.
“What about Xi’s accomplice?” I asked Lois after they left. “Where is the asshole who shot me with a tranq?”
“We’ll share what information we have with the feds,” Lois said. “They’ll want to talk to him, and all the other people who were working here to see what they knew about what was happening here, what Xi told them.”
“I’m not sad about Xi, but these wolves were someone’s family,” Kathryn said quietly, staring down at the bodies. “We should try to find the research records so we can at least tell their families that they passed away.”
“I’m on it,” Wanda said. “Don’t worry. Xi kept meticulous records, so I’ll figure out who they are and come up with a plan on what to tell the next of kin. We also need to track down any other survivors, we don’t want to find out there are other crazed shifters on the loose. But we’ll handle it, Darla. Why don’t you two head out and we’ll take care of things here.”
“Are you in charge now, Diaz?” Lois barked.
“Sorry, boss,” Wanda said contritely. “Just trying to be helpful.”
“Well don’t be.” Lois looked over at me and Kathryn. “You’re relieved for the rest of the day, Pavlovski, so you can take care of your mate and recover from the tranquilizer. But I want your report on my desk no later than fourteen hundred hours tomorrow.”
“Yes boss,” I said. I gave Kathryn’s shoulder a squeeze. “Come on, let’s get you home.”
