Page 53 of Stolen Mate
The sound of the ATVs returning was music to her ears. As his men rushed in to pick his body up, someone handed her a sweater. It was her favorite sweater of Derek’s—the one she most often wore in the cabin.
As they made their way carefully back to the compound, Tess could see three sets of headlights headed down the drive. Unless she was badly mistaken, they would be Autumn, Doc, and Jax. She turned to Asher, “Can you deal with Jax? Also, can someone call Zak and let him know what’s happened?”
Asher grinned at her. “Derek chose well for the first lady of his clan.”
She gave him a warm smile. “There wasn’t any choice involved; it was fate.”
After using Autumn’s portable x-ray machine, they deemed that the bullet was too close to his heart to risk moving Derek any more than they had to. They cleared the tables in the dining hall, sterilized the area they needed to, and then chased everyone out.
Three gut-wrenching hours later, Autumn walked out and hugged her mate before turning to Tess. “He’s going to be fine. The bullet didn’t do as much damage as it might have, but operating here was the right thing to do. Moving him could have sent the bullet into the heart itself and killed him.”
“Can I see him? I need to see him, Autumn,” Tess said, her eyes pleading.
“I understand. It’s not standard procedure, but very little is up here in Mystic River.”
Tess left them discussing a search party for the body of the assassin. When Doc stood up, Tess threw her arms around him. “Thank you.”
“Happy to do it. Your mate is a fine man. Once he’s come out of anesthesia and we get him moved to wherever you’d like him to recover, I’d like to see if we can get him to shift. He’ll heal faster that way. We’ll need to set up some kind of bed where we can keep everything clean and we’re going to need to set up IVs and that kind of thing.”
“Have Autumn tell Wyatt the specifics of what you want. We’ll set it up in our cabin. That way we’ll have a full kitchen, bath, and anything else we need. Get them started now and my guess is by the time we’re ready to move him, they’ll have it ready.”
Doc left her alone with Derek, who opened his eyes. “Hi, gorgeous.”
“Don’t you ‘hi, gorgeous’ me,” she scolded him, fighting the tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks.
“I’ll be fine, baby. I promise. We’ll have that bonding ceremony. I think we should either have it here, the meadow where I found you, or the dock at the lighthouse compound.”
Tess smiled. “I don’t care where we have it, just as long as we have it together.”
He nodded. “I love you, Tess. You’re the very best thing in my whole life.”
“I love you, too—to the moon and back and into the great beyond.”
* * *
Several Weeks Later
She and Derek were sitting on the front porch in the rocker that Annie had given them. She’d had it specially handmade by Max down in Kodiak to fit Derek’s frame, as well as give him room to have Tess in his lap. Derek was healing far more rapidly than he might have if he hadn’t spent two weeks in his shifted form, and he was well on his way to a full recovery.
“So, what did you put in the time capsule under the stone flooring in the dining hall?”
One of the things Tess had ordered changed was the beautiful wood floors of the dining hall. She had them torn up and replaced by stone. With a fight coming, having a make-shift operating theatre or hospital facility might be crucial, and stone was a lot cleaner and easier to sterilize than wood. One of the workers had questioned both her choice and her authority and had found to his chagrin that Tess needed neither Derek nor Wyatt to back up her decisions.
“Teresa’s journals. In some ways they are so sad, but in another way, it’s really a story about triumph and a testimony about the love of a mother for her unborn child. Have I thanked you for having the carving done to represent her and what she started?”
“Yes, but not in the way I want,” he grumbled.
“Yeah. You take that up with your doctor. As soon as he says you’re good to go, I’ll be all over you.”
“I’m going to hold you to that, baby.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t let you down.”
He hugged her close. “That thought never entered my mind.”
* * *
Journal Entry
I’m not sure of the exact date today, and this will be my first, last, and only entry.
I want anyone who may find or read these journals in the future to know I had a wonderful life. Teresa Travers may not be the woman I called ‘mom,’ but she not only gave life to me, but gave her life to ensure I would have my own happily ever after.
P.S. Thank you for your sacrifice, Teresa. Job well done. Your watch has ended. Go in peace and love.
