Mine for Eternity [Council Enforcers] (Siren Publishing Classic) (15 page)

The man made a move toward the tree, and Tessa whimpered. She had been too stupid to trust Mitch and stick to the plan. Now, she was trapped with no place to go and Mitch nowhere in sight. She couldn’t climb higher because the branches were too thin to hold her, and if she jumped, the man would be on her before she could even pick herself up off the ground.

The moon gave off enough light for Tessa to see drool glinting off the man’s fangs, and she knew there was no way she wanted to come in contact with those things. Tessa cursed herself for climbing the tree and decided to jump and take her chances on the ground. Either way, she was screwed, but at least she would go down fighting. She inched around to the other side of the tree and down a couple of branches, keeping her eye on the rogue the whole time. He had his head cocked to the side as if he was confused at her actions.
He’s probably wondering why his dinner is coming to him instead of him having to chase it down.

Tessa spared a stray thought and wondered if the man was a wolf or some type of dog shifter the way he was looking at her. She could picture his tail practically wagging and his tongue hanging out at the thought of finally catching his prey. Too bad she wasn’t going to make it easy on him. She leaped the last few feet from the tree and hit the ground running before he even realized what she was doing. Being mated to Mitch had made her a lot faster than she used to be, but she was nowhere near as fast as the rogue. She hadn’t made it a few feet before she could feel his hot rancid breath on the back of her neck.

“Mitch!” Tessa screamed at the top of her lungs just as she felt claws slice her back as they gripped the back of her shirt.

One second she was running, and the next Tessa was flying through the air as a blur of gold came barreling into them. She landed in a heap gasping desperately to get the air back in her lungs that had been knocked out. Shards of pain shot up her arm when Tessa rolled to her hands and knees, but she ignored it and tried to focus on the fight between Mitch and the rogue, who had shifted to full wolf. She could hear snapping and growling behind her and turned to see Mitch and the rogue tearing into each other. Both had blood dripping from various tears and bite marks.

Tessa stood on shaky legs and was shocked at the vicious way Mitch attacked the rogue wolf. While Mitch had size, the wolf had speed. It was clear that the rogue was no match for Mitch, but that didn’t stop him from dashing in, time and time again, trying to find an opening to take the lion down. Several times the wolf went for Mitch’s throat, but he couldn’t get a grip through the lion’s mane. Mitch just shook him off each time and batted him away.

Tessa held in her screams each time the rogue got a bite or a scratch in on Mitch. She couldn’t stand the fact that he was getting hurt while she was standing there doing nothing, but there wasn’t anything she could do. She felt helpless just watching from the sidelines.

One of Mitch’s massive paws came down on the wolf’s back at that moment, and Tessa heard a sickening crack as he hit the ground. She held her breath and waited to see if the wolf would get up. Instead, he whimpered and laid his head down. She didn’t wait any longer to run to Mitch’s side.

“Mitch!” she yelled as she ran toward him.

Unfortunately, the rogue used her distraction to attack Mitch from behind. He leaped onto the lion’s back and sunk his teeth into his shoulder. Tessa could feel Mitch’s roar vibrate through her body because it was so loud. It was a sound of anger and pain all mixed together. Mitch rolled and swatted at the wolf, doing everything he could to get the rogue off him, but nothing he did worked. The wolf just sunk his teeth in further and added his claws to hold on tight.

Tessa was only thinking of Mitch’s safety when she reacted. She reached down and picked up a fallen branch, ignoring the pain in her wrist. Using all the strength she possessed, she lifted the branch over her head and brought it down on the back of the wolf’s head. That seemed to get the wolf’s attention as he lifted his head to growl at Tessa. She could see Mitch’s blood coating his mouth as he lifted his muzzle and flashed his fangs.

Tessa never saw the wolf move as she felt claws rake across her cheek carving deep grooves. She gasped at the searing pain. Her cheek felt like it was on fire, but she had to ignore it when the rogue suddenly leaped off Mitch’s back, coming directly at her. Not thinking and going purely on instinct, Tessa lifted the branch she still had in her grip and held it in front of her. She felt the impact of the wolf landing on the branch as he took them both to the ground and a wet squishing sound as it impaled his stomach. For a moment, the wolf seemed to hover in midair above her before Tessa let go of the stick and he fell to the side, taking it with him. Feeling sick, Tessa rolled over and lost the contents of her stomach. She didn’t know if it was from the pain or the fact that she had just killed someone, but it didn’t matter.

Hot breath on the back of her neck had Tessa screaming at the top of her lungs as she rolled over and scrambled to get up. It took a few screams before she realized it was Mitch and not the rogue. The feral look in his eyes told her that she was dealing with the lion and not the man. Mitch had let his animal completely take over probably for the fight. Remembering what he had told her about how shifters turned rogue, she knew she couldn’t let that happen to him.

“Thank you for helping me.” She ran her hands through the lion’s mane and placed a kiss on his nose, ignoring the pain searing her face. “You need to let Mitch come back now.”

The lion growled and licked the side of Tessa’s face that the wolf had clawed. She held in her whimper at the pain his rough tongue caused, not wanting to provoke him any further. She needed him to give control back to Mitch, and she had a feeling he wouldn’t do it if he knew how much she was hurting at the moment.

“I’m okay. It’s just a scratch. I promise. Just let Mitch come back so he can get me back to the house.”

She hoped she was convincing enough because she didn’t have the strength to plead with him anymore. Black spots had started dancing in her vision, and she didn’t think she would be conscious much longer.

The lion lay down beside her, and Tessa happily curled up right next to him, soaking in his warmth. She didn’t even realize she was shivering until she got next to his heat. Gripping his mane with one hand and holding tight was the last thing Tessa remembered before she closed her eyes and let the darkness take her.

Getting control back from his lion was almost impossible. The stubborn beast refused at first, not wanting to leave his hurt mate’s side. His lion finally gave him back control when Tessa passed out. After shifting, Mitch ignored the pain in his shoulder and lifted Tessa in his arms. She hadn’t stopped shaking, and he didn’t know if it was from shock or blood loss.

The cuts on her face were deep enough that Mitch could see bone. He gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to snatch the branch out of the wolf’s stomach and stab him over and over again with it for what he had done to his mate. Instead, he ignored the urge and made his way back to his house as fast as he could.

He couldn’t believe what his little mate had done. She had been incredibly brave and stupid at the same time. He wanted to kiss her for saving his life, but he seriously considered paddling her behind for putting herself in harm’s way. He was supposed to be the one to save the day. Mitch never imagined that he, the trained enforcer, would be the one getting his butt saved by a tiny slip of a woman who had probably never been in a fight a day in her life. Mitch wasn’t so macho that he couldn’t accept having to be saved by a girl. He just thanked fate that Tessa had enough strength and courage to step up and do what needed to be done.

When Mitch got to the porch, Ben was already waiting for him. “Where is Nico? I don’t want him to see his momma like this.”

“I put him to bed. He’s fast asleep.” Ben opened the door for them and followed him into the house. “Is she okay? What happened?”

“She saved my life.” It was the only thing Mitch could say as he carried Tessa over to the couch and laid her down. Blood still seeped out of the gashes on her face, and he worried that her increased healing hadn’t kicked in yet. She would have gained the ability when he mated her, but they all didn’t come in at one time. He knew she had already gained a few extra traits of his, but it looked like healing hadn’t been one of them yet. Mitch looked up and growled when a wet cloth was pressed onto Tessa’s face.

“We need to get the bleeding stopped.” Ben ignored his growl and continued to hold the cloth to her wounds.

Mitch was glad to have his best friend there with him. At least one of them was thinking calmly and rationally. The only thing he could do was hold his mate’s hand and hope that fate wouldn’t take her away from him so soon after bringing her into his life. He regretted his decision to use her as bait and hoped losing his mate wasn’t his punishment for willingly putting her in harm’s way.

“She’s not healing. Should we try to stitch her up or leave them alone?” Ben questioned. “If we leave it alone and her healing doesn’t kick in soon, I’m afraid she is going to have some nasty scars.”

Mitch didn’t care about scars. All he wanted was for his mate to wake up and be okay. To him she would still be the most beautiful woman in the world, scars or not. “Can you stitch her up?” he asked Ben, making his decision. “Either way, we have to get the bleeding stopped and her wounds closed.”

He was grateful when Ben didn’t say anything else and got to work. He cleaned Tessa’s face first and Mitch winced at the deep, jagged furrows. One had come dangerously close to her eye. He knew she had been lucky not to have lost it. Shifters may have had accelerated healing, but even they couldn’t grow body parts back. As Ben got to work, Mitch held his mate’s hand and listened to the beat of her heart. Each thump comforted him and let him know that his mate was still alive. He could feel his lion growing calmer and calmer with each beat as well.

When Ben was finished, Mitch thanked him and gathered his mate in his arms. He carried her up the stairs and straight to his bathroom. He needed to wash the scent of the rogue off Tessa before he could rest. His lion was in full agreement. As gently as he could, Mitch stripped her clothes off and made sure the water was warm before he stepped into the shower holding his mate.

Tessa never stirred the whole time he cleaned her and then dried her. He placed her in the center of his bed then climbed in and pulled her next to him. Mitch needed to feel her as close as possible. Her warm body pressed up against the length of his allowed him to relax for the first time since he had run off and left his mate standing alone against a tree.

Even though his plan had worked, in hindsight, Mitch knew that if he had to do it all over again, there was no way he would ever put his mate up as bait again. Too many things had the potential of going wrong and had. Everything worked out this time, but he may not get as lucky next time. No, he would never do it again. As far as he was concerned, Tessa was going to be the safest mate in the world. Even if he had to quit his job and move to some remote, uninhabited place to make that happen.

After a few hours had passed, Tessa’s moan broke him out of his thoughts and he brought his attention up to her face. “Come on, baby, open your eyes for me. Let me know you’re okay.”

He waited and watched as her eyes shifted behind her lids before they finally cracked open a bit. His mate moaned and stiffened a little before her eyes finally widened and she gasped and sat up.

“Hey, hey,” he said, pulling her to him. “Shh, you’re safe now. Everything is okay.”

“Is he dead?”

“Yeah, baby. You did really well. The rogue won’t ever bother you again.”

“I killed him, didn’t I?” Tessa whispered.

Mitch didn’t want his mate upset, but she needed to know the truth. He pulled her into a hug and rested her head on his chest, mindful of her wounds. “Yes, honey,” he sighed. “You killed him. You did what you had to do. There is no reason for you to feel guilty. As a matter of fact, you saved my life, so thank you.” When Mitch pulled away from her, he expected to see tears. What he didn’t expect was the fierce, determined look she gave him.

“I’m glad I killed him, and I don’t feel guilty about it.”

“You don’t?” Mitch frowned.

“No. Why should I? I wasn’t actually trying to stab him when he jumped at me, but like I said I’m glad I did it. He was going to kill me and then possibly you. I didn’t want that to happen. Plus, I couldn’t do anything to help that woman in the park. At least this way, she got a little justice for her death.”

“You have no idea how much I love you.” If he hadn’t already been in love with her, he would have fallen deeply at that point. Tessa was a true shifter’s mate. She was brave, loyal, and willing to do what it took to protect her own. He couldn’t have asked for better. His mate was perfect. Mitch leaned in to kiss Tessa, but she slapped her hand over her mouth, blocking his lips.

“What’s wrong?”

“I threw up out there. My breath is probably horrible,” she mumbled through her fingers.

Mitch laughed. “Do you think I care? A little bad breath is not enough to scare me off. You’re stuck with me, mate, mine for eternity.”

His mate shook her head back and forth, so he placed a peck on her forehead. “Go brush your teeth so I can thank you properly for saving my life.”

He watched his mate slide out of the bed and stand on steady feet. She winked at him and headed toward the bathroom. Mitch watched her ass sway as she walked away from him and felt his cock harden. He couldn’t wait to show her all the ways he had come up with to show his appreciation.