Renny could barely express her gratitude when the ambulance braked to a stop in the center of the highway and blocked both lanes of traffic. She would owe Molly for the rest of her life for the way her friend quickly assessed and treated her mate, staunching his bleeding, stabilizing his wound, and ensuring that he got loaded quickly and efficiently into the back of the emergency vehicle.
But she would never admit—not under pain of torture—that she didn’t breathe easily until her mate arrived at the Alpha Medical Center emergency room, had his tendon stitched back together by Dr. Kirby, and was pronounced in excellent condition. All things considered.
You couldn’t drag that admission out of her if you channeled the spirit of Tomás de Torquemada himself. She preferred for her hair to remain in her scalp, thank you very much.
Mick had insisted, predictably, that she undergo her own examination, even if he hovered over her and growled low in his throat the entire time. She honestly wasn’t sure if in the end, Dr. Kirby didn’t pronounce her healthy just out of fear for his own life. Still, his diagnosis of muscle strain, minor lacerations, and a minor sprain to her left shoulder seemed to fit with the way she felt. She’d be back to normal in a few days.
Better than normal, because in a few days her wounds would be healed and she would still be free of Geoffrey Hilliard. The coyote was out of her life forever.
“He’s out of everyone’s lives, including his own,” Zeke observed when she said as much.
A small crowd had gathered in Mick and Renny’s living room. A few had made up their escort home from the hospital, such as Zeke and Molly, while others had met them there to offer help, congratulations, and hear the whole story. Already, Jaeger had someone replacing the busted front door, and the broken windowpane was just a distant memory. Deputy Draper would remain in the hospital for another day or two to monitor his serious, but not life-threatening injuries, but at the cabin things looked almost as if nothing dramatic had ever happened.
Well, as long as she ignored the way her mate had his heavily bandaged leg propped up on a pillow atop the coffee table. Just looking at the wound got her hackles up every time.
“I don’t think anyone’s going to miss him,” Jaeger observed.
“Not even the rest of his pack?” Jonas Browning asked. He had tagged along with the mayor, ostensibly to offer his family’s aid if there was anything Mick and Renny needed. In reality, Renny suspected it was so he could check her out and decide if she was good enough to meet his precious lupine mate.
“I doubt it,” she answered. “Most of them will be just as happy he’s gone. He wasn’t what you’d call a man of the people.”
Mick snuggled her closer. “I just hope for their sake that someone will step up to keep things running. I don’t want the town to have to go through a repeat of the mess I caused, especially since this one would be pretty much my fault, too.”
“Nope, this one is on me as much as you,” she told him. “Besides, those were completely different circumstances. Eight years ago, Sawmill lost a multigenerational pack hierarchy. This time all they’re missing is one egomaniac and a handful of his demented friends. I think the town will be able to go back to the way it was before Geoffrey took over, just a regular small town with an interesting mix of humans and independently minded shifters.”
“That sounds a little like us.” Molly grinned. “Except for the human parts.”
“Yeah, I think ‘independently minded’ is one way to describe the folks around here,” Jaeger drawled, then chuckled.
“And epic pains in the ass is another,” Zeke grumbled. “I don’t think I’ve had a day off or a night with more than five hours of sleep in a month. And all because of all the independent minds I’m sworn to serve and protect.”
“Don’t worry, Zee. The council is preparing to hear the proposal for Sheriff Lahern’s new budget. I have it on good authority that there’s a high probability he’ll get approval to hire at least two more full-time deputies. Apparently, residents are concerned about rising crime in the area.”
Renny winced. “Yeah, sorry about that. Do you happen to know if these residents in question have a favorite kind of cookie?”
“Not. Your. Fault,” Mick growled. He squeezed her hand. “You need to stop taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong around here, little red, before you start trying to stop the rain in April.”
Molly shook her head and gave an exaggerated sigh. “I’ve tried to knock that into her head, Mick, but the girl is stubborn. I hope you know what you signed up for with this one.”
Mick turned his head to smile down at his mate. She couldn’t see a single shadow left in his gorgeous blue eyes. They had each walked through the worst life had to offer, and now there was nothing left for them but each other, and was there any other definition of the best?
“Oh, I know,” he purred, his attention all for Renny. “I know exactly what I’m going to get.”
“Me, too.” Renny laid her hand against his cheek and returned his smile. “We get each other.”
“And the rest of our lives,” Mick promised, and kissed her. “Let’s get started on those.”