Meryn's mouth dropped. "What an asshole. And you're not fat, you're sexy as hell, like a pin up model. I would kill for your figure."
Ellie looked at Meryn like she had two heads. "Really?"
Meryn smirked and pointed behind them. "How many of the wolves hated the fact you covered up so quickly?"
Grant's head snapped up as he eyed the crowd. The single males eased back. He growled low in his throat, warning them away.
Meryn pointed to the crowd. "You were naked, protecting your young, covered in the blood of your enemy, and you were standing there like a warrior goddess all hips and boobs. If you hadn't been mated, I bet a fight would have broken out over who got to approach you."
Grant snarled. Aiden bent down and whispered to his mate. "That's not helping."
Ellie blushed and tugged on the edge of Grant's shirt to make sure her thighs were covered. She wouldn't have believed Meryn if she hadn't pointed out the heated glances from some of the pack members.
"All right, that's it; show's over! Step away from the warrior goddess!" Declan called out, pushing the crowd back so Grant could relax.
Ellie gasped suddenly. "Emeric!" She turned back toward the house.
Declan nodded at Grant and ran into the crumbling building. Grant kept a hold on his mate. "Declan will get him, my love."
She looked up at him. "He tried to save us. He stepped in front of the gun to try and give us time to run. It's my fault! I was too scared and couldn't move!"
Grant nuzzled her neck. "It's not your fault."
Law stepped up beside her, his eyes serious. "Grant is correct. This isn't your fault. Emeric did exactly as he was trained to do, which was save you. Place the blame where it belongs, with the monster that would have killed you." He pointed to the ground. "What's left of him."
Declan emerged from the broken home, Emeric's arm wrapped around his neck. "Need some help here!"
Law and Kendrick surged forward and helped Declan lay Emeric down in the street. Emeric tried to shoo their hands away. "I am fine," he protested.
Ellie knelt down beside him, her training kicking in. "You're not fine; you were shot!" She began to gently rip away the bloody shirt to see what damage had been done. "These will have to come out."
Emeric gave her a weak smile. "On one condition, Doc."
She frowned. "What?"
"Wear that tee-shirt while you work on me." He leered up at her.
Grant bared his teeth at his mate's guard over her head, and the damn man winked up at him. Grant held his wolf in check. The guard got a pass for saving his mate and son. But later, when he was healthy, Grant planned on explaining exactly how unavailable his Ellie was to the handsome vampire.
*****
Grant looked across the bed at his mate. Between them, with a stuffed elephant and wolf on either side of him, their son slept as if nothing at all had happened. Guilt gnawed away at Grant's stomach as he recalled Ellie's shock and horror at what she had been forced to do.
"What?" she asked softly.
"I wasn't there for you or Benji. I couldn't protect you. I almost lost everything." The enormity of what had nearly happened slammed into him.
"You protected me when I needed you the most," Ellie refuted.
"A psychopath tried to shoot you. What was worse than that?" Grant asked confused.
"When I was drowning in darkness," she whispered.
Grant stared. "What? When?"
"Right after Carla's autopsy. I turned off the lights because I didn't want to face any of it anymore. I had failed her and her parents. I couldn't seem to shake free of the depression spiral I found myself getting sucked into." She smiled at him, tears in her eyes. "And then you turned on the light. You sat beside me and held me and let me cry. You gave me my elephant and my wolf, something that symbolized our love, something to hold on to. You didn't try to placate me and tell me everything would be okay. You just held me and let me find my way back to you. That was when I needed you the most. I can handle a thousand Redlys; the only thing he threatened was my life. You saved my soul."
Grant reached out over Benji's head and pulled his mate toward him. He put every ounce of love he felt for her into his kiss. He nibbled and teased her full lips before pulling back to rub their noses together. "Don't ever sit in the dark alone again. Let me stay by your side."
Sniffling she nodded. "Always."
*****
Grant didn't want to get up. He wanted to stay in bed, beside Benji, and give thanks that their small family was still together. But reality always found a way to invade his personal space.
Ellie lingered for nearly thirty minutes, saying goodbye to Benji, as Marjoram held him patiently. Understanding Ellie's fears, Grant would have said to hell with dinner, but Ellie had yet to explain what had happened, and Prince Magnus and his Unit Leader needed a report of what had transpired.