Bear the Burn(12)

Cody took off his mask and knelt down with a curse.

“I can fix this,” Dade said on a desperate breath.

With his teeth, he bit his gloves and yanked them off. He lifted her arm in his hands.

“What are you doing?” Cody asked low.

“Changing her. She’ll heal.”

“Are you crazy? She’ll Change instantly in front of everyone.”

“I don’t give a shit, Cody! That’s what you wanted anyway, to out us.” His voice dipped to a ragged whisper. “Please. She’s my mate. Shayna did this to her because of me.”

Cody’s eyes looked horrified through the streaks of soot on his face. “Shayna? But why?”

“I need to get to her,” a paramedic named Greg said, shoving his way through.

“Wait.” Cody slashed his hand through the air, stopping Greg in his tracks. His brought his gaze back to Dade. “She’s really yours? And she knows?”

Dade shook his head. “I pushed her away.”

“Fuck, Dade! You can’t Change her without her permission. No. She’ll have to survive this on her own. Human.”

Dade looked down at her legs, burned to the bone from that metal beam. Moisture blurred his vision. “I can’t lose her. I’m sorry, Cody.” Before his alpha could stop him, Dade sank his teeth into Quinn’s arm and bit down until he could taste the iron in her blood.

“What are you doing?” Greg screamed. “Get away from her.” He shoved Dade backward, but it was already too late.

Quinn’s back bowed, and she made a choking sound.

Somberly, Dade removed his helmet and jacket.

Boone looked up at him from his place beside Quinn’s seizing body. He shook his head and muttered, “Shhhit,” then stood and removed his jacket, too.

A crowd was forming near the second fire engine that had been called in from Station 7. They joined the other half of their crew, working tirelessly with the hoses to calm the flames that engulfed the building.

Gage rolled his eyes closed, shook his head, and dropped his mask on the grass. “Welp, no one will ever accuse us of not knowing how to make an entrance.”

Cody cracked his neck and pointed to a teenager in the crowd who was taking video with his cell phone. “You might want to point that thing over here. We’re about to make you famous online, kid.”

A long snarl rattled Quinn’s throat as her back arched against the ground again. Hands clenched, she screamed in the final moments before a red-furred grizzly ripped out of her skin.

The crowd surged backward, terrified cries filling the air as Quinn struggled to all fours. Her back legs weren’t working, and her pupils were dilated with shock. Maybe this wouldn’t work. Maybe she was too broken for a bear to fix her.

It was too late to regret his decision now because there was no turning back. Cody looked furious as he shrugged out of his turnout gear. Dade yanked his suspenders from his shoulders and pulled his shirt over his head just as Quinn lunged upward, wild abandon in her scared gaze. His bear exploded from him, shredding the top of his trousers on the way out. He roared a welcome as towering grizzlies burst from his brothers, one by one.

Most of the crowd was on the lamb, but a few brave souls stayed around to take video and pictures. Some of the firefighters from their crew abandoned the hose to get away from them, leaving Station 7 to take the brunt of the flames.

Dade slammed down onto all fours in front of her as Quinn tried to charge the crowd. From the vacant look in her eyes, she didn’t have her mind, and Dade would be damned if he Changed her, then allowed her to do something she would regret for all time. If she struggled to put an ailing dog to sleep, she’d be destroyed if she hurt someone now.

Fury in her eyes, she attacked Dade, clawing and biting, but he was helpless to defend himself against her. He wouldn’t hurt her worse than she was by raking a warning claw down her flesh. Cody stood on all fours and bellowed a roar so loud, Quinn hunched down in front of him. He narrowed blazing eyes at her, gold as fire against his dark fur. When he took a thundering step forward, Quinn fell back on her injured legs. The acrid smell of her fear pulled a warning growl from Dade’s throat, but Cody wasn’t backing down.

Quinn was beautiful—wide, churning green-gold eyes, dark nose set against auburn fur that shone like sparks in the sunlight. A soft, confused noise rattled her chest as she froze. With a sharp inhalation, she sank back into her human skin.

“They’ll kill her,” a woman screamed from the crowd.

Metal cracked on metal, and Dade threw himself over Quinn’s crumpled body just as the first shot rang out. Pain blasted through his shoulder.