Bear the Burn(13)

Cody was yelling now, and Dade looked over his shoulder to see him back in his human form, holding his jacket in front of his dick and trying to calm the crowd.

“He won’t hurt her. She’s his mate. He’s just trying to protect her. Please, put the weapons down so I can get my crew to Change back. They won’t hurt you. You have my word.”

“The word of a monster!” a man clutching a handgun shouted from the edge of the growing masses.

“We aren’t monsters. We’re citizens just like you, and we don’t hurt humans. Please, my brother is just trying to save his girl. Greg! Can you help her? She needs to go to the hospital. Her legs are badly burned.”

“What are you?” a woman asked from her hiding place, peeking around the fire engine.

“We’re bear shifters. Very rare. Greg. Please, man, she needs help.”

Greg stepped cautiously from beside the ambulance. “You bit her. Why?”

“Don’t answer any more questions,” a blond-haired woman ordered from the crowd. “I think you should think carefully about the things that come from your mouth right now. An informal interview will only hurt you when emotions are running high like this. Plus, your brother has been shot.”

“Who are you?” Cody asked.

“I work for the newspaper. I’ll break this story if you want me to, but I think we need to take a step back.”

The woman’s voice rang with honesty, and her hazel eyes swam with concern.

“Okay, no more,” Cody conceded.

“Will she turn into that thing again?” Greg asked, approaching with his med kit slowly.

“Not now,” Cody said. “Not for another week at least. Look at her.” He jerked his head toward Quinn’s limp body lying between Dade’s front paws. “She’s half dead.”

“I’m not working on her with three grizzlies looking over my shoulder. You’re the leader, right? Get them to turn into humans again so I don’t have to worry about my life while I’m trying to save hers.”

“Change back.” Cody’s voice cracked with authority, and Dade’s body caved in on itself.

Growling at the pain of his forced Change, coupled with the seeping bullet wound that was burning his shoulder from the inside out, he was barely able to keep the scream in his throat as he melted into his human skin again. Exhausted, he slid into what was left of his trousers and hoped his dick wasn’t hanging out for the news crew that had just pulled up.

He watched, anguished, as Greg and other paramedics that had been called to the scene, worked over Quinn. Her eyes were open, staring vacantly at the sky as her body was jostled and moved, and Dade fell to his knees as Greg placed an oxygen mask on her.

“Her lungs are struggling from the smoke inhalation.” Greg’s voice drifted in and out of Dade’s consciousness. “…Burns… blood transfusion… both legs… broken… internal bleeding…”

He hadn’t saved her at all. The bear inside of her was strong and would give her the ability to heal faster, but some things were too bad to fix instantly. He knew that. The scars on his torso and neck were proof of shifter mortality. The smell of her burned flesh was further proof that saving her hadn’t been as simple as a bite from him.

And now Quinn, his Quinn, was hurt badly. If she lived, she’d be scarred for always, just like him.

He’d done this.

Poisoned her life with his presence.

That man in the crowd was right.

Dade wiped Quinn’s blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

He was a monster.





Chapter Six




The beep beep beeping of a machine pulled Quinn from the deep folds of sleep. Her throat was dry, and when she tried to open her eyes, something kept her from being able to do so. Reaching up, she felt around her face. Tape adhered her lids together, and in a moment of panic, she pulled at the corners and yanked them off.

Her vision was blurry, so she blinked rapidly until it cleared. She was in a hospital room with a large viewing window. Outside, she could see two uniformed police officers. She ripped out the tube pushing oxygen into her nose and tugged at the IV in her arm. The beeping flat lined as she ridded herself of the plethora of wires and contraptions attached to her body.

Fumbling, she pushed the red button on her bed. “Hello?”

A doctor bustled in, and both cops rested their hands on their guns as they watched her through the window.

“Where am I?” she asked, voice sounding like she’d swallowed glass and gravel.

“You’re at St. Anthony’s. Shhh, please, Quinn. You have to stay calm, or they won’t let me stay in here with you.”