Amanda's Wolves(109)

“Please, Amanda. Be okay,” he muttered. He was running on empty by now, but he could see the ambulance in front of him.

Two paramedics waited at the bottom of a steep incline for Sawyer to arrive. He sat on his ass for the last several yards, hugged Amanda against his chest, and slid down to the service road.

Neither paramedic said a word. It wasn’t necessary. One of them rolled a gurney toward the spot where Sawyer emerged.

Sawyer gingerly set Amanda on the clean white sheet, shockingly pristine in the surroundings. He drew in a breath and managed to tell the men everything they needed to know. “Amanda Williams. Twenty-five years old. Smoke inhalation.”

“Any sign of burns?” one man asked.

“Not that I’m aware of.” He prayed that was the case.

A third paramedic made his way toward them. A shifter. Thank God. The man was tall with blond hair that he brushed out of his eyes. He nodded at Sawyer and then leaned over Amanda with an oxygen mask.

Amanda moaned and turned her head to one side.

Sawyer set his gloved hand on her forehead and leaned down to kiss her smudged skin. “Take care of her,” he told the shifter.

The man nodded. “She’s in good hands. I promise.”

“I have to get back,” Sawyer said as if that weren’t obvious. The last thing he wanted to do was race back up the hill to fight this beast. His mate needed him.

The blond grabbed his shoulder. “She’ll be fine. I’ve got her.”

Sawyer swallowed. Walking away was incomprehensible. “Logan Masters will meet you at the hospital.”

The guy nodded again. “Masters. Got it.”

Thank the Lord one of the paramedics was a shifter. It cut down on the explanations and gave Sawyer a small peace of mind as he turned away. At least that man knew by scent that Amanda was human and that she was Sawyer’s mate. There was nothing else Sawyer could do at the moment.

As he raced back up to the firebreak, he spoke to Logan. “They’re putting her in an ambulance now. I have to get back. Fuck.”

“I’m almost at the hospital. I’ll beat her there. Stay focused, Sawyer. We need you.”

“On it.” He kept running, not as fast as before, but quickly. Leaving his team one man short for any length of time was not an option.

The moment he arrived back at his equipment and lifted his chainsaw off the ground, he went back to work. His arms shook. His legs burned from the effort. But he didn’t miss a beat. There was no other option.

For three more grueling hours he worked with his team. Relief over finding Amanda actually gave him more energy. And the occasional updates from Logan soothed his nerves. She was going to be fine. She wasn’t awake yet, and she needed rest and oxygen, but she would recover quickly. It seemed her biggest hurdle wasn’t smoke inhalation but ridding her body of whatever drug was used to subdue her so completely.

When his squad leader finally called it quits, Sawyer almost slumped to the ground. He was exhausted beyond anything he’d ever experienced. It was dark. He was wet and hungry and thirsty and bone tired.

As they made their way down the slope to the service road, turning over the final cleanup to a fresh team of wildland firefighters, Sawyer blew out a long breath.

His squad leader stepped up next to him. “Good work out there. I don’t know how you spotted that woman from such a distance, but thank God you did.”

Sawyer didn’t have the energy to do more than nod as he climbed into their transport vehicle, sat on one of the side benches, and closed his eyes. He didn’t even have the strength to communicate with Logan. He spent the next fifteen minutes trying to catch his breath and bring his adrenaline under control. He needed a shower and clean clothes, and then he would head to the hospital.





Chapter Thirty-Two


Amanda blinked her eyes several times. They felt like they had sandpaper in them. Why did they burn so badly?

She moaned and squeezed them closed.

“Amanda.” Logan’s voice penetrated her mind while his hand grasped hers and clenched.

“Hon, can you hear us?” Sawyer’s voice sounded rougher than normal, as though he had a sore throat.

“Mmm.” She couldn’t get her mouth to cooperate yet, but she tried to open her eyes again.

“You’re in the hospital, baby.” Logan leaned over her right side. He brushed a lock of hair off her forehead. “Do you remember what happened?”

She stared at him, squinting. Her eyes watered and burned. “Fire,” she muttered as it came back to her.

Sawyer cleared his raspy throat. “You’re okay. You’re going to be fine.”

She turned her head in his direction. “Water…”