Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45093 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45093 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
I wince as the long cut comes into view. It’s not actively bleeding, but it’s pretty deep and long, running down the front from her upper thigh to almost her knee. It’s about six inches long.
When I gently grip her leg to inspect it closer, I gasp. This gouge wasn’t caused from a fall or random accident as I’d expected. “Fuck,” I mutter. “This is a knife wound.”
“Shit. We didn’t see a knife,” Pryce says. “We also didn’t see evidence of what might have caused the wound. I just assumed it had been a tree limb or the sharp corner of a rock.”
“Someone did this to her,” I mumble, fury consuming me. I can feel her pulse. It’s very faint. Orion is right. She’d never make it into town. Her only chance at life is for one of us to claim her.
“You don’t have much time,” Pryce states unnecessarily.
“He’s right,” Orion agrees.
I’m breathing heavily now as I briefly ponder my options. There are none. I can’t let her die. Even though she’s not conscious and I know nothing about her, the magnetic pull is strong.
She’s mine.
All I need to do is bite her and make it official. The properties in my saliva will cause her to heal faster than without intervention. In this case, she literally won’t survive without me claiming her.
“Navin…” Orion warns.
The clock is ticking.
I grab her thigh with both hands, hold it steady in case my bite causes her to rouse, and lower my mouth to her. With my next inhale, my fangs drop down long and sharp, and I sink them into her tender flesh, the top two on one side of the wound, the bottom two on the other side.
The taste of her blood fills my mouth, instantly changing everything. After lingering for a few seconds to let plenty of my saliva enter her blood stream, I release her. The four puncture wounds will heal quickly and leave no evidence.
I shift my attention to her face. In seconds, her mouth opens, and she gasps as though taking in the first deep breath to oxygenate her lungs in hours. It’s likely that’s exactly the case.
“I’ll grab the first-aid kit,” Pryce states, turning from the room. He’ll easily find it in the kitchen. We all have large first-aid kits under the sink. In our line of work, we often have minor injuries that require patching.
As lion shifters, we don’t need much medical intervention, but we do like to clean and dress a wound to help the healing process. Sometimes, stitches are preferable when one of us gets a larger gash.
Orion heads to the bathroom and returns with a few towels. When he shakes one out, I gently lift my mate’s leg so he can slide it under.
Pryce returns with a bowl of water, a cloth, and the first-aid kit.
Without a word, I rinse the wound, determining that it’s definitely from a knife. It’s clean. It doesn’t seem that any major artery was hit, but close enough that she’s lost a lot of blood. An inch closer to her femoral artery and my brothers would not have found her alive.
Working quickly, I sew up the long gash, trying my best to minimize the scarring. I won’t ever be bothered by the appearance of the wound at any point in our lives, but I suspect my mate will care. Females have a tendency to be sensitive to their appearances.
At no point does my mate flinch. She’s still unconscious.
When I’m done, Pryce takes away all the supplies. “We’ll let the others know you’ll be busy and cover for you,” he informs me.
I’m vaguely aware of my brothers excusing themselves and leaving the cabin. My attention is on my mate. Every inhale draws her more firmly into my system, endearing her to me deeper by the second.
I lean over her, brush a lock of hair from her cheek, and set my nose on her neck, breathing deeply. She’s like the sweetest ambrosia. I can’t get enough. I’m already so connected to her that it will pain me to leave the room.
I’ve never had this experience, of course. There’s no way to fully grasp the connection one experiences with their mate until claiming her. I’ve never even witnessed such a claiming.
The twelve of us separated from our larger pride four years ago. We traveled for over a year, looking for a place to settle where we might find human mates. It was a long journey, but eventually we stumbled upon this location. The previous owner of this land was getting up in years. He had no sons or other relatives who wanted to inherit the property, so he was looking to sell his logging company. We bought it and moved into the cabins scattered around the clearing. We’ve been slowly updating them, modernizing the important aspects.