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“You saved those kids. Don’t feel anything but happy about that, okay? I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
She hung up and walked into Midas’s home, where she found the leaders sitting at the kitchen table and talking to Manny.
Maya stood and hugged her. “Thank you so much for saving the kids! I can’t believe Brent would stoop so low.”
She didn’t want to think what he might have done with shifter kids. Nothing good, that was for damn sure.
“Me too.”
“Tell us what happened,” Midas said after Ashley had taken a seat.
“We were on the way out to an early dinner,” she said, explaining how she recognized the vehicle and intervened.
By the time she’d finished, Romeo was at her side and holding her close. He told Midas about tailing the perpetrators and losing them.
“I’m sorry,” Romeo said.
“It’s okay. You did the best you could under the circumstances.”
“It’s my fault,” Manny said. “If I hadn’t gotten stuck in traffic, I would have been there to protect the kids and those assholes wouldn’t have tried to grab them.”
Midas put his hand up. “It’s no one’s fault, it was a bad set of circumstances, but we have a happy ending here because no one was hurt. I’d prefer if we’d been able to take out those fuckers, but the kids are safe and that’s what matters most.” Midas stared at her for a long moment. Then he said, “Ashley, you put yourself in danger to protect the kids. It’s what we expect for the members of the ambush, to look out for each other and defend those who can’t defend themselves.”
“I’m glad I could help,” she said.
Romeo said, “We got tickets for a movie. Do you want us to stick around?”
“No, I’ve got your statement. I’ll give it to the supernatural division of the police department, and they can follow up with you if they need to. The bus company is grabbing the dash cam footage for us too.”
“Thank you again,” Maya said.
“My pleasure,” Ashley said.
They left and got into the truck. Ashley pressed her hand to her heart. “My heart’s still pounding.”
“Adrenaline,” he said. He leaned over and kissed her. “Sweetheart, when you ran out of the truck, I thought you’d gone nuts, then I saw you shove that door and protect those kids? Holy hell. I was scared shitless and proud as fuck.”
She grinned. “It was all instinct, trust me. My wolf wanted to keep the kids safe.”
“That’s part of being in an ambush, just like Midas said. I think he’s considering letting you become a member now.”
“Oh yeah? That would be cool, I’m ready whenever he is.”
He paused, giving her an intense look.
“What?” she asked.
“I’m ready too.”
“For?”
“For us to be mates in truth. I’m in love with you, Ashley.” He exhaled loudly. “When I realized what you were doing to protect those kids? Putting yourself between them and those assholes? I realized I could have lost you. They could have had guns or abducted you again. You stood up for the ambush kids without a thought because you think of yourself as one of our people. I want you to be my mate in truth because…I love you. I love how fierce you are, how sassy and kind. And I want you to be mine.”
Her eyes stung and she blinked to dispel the tears that filled them. “I would want someone to protect our kids if we couldn’t. All I could think about was that someone was going to hurt those cubs and that wasn’t going to happen if I could stop it.” She kissed him and then said, “Romeo, I love you too. I honestly think I’ve loved you since I locked eyes with you the night we met and I felt in my heart that my life was going to be changed forever. You saved me from the darkness. And you’re sexy to boot.”
He laughed. “Let’s go watch your movie, then we’ll come home and celebrate. With lots of orgasms.” He brushed his thumb over her neck, where she knew he’d be sinking his fangs in later.
“I can’t wait,” she promised. “Can I bite you too?”
