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He broke the surface and sucked in a whooping gasp of air. Like most tiger shifters, he was an excellent swimmer. He had even spent a few summers in high school working as a lifeguard at one of the local beaches. He hooked his arm around Hedra’s limp body, keeping her head above the water as he swam with strong strokes toward the shore.
Above them, the traffic on the bridge had come to a standstill, and people lined the guardrail, most of them recording with their phones as they stared at him and Hedra. He could hear the faint sound of sirens wailing as his feet touched the bottom.
“Almost there, baby, hold on,” he panted as he stood in the waist-deep water. He picked up Hedra and carried her to the shore, his thighs burning and his lungs heaving for air. It was a cool day, and his body broke out in goosebumps as he laid Hedra on the rocky shoreline. He pressed his fingers to her throat, relief washing over him when he felt the steady beat of her pulse. He tipped her head back, opened her mouth and pinched her nose shut before sealing his mouth over hers and blowing air into her lungs. Her chest rose, and he gave her a second breath.
“C’mon, baby, breathe. Breathe for me, goddammit, Hedra,” he muttered.
He leaned down to give her a third breath when she coughed, and water erupted from her mouth. He rolled her to her side as she coughed up more water and gagged for a few seconds before sucking in a harsh breath.
“Good girl,” he said. “You’re okay, baby. Just breathe. You’re okay.”
She sucked in another breath, her body shivering and her lips tinged blue. She squinted at him before croaking, “Boone?”
“Yeah, baby, it’s me.” He cradled her in his arms, smoothing her wet hair back from her face and trying to warm her body with his own cold, wet one. “You’re okay, little lamb.”
The sirens grew louder, and he could hear the sounds of people skidding their way down the embankment. A blanket was thrown over his shoulders, and he pulled Hedra closer as the people around them babbled meaningless words he couldn’t comprehend. Not when Hedra had come so close to dying.
“Hedra.” He kissed her forehead and then her cold lips. “Stay awake, baby.”
She blinked at him as blood trickled down her temple. “My arm hurts so bad. You okay, honey?”
He gave a shaky laugh and held her closer. “I’m fine, little lamb. Stay still. Help is on the way.”
* * *
“Boone!”
Boone looked up from the hospital’s vending machine. Grayson was practically running down the hall, and he yanked Boone into his embrace, hugging him hard.
Boone winced and patted Grayson’s back. “Easy, buddy. My body feels like it’s been through a meat grinder.”
Grayson stepped back, but before he could say anything, Cooper and Wes were there. They both hugged Boone and while Boone appreciated his friends’ love, he really did feel like a fucking dog’s breakfast.
“Jesus, you look like shit,” Wes said.
“I feel like it.” Boone grabbed the cup of coffee from the vending machine and sipped before grimacing. “Fuck, that tastes awful.”
“Ryan is on her way here with coffee for everyone,” Gray said. “How’s Hedra?”
“She’s okay. She’s out of emergency and in a room. Chase is with her, and her siblings and parents are driving here now.” Boone sank into one of the hard plastic chairs in the waiting room. “She has a broken left arm and a concussion. They’ve already set and cast her arm, but they’re keeping her overnight for observation. They gave her some morphine for the pain, and she’s sleeping.”
His stomach curled in on itself, and his tiger made a mournful trill. Grayson’s tiger trilled back, and while the sound helped ease Boone’s tiger, Boone still couldn’t stop seeing Hedra’s pale face and her body floating weightlessly in the car.
Grayson sat beside him and squeezed his shoulder. “Hedra’s okay.”
“She’s my mate,” he said. “She’s my mate and I love her.”
Coop smiled as he sat on the other side of Boone. “Yeah, we figured that out, buddy.”
Wes squatted in front of him. “She feels the same for you?”
“Yeah,” Boone said.
“Then we’re happy for you,” Wes said.
Boone swallowed hard, staring at the puke-green tile floor of the hospital. “Derek and I were… before he died, we were mates for over a year. He didn’t want to tell you guys because he was afraid you’d judge us. I went along with it but always hated that it was a secret. I should have told you when he died, but I… I didn’t, and I’m sorry.”
He sat in the thick silence, staring at the floor for what felt like centuries before raising his eyes to Wes. He’d expected surprise, maybe even anger, but only love and compassion radiated from Wes’s gaze.
