Bear with Me (#2, Completed)

19. Just hold me

CALLUM

If I closed my eyes, I could imagine her there again, lying on the floor in that cabin, her throat slashed and her neck covered in smudged fresh blood. I had always kept my cool in my bear form but seeing my mate like that- lifeless, taken away from me- I lost every shred of clear thinking in my mind. Without any hesitation, I crushed the head of the man who did that to her with Mahon's jaw, enjoying the crunching sound as my bear's teeth sank deeper.

Never before had I ever enjoyed killing anyone- if anything, I tried to avoid as much as possible. But this lowlife, him I was ready to kill over and over again, ensuring his slow, painful demise for even daring to touch a hair on Flame's head. He had signed his death sentence the moment he robbed me of her.

When I finally reached my mate, her breathing was so faint that I could barely catch it even with my shifter hearing. But no matter how weak it was, she was still breathing. She still had a feeble pulse, and that meant that there was still hope.

I knew what my options were- mark her, hoping that my healing abilities would have passed on to her like Riley took on her mates' abilities, or lick her wound, praying that I was not too late to close the wound and get her to heal. Neither solution guaranteed that she was going to make it, but if I marked her and she survived, she was going to be tied down to me, no matter whether she liked it or not, and that was not a position that I was ready to put her in.

The coppery taste of her blood on my tongue drove Mahon into a frenzy. It was like a drug and a poison, combined in one. With every lick, the mate bond pulled at us, working its magic as the wound on her neck began to close up. Yet, at the same time, my mind was envenomed by the pain of witnessing my mate knocking on Death's door, the horrifying images in my head corrupting my heart and soul with rage and desire for revenge even if I had just killed the main culprit.

But the reality was that it was the desperation, the helplessness that I felt that drove me crazy. I was ready to swap places with her in a heartbeat. She was meant to live, and I was supposed to protect her.

By the time her breathing returned to normal, my bears had located us. I left them to deal with the mess that I had left behind because I only had one priority at that moment, and that was my mate. They didn't even question it, quite the opposite- they knelt on the floor in a sign of respect and grief for my mate, their future Luna, as I carried Flame in my arms to one of our cars and drove away.

I contemplated taking her back to my place but I knew that when she woke up, she was going to need the support of someone she knew and trusted, and as much as it pained me that I could not be that person for her, I understood that only Riley could be there for her in that way. Because once she came around, she was going to realise that her whole world had just been turned upside down, and only her best friend could help her come to grips with that.

When I walked into her room hours later and saw her smiling again, I knew that I had made the right decision.

"Hi," she spoke first.

One word, just one word. Two letters. And yet, I felt like my whole world came back to life hearing her say it because it meant that she was still here. I still had her, and I was never going to let anything happen to her again.

"Hey." I got closer, pulling a chair right next to her bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty damn good for someone who nearly died." Her smile was still weak, but it was the most beautiful sight. I studied her face, trying to take a mental picture of every line, every freckle and feature, to replace the gruesome memories from the previous day.

When she reached out, I practically jumped out of my chair to get to her, placing her hand in mine. The warmth of her skin brought peace and calm to Mahon and me, and my bear purred like a cat.