Shapeshifter Romance: Duty of a Lion (Paranormal Army Hero Navy Seal Shifter Protector Alpha Lion Romance) (Fantasy Military Action Adventure Urban Wolf Romance Short Stories) (4 page)

The emergency room doors burst open and three soldiers were wheeled in. One had a medic straddling him with the medic’s hands clamped firmly over his chest. He was wheeled over to Dell and me.

I almost fainted when I saw that it was Michael. His eyes were open and bloodshot as his gaze moved all over the place. He was in shock.

“Lina…Lina…” his voice was forced and he kept gurgling on each breath. I shushed him while listening to the medic tell Dell and me what had happened.

“We were ambushed and bullets were traded. Then they came at us in close combat; stabbed Michael right in the chest. I don’t know how he’s still alive right now.” Dell replaced the medic’s hands with his own to stop the blood seeping from Michael’s chest. My mind focused on what we needed to do to save Michael’s life.

“We have to open up his chest, he most likely has a punctured lung, though I’d say whoever stabbed him just missed his heart.” The knife had been removed from Michael’s chest and it wasn’t bleeding as much as it would have if his heart had been punctured.

Everything seemed to happen in fast forward once we were in a trauma room. We had to move quickly as blood was flooding Michael’s lung each time Dell removed his hands from Michael’s chest. We were able to patch his right pulmonary artery. Michael
was
lucky; half an inch to the left and he wouldn’t have made it.

It was a long operation, but Michael pulled through and I was confident he would make a fast recovery. After he was settled in the intensive care unit I changed into some clean scrubs and sat by his bed. I was waiting for him to wake up out of anesthesia and studying his pale face.

“You scared me half to death you know,” I said to him softly. “I thought I was going to lose you and I don’t know what I would have done if I had.” I tried to hold in my tears. I wasn’t sad; I was relieved, because I knew first hand that he’d be okay.

“I’ve got…nine lives…remember?” he gasped. The sound of his voice was like a breath of fresh air.

“You only have eight left so use them wisely okay?!” I ended up yelling at him out of the emotions I kept in check so I could operate on him with a clear head. “Don’t worry about me, it’s just routine. You were stabbed in the chest! I would’ve been a…like a widow or something,” I finished lamely. Michael smiled and I gave him a warning look so he didn’t laugh and hurt himself.

“I almost…die…and—
you
yell…at
me
?” he said. He had a hard time speaking, but his eyes were full of humor. I wiped my eyes and kissed him hard on the mouth.

“Yeah. You can’t leave me you dope,” I said.

Michael grinned at me and I sighed, smiling at him reluctantly in return.

“Never,” he said before he took my hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly. “There’s an upside…to being a lion shifter you know.” I looked at him oddly. Just a second ago he couldn’t get a word out between breaths.

“What’s that?” I asked cautiously. Michael grinned at me and then squeezed my hand again.

“We heal really fast.” I breathed a tremendous sigh of relief and Michael’s grin grew even wider.

“Thank
God
, I don’t think I could see you like this for days on end,” I said in relief. Michael’s expression fell and he almost seemed to pout.

“You wouldn’t nursemaid over me?” I rolled my eyes at him and his smile returned.

“So tell me what the hell happened, how did a simple intelligence mission turn into such a disaster?” Michael attempted to sit up but I made him stay put and raised the head of the bed for him.

“Well we were supposed to go into this suspected terrorist bunker near the capitol to gain information on what their plans were, that sort of thing. We went in without a hitch; it was completely quiet in the woods surrounding the bunker. We assumed they didn’t know we were there or coming. So we went in routinely. The bunker was completely devoid of movement. Of course we got suspicious so we hurried our movements…”

“We secured the necessary computer files and then set a fire in the bunker on our way out; that was just for extra measure.” Michael took a breath and I wondered if they carried out the mission in their human forms.

“Did you guys shift on your way into the bunker?” I asked curiously. Michael nodded. “Seriously? Don’t they have eyes on you the entire time you guys are in action?”

“Yeah, our commanders know about us. We usually shift when moving to and from a location. It’s the best cover you could have. No one would suspect a pride of lions to be SEAL officers…it’s just that on our way out the enemy returned to their base.” I held my breath for the next part of his story.

“Yeah, there were like twenty of them that came in on flatbed trucks just as we were moving out in our lion forms. That’s how two of my brothers got shot. We were able to shift back before any more damage could be done. We returned fire and shot a few of them. But they were
skilled
, they had body armor on and they were running at us for a fight, not even afraid that we had just shifted from lions into men.” Michael was lost in his memory of the fight and I felt like I had been transported there with him.

“They wanted a knife fight and we gave it to them, but I was double-teamed and distracted. One got his knife into my chest just before I could kill him…everything was in tunnel vision after that. The medic was shouting orders and those of us injured were being cared for on the spot…” Michael paused and he looked directly into my eyes, his expression somber.

“All I kept thinking about was how much I wanted to see you again. That I
had
to see you again. I wouldn’t let myself pass out because I was afraid I wouldn’t wake up again. I wanted your face to be the last one I saw…then you were there, shushing me and fixing me up.” Michael smiled and I had to wipe at my eyes again. Give a guy a near death experience and he becomes the biggest romantic in the world. If Michael kept talking like that he’d probably slip up and ask me to marry him before he was really ready. Hell I might even say yes, it wouldn’t be so bad. I loved this man, even though I’d only known him for such a short time.

“You scared me half to death you know. All day I just had a bad feeling about your mission. I just knew something would go wrong. And when you came in on that stretcher…the medic on top of you holding your chest to stop the bleeding…I thought the worst. But I wouldn’t give up on you, I couldn’t. I needed to save you because…you’re my one.” I said the same words he’d said to me and then the brightest smile spread across his face. It was breathtaking how gorgeous he was.

*****

“You’ve just made me the happiest guy in the world right now Lina,” Michael said before he pulled me in for a searing kiss. “Now we have to make up a good cover so I can get the hell out of here. I’m pretty sure I’ve fully healed by now.” I shook my head and stood up with my hands on both of his so he didn’t get any bright ideas.

“No, you need to take it easy Michael, we can’t just skip out of the hospital. Especially as you’re in the ICU. You could have died you know. Half an inch to the left and you would not have made it. Fancy lion shifter healing skills or no, you’re staying in that bed unless I say otherwise,” I spoke to him firmly. Michael was looking at me with a bored expression and he sighed.

“Hear that? Me sighing. My lungs are better. I can laugh for you too if you want. Matter of fact give me one of those lung exercise machines and I’ll blow in it for you.” I giggled at his rush to get out of the hospital.

“Michael can you please humor me? I had my hands in your chest today—” But Michael cut me off by lifting up his hospital gown. I gasped. There was no scar; there wasn’t even the faintest line from his stitching.

“See? All better, now can we make a break for it
please
?” Michael pleaded with me while holding my hands in his once more.

“At least breathe into this for me.” I went to grab a spirometer from one of the cabinets in the room and instructed Michael on how to breathe into it. I watched as he took in a full breath and held for five seconds before releasing. His lungs were truly back to normal. I glanced at his vital monitor and saw that his pulse, blood pressure, and respirations, not to mention oxygen level were all fine. I could not argue with the evidence.

“Okay so how are we going to sneak you out of here?” I asked. Michael smiled at me and got out of bed.

“You might want to silence those, I’m going to take all these leads off now.” I followed his request and silenced the machines so he could remove the leads and sensors from his body.

“Let me get you some scrubs, stay put,” I instructed him before slipping out of the room and going to search for scrubs large enough to fit him. I found some deep in the spare supplies closet and almost ran back to Michael’s room.

“Here I found these—why are you so naked?” my eyes traveled all over Michael’s body as he stood in the center of the room, waiting for me to get back.

“I was waiting for you to get back with new clothes. Thank you baby.” Michael kissed me softly on the lips while he took the clothes from me. I wondered briefly if it would be okay for us to have sex so soon after his surgery.

Well he
was
completely healed… I smirked and Michael lifted an eyebrow at me in reply.

“If you keep looking at me like that Lina, I might have to pause our getaway to celebrate life, if you know what I mean,” he said with a wink. I bit my lip, seriously considering it.

“No, no, you get dressed and then we’ll head to my place.” Michael smiled eagerly and pulled on the scrubs faster than I thought any person could.

“Let’s go!” he was way too excited about ‘celebrating life.’

“I still say you need to take it easy, Michael. I swear if you drop dead I’m going to kill myself and then haunt
you
,” I told him sternly. Michael laughed so hard he had to support himself on the wall nearest us.

“I promise you won’t have to kill yourself so you can haunt me in the afterlife,” he said, still chuckling. We managed to escape the hospital, mission impossible style. We were slinking around corners and dashing through hallways. By the time we made it to my car I was breathless from laughing so hard.

“Hey Lina,” Michael tugged on my hand before I unlocked my car door. I looked up at him expectantly and he slowly got down on one knee. All I could think about in that moment was that I
knew
he’d do this. “I love you, and like I said last night, I know you’re it for me. This whole experience has opened my eyes and I don’t want to waste another moment when I know who I want to be with for the rest of my life.”

My eyes were wide as I stared down at him. Michael was completely sincere and I marveled at the love shining in his eyes. He really did love me! I knew then exactly what I was going to say, because there really was no one else I’d rather be with.

“Lina Ross…will you marry me? Will you be my mate, and alpha?” He was formally asking me to be his alpha female. I stared into his earnest gaze and knew that I really didn’t have a choice to make.

“Yes Michael, I’ll marry you…and be your alpha female too,” I said with the sound of hushed tears in my voice. Michael smiled that dazzling smile once more before he picked me up and twirled me around in a tight hug.

“I love you baby,” he whispered in my ear and I let the happy tears flow.

“I love you too Mufasa.” We both laughed at my corny joke and then hurried home to start our lives together.

The End

THANK YOU

We just want to say “THANK YOU”.

You support always means a lot to us. In this book, we have included
10 special bonus stories
as a way to show you how much we appreciate your support. We hope you enjoy the stories as much as we do. Before you read your bonus stories, please check out other steamy romance books that you may enjoy! Or
Click here
to start reading your first bonus story!

Pregnant to a Dragon Prince