Page 32 of Matched By the Dragon

“Let them go!” A voice shouted behind me. I looked for a second as I stepped up onto the ambulance, carrying Resin and Oaklan under either arm. It was Star. Surely, they’d just get my mate to the hospital and stop arguing with me. Why were my parents the first thing to come to my mind when this happened?

“Someone call Clyde!” I said, shaking.

“Look at me, Brad,” someone grabbed my face. For a second, I thought Raziel had shown up, but it was his dad. “Look at me. Breathe. He’s going to be okay. He’s already starting to heal, but he needs you to breathe okay.”

The medic managed to shut the door despite all the extra bodies in his rig.

“Just breathe. The babies are okay. All of them.” Star said, still holding my face so that him and the kids were all I saw.

“What happened?”

Star relayed the story he’d been told about how Durin had climbed up because Resin was scared to come down on his own and one thing led to another and before anyone knew it, he was assaulted by a trampoline.

“He passed out before the medics got there but he must’ve smelled them and woken up. He chased them out and rounded up all the kids behind him. He didn’t start growling at the tigers until they tried to get to the kids. He must’ve thought they were in danger or something. No one’s hurt. Outside of Daisy saying the bear ‘grounded’ her none of the kids even seem too shaken up about it.”

“How’s he doing?” I asked, my voice weak.

“He’s doing fine. He’s breathing and his heart is in sinus rhythm. They’ll know more at the hospital. He’s stable, though. We see a lot of these head injuries. He’s not bleeding and besides the already shrinking goose egg I don’t see anything obvious. Usually, the patient freaks out and freaks everyone else out and then the alpha gene finishes its job and everyone is shook up but alive.” The medic said. “See at least one a week in a territory of this size.”

I nodded even though he couldn’t see me from where Star was standing.

“His bear probably took over when he fainted,” the medic went on.

That’s what I felt. That was what happened to me at the party. I’d felt his confusion and dizziness. It made sense. He’d picked up my pregnancy hunger and cravings a lot. If I hadn’t been clutching the children to my chest, I might’ve crawled on top of Durin to protect him from all the noises around us. Everything inside me screamed at me to run, but the one person I trusted enough to allow myself to run to was down for the count.

“Star saved him. Star is the reason he’s here at all,” my bear reminded me. “Just breath. Don’t pass out. If you pass out the kids are alone and the medics have to tend to you. Fainted pregnant bear outranks alpha bear with concussion.”

I nodded even though no one else could see my bear. Star must’ve thought I was nodding as the answer to a question he asked and I didn’t hear. He handed me an opened bottle of water. I didn’t want it, but I took a drink of it anyway. It was easier than trying to explain what had happened. It was icy and made my heart rate slow down.

Oaklan and Resin kept looking over their shoulders at their other dad strapped into a gurney. They smelled somewhere between scared and worried and there was nothing I could do besides hold onto them.

“Here,” Star reached out and took Resin before I could stop him. I opened my mouth to bite him or yell or something, but he tucked Resin in next to Durin’s big furry head. Then he took Oaklan and did the same on the other side.

“Wh…” I couldn’t finish the question. The boys settled down next to him as if it was just naptime. “Won’t they need to run tests at the hospital?” I asked instead.

“We’ll handle that when we get there. Brad, you’re pregnant and those cubs are getting big. Give yourself a break for a few minutes, please,” Star said.

“Want me to grab his vitals?” the bear medic asked Star.

“No, not right now. His midwife will meet us at the hospital. The last thing I need is for you to get bitten by a pregnant bear. The press would eat it up. I can see the headline now “PREGNANT BEAR BITES MEDIC FOR IGNORING INJURED MATE TO HARASS HIM!””

“What?” I blinked.

“Exactly,” Star nodded. “All you need to do is keep breathing.”

Durin grumbled and my heart skipped a beat. His eyes were open now, but he wasn’tfj thrashing around or snarling.

“Mate?” he reached out over our mating link.

“It’s okay. You kept the babies safe,” I told him. “Do you need anything? Need me to tell them anything?”

“I’m thirsty,” he said.

“We’ll see about getting you something to drink at the hospital.”

It was a lie. They weren’t going to let him eat or drink until they made sure that he didn’t need surgery.

“Okay. Are… I don’t know,” he said.