Protector Panther (Protection, Inc 3)

Shane recognized the voice as that of Ellie’s brother, a Recon Marine. Ethan stepped out from where he’d been concealing himself, guarding the car.

“Clear by us!” Hal shouted.

Catalina stared at Ethan. “What are you doing here? You’re not on the team.”

“I was on leave,” he said with a shrug. “Someone had to stay with the car to guard Ellie. She came in case anyone got hurt.”

Hal’s mate Ellie jumped out of the car, holding a medical kit.

“What happened to Shane?” Ellie asked, then broke off with a delighted gasp of, “Catalina!”

“Put me down,” Shane demanded.

Hal tried to lay him on his back. Shane grabbed his arm and used it to haul himself up until he could sit up with his back against a tree.

Ethan turned to Hal, his military background evident in the crisp manner of his report. “Rafa, Lucas, and Fiona radioed in right before you got here. They’ll be here in a few minutes.” To Shane and Catalina, he said, “The team had planned to rescue you two and do as much damage as they could on the way. But Rafa said the lab was already destroyed when they got there.”

Everyone looked at Shane. He turned toward Catalina. “My mate helped.”

“Stop moving around.” She put her hand on his chest, gently holding him in place. “You saved me. We won. We’re done. You can relax now.”

Catalina and Ellie began to examine him. He could see their long partnership in the smooth way they worked together, often without having to exchange a word. It was like the way the Protection, Inc. team worked. Or...

A flicker of movement caught Shane’s eye. Justin stepped out of the forest. Instantly, the team and Ethan moved protectively between Shane, Ellie, and Catalina, their guns drawn.

“Friend!” Shane said. “Lower your weapons!”

Justin came forward as the team stepped aside, allowing him to pass. He crouched down beside Shane, examining him with a medic’s practiced eye.

“Forgot to duck?” That sounded more like the old Justin.

“Come with us,” Shane said. “I have to tell you—”

But Justin was shaking his head. “I can’t. I’m supposed to be dead. I’ll make trouble for you. You need help, right now, no interferences. I only came back to make sure you were all right. You’re safer without me.”

“No! I never had a chance— I never told you— ” Shane spoke too quickly, leaving him coughing and breathless. He forced the words out. “They lied to you. I did do the ultimate predator process. I did need the treatments. There’s a cure— I can take you—”

He couldn’t get enough air to go on. Bright specks floated before his eyes.

“Easy.” Justin laid a hand on his shoulder. “Tell me later. You need to get to a hospital now. I don’t want to delay that. You’re in good hands, right? You trust the people you’re with?”

Shane managed a nod.

“We’ll take care of him,” Catalina said. “Ellie and I are paramedics, and we’re taking him to a shifter doctor.”

“Good.” Justin squeezed his shoulder, then stood up and stepped back. Before Shane could stop him, he vanished into the forest.

Shane struggled to get up and go after him, but a heavy weight pressed down on his chest. Something must have fallen on him— maybe he’d been caught in an explosion. He could see movement all around him, but could make no sense of it. People were shouting, but he couldn’t catch the words.

Breathe, hissed his panther.

That, he understood. Shane focused on his breathing as everything else faded away.

When he next opened his eyes, he was in the back seat of a moving car, lying with his head in Catalina’s lap. His chest hurt. He instinctively moved his hand toward the pain.

Catalina caught it before he could complete the movement. “Are you back with us?”

He nodded. As his focus returned, he took in more of the scene. His legs rested across Ellie’s lap. Hal was driving on a twisting mountain road.