Zander landed all his weight on him. “Stay down. I’m not finished. You take a step on that front leg, you’ll shatter it again.”
Front leg? Kendrick realized Zander meant his left arm, which, as tiger, Kendrick had limped out of the tunnels on.
The sensible part of him said it would be wise to let Zander finish. The alpha tiger in him made Kendrick want to run around making sure everyone was all right.
“Hold him, Addie,” Zander said. “He won’t throw you off.”
True. Kendrick settled into the grass as Addison came down to him. She rested her head on his chest, and Kendrick brought up his good hand and stroked her hair.
“Addison,” he said. “My mate. You should have seen her, Zander. She went after Lachlan with the sword like a warrior.”
Addison hugged him tighter. “Like a scared woman afraid he’d hurt her mate.”
Kendrick ran his hand through her hair again. It was tangled and dirty, but he’d wash it clean for her in the deep claw-foot bathtub at the ranch. After that, they’d do many more entertaining things.
“Does that mean you accept my mate-claim?” Kendrick asked.
He waited, his heart beating hard with hope. Addison raised her head, regarding him with her dark blue eyes.
“Is it like accepting a proposal of marriage?”
“I’m not sure,” Kendrick had to admit. “I don’t know much about the mating rituals of humans.”
“Yes,” Zander said, the words snapped. “It’s exactly like that, but more binding than a human engagement. The mating ceremony is mostly a formality.”
Addison wrapped her hands around Kendrick’s. “So we’d be married. As in . . . I live with you and your cubs for the rest of my life. Wherever you go, whatever happens to you. Whether you live in a house or a bunker, with dozens of Shifters following you around.”
Kendrick’s hope started to fade. “Yes. I’m Shifter leader, and you’d be leader’s mate. With all that entails.”
“I hope they all don’t expect me to make coffee for them and serve them meals,” Addison said, her expression stern. “Because I’m hanging up my apron.”
“Don’t throw it away altogether,” Zander said. “Kendrick might want you to play dress-up.”
“Shut it,” Kendrick growled. “It’s your choice, Addison. I can’t force you to stay with me. I can’t even promise that it will be easy. I can only promise to love you, no matter what.”
“In that case.” Addison leaned down and pressed a warm kiss to his lips. “I accept the mate-claim.”
“Good thing you have a witness,” Zander rumbled. “If you didn’t, it wouldn’t count, and you’d have to do it all over again in front of everybody.”
Kendrick opened his mouth to tell Zander to shut it again, but he cut off the words. Zander was sitting upright now, his face gray, the pain of Kendrick’s wounds starting to grip him.
“Take it easy,” Kendrick said. “Addison, help me.”
Kendrick sat up, feeling much better if not ready to run and fight. He and Addison laid Zander down on his back. His coat lay beside him, removed to work on Kendrick, and Addison rolled it into a pillow to slip under Zander’s head.
“Will he be all right?” Addison asked. The big man groaned.
“To tell the truth, I don’t know,” Kendrick said. Zander was the first Shifter healer he’d ever met—healers were rare and enigmatic.
“Be fine,” Zander mumbled. “Just in a shitload of pain for a while. Do me a favor.” He beckoned them close. Kendrick leaned over him, hand on Zander’s chest, wishing he could make the man feel better.