Mine for Eternity [Council Enforcers] (Siren Publishing Classic)

told her about how shifters turned rogue, she knew she couldn’t let that happen to him.
    “Thank you for helping me.” She ran her hands through the lion’s mane and placed a kiss on his nose, ignoring the pain searing her face. “You need to let Mitch come back now.”
    The lion growled and licked the side of Tessa’s face that the wolf had clawed. She held in her whimper at the pain his rough tongue caused, not wanting to provoke him any further. She needed him to give control back to Mitch, and she had a feeling he wouldn’t do it if he knew how much she was hurting at the moment.
    “I’m okay. It’s just a scratch. I promise. Just let Mitch come back so he can get me back to the house.”
    She hoped she was convincing enough because she didn’t have the strength to plead with him anymore. Black spots had started dancing in her vision, and she didn’t think she would be conscious much longer.
    The lion lay down beside her, and Tessa happily curled up right next to him, soaking in his warmth. She didn’t even realize she was shivering until she got next to his heat. Gripping his mane with one hand and holding tight was the last thing Tessa remembered before she closed her eyes and let the darkness take her.

Chapter 11
     
    Getting control back from his lion was almost impossible. The stubborn beast refused at first, not wanting to leave his hurt mate’s side. His lion finally gave him back control when Tessa passed out. After shifting, Mitch ignored the pain in his shoulder and lifted Tessa in his arms. She hadn’t stopped shaking, and he didn’t know if it was from shock or blood loss.
    The cuts on her face were deep enough that Mitch could see bone. He gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to snatch the branch out of the wolf’s stomach and stab him over and over again with it for what he had done to his mate. Instead, he ignored the urge and made his way back to his house as fast as he could.
    He couldn’t believe what his little mate had done. She had been incredibly brave and stupid at the same time. He wanted to kiss her for saving his life, but he seriously considered paddling her behind for putting herself in harm’s way. He was supposed to be the one to save the day. Mitch never imagined that he, the trained enforcer, would be the one getting his butt saved by a tiny slip of a woman who had probably never been in a fight a day in her life. Mitch wasn’t so macho that he couldn’t accept having to be saved by a girl. He just thanked fate that Tessa had enough strength and courage to step up and do what needed to be done.
    When Mitch got to the porch, Ben was already waiting for him. “Where is Nico? I don’t want him to see his momma like this.”
    “I put him to bed. He’s fast asleep.” Ben opened the door for them and followed him into the house. “Is she okay? What happened?”
    “She saved my life.” It was the only thing Mitch could say as he carried Tessa over to the couch and laid her down. Blood still seeped out of the gashes on her face, and he worried that her increased healing hadn’t kicked in yet. She would have gained the ability when he mated her, but they all didn’t come in at one time. He knew she had already gained a few extra traits of his, but it looked like healing hadn’t been one of them yet. Mitch looked up and growled when a wet cloth was pressed onto Tessa’s face.
    “We need to get the bleeding stopped.” Ben ignored his growl and continued to hold the cloth to her wounds.
    Mitch was glad to have his best friend there with him. At least one of them was thinking calmly and rationally. The only thing he could do was hold his mate’s hand and hope that fate wouldn’t take her away from him so soon after bringing her into his life. He regretted his decision to use her as bait and hoped losing his mate wasn’t his punishment for willingly putting her in harm’s way.
    “She’s not healing. Should we try to stitch her up or leave them alone?” Ben questioned. “If we leave it alone and her healing doesn’t kick in soon, I’m afraid she is going to have some nasty scars.”
    Mitch didn’t care about scars. All he wanted was for his mate to wake up and be okay. To him she would still be the most beautiful woman in the world, scars or not. “Can you stitch her up?” he asked Ben, making his decision. “Either way, we have to get the bleeding stopped and her wounds closed.”
    He was grateful when Ben didn’t say anything else and got to