Hunting Ember (Pride of Alphas #1) - Milly Taiden Page 0,40

could very well have been connected to the threatening letter Ember had received.

Kai was just opening his mouth to shout out a warning when it happened.

Ember was standing there, holding up her concoction. Then, she wasn’t. Her body crumbled like a sheet of paper onto the ground.

Without thinking, he burst into action, leaping over the counter to get to her. Even at a distance, he could tell that her heart rate had dropped quite low. Her cheeks had lost all color, and there was a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead. Her breathing was ragged. It was an effort to drag air into her lungs.

It looked like an acute food allergy reaction, like she had gone into anaphylactic shock. The problem was, Ember didn’t have any food allergies. He knew that for a fact.

“Everyone stay right where you are,” he growled out.

All of the bakers and the film crew paused, immobilized by the sheer terror and command in his voice. He took his cell phone from his back pocket and called for an ambulance. He knelt down onto the ground to gently place Ember’s head on his legs. She didn’t need chest compressions. She needed help breathing.

“Ember, love. You need to stay awake,” he crooned. “Open those beautiful eyes of yours and look at me.”

Ember remained inanimate in his arms as he began mouth-to-mouth.

The ambulance ride was a pain. The paramedic moved around the bus, working on Ember. Every time the man touched Ember, Kai had to suppress a growl.

His lion was going mad, ready to pounce. It didn’t matter to the beast that the EMT wasn’t the one responsible. The man was too damn close to Ember, who was in distress. It aggravated all of his senses. The only thing that brought him comfort was that the police had been called. They had locked down the studio. No one was going to be allowed in or out of the space until they gave their statement. Kai had called Marius, who would be making sure the cops sent all of Ember’s ingredients to be tested for trace evidence.

He couldn’t be sure, but he had an inkling that Ember had been poisoned. It was the only thing that made any sort of sense. The only thing she had eaten differently than him was the batter she had tasted. He had been watching her like a hawk while she got her baking ready, and he had seen the confusion on her face once she had tasted the batter.

He should have intervened right then.

He should have known that his mate wouldn’t have made a bad-tasting batter. She was too good for that.

Once they arrived at the hospital, Ember was taken into the ICU, and much to his anger and dismay, Kai wasn’t allowed to go with her. He wasn’t family. He told the nurse he was Ember’s partner, but she was unmoved. Ember’s emergency contact was listed as her parents, and only they would be given any information.

It wouldn’t do.

Kai took out his business card and dropped it onto the nurses’ station’s counter. He didn’t want to create such a fuss for these men and women who were already taxed enough in their demanding jobs, but he needed to see Ember. He had to be by her side, or his lion was going to burst through his skin and go on the tear.

“I’m the head of security for the studio where the incident happened. More than that, Ember is my partner. Girlfriend doesn’t cover it, but we aren’t married yet. You need to let me through to see her.”

The nurse, a petite woman with long red hair, sighed. “It’s against the policy.”

Kai looked around and dropped his voice low. “She’s my mate,” he told the nurse.

Her eyes got wide with understanding. He could smell the panther on her. She was someone’s mate. She would understand what was at stake for him.

“Oh, she’s your wife,” the nurse said with an exaggeratedly loud voice for the other nurses’ benefit. “Follow me, sir. Sorry for the confusion.”

Kai could have roared in victory, but instead, he followed behind the nurse. She brought him to a long hallway. Ember’s scent went down the corridor and disappeared behind a set of doors.

“She’s through there,” the nurse explained. “One of the ICU doctors is my mate and the best one at diagnosing ailments.”

That made sense, Kai thought, since the man would have his shifter senses to help him decipher what was going on.

“If you stay right there, I’ll make