Hunting Ember (Pride of Alphas #1) - Milly Taiden Page 0,8

would squeeze this for all it was worth. If the network was lucky, she wouldn’t sue.

You’re an asshole, his lion roared. She’s injured. I can smell our mate’s blood, and I do not like it. I want to destroy whoever it is that hurt her.

It took some effort to ignore his lion’s constant stream of panicked chatter, but Kai had a job to do. Even if he did believe the woman was playing up her injuries for her own selfish purposes. “Everyone, get the hell out of here. Don’t you have something better to do?” He turned to spot Greg, the production assistant. “Call the EMTs. She has a gash on her forehead. For all we know, she has a concussion. Have you forgotten all of the safety protocols?” The last words rumbled out of him with a harsh judgment of the little man.

The woman cracked open an eye, the brown of her iris an incandescent shade. “I don’t want a concussion,” she mumbled. “I don’t have time for one. I’m scared to move. Is it safe to do so?”

Her voice was light with a hint of a sexy rasp to it. She sounded distressed and on the verge of tears. It melted some of Kai’s hatred for the attention-seeker.

“Probably best to lie still for now. Stay just as you are until the paramedics get here to check you out.” He knelt by her side, his eyes roaming over the rest of her body.

He told himself he was checking for more injuries, but his lion knew he was checking her out. Her curvy body was right there, mouthwatering and alluring. Shit, what was wrong with him? It wasn’t the time, and she wasn’t his woman.

She turned her face slowly toward him, her one opened eye searching his face. “Is there blood on my forehead? It feels wet and ficus.”

“Viscous?” he offered, his concern for her growing in a flare of emotion. It wasn’t a good sign that she had confused the words.

Without knowing what he was doing, he took her hand in his, giving it a good comforting squeeze. The point of contact ignited something inside of him. His lion all but ripped through his skin to deepen the contact.

The woman’s other eye shot open, panic twisting her pretty face into a pure fright. “I said ficus instead of viscous?” She tried to move, but Kai held her down softly with his other hand, tutting calmly at her.

“None of that. It’s fine. You have had a bit of a shock. That’s all.” He hoped he was right.

He studied her features. She did look genuinely afraid. Her heartbeat was erratic, and Kai could all but smell her tears coming up.

“Is everyone still looking at me?” She tried to blink away tears, but a few slid from the corner of her eyes.

Kai shook his head. “They’re all gone. It’s just you and me.”

Relief washed over her face, and she took in a shaky breath. “Oh, good. I didn’t like having everyone around me like that. It scared me. They said my head was split open. Can you really see my brains?”

A flash of anger started in his belly. No one had helped her, but they had all stood around like vultures, soaking up her misery. Fucking gawkers. “No, it’s just a bit of a cut. If you’re lucky, you won’t even have a scar.”

She swallowed hard, a few more tears sliding down her beautiful face. “This is so embarrassing.”

Kai could sense her mounting panic, and he knew he had to do something to ease her discomfort. “What’s your name?” Maybe if he kept her talking, her mind wouldn’t focus on her injury.

“Ember,” she answered, her voice thick with emotion. “Ember Brady. You?”

“Kai. It’s nice to meet you, Ember.”

“I would say the same, but I don’t want to lie to you right now. I’m not happy to be lying here on the first day of shooting. It doesn’t look good. I don’t want any drama. I just want to win and get a bakery that is all mine.”

He let her talk. He was too busy going through a whole mess of emotions. How could his mate be someone who was into reality television? Shit, she wasn’t just into it. She was competing on a show.

More than that, if Greg was to be believed, someone had purposefully tried to drop the light fixture on her head. Those weighed about forty pounds.

It could have been deadly.

Kai knew that he had to set aside his judgment