They sat and talked for a bit when Ms. Vicki and Ester showed up along with another customer. Shado was becoming uneasy from more people being around his Mate.

"I need to get her back to the apartment." He gently shook her which startled her a little.  Xael quickly sat up and tossed the hood off to look around, still a little out of it.   Xael forgot about her eyes as she turned and looked right at her Grams. The stark difference was somewhat unsettling. Xael's gaze was intense and menacing. The light grey of her natural eye color faded into a vivid blue outer ring .

"Morning Grams."  The older lady was transfixed by the Omega's eyes. Xael was back to her usual self. "You're staring Grandma."

"I'm sorry sweety."   Xael looked over at the Sheriff as she was no longer clinging to her mate. "Morning Sheriff, Beau."

"Morning Pupkins, see your talking now."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Skylar laughed at her as usual. Xael looked over to her Mate. "I want to go back."

"Yeah, let's go babe." Before she got up, Xael wrapped the bacon in a napkin to take with her. Shado waited, blocking others from getting too close to her. Back at his side, they said their goodbyes but Xael refrained from giving anyone hugs. The town was coming alive as the street filled with people. Adam saw a group of male workers coming towards them on their way to the diner and began to walk across the street. He checked quickly to make sure the way was clear. Grabbing his Mate's hand, they headed across. Adam didn't notice the speeding car coming towards them. One of the workers saw the car and yelled when he noticed it wasn't going to stop, causing those in the diner to look in their direction.

"Hey look out!"

Xael's senses kicked in causing her to push Shado out of the way as the driver slammed on brakes, knocking her to the ground, hard. Everyone in the diner yelled and ran towards the door as Shado rushed back to her side.  Before he reached her she was up on her feet and pissed. The young driver was driving way too fast and on their phone. Xael turned towards the car and glared at the person behind the wheel.

"You asshole!" Xael growled and slammed her fist into the hood of the car. She had punched it so hard that the large dent she made had punctured the radiator. Shado made it up to her.

"Xael!" Reaching her he wrapped her in his arms a little to tightly.

"Ow! That hurts!"

The impact with the pavement had dislocated her shoulder. The Sheriff and her Grams made it to her, Sheriff glaring at the driver behind the wheel. The young driver was in shock, the phone still in their hand.

Adrenaline subsiding, pain took over as Xael struggled to control it. Shado was furious. Once seeing his Mate wasn't badly injured, he lunged for the person in the car, Beau and Skylar stopping him. Xael's grandmother helped her out of the road.

By now a crowd had gathered and Xael wanted away from everyone.

{Adam, get me out of here}

Shado quickly turned his focus to his Mate and left the Sheriff and Beau to deal with the inattentive driver. He scooped her up and carried her to his apartment, her Grandmother right behind them. Once inside Xael noticed how their mated scent was affecting her Grams.

"Sorry Grams, hold on."

Xael struggled through the intense pain in her shoulder as her scent suddenly changed and started to move around the apartment. Shado noticed their mated scent dissipate.

"Xael?"

"It's okay, it'll come back after they leave, help me."

Shado carefully removed the hoody, he tried to take the shirt off but it was no use.

"Adam, you'll have to cut it off of her. Xael dear, we need to get you to hospital."

"No, I just need it popped back into place." Shado moved to do it for her but she abruptly stopped him.

"No! You can't!"

"Baby, we need to get back into its socket."

"Adam you can't. You.." Xael yelped in pain, triggering her Mate to take action but Xael pushed him away again.

"I said no! Adam, you hurt me like that, while we're still in the process of forming our Mate bond...my wolf will reject you. So please... don't."  Xael had to take a few deep breaths. She needed Skylar, he was only one strong enough other than her Mate to pop it back into its socket.

 Xael had to link him.

{Unc, let the person go. I need your help, please.}

The pain was causing Xael to fight to stay conscious. "...Adam?"

He moved closer to her. "What is babe, what do you need me to do?"

"Unc is coming up here, I linked him. I need him to pop back in. If I - if I pass out. Please don't Alpha out. I'll be fine."

"Xael...I'm not going to let another Alpha touch you, not now."

"Adam please, it's either him or you take me to a hospital where a stranger does it."

"Fuck.." Adam had to move away from her to take a breather and to settle himself down.

"Come back here! She needs you with her Adam!" Ms. Emma stepped in as she could see how much pain her grandaughter was in. Xael looked at him with pleading eyes. It was tearing him up to have another Alpha touch his Mate while they were still forming their bond.  Throwing his head back, he let out a long sigh.

"What do you need baby?"

{Just hold me}

Shado wrapped her in his arms, being careful of her shoulder. He could feel her shaking from the amount of discomfort she was in. The dislocated shoulder was pinching a nerve that was causing shooting pain. Xael buried her face in his neck, his scent was calming her and helping her deal with the pain.

{I'm sorry Adam...}

"Hey babe, it's not your fault."

{I need the bed sheet to cover me}

Shado helped her cover herself up. Her shaking was getting worse and Skylar wasn't here yet.

"Grandma, where is he?" Xael knew if she passed out before her shoulder was back in place they would take her to the hospital anyway. The last thing she wanted was to be touched by strangers. Her Grandma rushed to one of the windows and opened it.

"Wes! Get up here now!"

While dealing with the driver, Skylar thought he had imagined Xael's mindlink. He was now running up to the apartment. Once inside Shado couldn't help but growl at the presence of another Alpha in his mating space.

{Adam?  If I pass out they need to leave quickly, our Mate scent will return when I do. Tell...Tell Skylar what he needs to do}

Skylar was reluctant to enter.

"Skylar, you need to pop Xael's shoulder back into it's socket!"

"Why can't you do it!" Skylar didn't want to get anywhere near Xael in their intimate area.

"Because I can't! Please. It's either you or strangers at the hospital. Your family!"

"Fine." Skylar snarled and quickly walked over to the bed. He'd done it for her before when she was younger and fell out of a tree.

Xael looked at him with a weak smile. "You ready Pupkins?" Skylar had a hold of her arm.

"Yea-"

Before Xael could get the word out, Skylar popped it back into it's socket followed by Xael's loud and painful scream. Luckily Xael didn't lose consciousness like she thought she would, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt any less. She relaxed against Shado.

"Thank you Unc."

Shado had calmed down also. "Thanks Skylar."

"Yeah, Let's go Em." Before they left Xael asked him to let the driver go. He chuckled and the two Elders headed down the stairs, quickly as the Mated scent returned to the room.

Xael was still holding onto her Mate.

"Baby, you okay?"

"Yeah, just hold me for a bit."

It was only 9am and Xael was already over and done with the day. All the adrenaline was causing her muscles to ache.

"Are there any more medicine bundles left?"

"Yeah, I think there's one more left. You need to use it?"

"Yeah, I'm starting to really hurt."

"Look at me." Shado had a gentle yet firm grip on her chin. "Do I need to take you to the ER?"

"No. They'll just pump me full of drugs. It's better if I just have another bath and stay close to you."

"Okay, stay here, I'll get the bath ready for you."

Xael relaxed and released her scent which filled the apartment in no time. She needed her Mates pheromones to help her heal again. Walking back out of the bathroom, Shado inhaled deeply and gave a satisfied growl.

"Thanks baby."

"Mn. Is the bath ready?"

"Yeah, you need help?"

"No, but I want you with me though."

Shado headed back to the bathroom as his Mate quickly undressed, she tried to slide into the tub but her tender shoulder wouldn't let her. "Okay...I do need help." She made a silly face towards her Mate as he helped her into the water, careful of the injured shoulder.

Once in the hot water she relaxed as he sat on the floor next to the tub. Shado caressed her cheek as she rested her head on the side.

"Xael, don't you ever put yourself in danger like that again. I mean it."

"I hadn't planned on it, it was just a reaction."

"I don't want to bury another Mate. Understand."

Xael knew that not protecting him was something she couldn't promise. She smiled in acknowledgement. "Neither do I."

They both knew they would give up their life to save the other.

Xael let out a yawn. She was exhausted, she also realized that she didn't have any more shirts to wear. She groaned and stared at her Mate.

"What?"

"I need one of your tshirts, I only brought the one you had to cut off and the other one is dirty I think."

"I'll get it later."

Xael soaked in the tub for another 15 minutes as the water was losing its heat and she was falling asleep.

"Adam, I'm ready to get out." Shado simply lifted her out the tub as he didn't want her putting any weight on or using her shoulder. She dried herself off and slipped on a pair of undies. Shado never took his eyes off of her. She walked over to him and embraced him. He planted kisses on the side of her head.

"Let's get you back to bed babe." Xael made it back to the bed, wiped off her feet and quickly got under the covers. Shado decided on doing some laundry since they both were out of clothes. He lit a little bit of sage and opened one of the windows. There was still a bit of tension in the room and he wanted it gone, lighting the sage would help with that. The Omega quietly sat and watched her Mate move around the apartment, but not for long. Inhaling the aroma from the smoking sage, she laid down and fell asleep as he continued cleaning up.

He washed up the dishes and cleaned the bathroom from top to bottom. Walking around the apartment, he collected all the clothing to load up the washer. Laundry going, he used the last of the clean towels to take a quick shower. Joining his Mate in bed, she moved over to him. It was still early so he started a movie while she slept.

Twenty minutes into the movie, Xael woke up. She moved closer to him and cuddled him.

"How you feel babe?"

"Better. What are you watching?"

"Mad Max."

"Where's your hoody?"

"In the washer, are you chilly?"

"Yeah, I think it's because my heat is over, my body temperature keeps dropping."

Shado got up and dug out an extra blanket and put it on her. She wrapped herself up in it like a burrito and snuggled against him to finish the movie. Twenty minutes later, he heard soft purring coming from the lump of blankets next to him.