Sassy Ever After: Kiss My Sass (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Serena Pettus

stopped, raising his nose and searching for the scent again. “There, to the right.”
    Benson did the same. “Yeah, it’s a shifter, but I can’t place what kind.”
    “I don’t like it,” Luke growled. “First a jackal attacks her in a store, and now there’s some unknown trespasser on her land?”
    Just then, both men heard Ashe’s shouted, “Son of a bitch!”
    They broke into a run, darting through trees and over shrubs before they saw it barreling towards them.
    “A fucking honey badger ?” Benson yelled.
    At that, the creature turned sharply and flicked its tail up, leaving a trail of stench foul enough to have their eyes watering.
    “What the hell ? Did that fucker just fart at us?” Luke gagged.
    “Damn it! I had my mouth open,” he coughed, spitting on the ground.
    At any other time, Luke would have found the situation hilarious, but his wolf was urging him to get to Ashe.
    “Fuck it, forget that gas bag, we need to find Ashe and the baby, something’s wrong.”
    Without waiting, Luke took off again. He was just coming to the edge of the trees when the scent of fresh blood tickled his senses.
    Up ahead, he saw Ashe by her car with the backdoor open. She appeared to be trying to get Lilly out, but he could scent her distress. Her head rose as she glanced their way.
    Luke was about to call out to her when the baby began to cry, and he watched, heart nearly stopping, as Ashe collapsed.
    At a dead run he rounded the SUV, trying to assess the situation as quickly as possible. Ashe was crumpled on the ground, the scent of her blood nearly driving his wolf insane.
    All the beast knew was that their mate was injured, but the man was in control and would do his damnedest to treat the injury until he could get her to proper medical treatment.
    Scooping her up in his arms, he turned to see Benson standing there, eyes wide.
    “Grab the baby, I’m taking her inside.”
    “Luke, her leg…”
    “I know, just grab her daughter and move .”
    Carefully, Luke made it up the steps and into the house. His anxiety ramping up as he saw the amount of blood trailed across the porch and just inside the door. Her leg was bad, the skin having clearly been slashed by the badger’s claws. There was no way she’d come out of the attack without a permanent scar as a reminder. For that alone, Luke would hunt that bastard down and kill him.
    Inside, the smell of pepper was burning his sensitive nose, but he could still detect the badger as well, and his wolf growled. It had been inside her home. Was it waiting for her?
    Luke was about to settle her on the couch when Benson came in with a very upset little girl in his arms.
    “Take her to the bathroom. Her leg needs to be cleaned and the tub will be the easiest and fastest way to do that. There’s no telling what that furry fuck had his claws in before he got her, and we don’t want those gashes getting infected.”
    Looking around, he headed to the door he assumed would lead to the restroom. Sure enough, it was the room he needed, but getting in there was going to be a feat.
    “If you can sit on the toilet, I’ll be able to rinse her leg with the shower head. We need to get the dried blood and dirt off and see just how bad it is,” Benson said from behind him. “Lilly is calm now and I’ll set her in her swing right here so we can see her at all times.” He indicated the doorway as the spot for the swing, and then disappeared from sight.
    Trusting him to get the baby settled, Luke moved forward, sitting down slowly, trying not to jostle Ashe or bump her leg on anything. Not that it mattered because cleaning those scratches was going to hurt .
    Even with the blood and dirt he could tell they were deep. “We need to get her to a hospital,” Luke told Benson when he returned.
    “We will.” Benson crouched down, rummaging through the cabinet under her sink before pulling out a bottle of peroxide. “This will have to do for now.”
    Ashe groaned, shifting in