I woke up before Percy, who was curled up beneath my arm into such a tiny ball I could hardly believe it. He could have been a contortionist with the way twisted himself to fit perfectly beside me. Not wanting to wake him, I slid silently out of bed and slipped into my boxers which I’d left at the edge of the bed.

It was eleven thirty. We’d slept late, but that wasn’t a surprise after last night’s shenanigans. I just couldn’t keep my hands off him, and he seemed to relish in teasing me to get me excited. We’d made love once before falling asleep in each other’s arms, then woken up some time later and done it again, this time without speaking, our eyes closed while we focused on the sensations we were sharing. Then we’d passed out again.

When I was with Percy, the world made sense. All my life I’d been a drifter, a wanderer, bouncing from home to home until I set off on my own, then living the hard life for so many years. At twenty-five, I was ready to settle down, and I hadn’t even known it until I met Percy—until I smelled that scent that let me know the direction my life was going to go.

And now he was so excited, and I was praying nothing happened to dash his dreams. He wanted desperately to find a place to belong, and Preston’s farm would be that. With a little bit of luck, we’d end up there together and finally find a place to call our own. We’d have a pack, friends, a family. It all seemed so close yet so far away, like a dream floating somewhere in the void of space that would instantly be swept away if you were to only turn and look at it.

No, don’t think of it, I told myself as I pulled on a pair of jeans and stepped into the kitchen. Just do everything you can. That’s all you can do.

I was going to start breakfast, but the sun was shining outside and the house was a little stuffy, so I headed to the front door and opened it to let in some of the morning air. I turned back, but that was when I heard it. The sound of motorcycle engines.

Instantly, my fangs extended and my body went tense. My heart rate jumped as my senses went on high alert. They weren’t too close, but they weren’t far away either, and judging by the sound, there were two of them.

No, it can’t be!

My feet pounded like pistons on the steps as I raced outside. When I saw them, I almost shifted right then and there. Killoran and Trey, seating on their bikes up by the road, staring me down.

“Hey, there!” Killoran called out. He had a bandage over his shoulder and Trey’s chest was wrapped up from where I had slashed him. “Nice place you’ve got here!”

They must have tracked me, I thought, trying to keep my cool. I hadn’t thought it possible, as we were so far from the bar and they were injured, but they’d done it somehow. Maybe they’d just come across our scent on the road, or maybe they’d managed to sniff us out from Bottoms Up. Either way, it didn’t matter. They were here now.

I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn’t find the words. What really was there to say? They weren’t here to talk and they certainly weren’t going to listen to reason if I told them to back off. They were also too far away to charge them. By the time I reached them they’d be speeding away. But when Killoran raised a thumb to his neck and drew a line across it, I lost control.

With a single yank, I was out of my pants and boxers. I shifted and dashed off the steps with every ounce of strength I had in me. My legs were hammers, pounding the ground, propelling me forward towards them. But just as I’d thought they would, Killoran and Trey slammed the throttle on their bikes, spun out and whipped around to speed away.

I’d been gaining on them, but as their engines ramped up, they roared away into the distance, Killoran tossing me the bird over his shoulder as he sped away. I slowed down and stared at them as they disappeared into the distance, a burning feeling of hatred roaring in my chest.

Now they know where we live, I thought. We’re not safe here!

I dashed back to the house, shifted as I leapt up the steps, stooped down and grabbed my jeans and boxers and dashed through the front door. In the blink of an eye I was in the bedroom and at my mate’s side.

“Percy!” I said loudly as I shook him. “Percy, wake up! We have to go!”

Percy stirred and rolled over. He looked up at me through sleepy eyes. “What—what is it?”

“We have to go,” I told him, pulling the blankets off the bed. “Killoran and Trey. They know where we are. I just chased them off, but they’ll be back—maybe with more men.”

“Shit!” Percy cursed, immediately jumping out of bed. Thankfully, we were already pretty packed up, but there was no time to get a moving van or a truck.

“Just get your bag of clothes,” I told him, grabbing mine as I slid back into my pants. “And anything else you can carry on you. The rest we’ll have to leave here.”

I snatched my duffle that had some of my clothes in it, raced outside and stuffed it into one of the saddle bags on my bike. We were really going to be packing light, as the bags weren’t designed to really carry a whole Hell of a lot, but we had no choice. I had no problem going toe-to-toe with those sons of bitches, but I wasn’t about to go on with my life, just waiting and wondering when they were going to strike. No, I couldn’t risk Percy’s life like that—or our future together.

I kicked the engine to life as Percy came spilling out of the house, his shirt buttoned all wrong, a small bag of clothes in his hand. I took it from him and stuffed it into the saddle bag.

“What are we going to do?” he asked. The fear in his voice tore at my heart, threatening to shatter it into a thousand pieces. It was my job to protect him, and even having him in this situation was an absolute nightmare.

“Give me your phone,” I told him. He did and I quickly dialed up Preston.

Answer, answer, answer!

Finally, just when I thought it was about to go to voicemail, Preston answered.

“Hey, Percy!”

“Preston, it’s Gabriel,” I said quickly. “Listen, man, we’re in a real jam here. We’ve got a couple of biker dickheads on our asses. They showed up at my place and they’ll be coming back. We need a place to hide out for a while. I completely understand if you want to say no, but we’ve got nobody else to call, man.”

Preston didn’t hesitate. “Ron speaks highly of your mate, Gabriel,” he replied. “You’re welcome here. Do you think you can lose them, though?”

“I’ll do a loop around Austin before I come,” I told him. “Lose my scent on the highway. Can you text me your address?”

“Coming at ya,” he replied.

“Thanks, bud. I owe you.”

“See you guys soon.”

I hung up and checked the texts as I hopped on to the bike. There it was, a pin on my GPS showing the location of Preston’s farm. What a guy. He didn’t even know me and he was extending a hand to help. I’d owe him big after this.

“Good news?” Percy asked as he hopped on the bike behind me.

“Great news,” I replied. “We’re going to do a lap around Austin to mask our scent, and then we’re heading to the farm. Hold on tight!”

Percy wrapped his arms around me as I gunned the Harley. Dust sprayed into the air as I peeled out and sped away from the house. There was a chance I’d be coming back, but I doubted it. Even if I did, Killoran and Trey would probably ransack the place when they came back—which they would surely do.

But none of that mattered. It was just stuff. All that mattered now was Percy.