“No, godsdamnit!” Dane yelled.

“Fucking hell, Abbott. I heard you without the comm,” Julian chastised through his earpiece.

“Those bastards have gone after Marley. I need a vehicle,” Dane said to no one in particular.

“What’s she driving?” Julian asked. “I can track her from here.”

“My Porsche. Jules, I don’t have a tracking device on it. I haven’t driven it since I transitioned.” Dane was ready to pull his hair out. He was also ready to phase and take to the skies.

“Give me the description and the plate number. I’ll scan the street cameras until I find her.”

Dane gave Julian the info he needed, and Jasper grabbed him by the arm. “Let’s go after your woman,” he said, running toward an alleyway. Dane followed, and as soon as they hit a dark patch, Jasper phased, letting his wings take him up. Dane didn’t hesitate to do the same. If they were seen, so be it. His mate was in trouble.

“Fuck! I thought once Alistair was taken out, our mates would be safe.” Dane flew harder and faster, rising up until he was on Jasper’s heels.

“With Kallisto’s lackeys running loose in New Atlanta, I’m afraid no one is safe until we find them. My car is down there. Let’s go.” Jasper dove to the ground, pulling his wings back before he landed. Dane was right behind him, but instead of landing on his feet, he rolled to a stop. He practically dove into the passenger side of Jasper’s car.

“Go, go, go,” Dane encouraged as Jasper took off.

“I have eyes on Marley. She just took the ramp onto 75 South. There’s a dark SUV not far behind,” Julian said.

“Mason’s closer than anyone. I’m calling him now,” Frey said. A couple of minutes later, Frey came back over the comm. “Mason’s on his way. He’s tapped in.”

“I’m here, Dane. I’ll find your mate.”

“Fuck, Mason. You were—”

“Don’t worry about that. Marley’s in trouble. That’s more important.”

“Okay, I have a lock on Marley’s cell phone,” Julian said. “She… where the hell is she going? Marley passed the exit that leads to your apartment.”

“Maybe she’s too scared to stop,” Dane said.

“She’s not too scared to drive like she’s in the Indianapolis 500. Your mate is weaving in and out of traffic like a professional. Mason, she just passed mile marker 236. Wait, she’s slowing down. Okay, Marley took exit 235. It looks like she’s going to turn around… Fuck! Mason, tell me you have eyes on her.”

“What’s going on? Julian? Somebody better fucking talk to me!” Dane was losing his mind.

“I’m at the exit.” After a few seconds of nothing but the pounding of his heart in his ears, Mason growled, “Shit! I’m going to need backup and soon. There’s a second vehicle.”

Dane slapped the dashboard, and Jasper pressed down harder on the accelerator. He didn’t offer up false hope they would get there in time to save Dane’s mate, though.

“Godsdamnit, when did Unholy start driving?” Mason asked as the sound of bone crunching came over the air. “Shit! Marley, get back in the car,” Mason yelled.

Dane closed his eyes, praying Marley did as Mason told her. At least he knew she was alive and able to—

“Help!” Marley screamed. Without his shifter senses, Dane would still have heard the fear in her plea.

“Mason,” Dane growled, knowing the young Goyle was the only one close enough to save her.

“I’ve got three Unholy to contend with. Godsdamnit, the Goyles have her.” Mason grunted as he fought whoever it was Dane couldn’t see. He leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes. He had let his guard down, and now his mate was going to pay the price.

“We’ll get her back, Chief,” Jasper assured him. “I know your fear, so I’m not going to placate you, but we will fucking get her back, and then we’re going to make those Greek motherfuckers pay.”

“The good news is the cops haven’t shown up yet. The bad news is the cops haven’t shown up yet,” Julian said.

When he felt the car slowing, Dane opened his eyes and scanned the area. An SUV was angled against Dane’s wrecked Boxster. He couldn’t care less about the car, but with the amount of damage it sustained, Marley had to have been injured. Dane and Jasper both exited the car only to find three Unholy on the ground. Dane didn’t know if they were unconscious or dead. He didn’t care. “Mason?”

“I’ve got them in my sights. I’m going to try to catch them and cut them off. Almost there. I’m… Fuc—” Mason’s voice was cut off by the sound of tires screeching.

“Mason!”

“She jumped out of the vehicle. I’m about two miles east of where they took her. Julian, call for an ambulance. Dane, I—”

Dane didn’t hear anything else Mason said as he and Jasper got back in the car, and Jasper urged the vehicle as fast as it was safe on the two-lane road. When they got to where Mason was crouched over a body, there was no one else around. Dane jumped out of the car before Jasper had it in park and ran to where his mate was lying motionless on the ground. The skin of her arms and legs was abraded, but it was the blood forming a halo around her head that had Dane shaking. Dropping to his knees, Dane roared, stretching his arms out, not caring his claws were present.

“Dane, she’s alive. Dane!” Mason yelled, getting his attention. “Your mate’s alive. You need to calm the fuck down and give her your strength right now, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Dane didn’t touch her, not at first. He calmed himself enough to take in the wounds Marley encountered from hitting the concrete. He reached out with his senses and found her breathing to be steady.

“You know head wounds bleed a lot and usually look worse than they are, Boss,” Jasper said, squatting next to Dane.

“Mason, did you get a tag number on the SUV?” Julian asked.

“Yes, but I’d bet it’s stolen.” Mason rattled off the number, and Julian tapped away at the keys in front of him. “What do we do about the Unholy? The ambulance is going to have questions as will the police who’ll be with them.”

“I’ll take care of the Unholy,” Jasper declared. “I’ll put them in the back of my car and take them to the Pen. That will be less you have to explain.” Jasper didn’t wait for them to agree. He got back in his vehicle, did a three-point turn, and headed back to the scene of the wreckage.

“They’re going to know it was my car she was driving,” Dane muttered.

“We’ll tell them she was driving your car because hers is a piece of shit. She called you in a panic because someone was chasing her.”

“Let’s hope they don’t check phone records.” Dane’s phone rang, and when he looked at the display it was Marley’s phone. “What the…”

“Answer it,” Julian instructed. Dane did, but when he said “Hello” there was no one on the other end.

“Leave the line open for approximately two minutes. When you hang up, I’ll tap into her records and adjust the time of the call to coincide with when she was being chased.”

Dane wondered how often this sort of thing happened and prevented the cops from finding out the real cause of crimes. Under other circumstances, he might have protested, but nothing mattered more than getting Marley to the nearest hospital.

“Dane…”

If he didn’t have shifter hearing, Dane would have never heard his name fall from Marley’s lips. He dropped to his knees and gently touched her cheek. “I’m here, Sweetness. You hang on.”

The next few hours were the worst of Dane’s life. He would rather go through his initial transition a hundred times over before pacing in the waiting room while his father worked on Marley. If it hadn’t been for Julian and Jonas, Dane would have lost his mind. When the cops arrived on the scene, Mason took care of giving their statements so Dane could ride with Marley in the ambulance. Frey just happened to be there as an eyewitness to corroborate Mason’s version of what he saw.

 Dane insisted Marley be taken to the hospital in New Atlanta where his father was chief of staff. He didn’t tell the EMTs that, but he did pull the Chief of Police badge – figuratively and literally. Julian assured Dane through his comm he would call Jonas and make sure he was at the hospital waiting.

Dane hadn’t spent much time around Jonas or Caroline, but he had been around them enough to know they loved him just as much as they loved any of their offspring and would help any way they could. It was odd seeing a young-looking Jonas at home and an older appearing “Joseph Mooneyham” at the hospital. When the ambulance arrived, Joseph was there at the emergency room door waiting for the ambulance.

While Joseph examined Marley, who hadn’t woken up again, Dane called Cammie to let her know what was going on. Cammie insisted on calling Marley’s parents, and until they arrived later, he had thought it was a good idea. When he met Marley’s father, Dane wasn’t so sure. The older man didn’t care who Dane was or what he meant to Marley. Since Marley had failed to mention Dane to her parents, her father insisted Dane had no right to offer an opinion on Marley’s care, stating either he or his wife would have been listed as Marley’s medical power of attorney. Thankfully, Julian was still on the comm with Dane, and while the father argued with Dane over something that shouldn’t have even been an issue, Julian tapped into the hospital files and made Dane Marley’s contact.

“I can assure you, Mr. Sperry, I am responsible for Marley’s well-being,” Dane argued.

“There’s no reason a government employee such as yourself would be responsible for someone like Marley. She’s just a waitress. Unless… You knocked her up, didn’t you?” Merrill Sperry hissed under his breath. By that time, the waiting room had filled with other members of the Clan, and one of the males grabbed Dane’s arm when he drew back to deck Marley’s father. Before Dane could tell Merrill what he thought of the man, Cammie did it for him.

“You are no kind of father to Marley. Just because she’s a waitress doesn’t mean she isn’t smart. And if the chief here did knock her up, she’d be lucky to have a man as good as him to take care of her. That’s all she’s ever wanted was a good man. A man unlike you,” Cammie said, jamming her finger into the man’s chest.

“Cammie,” Lucinda Sperry admonished. Unlike Marley’s father who hadn’t aged gracefully, Marley’s mom barely looked old enough to be Marley’s sister.

“No, Lucinda. I won’t stand by while he puts her down when she can’t defend herself. Especially not here in front of all Marley’s friends.”

“I didn’t realize she had so many people in her corner,” Lucinda whispered.

“She does. And unlike her father, we all adore Marley,” Trevor spoke up. Jasper had picked his mate up at home after dropping the Unholy off at the Pen.

Just as Merrill opened his mouth to give them all hell, the door opened and Jonas came in. He didn’t look at anyone other than Dane. “The cranial laceration was deeper than it first appeared. We’ll need to watch her closely for the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours while the swelling goes down.”

“When can I see my daughter?” Merrill asked, pushing his way to the front.

Jonas narrowed his eyes at the man. “As soon as she’s settled in a room. That might be a while since we’re between shift changes. I’ll send a nurse back in to get you, but only two at a time. Marley’s critical, but stable. I don’t want anyone upsetting her.”

“She’s my—”

“Merrill, stop.” Lucinda grabbed him by the arm.

“Like I said, I’ll send a nurse back when Marley’s settled.” Jonas tipped his head to the side, indicating Dane should follow.

“Go, Brother,” Jasper said, clapping him on the shoulder.

When Dane was through the door, his father said, “I had to shave the back of Marley’s head, and it took quite a few staples to put her back together, but her vitals are strong. Have you two mated yet?”

“No. I was hoping to get around to that tonight after dinner, but the godsdamned Unholy botched my plans.”

Jonas led Dane to a room on the next floor up where Marley was already situated in a private room. “She’s strong, and I have no doubt she’ll wake up soon. The trauma to her brain was minimal. The abrasions to her arms and legs aren’t so severe she’ll need skin grafts, but she will be in quite a lot of pain for a while. Your blood would go a long way in helping her heal faster. If you allow me to use your shifter blood in a transfusion, it won’t seal the bond; it’ll only help her fight faster and harder. “

“Yeah, sure. Anything to help.”

“Good. I’ll be back in soon to draw your blood. For now, take as much time as you need, Son.” Jonas squeezed Dane’s arm before leaving him alone with his mate. He was still getting used to having a father, but he found he rather liked it. Dane turned his attention to Marley, lifting the hand closest to him and cradling it in both of his.

“Oh, Sweetness. What did I do to you?” Dane might not have run her off the road or tried to kidnap her, but it was his fault the Goyles had chased her. If he was a normal human, shit like that wouldn’t have happened. She wouldn’t be a target. Dane didn’t know if he could go through with sealing the mate bond. Not if it meant putting Marley’s life on the line at every turn. In his heart, he knew it wasn’t an option, not for him. He needed Marley in his life. He would just have to do a better job protecting her.

Dane asked the nurse to bring Cammie up without letting the others know where she was being taken. Marley had cried out a couple of times, but she still hadn’t fully wakened. While they both kept vigil, watching Marley sleep, he and Cammie chatted quietly about what happened, but Cammie was more interested in the ring on Marley’s finger. As much as she had flirted with him the first time they met, Cammie was a good friend. She cried tears of joy before practically choking Dane with a hug. They spoke briefly about Marley’s parents, and Dane knew he and Lucinda would be fine, but he’d have to put his foot down with her father. Marley was an adult for the gods’ sakes, not a child like her father accused.

Dane didn’t want to leave his mate’s side, but he needed to let her parents in for a few minutes. He sent Cammie after them, and as they were walking down the hallway, Merrill was complaining to Lucinda about Dane. The man thought he was being quiet, but Dane’s shifter hearing allowed him to take in every hateful word.

“I don’t care if he’s the chief of police, the mayor, or the goddamned president. I’m taking Marley home. She’s obviously not able to take care of herself, and what’s a cop want with someone like her, anyway?”

When they got closer, Dane met them in the doorway, refusing to allow them entrance until he made Marley’s father understand how things were. After he further explained her condition and what Jonas had done, he said, “Mister and Missus Sperry, I know this is news to you both, but Marley and I are engaged. As for what I want with someone like Marley? That’s simple. I want the love of a good woman. A woman whose heart is bigger than anyone else’s I know. She may not have a college education, but she’s smart. She’s also funny, loving, and she makes my heart sing. Honestly, I don’t care if you believe me or not, but I love Marley and am honored she said yes. Now, you have twenty minutes with her before I return. When I get back, if the nurse tells me Marley’s machines went off for any reason at all, I’m going to assume you were the cause of it. If that happens, you’ll not be allowed within two hundred miles of her. Am I clear?” Dane let the beast loose momentarily, and a growl sounded from the back of his throat.

Merrill’s eyes widened, but he didn’t respond with anything other than a nod. Dane left them with Marley and stepped into a quiet waiting room for some privacy. There was something he had to take care of immediately.