Trina was jarred awake by a set of large hands. Before she opened her eyes, she registered Dane's scent. Her muscles were sore from the numerous rounds of sex the previous night. Had this man woken her up to have sex again? Was this man that insatiable?

"What is going on?" she asked, groggily, lifted herself from the bed.

"Sssh," Dane said. "I need you to throw this on." He handed her one of her dresses. "We have to get out of here now. I sense danger. It's time to leave."

"What?" She looked around at the window. The sun had barely risen. "You said we were leaving later today."

"Please. We don't have time to talk right now. I'll explain everything when we're on safer grounds. Stay close to me."

Her heart began to beat nervously as she caught the hint of urgency in his voice. She said nothing else as she pulled the long sundress over her naked body. Dane grabbed a duffle bag from the closet, threw some items inside, including her purse, and reached for her.

"This way," he urged.

As soon as they opened the door, smoke billowed into their faces. Her own senses kicked in as she heard the telltale signs of a house on fire.

"Shit, Dane. What is going on? Tell me."

"The left end of the ranch is on fire. Stay low." He pushed her out into the hallway and down the stairs. Once they were on the first level, he grabbed her hands and his rushed steps turned into a jog.

Trina held her breath against the putrid smoke until they reached the sliding glass doors of the papers. They moment they hit the deck she breathed exhaled deeply.

Crackled flames caught her attention and she snapped her head to the right to confirm Dane's confirmation. The left side of the home was engulfed in flames and lit up the morning sky.

"Oh my God. We need to call the fire department," she said, following Dane down the patio steps.

"No human authorities involved. They'd done enough damage already. There's nothing of value in the home. The land is what I'm after."

Trina noticed his strained voice and turned to see his canines dropped in anger. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"Yes and no. I want to get you out of here safely. I promise we'll talk later."

His irises sparkled brightly with specks of gold. It seemed as though his wolf half was taking over. He lifted his hand and brushed some hair away from her neck. He narrowed his gaze, stroking at the crevice near her throat. His lips fell open.

"Trina, where did you get this?"

"This what?"

"This mark."

"What mark?"

Dane's eyes widened. "I had a feeling…Impossible."

"What are you talking about?" She coughed when the wind pushed more of the smoke toward them.

He took her hand again and rushed them further away from the burning home. Pausing near a tree, he took her chin gently and lifted her neck again.

"Why the heck do you keep looking at my neck? Do I have a pimple?"

"You're wearing my mark, Trina. And I haven't even bitten you."

"Bitten me?" This time she looked at him strangely. "Of course you haven't bitten me. I would know. If you bite me, I will slap the hell out of you."

She slid her palm against the area he'd examined. "I don't feel anything."

"It's not that type of mark. Your's is natural." Dane turned and pointed to the nape of his neck. "Look at the back of my neck. What do you see?"

She stepped closer to him, squinting against the first rays of sunshine. There was some type of birthmark near his hairline, similar to a tattoo, but the coloring was all wrong. It was embedded, not inked, into the skin.

"Two figure eight signs. Like an infinity symbol. They form an X."

He turned around and rubbed the area near her throat again. "This explains why I can't get enough of you."

"I can see what you're seeing, Dane. Do you mind telling me what you're talking about? And why the hell is your house on fire? Did we leave a burner on after dinner or something?”

“Yes, the house is on fire, and no, we didn’t leave the stove on. About the mark…mated pairs carry matching ones. It only appears as the result of a true union. You're my intended, Trina. There will be no need for me to temporarily mark you as confirmation to my people because you are my true mate."

"What…" She shook her head. The smoke must have gotten to him.

"Hey!" The voice to the behind him them came from a male. "Hey, you two! What are you doing out here?"

Dane spun around and quickly shielded her. The man had a gun, pointing it at them from several yards away. As she held her hands against his back, he felt the vibrations that came along with his growls.

"Hey! Answer me! Are you a wolf?"

Dane turned slightly to issue his order. "Get behind the tree."

He didn't have to tell her twice as he scrambled behind the massive oak tree. Two shots rang out sending her heart into a frenzy. Her fingers trembled against the bark of the tree as she pressed her back hard against it.

The next growl was so deep and animalistic that it had to have come from a wolf. Three more shots rang out and the man screamed. There was a scuffle on the ground and then complete silence.

The atmosphere was so quiet that all she could register was her own panicked breathing and the sound of fire burning the house.

A black wolf emerged from the corner of her eyes. Its eyes were gold and majestic. Its body was large and muscular and the fur was shiny and sleek. At the sight of such beauty, her muscles relaxed. It was a reaction she didn't understand, but yet she felt she knew this wolf.

"Dane," she whispered, her hands still gripping the bark. Her breathing became erratic as she tried to withstand the polluted air around her.

The wolf shook its massive head and torso and out of the haze of what Trina could only describe as magical and luminous, Dane Magnus appeared.

He came to her and she walked right out into his arms.

“It’ll become difficult for us to breath with all the smoke,” he said. “Let's get out of here now. I have a cell in the storage pack on my motorcycle. I’ll call the fire department.”