A gunshot roared, blasting through. Hallie saw the hole in the wall above the headboard before her brain even started to process that she was in danger. That they should move. Vance didn’t take as long. His arm wrapped around her waist and he rolled, shielding her body with his as another round fired.

She felt the blow as it impacted his body…or hers? Pain surged between them through the mate bond. Then they hit the floor with a thud. Everything hurt. He hurt. Her body felt like she’d taken a well-aimed kidney punch. It was all so confusing.

“You hit?” Vance shoved her under the bed and pulled free a gun from a holster affixed to the bottom of his nightstand.

“I-I don’t—” Hallie shook her head. Honestly, she wasn’t sure.

“Stay here no matter what. I’ll be back. I promise.” He sat up, firing several shots over the top of the mattress. Her eyes locked onto his torso. Crimson leaked from the long gash on his side. But it looked superficial. He would heal quickly. His shifter nature would facilitate that. Still she couldn’t help but pant through the burn that threatened to overwhelm her senses. Fiery pain shot through her torso.

The gunshots in the room finally stopped. Her ears rang with the sound and she winced with each spoken word, closing her eyes tightly. Her head pounded. Who was shooting at them? Why?

“Be quiet and let me focus.” Her wolf sounded like a doctor barking orders. Focus on what?

“Healing you. The shot that grazed our mate, landed in your gut.”

I’m shot? The reality sank in slowly along with the pain she’d thought she’d been feeling through their partially formed bond. It hadn’t been his pain. It’d been hers. She was shot.

Her hands flew to her stomach. Warm liquid made her gasp, but not as much as the burn of the wound. She opened her eyes and froze. Vance was gone from view. “Vance?” she whispered. When did he leave? She hadn’t even heard him stand up. Had she been that out of it? Another volley of shots fired in a different part of the house. Vance!

“He’s fine. I promise. We would feel if he wasn’t.”

But.

“The bond is strong enough. He’s safe. Trust me.”

Hallie relaxed back onto the hardwood floor, shivering a little from the draft and her nakedness and probably blood loss. She put a hand down on the floor to steady the shakes, surprised to feel a cold puddle greet the back of her arm. The light was dim, but that was because Vance had shoved her under the bed. Was there even a single light on in the entire house? Or was that just her vision blurring…

* * *

Vance dove behind his couch as foam exploded from the cushions as another volley of shots from Dante’s other bodyguards—his friends—fired with determination and life-threatening precision. He popped up for a lethal shot, taking down Harry, a guy he’d worked with in the Montague force for four years. What the fuck was wrong with Dante?

“Stop this!” He bellowed. “Dante, I may not be royal, but the council will have your hide for shooting at the Demakis heir.”

“I didn’t shoot at her traitor. I shot her and you left her on the floor to die. Now you’ll both die in this sorry excuse for a home I plan to burn to the ground with your bodies. There won’t be a shred of evidence left of either of you.”

A spray of bullets exploded on the wall behind him. Vance ducked lower and forced a breath in and out. Shot? She’d said she was fine, right? He’d asked her if she’d been hit…but he hadn’t checked. Not physically. Shit. Shit. Shit. Could Dante be right?

“We have to check on her. The bond isn’t strong. Something is wrong.” His wolf paced anxiously, snarling, begging to be let out. That only makes us an easier target. I’m not giving you control.

“What are you going to tell her aunt, Dante?” Vance rolled to the side and shot again, striking one of the other men in the knee. He crumpled to the ground with a loud curse. Another shot from his pistol ended the other wolf—Kenneth. He’d known him for three years. He had a wife and a two-year-old. “Stop this. I’m a better shot than anyone on your team.”

Dante didn’t answer.

Hallie.

Vance peeked over the couch. Nothing. No other bodyguards. Dante must not have brought Lionel and Trey. Thank the gods for small blessings. He wasn’t stomaching killing Kenneth and Harry very well. He’d never be able to look at either of their mothers without shame and guilt. Or their wives. Much less their kids.

He crept along the wall, expecting Dante to fire at him again at any moment. Hallie was in the bedroom at the end of the hall. He focused, trying to feel her through the strands of their partially formed bond. It was faint, but she was there, struggling to hang on. Damn it. He should never have left her and chased them into the living room.

Vance rounded the last corner and stepped into the bedroom. His heart stopped cold, dropping from his chest like a rock chunked from the top of a thirty-story skyscraper. Falling. And falling.

“Please.” The words fell from his lips before he could consciously stop them.

Dante tightened his grip around Hallie’s neck, making her gasp for breath. Her arms fought the grip the lunatic had on her, but she’d lost so much blood. Her skin was so pale, almost grey. Even her once-rose-colored nipples were barely pink. Blood trailed down her side. Her arms and legs were smeared as if she’d rolled in a vat of red paint. “

Too much blood.”

I know. If he didn’t get that bullet out of her quickly, she could die. Her wolf magick could only heal her once the foreign object was removed.

“Fate, really?” Dante sneered, a grim curve pulled a sickening smile across his face. “I should’ve known. Her sisters listened to their damn animals too. I should’ve known I’d lost her to the mutt living within.” He jammed the gun against her temple, making Hallie wince.

“Look, I’ll go. You’ll never see me again. Just don’t hurt her.”

A gurgled objection came from Hallie’s chest. “No.”

“I’m going to shoot you, Vance. Then I’m going to shoot her. Then this shack will burn to the ground.” You can just stand there and watch, helpless to save your mate.

Anger surged and his blood heated. His vision changed. The wolf within was dangerously close to the surface.

“Shoot me,” Hallie said, fighting hard for each breath. “Shoot me.” He met her gaze and shook his head. He wouldn’t dream of shooting her or around her or…

“Through her.”

He lifted his gun, aiming for Dante’s heart. No hesitation. Doubt would get Hallie killed. The shot thudded as it hit. Air rushed from Hallie’s chest and she crumpled in Dante’s grip—a grip that held for a mere second before the bastard royal gasped and fell backward to the floor. Red spread over his white dress shirt as his heart pumped it’s last.

Vance dove to the floor, not caring in the least that the floorboards dug into his bare knees, and pulled Hallie closer. “Hallie, hang on, love. Please.”

He grabbed a knife from the top drawer of the dresser on his left. Bile coated the back of his throat as he grimaced, looking down at the ugly gut shot he’d missed when he left her under the bed. He’d been grazed. He’d seen the blood on her, but thought it was his.

“Focus. Save her. You know how to do this.”

He put pressure on her chest, barring her arms from attacking him. This was going to hurt like nothing she’d ever felt before. He placed a hand on her stomach and slid the long blade in until he felt it tap the metal slug. More blood gushed from her wound and he prayed as he maneuvered to bring the bullet to the surface.

A raspy scream echoed in the bedroom, followed by panting and begging for mercy. Hallie’s back would’ve arched off the floor had he not had a palm planted on the center of her chest, holding her down. Another scream from his mate threatened to tear his heart in half. His wolf roared, angry that he was hurting her, and ranting that he wasn’t moving fast enough to save her.

“I’m so sorry. It’s almost out, love. I promise.”

The bullet appeared at the surface of her skin. Vance pinched it and tossed the offending piece of metal aside, dropping the knife and pulling Hallie’s flailing bare body against his. Slick from her blood, she was difficult to hold still. “It’s done. Breathe, love. Your wolf can heal you now.”

Hallie shook her head and tried to speak. “Too—w—”

“Hallie?” Vance put his ear to her mouth. Her breath was weak her pulse was weak their bond was weak.

“Mark her. Now,” his wolf clamored from inside his head. “We can help heal her. The injuries are too much for her wolf to heal alone.”

She has to mark me too. She’s too weak.

“Trust.”

Vance nuzzled the curve of Hallie’s neck and let his fangs descend. It seemed wrong to bite her when she was barely conscious, but it was better than losing her. His wolf pushed forward and he let the animal take control. He sank his teeth into her shoulder and growled through the wave of magick that slammed into him. The taste of her blood was like metal in his mouth.

* * *

Pain surged through her shoulder. New pain. Mixed with magick. Her wolf fought for control and Hallie gave it. She was so tired. The taste of copper filled her mouth. Copper and the scent of Vance. He’d come back for her. He’d followed her hint and shot through her to kill Dante. She remembered that much. Remembered the asshole finally letting go.

A strange male voice echoed in her head.

“You’re ours. We will heal you.”

“Thank you, mate of mine.” This time it’d been the familiar voice of her wolf answering back.

“We will protect and love you always.” The male voice spoke again, carrying strength and peace through the now fully-formed mate bond. Vance had marked her. She’d marked Vance. Clarity began to return as the magick between them surged through her body, working quickly to repair the damage that nearly killed her.

“Thank the gods, Hallie.” Vance’s voice rang sweet in her ears.

“I’m h-here,” she managed to rasp out. “I’m here.”

Vance lifted her from the floor and laid her on his bed, quickly wrapping her in a thick blanket. “I’d love to stay and clean you up and hold you, but we can’t stay. There’s three dead bodies and people will start to look for Dante sooner rather than later.”

“My family’s plane is at the runway,” Hallie answered, blinking her eyes open slowly. He was yanking clothes on over his blood-smeared body. She heard the ratchet of a clip being loaded into a gun, but she couldn’t focus long enough to see where the sound came from.

A shot rang out. The smell of gunpowder burned her sensitive nose. “Vance?” Her voice trembled.

“He wasn’t dead. I should’ve paid closer attention. We have to go now.”

She nodded weakly, eager to get as far away from Dante and his people as possible. Vance scooped her into his arms and carried her through the torn up home. His home. He was fleeing his home for her. He’d killed to protect her. They were mates. She carried his mark and he hers…what would the council think? She’d taken a Fated mate instead of making a political alignment with another royal. So many thoughts.

Her strength was returning slowly, but it would be at least twenty-four hours until she was fully healed and back to normal. She’d lost so much blood. Come so close to… She buried her face in Vance’s chest and breathed in the light piney scent—his scent. She was so tired. Her eyelids weighed ten pounds and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stave off the darkness.