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Harley burst out of the forest. The intoxicating scent of her adrenaline-fueled sweat filled my nostrils. She skittered on the gravel, eyes widening when she saw me. She was torn, and her gaze jumped from my face to the gravel road behind me.

She was going to make a break for it.

She didn’t trust me.

My heart cracked in two. Could I really blame her? She’d seen me drunk in bed with Blakely. It had been a fucked-up setup from Tori and Blakely to try to break my relationship with Harley, but Harley didn’t know that. Before I’d had a chance to explain it to her, Sean had kidnapped her.

No wonder she wanted nothing to do with me.

Now wasn’t the time to explain either. If Harley kept running, Sean would take to the skies. He’d catch her again, and this time, he wouldn’t let her live.

I couldn’t take that risk.

I launched forward and raced toward Harley. Her eyes widened, and she cut to the side, trying to avoid me, but I was faster. I caught her by her trim waist and pulled her close to my body.

For a brief moment, Harley went completely lax against me. It was like her entire body exhaled, grateful to be held and supported by me. My heart soared at the gesture.

But it was only a moment. She seemed to come back to her senses, thrashing against my hold. “Let me go. I’m getting the hell out of here!”

“Damn right you are,” I growled. “But not on foot.”

“Screw you. You don’t get to tell me what I’m doing.”

“I’ll explain everything,” I said in her ear. “It’s not safe here. Just trust me.”

“Ican’t.” Her voice broke on the word, like it hurt her to say it as much as it hurt me to hear it.

“Ace!” Sean roared.

Harley shuddered. Her terror only enraged my dragon more. As much as I wanted to tell her the truth—the full truth—this was not the time or place. I had to deal with my brother first.

“Get in the car.” With my arm still snug around her waist, I hurried her over to my Cadillac, keeping my body between her and Sean’s dragons. Hawk and Rome were doing a good job holding them back, but it was only a matter of time. She climbed into the backseat, looking exhausted and dazed.

“Please don’t run off again. Please. Sean will find you. Just stay here. It’ll all be over soon.”

Her eyes met mine, and she nodded. It wasn’t trust I saw there, but resignation.

“Get that bitch!” Sean roared. “Now!”

I closed the car door and marched up through the gate onto Sean’s property.

Sean’s rage crackled in the air, but it was nothing compared to my dragon’s fury. “Stand down,” I barked. “Unless all of you want to die right where you are.”

The commotion fell still. Hawk had one of the goons, a young-looking kid with a sleeve tattoo, in his grip. Rome had the other goon, an older guy, in a headlock. Sean had been lurking in the doorway, the coward, but when I spoke, he stepped out.

He looked awful. He’d lost weight, so his cheekbones jutted out of his face, and his hands twitched at his sides. The scar over his eye was red and inflamed, and his clothes were sweat-stained and tattered.

“I should kill you right fucking now,” Sean snarled. “You call yourself an alpha? You’re a liar and a fraud. We made a deal. Theclan for the woman. It’s never enough for you, huh? You have to have everything.” Then Sean scowled at Hawk and Rome, too. “And you two went along with it. Guess an alpha’s word means nothing to you.”

“You’d love that, wouldn’t you? Having another reason to hate me?” I held up the manila folder with a scowl. “I’m a man of my word, Sean. You know that. I have the papers to sign the clan over to you right here.”

Sean’s eyes widened. He stared at the manila folder like a kid being tempted with an ice cream cone.

“You’re the one who couldn’t hold up your end of the deal. Why would I sign the clan over to you when you don’t have anything to offer me in return?” I glanced back at the Cadillac. “You underestimated my mate. She didn’t need me to rescue her.”

“Don’t lie to me,” Sean hissed. “I know you two planned this.”

“How the hell would we have done that? You think fated mates are telepathic or something?”