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I leaned against my bike and waited while Forrest talked to Blakely. I was surprised to see him doing someactualpolice work, taking notes on his little pad and everything. After speaking to her and a few other people, he strode back over to me. “So, you have any idea who was shooting at you?”

“Not a damn clue,” I said.

“Well, with this kind of information, there’s not a whole lot for us to go off of. I’d recommend you watch your back.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Is that a threat?”

“No, it’s a recommendation.” Forrest smirked. “I’d offer you a police detail, but I’m sure you’d turn that down.”

He was right about that, at least.

“Someone has it out for you,” Forrest continued. “So, you and your thugs better keep an eye out. The police department will look into it, but I can’t make any promises.”

My dragon knew he was bullshitting. Forrest was going to put this case in a drawer and never look at it again. If anything, he’d be praying Ididget caught in a drive-by. “I wouldn’t expect anything else,” I said.

Forrest and his lackeys left the scene, leaving nothing but a bullet-riddled car and a bunch of traumatized residents. Blakely looked toward me, clearly wanting to keep up our conversation, but then one of her neighbors grabbed her by the elbow and led her back into her apartment.

I exhaled and called Hawk.

“Yo, Ace, how are things at the garage?” he asked when he picked up.

“Garage is fine, but there’s been another complication.” I explained what had just happened.

“You’re fucking kidding me,” Hawk said. “Right in broad daylight? That seems ballsy, even for Sean.”

“I know. And Forrest seemed a little too happy about it. With the drugs being planted, and now this… Do you think there’s any chance Sean has got Forrest in his pocket?”

Hawk sighed. “Usually I’d say it was unlikely because Sean doesn’t have the resources to bribe a cop. But…”

“But it’s Forrest,” I said.

“Yeah. And he hates us. You, in particular. He might be working with Sean just to take you down. It still seems kind of crazy, but it’s nottotallyunbelievable.”

“We need to do some digging,” I said. “We need to know if Forrest is a pain in our ass or something a lot worse.”

“On it,” Hawk said and ended the call.

A headache built behind my eyes, and my dragon growled in frustration.

I climbed on my bike and drove home as fast as I could without getting pulled over. There was only one thing that would calm down my irritated dragon—our mate’s soft touch.

As soon as I pulled up to the house, the front door burst open, and Harley ran out. Her face was ghostly pale, and her eyes were red-rimmed like she’d been crying. “Steph!” she cried as she launched herself at me.

I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her close. “What happened? What’s wrong?’

“What the hell do you meanwhat’s wrong?”She pulled back and smacked my chest. “You left this morning and ended up getting shot at!” My confusion must have shown on my face.“Hawk called me. He wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything going on here. Should I be worried those psychos are going to show up here and start shooting at the house?”

“Let’s go inside, honey,” I said, guiding her to the front door.

She didn’t let go of me as we walked. She pushed her face into the crook of my arm and inhaled deeply. “I’m so worried, Steph. I’m so sick of all of this.”

Red-hot anger flared through me at Forrest, at Sean, at everyone who was making our lives feel so unstable and dangerous. I had my fated mate in my arms—we should be together, she should be claimed, we should behappy.Yet at every turn, someone was trying to tear us apart. And I couldn’t seem to make it stop.

“I know. I’m sorry.” I picked her up, the same way I had at the clubhouse last night. But this time, there was no intense, heated passion in the gesture. She needed to be close to me, and I wasn’t about to force her to step away for something as silly as going inside the house.

I walked inside with Harley in my arms. Striker nodded at me and stepped onto the porch to give us some privacy. I sat down on the couch, and Harley pulled away just enough to meet my eyes. I brushed her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. Her eyelashes fluttered as she leaned into the motion. “Who was it?” she asked. “Are the cops going to do anything?”

“I don’t know. I doubt it. Hawk and I suspect the sheriff might be in Sean’s pocket.”