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I nodded. “Yeah. You saved me.” I turned to Harley and squeezed her hand, too. “You, too. Your voice kept me conscious. I knew I had to hang on for you.”

That made Harley cry again, which set Hawk off, and my tears finally fell. When we all noticed we were doing it, we broke out into exhausted laughter.

The tears were of pain but also relief.

“We made it,” Hawk said, breathlessly. “We really made it.”

We stayed like that for a long few moments.

I untied Harley’s bun, then ran my fingers through her hair.

It soothed both her and me. My exhausted, barely conscious dragon managed to purr at the contact.

After a few minutes, Hawk finally sat up and grabbed a bottle of water from the shelf in the room.

I suddenly realized how thirsty I was, and at my wide-eyed expression, Hawk laughed and handed me a bottle.

I guzzled half of it before I leaned back against the pillows with a sigh.

“You can eat some real food tonight, too,” Harley said. “I’ll bring something over.”

“That’d be better than hospital food,” I said.

“Dylan will want to know you’re eating well, too,” she said.

“How is he?” I asked. My heart ached, and not just from the gunshot wound. “Is he okay?”

“He was scared,” Harley said. “Worried.”

“We told him about your condition,” Hawk said. “Thought about trying to hide it while things were still dicey, but…”

“But he’s got his dad’s sense for lies,” I said. “I bet he didn’t let you off easy.”

“Nope,” Hawk said with a warm smile. “I thought he was going to bite my head off if I didn’t tell him the truth.”

“If he’s going to be the alpha one day, he deserves to know what’s going on with the clan,” Harley said.

“That’s right,” I agreed.

“I’ll bring him over tonight,” Harley said. “He’ll want to see you.”

My dragon hummed his approval. We wanted to see our son, too. It felt like I hadn’t spent any real time with him in weeks because I’d been so caught up in this mess.

Now, I could stop being just his protector. I could finally be his dad. Full-time.

“What about Sean’s guys?” I asked.

“Caught,” Hawk said. “Two ran off, but Striker tracked them down quickly. They’re in clan custody.”

“Who were they?”

“Goons. Nobodies.” Hawk sighed. “Canadian, it looks like. Enforcers are already in touch with Michel to get them back over the border and out of our territory for good.”

“Good riddance,” Harley muttered.

“And Blakely?” I asked.

“Still looking for her,” Hawk said.

Anger burned low in my gut. Even weakened, and in this much pain, the thought of Blakely running free out there was enough to make my dragon hiss.

“And when we find her, I’ll strangle her myself,” Harley said.

I chuckled as I ran my palm over her nape. “Anything you want, babe.”

“I’ve got guys tracking her,” Hawk said. “We’ll find her. She’s got nowhere left to run.”

“Good. And any police involvement?”

“You literally just woke up,” Hawk said. “How do you have this many questions?”

“I’m the alpha,” I said. “It’s my job to have questions.”

“No police involvement,” Hawk said. “Since Forrest resigned, they’ve mostly left us alone. Even with that, though, the cops weren’t alerted to the challenge. We were deep enough in the woods that no one outside the clan knew it was happening.”

I looked at Hawk closely. “And the cleanup?”

Hawk's face fell. I thought back to the conversation we’d had on the porch. How Hawk had wanted to do something to say goodbye to our brother.

I wondered if he had said goodbye while moving Sean’s lifeless body.

“Rome and I handled it.” His voice was only slightly unsteady. “I’ll tell you the details later. But it’s handled. Trust me.”

“I do,” I said. “And I’m grateful. Thank you.”

Hawk cleared his throat hard. “I need a coffee,” he said. “I’ll call the guys and give them an update. Everyone’s worried about you.”

“Tell them I’m grateful to all of them, too,” I said. “But they better not visit until tomorrow.”

Hawk laughed. “Yeah, that’s fair. You get a day of recovery before you’re smothered with a bunch of excitable dragons.” He pointed his finger at me. “Just one , though!”

Hawk was already calling people as he left the hospital room. A calm quiet descended on the room, broken only by the monitor beeping quietly.

“Hey,” I said. “Come up here.”

“Huh?” Harley sat up. “You’re hurt.”

“It’ll help me heal. I promise.” I scooted over on the bed, then patted the empty space I’d made.

Harley bit her lower lip, hiding a smile. “If the nurse comes in and chews you out, you’re taking the blame.”

“With pleasure.”

Harley climbed up into the cot and nestled against my side. She felt so soft and warm against me, and I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. I pushed my nose into the crown of her head and inhaled her familiar scent. My dragon was immediately soothed and purred in pleasure.

She was safe. We were all safe.

“How have the past two days been?” I asked, tracing circles on her shoulder. “What did I miss?”

“Everyone’s been staying at our house.”

Our house. It was. And I loved hearing her say that.

“It’s been an endless parade of food, really,” Harley continued.

“The enforcers were tracking down the guys, and others were looking for Blakely, but other than that we’ve just been cooking and eating.

I’ve been here most of the time, so Mia’s been bringing meals.

Dylan’s been spending a lot of time with Bella.

I think playing with her calms his nerves. ”

“Probably soothes his alpha, too. Protecting the youngest members.”

She smiled fondly. “Is that what it is?”

“That’s how I was when I was his age.”

“Mm. He’s so much like you.” She sighed heavily. She leaned against my chest and closed her eyes. “I was so afraid we were going to lose you, but I know you did the right thing.”

A weight I hadn’t realized was there suddenly lifted off my heart. I knew I had done what I had to do, but I had still been carrying a swirl of guilt. Like there should’ve been an easier way. A different way. A way that hadn’t threatened my life.

But Harley thought I did the right thing, and that was all that mattered.

“I’d do anything to keep you safe,” I murmured. “Anything. Forever.”

“I know that.” She nuzzled her nose against my chest like an affectionate cat. Her closeness, and the gentle beating of her heart, was making the exhaustion roll back over me.

“Sleep,” she whispered. “I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

It was as simple as that. I drifted into sleep with Harley at my side, and the danger that had been haunting us was finally gone.