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I growled at him, and Sean suddenly broke eye contact, his gaze dropping to the ground in submission.

He was afraid.

Hawk dropped the kid he had pinned, and Rome shoved the other goon back, too. “This is over,” Hawk snapped. “We’re taking Harley back to Lakeview.”

I took a step forward, rage still bubbling inside me.

Who the fuck cared that he hadn’t issued a challenge?

He’d still kidnapped my mate. Threatened my clan.

Threatened my son . Suddenly, I didn’t give a shit about who Sean had been before.

This dragon was no longer my brother. This dragon was nothing but a threat, and if I didn’t end it now, he would keep terrorizing me. Keep terrorizing us.

My alpha hungered to protect my clan. Protect my mate. Even if that meant killing Sean right now.

“Ace.” Hawk strode to my side and squeezed my shoulder. “You know we’ve got your back, but you said you wanted to do this with honor.”

Honor.

A challenge was honorable.

Mauling my brother in front of my mate was not.

My dragon’s rage lowered to a simmer. My human senses came more to the forefront, and I remembered what Hawk had said. How afraid he’d been—how he thought challenging Sean would change me and awaken something dark inside me.

If challenging him didn’t, murdering him in cold blood definitely would.

I bared my fangs at Sean one last time. “If you really think you can take Lakeview from me—like a man, not a coward—then you know where to find me.”

I turned my back to Sean and strode back to our cars. That was a true show of disrespect. I didn’t even fear him enough to keep my eyes on him.

It wasn’t over, but for now, I had my mate and my clan. When Sean came to challenge me for the role of alpha, I’d be ready to take him down for good.

I opened the back door of my Cadillac and slid into the backseat.

Harley frowned at me and scooted back until she was pressed up against the door.

She was putting space between us. I didn’t like it, but I’d respect her need for distance.

She looked like she’d been through hell.

Her gorgeous, wavy hair was dull and limp.

Deep, dark circles ringed her eyes, and her clothes were sweat-stained and dirty.

More than anything, I wanted to pull her into my arms and take away her pain.

“Are you all right?” I asked gently.

“Of course not,” she snapped. “I was kidnapped and left alone in a shitty dark room for days to be a pawn in your stupid beef with your brother.”

I didn’t deny it. How could I? “Did he hurt you?”

She sighed and pushed her hands through her hair. “No. No one touched me.”

Relief crashed through me. At least there was that. If Sean or any of his goons had laid a finger on her, I’d burn this compound to the ground, with no thought about what that would do to me or my clan.

Part of me still wanted to do that.

“I just want to get back to Dylan,” she said. “I just want him to be safe.”

“He’s safe. This won’t happen again. I promise.”

Harley didn’t look convinced in the slightest, and I couldn’t blame her. All I could do was try to be better—and try to keep my promises.

I got out of the back seat and behind the steering wheel, nodding at Hawk. He climbed into the truck with Tank, and Rome revved his bike. I led the caravan as we headed away from Sean’s compound. Harley leaned against the door and looked out the window as we drove.

“You’re not going to like what I have to say,” I said.

She caught my gaze in the rearview mirror. “There’s not much you could say that I would like.”

“Sean won’t stop targeting you. If you leave Lakeview, he’ll only see it as a better opportunity to get to you because the clan and I won’t be around to defend you.

” It was the truth, but I also needed a chance to fix things between us.

To make her understand what had happened—or, more accurately, not happened—between me and Blakely.

I needed to prove to her that her home was here in Lakeview.

I’d gotten so close to having her at my side forever, and I wasn’t going to let her slip away now.

“Right,” Harley said sarcastically. “Because we’ve been so safe in Lakeview so far.”

My heart ached, but again, I couldn’t argue that she was wrong. “I’m going to fix this.”

“You keep saying that.” She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the window.

There was no anger in her voice now, just resignation.

“If Dylan wants to stay, we’ll stay, but only because this has been traumatic for him.

More than it has for me, probably. If he wants to leave, though, we’re out of here. ”

“That’s fair,” I said.

“And if we stay,” she continued, “I’m sleeping in one of the guest rooms. And we’re only staying until this shit with your brother is sorted out. If there’s even a whisper of a threat against Dylan, I’m catching the first plane back to Atlanta.”

“That’s fair, too.” I kept my eyes on the road as I drove us back to my house. I was confident they wouldn’t be leaving, at least not tonight. Dylan needed us both.

“Is Dylan okay?” she asked.

“He was shaken up, but he’s strong, and he knows you’re strong, too. He knew you’d be okay.”

“Good,” Harley said.

“And his aunt’s been helping him.”

“Mia?”

“No.” I smiled. “Dylan asked for Cassidy, and she flew up here the same day.”

Harley sat up straight, her eyes wide. “Cassidy’s here?”

“Yeah. She’s been taking good care of Dylan.”

“Jeez.” Harley rubbed her hand over her forehead. “I owe her big time.”

“Plus… Mm. Don’t tell her I told you this.”

“Told me what?” Her gaze homed in on mine in the rearview mirror again.

“Well, you remember how I told you what it felt like when I first saw you? When my dragon knew we were fated mates?”

Her gaze cut to the side. “Yeah, I remember.”

God, I kept screwing this up. She still thought I had cheated on her. That was too much to explain right now. She needed to recover, see our son, and hug her best friend. Then I’d talk to her about us. “Well,” I continued, “Striker had the same reaction when he saw Cassidy.”

“Seriously?” Harley tipped her head back with a groan. “We’re never going to be rid of you dragons.”

“Probably not. You’re stuck with us.”

When we pulled up at my house, I’d never been happier to see the enormous glass windows and the gleaming lake. It seemed Harley felt the same. She burst out of the Cadillac.

“Dylan!” she shouted as she ran up to the house. I barely had the car in park by the time she reached the door, and I had to sprint after her to catch up.

She threw the front door open and rushed inside. “Dylan! Dylan!”

“Mom!” Dylan appeared at the top of the stairs, eyes wide and hair sticking up every which way like he’d just been asleep.

For a moment, there was a stunned stillness in the house, then Dylan all but catapulted down the stairs. He crashed into Harley, sobbing as he clung to her. “Mom!” he said through his tears. “Mom, you’re okay!”

Harley wrapped her arms around her son. “Yeah, honey, I’m okay. I promise. You did so well getting back here all by yourself. My brave, strong dragon.”

Dylan cried harder. Harley shushed him gently and rubbed his back, up and down. She rested her cheek on the top of his head and closed her eyes.

I wanted nothing more than to pull them both into my arms and shield them from the world, but this was Harley’s moment. As much as my dragon longed to be close to our family, I didn’t want to interrupt, especially not when she was still pissed at me.

“Harley Founty!” Cassidy stormed down the stairs, her ponytail bouncing and her bangs falling across her blazing eyes. Only when she approached could I see the glistening of tears in her eyes. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again.”

“Hey, Cass,” Harley said, mustering a smile. She released Dylan, but he stuck close to her side as she pulled Cassidy into a hard hug. “Thanks for taking care of my baby.”

Cassidy hugged her back, but not before smacking her on the shoulder.

“How dare you thank me for that. That’s my nephew , of course I got here as fast as I could.

” She pulled away and frowned at Harley.

“My god, woman, you need a shower and a hair mask, stat. Come with me. You too, Dylan, you can stand guard.”

Dylan nodded, clearly relieved to have a task to do to help his mom. Cassidy already understood dragons well—Dylan needed to be close to his mom now, and he needed to feel like he was protecting her. Dylan looked back at me. I smiled and gestured for him to go with them.

Dylan returned the smile, and I watched with a heavy heart as the three of them went upstairs.

Even with things so messy between Harley and me, it still felt so right to have all three of them here in the house. Harley had to feel it, too. She and Dylan would stay.

Right?

A knock on the door announced Hawk and Rome. Exhaling hard, I pushed the worries from my mind.

Harley and Dylan were safe. Now, we had to figure out what to do about Sean.