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I t was after dinner when Hawk finally returned to the clubhouse. Harley was at the house with Dylan and Cassidy, and I’d promised not to be gone too long. She deserved to know what had happened with her mom, but I needed to talk to Hawk about it in private first.

It was a relaxed night at the clubhouse, with a few members shooting pool and Tammy behind the bar. Hawk dropped into the stool next to me and let out a tired sigh.

“So what’d you find out?” I asked.

Hawk rubbed his temples. “Those guys were definitely paid off.”

“Paid off? What do you mean?”

“I mean, they didn’t tell me a damn thing,” Hawk said. “It’s obvious they saw something , but they wouldn’t say what. They only confirmed that Liz Founty was there, but they were cagey about everything else.”

Honestly, that was all the confirmation I needed. “So something happened.”

“Definitely. It looks like Forrest is using Liz to try to lure out Harley, probably on Sean’s advice.”

My dragon snarled and surged even closer to the surface.

He hadn’t backed off at all, really, not since I pulled up to the police station and saw Forrest peering out of the window like the little creep he was.

My mate was being targeted from all sides.

Whenever we had one threat under control, a new one appeared.

I felt like I was playing whack-a-mole, knocking out threats as they arose.

Running after Sean and Forrest, instead of striking them down.

My dragon was losing his patience with that.

He wanted me to protect my mate, no matter the cost. My dragon didn’t think about the future. My dragon thought about immediate dangers, immediate solutions. He wanted me to track down Sean and Forrest and tear them apart.

“Hey, stop that.” Tammy swatted my hand with a dish rag. “Didn’t you just get the bar refinished?”

“Shit.” I hadn’t realized my claws were out. I withdrew them, leaving eight deep marks in the shining wood. “Sorry, Tammy.”

“Don’t apologize to me, you paid for it,” she said. “That dragon’s getting pissed, huh?”

“Understatement,” Hawk said. “Mine is, too.”

I resisted the urge to bare my teeth in confirmation. Tammy slid me a beer, then went back to the other end of the bar to serve the guys drinking between rounds of pool.

If my dragon was this close to the surface, Sean’s had to be even worse. He was an alpha without a clan. He didn’t have dragons to keep him in check. He was getting more impulsive, following his dragon’s instincts, and not his human ones. Soon he’d be completely out of control.

Worse, he’d be feral.

“I’m sick of chasing after them,” I growled.

“Me too,” Hawk said. “But you know we can’t just attack, no matter how much we want.”

“It’d be the easier solution, though,” I said. My dragon agreed, snapping his jaws internally. “But if we went that route, we’d both end up in prison.”

“Yep. Especially if Forrest is working with Sean. Forget due process.”

“How deep do you think Forrest’s vendetta runs?” I asked. “I thought he just wanted to throw me back in prison, but could it be more than that?”

“I don’t know,” Hawk said. “Sean can be… convincing. Even though he’s crazy and pathetic, he’s still an alpha. He hasn’t screwed Forrest over yet, so Forrest still might buy what he’s selling.”

“The honeymoon stage,” I murmured. That was how Sean got guys to work with him. He lured them in with an alpha’s natural charm and lots of pie-in-the-sky promises, but he could never follow through.

“It gets worse,” Hawk said.

“How the fuck could this get worse?” I blinked at Hawk. I felt like nothing could surprise me anymore.

“The guys working at the bar didn’t tell me anything, but the customers did.”

“They saw Liz get drugged?”

“Not exactly,” Hawk said. “But Forrest was there the night before last. Before Liz showed up.”

“Okay…”

“Keep your dragon down when I tell you this.”

“Just tell me.”

“He was there with Blakely.”

“Jesus Christ!” I slammed the side of my fist against the bar, hard enough to rattle the pints at the other end. My claws were back out, digging into my palms.

“Apparently they looked pretty cozy together,” Hawk said.

“This is bad.”

“And unexpected,” Hawk agreed. “I honestly didn’t think she’d ever get over you. Especially not after you saved her life.”

“Don’t remind me.” I glanced down at the red marks on my palms, then withdrew my claws again. “I don’t think she’s gotten over me at all. She’s never liked Forrest. She’s using Forrest to get back at me. Helping him, somehow.”

“Which means she’s helping Sean, too.”

“Fuck.” I sat up in my bar stool and raked my hand through my hair. “You know, when Harley put the fear of God into her, I really thought we might be done with her.”

“She’s like a roach. Indestructible.”

I stood up. “I’ll go talk to her.”

“What? Right now?”

“Yes, right now. I’m not letting this spiral out of control any more than it already has.” I sighed, then placed my hand on Hawk’s shoulder and squeezed. “Thanks for investigating the bar. I’ll handle this.”

First, I had to talk to Harley.

Outside, I leaned against my motorcycle and called my mate.

She picked up on the first ring. “Steph? Everything okay?”

“Hawk just got back from the bar where your mother was picked up,” I said. “He asked around about what happened.”

“So you still think she was telling the truth?”

“I do,” I said. “And on top of that, apparently Forrest was there. With Blakely.”

“What? What the hell was she doing there?”

“I had the same question. I’m going to her place to ask.”

Harley exhaled hard. “Seriously? Now?”

“I need to see where her head is at,” I said. “See how deeply she’s involved in this. If she’s decided to help out Forrest and Sean…”

“Then she’s an idiot,” Harley said. “God. I wish that bitch would just disappear.”

I hummed in agreement. If she didn’t bow out of whatever she was doing with those two, she might have to disappear. As infuriating as Blakely was, I hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

“I really thought I had gotten through to her,” Harley said. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for. This is all Blakely—her and Forrest.”

“Be careful when you go over there,” Harley said. “I have a bad feeling about all of this, Steph.”

“I will be. I love you, Harley.”

Another sigh. “I love you too, Steph.”

I ended the call and climbed onto my bike. If I couldn’t stop Sean tonight, I could at least end this mess with Blakely.

The night was cool and dark as I drove toward Blakely’s apartment.

It wasn’t as good as flying, and my dragon longed to stretch his wings and soar over the mountains.

I was so furious, though, I knew if I shifted I wouldn’t only work off some of this excess energy, but my dragon would take me straight to Sean.

One step at a time.

I gunned my engine, relishing the speed. The wind rushed over my shoulders and arms, whipping my jacket back. I would never ride like this with Harley. It was too reckless, too dangerous. But fuck, it felt good, and I needed it.

Headlights flashed behind me, illuminating the two-lane highway like a brief lightning strike before they cut off. An engine roared as a black SUV pulled out of a dirt road turnoff. The tires squealed against the asphalt as the SUV picked up speed.

Yep, Harley was right about that bad feeling.

The SUV drove right up to my back tire, then swerved to the left, driving on the wrong side of the empty road.

The engine roared again as they picked up speed until they were right next to me.

My focus narrowed onto the bike and the road.

This was exactly what Sean’s goons had done to Harley—picked up speed, spooked her, and run her off the road.

That wouldn’t work on me, though. Especially not when I was on my bike, which was almost an extension of my body. I smirked and kept the bike steady, matching the SUV’s speed. The car began to veer closer, inching over the dividing line and into my lane.

I hit the brakes on my bike and dropped my speed.

The SUV roared forward, overtaking me as it swerved into my lane, scraping onto the shoulder and kicking up dirt before it drove back onto the asphalt.

I memorized the license plate. The SUV slammed on its brakes, trying to brake-check me and send me into the rear window, but that was an obvious maneuver.

I saw it coming from a mile away. I slid my bike to the left, onto the wrong side of the road.

Headlights shone ahead at the top of the upcoming hill. It’d be dicey, but I had time… I hoped.

I revved my engine. The SUV did too. They picked up speed. I picked up speed. I raced next to the SUV, urging my bike faster and faster.

The headlights from the oncoming truck shone into my eyes, and the driver sounded their horn.

Shit. The SUV was souped up. The powerful engine matched my speed, keeping me locked in the wrong lane.

I needed a little more juice. I urged my bike forward, forward. The headlights nearly blinded me. The SUV and the oncoming car both honked wildly, surrounding me from both sides.

I flipped my nitrous switch.

The gas injected into my engine, and my bike roared like a dragon and leaped forward with a burst of acceleration. I slipped right over the yellow line, just ahead of the SUV, right as the oncoming truck barreled forward. It was so close it clipped the mirror off the SUV.

My engine roared as I put more distance between me and the SUV.

I repeated the license plate to myself a few times, locking it in my memory so I could text the details to Hawk.

It didn’t look like they were following me.

Whoever tried to run me off the road wasn’t brave enough to fight me outside of the car.

I smirked. Maybe they weren’t total idiots.

When I got to Blakely’s apartment, my bad mood was worse than ever before. I parked my bike and wrenched off my helmet, then stormed up to her door. It was late and dark, but I couldn’t care less. I pounded on the door incessantly until the lock finally clicked open.