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Is he threatening Spark? Or me?

“Don’t you think it’s time you went home, where you belong?” Striker asked and then jerked on her leash. “Come on.”

Mina knew she had two options. Put up a fight and maybe get her ass sent to the gas chamber, or follow Striker outside and pray for an opportunity to escape.

Neither was an option she was overly fond of.

Striker began to drag her through the center to the front door.

Before he could shove her outside, a welcome sight greeted her.

Mina yipped and strained at the end of the leash, trying to get to Spark.

“Mina?” Spark asked and then glared at Striker. “What the hell are you doing with her?”

Striker pointed to the Silver Skulls patch on his cut. “She belongs with her own kind. I’ve waited a long time to make Mina my mate, and now seems like the perfect time.”

“You mean now that Shadow isn’t around to stop you,” Spark countered. “He left her in my care and she’s damn well going home with me.”

Striker let out a belly laugh. “As if the alpha would leave his precious daughter in your hands. Oh, I have no doubt he assigned her care over to your club, but I seriously doubt he chose you specifically.” Striker sniffed the air around Sparks. “Especially since you’re not mated.”

“I won’t let you walk out of here with her.”

Mina pulled on the leash again, trying to get to Spark.

She didn’t care if she damn near strangled herself; she wanted to be with him and not the asshole holding the leash.

The officer inside seemed to notice the commotion out front and came to investigate.

Mina doubled her efforts to get to Spark, and did everything to convey a dog anxious to see her master.

“What’s the problem?” the officer asked.

“Why did you give my dog away?” Spark asked. “You assured me I had 48 hours to pick her up and it hasn’t even been an hour.”

“Well,” the officer blustered. “He had pictures of himself with the dog. Much more concrete evidence than your word that she belongs to you.”

Spark gestured toward Mina. “And who does it look like she belongs to? Does that look like a dog anxious to go with the man you signed her over to?”

The officer scratched his head. “Now that you mention it, she did growl and snap at him inside, but I didn’t think much of it. But seeing her with you, I can tell the difference in a dog that wants to go somewhere and one who doesn’t.”

“I want my dog,” Spark said, almost growling the words.

Oohhh… So sexy! Mina yipped and tried to reach Spark again.

“I’m afraid there’s not much I can do. The papers were all signed and everything is legally taken care of. I can’t take her back now, not unless he wants to surrender her,” the officer said.

Striker laughed. “Fat chance. Mina is mine and I’m taking her home now.”

Striker began dragging her through the parking lot to one of the trucks owned by the Silver Skulls.

She fought as hard as she could, even biting him on the ankle when he came close enough.

When he reached for Mina and tried to lift her into the truck, she bit his arm and growled, leaving no doubt that she meant business.

“Bitch!” Striker backhanded her hard enough that she let out a yelp and went rolling.

“Now, see here!” The officer hurried over. “If you don’t hand that dog over immediately, I’m going to have you arrested for animal cruelty.”

Mina played up the part of an injured dog, whining and wagging her tail, as she belly crawled toward the officer.

Striker dropped her leash, sneered at her and called her another nasty name, then jumped in the truck and peeled out of the lot.

Spark rushed to her side, running his hands over her fur as he checked her over.

She licked his cheek in appreciation and didn’t put up a fuss as he picked her up.

“I don’t give a rat’s ass about your paperwork,” Spark said. “Mina is coming with me.”

“I suppose that’s the least I can do. I didn’t mean for her to get hurt. We take that kind of thing very seriously around here.”

Spark put her in the passenger’s seat of her car, then buckled himself into the driver’s seat. He gave her a rather intense stare.

“We’re going to discuss your running away when we get back to the hotel, understood? This could have ended very badly, and all because you decided to rebel and run off in a snit.”

She whined at him and curled up on the seat, curling her tail over her nose.

Spark reached over and rubbed her behind her ears, as if to reassure her, then pulled out of the parking lot. He drove straight to the hotel, pulling around back and putting up the top on the car. Reaching into the backseat, he pulled out a sundress and tossed it toward her.

“You’re going to have to shift and dress in the car.

There’s a no pet policy at this hotel. Someone already complained about a dog leaping off my balcony and I had to let them check the place out and see that I didn’t have any doggy paraphernalia.

Your little stunt has gotten us into quite a bit of trouble. ”

Mina called to her human self and shifted back, not missing the heated look in Spark’s eyes as he visually caressed her curves.

She tugged the dress over her head and smoothed it down over her hips.

The fact he’d never looked away wasn’t lost on her, but she doubted it meant he was going to claim her as his mate, even though it would certainly solve the issue with Striker.

Mina had no doubt the man would be back, making a pest of himself.