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The chapel erupted in gasps and murmurs. Sheriff Lawman's face turned an alarming shade of red, while Smokie looked like someone had just told him Christmas was canceled.

"But... but why?" Smokie asked, clutching Mr. Snuggles to his chest. "Don't you love me?"

"I love someone else," Hazel said, the words feeling like truth for the first time in days. "I'm sorry, but I love someone else, and I can't pretend anymore."

"That smuggling criminal?" Sheriff Lawman roared, rising from his seat. "That no-good, cargo-running, wedding-disrupting—"

He was interrupted by the sound of screeching tires outside the chapel. Through the windows, Hazel could see a black Trans Am sliding to a stop in the parking lot, throwing up gravel and dust.

The mating bond exploded with joy.

"Oh, thank the goddess," Hopper said with obvious relief. "Cavalry's here. And just in time, too—I was starting to think you'd actually go through with this disaster."

The chapel doors burst open with enough force to make them bounce off the walls.

Bullseye stood in the doorway, still wearing his road clothes and looking like he'd driven through hell to get there.

His dark hair was windblown, his shirt was wrinkled, and there was a wild look in his eyes that spoke of mating bonds and desperation and love.

He was the most beautiful thing Hazel had ever seen.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, his voice carrying clearly through the shocked silence. "Traffic was murder."

"YOU!" Sheriff Lawman bellowed, pointing a meaty finger at Bullseye. "You have some nerve showing up here! This is a private ceremony!"

"Not anymore," Bullseye said, his eyes never leaving Hazel's face. "Hazel, we need to talk."

"She's getting married!" Smokie protested, though his voice cracked on the last word. "To me! We're in the middle of the ceremony!"

"No," Hazel said, her voice getting stronger as the mating bond sang with renewed life. "We're not. I'm not marrying you, Smokie. I can't."

She started walking toward Bullseye, each step making the bond brighter and stronger. The wedding guests were murmuring in shock, but she didn't care. All that mattered was the man standing in the doorway, looking at her like she was everything he'd ever wanted.

"You chose the cargo," she said when she reached him, though there was no real accusation in her voice anymore.

"No," Bullseye said quietly, reaching out to cup her face in his hands. "I chose you. I dumped the cargo, Hazel. All of it. Snowman's disposing of it safely right now."

"You dumped eighty thousand gold pieces worth of Bond Buster?"

"I'd dump a million gold pieces if it meant getting you back." His thumbs brushed across her cheekbones, wiping away tears she didn't realize she'd been crying. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for being an idiot, for choosing money over you, for almost losing the best thing that ever happened to me."

"ARREST HIM!" Sheriff Lawman roared. "Arrest him for trespassing! For disrupting a wedding! For breathing!"

"Daddy, calm down," Smokie said, though he looked like he was about to cry. "Maybe we should just—"

"I AM CALM!" the sheriff bellowed, clearly anything but. "And I am going to see that criminal in chains if it's the last thing I do!"

"You'll have to catch me first," Bullseye said, grinning at Hazel. "Want to get out of here?"

"Thought you'd never ask," Hazel said, grinning back.

"STOP THEM!" Sheriff Lawman shouted, but Bullseye was already scooping Hazel up in his arms, wedding dress and all.

They ran for the Trans Am as chaos erupted behind them. Sheriff Lawman was shouting orders, wedding guests were either cheering or screaming depending on their perspective, and Smokie was asking Mr. Snuggles what they should do now.

"The dress is going to get caught in the door," Hazel pointed out as Bullseye deposited her in the passenger seat.

"Then we'll cut it," he said, firing up the engine. "I've got a knife in the glove compartment."

"I like this dress."

"I'll buy you ten dresses. A hundred dresses. Whatever you want."

The Trans Am roared to life just as Sheriff Lawman burst out of the chapel, his face purple with rage. "GET BACK HERE!" he shouted. "NOBODY MAKES A FOOL OF THE LAWMAN FAMILY!"

"Too late," Hopper observed from Hazel's bouquet. "Pretty sure that ship has sailed."

Bullseye threw the car into gear and they shot out of the parking lot, tires squealing. In the rearview mirror, Hazel could see Sheriff Lawman running for his patrol car while wedding guests poured out of the chapel to watch the show.

"You know he's going to chase us," she said, settling into the passenger seat and trying to arrange her dress so it wouldn't get tangled in anything important.

"I'm counting on it," Bullseye said, downshifting as they hit the main road. "I've got a reputation to maintain."

"What about the cargo? Won't the dragons be upset that you dumped their Bond Buster?"

"Probably. But I technically delivered it to New York within the time limit, so they can't say I didn't complete the contract." He grinned at her, and the mating bond hummed with shared joy. "Besides, we've got bigger problems right now."

Behind them, Sheriff Lawman's patrol car burst out of the chapel parking lot like a rocket, emergency lights flashing and siren wailing. He was followed by what looked like half the wedding party, including several other law enforcement vehicles.

"PULL OVER!" the sheriff's voice boomed through a megaphone. "PULL OVER RIGHT NOW!"

"Not a chance," Bullseye said, pressing harder on the accelerator. The Trans Am shot forward, putting distance between them and their pursuers.

"You know," Hazel said, watching the parade of flashing lights in the side mirror, "for a minute there, I thought you weren't coming."

"I almost didn't," Bullseye admitted. "I almost convinced myself that completing the job was more important than anything else. But then I realized something."

"What?"

"That I'm not just a cargo hauler anymore. I'm your mate. And mates don't abandon each other for dragon gold."

The mating bond flared with such intensity that Hazel had to catch her breath. "So what happens now?"

"Now?" Bullseye grinned, taking a hard right turn that made the wedding dress billow around her like a white cloud. "Now we outrun the law, avoid getting arrested, and figure out how to build a life together."

"In that order?"

"Definitely in that order."

Behind them, Sheriff Lawman's voice echoed through his megaphone: "YOU CAN'T RUN FOREVER! I'LL CHASE YOU TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH!"

"Challenge accepted," Bullseye said, and the Trans Am roared into the night, carrying them toward whatever came next.

"Well," Hopper said philosophically, "at least this time you're running toward something instead of away from it."

"Best wedding ever," Hazel said, leaning over to kiss Bullseye's cheek as they disappeared into the darkness, chased by flashing lights and the sound of sirens.

And for the first time in days, the mating bond felt exactly right.