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Rhen collides with me as he tugs her head back. Her eyes flutter and roll into the back of her skull. She mumbles but crashes again as her body absorbs the bond, letting it heal her. She takes all the strength it can give her. The others are eager to mark her too, but we have to wait. We can’t risk her losing more blood while her body tries to heal.

“Good girl,” I whisper. I rock her and clutch her tighter. My heartbeat syncs with hers as the warmth returns to her body. “We’ve got you. You’re safe,” I tell her. My fingers tangle in her hair as I kiss the side of her head. I can smell Corbin and his mates all over her. I want to get rid of their scents, reclaim what’s mine, and show her how much we need and love her.

Ambulance sirens sound in the distance as they come up the driveway. Leon darts out to flag them down. Within minutes, the entire mansion is flooded with officials and law enforcement. Paramedics tend to Harlow and Leo, who has been staring off vacantly since Corbin died.

He must feel my gaze on him because his eyes slowly move from Corbin’s corpse to mine. I nod my head to him, and he nods back. The movement looks like it takes every ounce of energy he has left as he clutches his chest. How he’s still alive is beyond me. It must be torture, feeling the pain he is going through, but he kept his promise, so for that, I owe him.

I will do as I promised and keep his daughter safe, knowing I will never be able to truly make it up to him. He sacrificed his life for Harlow’s and saved my daughter while trying to save his own from a horrible fate. He knew he couldn’t protect her if she was left in Corbin’s hands.

I want to mark him, but I won’t. As much as he’s done for us, and despite the fact I forgive him for killing my mother, he is old enough to be my father, not my mate. He also doesn’t seem like the type of person who is willing to submit, especially to someone younger than him. Corbin was one thing. That was a deal made out of desperation. I know he will not make another, even to save his life.

I will also never share Harlow with anyone else. She is ours. He knows that and knows what he signed up for when he gave her my serum. I can smell it on her, smell it over all the other scents I want to rid her of.

Chapter Forty-Seven

Harlow

Warmth surrounds me. And the smell of safety. I inhale it with each breath I take. It’s a scent I thought I would never smell again. It’s the scent of my mates. There’s a distant beeping noise that grows louder, along with the feeling of someone moving me. There’s a cuff around my arm, and it grows tighter as it squeezes. The surrounding murmuring also grows louder.

I groan, not wanting to move. Every part of me feels like dead weight. I ache everywhere, but it is so painfully delicious because it means I am alive. Pain proves my heart is still beating, and it’s in time with Thane’s. I am lying on his chest and I turn my face into his neck. I feel the paramedic remove the blood pressure cuff and open my eyes to Thane’s.

“Hey,” he whispers, brushing his nose across my cheek before kissing it. “We thought we lost you.”

“Leon?” I ask, suspecting he’s the reason I’m alive. Nothing heals faster than vampire blood, and Leon’s is extra potent for us since he’s our mate. Thane lets out a shaky breath, nods, and tugs me closer. “Leo?” I whisper. We already lost Talon, and I lost a sister I never knew I had. The thought of losing a former enemy-turned friend seems too much to bear.

“Alive, for now. He isn’t doing too well. But we’ll get him home to Emily. He’ll be able to spend whatever time he has left with her.”

I nod, tears pricking my eyes. Will his daughter hate me because he sacrificed his life for mine?

“Harlow… I know he saved you, but—” Thane starts, but I cut him off.

“No. I am not asking you to mark him, Thane. I don’t expect that of you. Besides, it would be weird, since I’m the same age as his daughter,” I admit.

Thane hums in agreement, and I grip his shoulder, dragging myself up higher.

“You need to rest. Lay back down,” Thane scolds me. He’s right. Even that slight movement sends my surroundings spinning, but I think that is more to do with the strange new senses I gained from Thane’s serum than anything else. Still, I have something far more important to do than rest.

I bury my face in his neck, and my gums tingle as I partially shift. My canines elongate as I press them against his skin. Thane’s breathing hitches when he realizes what I am about to do, but it won’t work if he refuses my bite. His fingers tangle in my hair as he offers me his neck. I lick the spot before sinking my teeth into him.

Thane clutches me to him, holding me tightly as my teeth pierce through his thick tissue and bands of muscle. His blood fills my mouth, and I swallow it as I choke on the feeling of the bond becoming fully formed. His feelings smash me harder than ever before. Relief, love, home. Everything I once thought he would never feel toward me. To him, I am home. Little does he know, he is also my home. They all are and have been from the moment I laid eyes on them. I just didn’t know it then or believe it could be possible.

Rhen, Raidon, and Leon all feel me mark Thane. Their relief is palpable, along with his. I pull my teeth from his neck, only for his lips to crash down on mine, softly at first, before he starts devouring me. I chuckle and blush, knowing there is a paramedic sitting next to us.

“Mine,” I mumble around his mauling lips.

“Yours,” he agrees, finally letting me breathe.

* * *

I rest my head on Thane’s shoulder, missing the rest of our mates. They tried to insist that I go to the hospital, but instead, I make the paramedic take us to the airport. I just want to go home. Besides, there are plenty of medical professionals in Raidon’s family. When the ambulance stops, and I climb out with Thane, another pulls up beside us. Rhen climbs out backward, shaking his head and looking rather angry.

“What is it?” Thane demands.

“He wants to come with us. He’s ignoring the paramedics,” Rhen says as he helps Leo climb down, still not facing us. The moment he does, I pounce on Rhen, very unsteadily. It is more like a tackle, as I don’t expect to be able to move so quickly. Rhen catches me anyway, and I lock my legs around his waist. Another car pulls up, and Raidon and Leon climb out.

“Are you sure, Leo? You don’t look too good,” Thane tells him, and I lift my head. Leo is not healing well now his bond is severed. Half his torso is covered in blood-soaked bandages.

“I am not dying before I see my daughter again,” he coughs. Thane grabs him, and Leo growls.