“Hey, Glory. Can you put Tabby on?”
“Sure thing.” She sounded so sweet and demure, right up until she screeched at the top of her lungs, “TA-BBY! PHO-ONE!” He pulled the phone away from his ear with a wince. Damn, that girl had a healthy set of lungs.
His father chuckled. “Isn’t that the girl Ryan showed some interest in?”
Bunny gaped. Ryan had shown interest in one of the girls?
“Tabby speaking. How can I help y’all?”
He shivered. That deep drawl washed over him again, his cock perking up with insistent interest. Damn, he’d left her only six hours ago and already he was jonesing for the sight of her. “Can you do me a favor, baby?”
“Sure, sugar. What do you need?”
“Can you come pick me up? I’m exhausted and I’ve been ordered to leave the bike here.”
There was a pause. “I can’t. I’m expecting a customer in about ten minutes.”
He hated to ask, but damn it he was starting to see double he was so exhausted.
He hadn’t slept a wink in that damn hotel room, pacing and worrying about Tabby and Chloe. His mother had taken one look at him and shaken her head, exasperated. “Can one of the other girls give me a lift?”
“I’ll do one better. Wait there, someone will pick you up shortly. And don’t even think about sneaking off on the bike. If you’re tired enough to call me, you’re too tired to ride.”
He could feel himself blushing. “I wasn’t.”
“Good.” She paused. A bell jingled in the background. It sounded a lot like the one attached to Living Art’s front door. “I have to go.”
Bunny frowned. Her voice had sounded tight. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I—” Something crashed. “Shit. I will be. Gotta go.” She hung up, leaving him standing there, a red haze of anger rising inside him.
“Something’s happening at Living Art.” Bunny headed to the door. “Where’s Ryan?”
“Trouble?” Will followed him.
“Yeah. Dad, you need to stay here or get Ryan to stay here. I need to head to the tattoo parlor and check up on Tabby.”
“Not in your condition.”
Bunny turned and growled at his father. He’d never challenged the older man, but he’d never had a mate before, either.
Will threw his hands up in the air. “I’ll call Ryan, have him meet you there.”
Bunny nodded and stalked toward the elevator, the possible threat to his mate thrumming through his veins. Suddenly he wasn’t so tired anymore.
God help anyone who laid their hands on what was his.
Tabby called 9-1-1, but the damage was done. Someone had thrown something through the window and she had let Bunny know something was wrong. Fuck.
Ten to one he was already on his way over here.
“What the fuck?”
She turned to look at the patron who’d entered the store just before the thing came through the window. What the hell was that anyway? It looked like some kind of metal tube. A pipe, maybe? “Ryan?”
He looked over at her, his pale blue eyes turning brown as she watched. “Where’s Glory?”
“Here.” Glory stepped out from behind the curtain, followed closely by Cyn.
He went right to Glory’s side, his gaze roaming over her, his hands twitching at his sides. “What happened?”
“That came through the window.” Tabby pointed toward the metal object. It lay less than a foot from her.
“Oh no! Are you all right?” Cyn was suddenly right there, checking Tabby over for damage.
“I’m fine. I called 9-1-1.”
Ryan’s gaze was glued to Glory. He sniffed and his nose wrinkled in disgust.
“What’s that smell?”
Tabby looked down at the tube, only then noticing the stench beginning to drift up from it. “Oh, hell. Grab your stuff. Everyone out.”
They hurried out of the store, careful of the broken glass. Ryan scooped Glory up and carried her out, his eyes hard. He barely seemed to notice her weight, but as a Bear, he was much stronger than most men. She probably did feel like a feather in his arms.
Glory, on the other hand, was freaked. She was stiff as a board in his arms. Ryan set her down on her feet, his expression a mix of confusion and concern. “Did you get hurt?”
She backed away rapidly. “I’m fine.”
He looked puzzled, the brown fading away, leaving behind the blue. “Glory?”
Tabby shook her head and moved away. It seemed Glory wasn’t going to take to mating as easily as she’d thought she would. She saw Cyn snarl and pull out her cell phone, gesturing for people to get back, move away from the store.
Then the back of Tabby’s head exploded and the world went black.
Bunny roared to a stop outside Living Art. He turned off the bike and ran toward the huddle of people. “What happened?”
The deputy speaking to Cyn and Glory pointed to the store. “Someone threw a pipe through the window with some kind of stink bomb attached to it. Oh, and that lady over there got attacked. Sheriff’s dealing with her.”
Bunny caught sight of Tabby’s green hair on the concrete and lunged toward the sheriff. His heart pounded with fear. Visions of Chloe lying in a pool of blood haunted him.
Ryan grabbed hold of his arm, trying to stop him. “Tabby’s hurt, but she’s okay.”
He ripped free of his cousin’s grasp and lunged to the center of the crowd. He didn’t care who he shoved out of his way. He had to get to his injured mate.
“Tabby?”
She pulled her hand away from the back of her head with a wince. “Ow. I got hit.”
That Georgia drawl was slurred by pain.
The sheriff and a deputy stood aside and let Bunny get close to his mate. He knelt down, probing the back of her head with his fingers. Sure enough, there was a small, bloody wound forming into a lump. He reached for his Bear, grateful for the strength he gave him. He healed the wound, the exhausting drain worth it when she sighed in relief and sagged against him. He stroked her hair, grateful beyond belief when she smiled up at him. He muttered a silent thanks to Bear for healing his mate and looked up at the sheriff. “She’ll be all right.”
“Did you see who hit you?”
Bunny turned and glared up at the deputy standing next to the sheriff. The man had spoken in a bored tone, rasping across Bunny’s protective instincts. How dare this man take the attack on his mate so lightly? Hell, even Gabe looked briefly disgusted before he once more controlled his expression. Bunny wondered if the deputy was the type of cop who figured anything that happened to a tattoo artist had to be linked to something illegal and was therefore deserved.
Tabby shook her head, wincing a little. “Nope. It was pretty much bam, then lights out.” Bunny stroked her forehead, brushing away the last vestiges of the headache her attacker had caused.
“And no one else was injured.” Anderson was staring down at her, his expression completely closed off. But there was a glint of gold in the man’s eyes that Bunny recognized.
Bunny knew what Anderson was thinking. He closed his eyes, lest someone see the possessive rage boiling in their depths. Someone had deliberately targeted his mate. “Tabby’s coming home with me.”
He knew she was going to protest, but before she could, Cyn’s voice cut through the crowd. “Of course she isn’t. She needs x-rays and stuff, and no argument, you got it?” Tabby bit her lip. Cyn stood there with her hands on her hips, her eyes blazing. “Some son of a bitch thinks he’s going to shut my shop down, take you out without a fight? I don’t think so.” Cyn pointed at Tabby. “You. Go to the hospital.” She pointed to Gabe. “You. Find out who did this and stick their asses in jail, where I sincerely hope they will get reamed multiple times.” The people around Cyn chuckled, but Bunny noticed Cyn wasn’t joking. “Glory and I will clean up.”