"As long as she breathes," he screamed back.

"Good! Let's get going." Jonas released him, and only then did Matthias see the basket that Grace had been strapped into and the medic working furiously to keep her alive.

"Jump in." Jonas pushed him to the wide metal basket used to transport the wounded from the ground to the hovering heli-jet above. "You and the medic. The hospital has been notified, and Drs. Armani and Morrey are en route."

Matthias clutched the side of the basket, as he knelt on one side of Grace, the medic on the other. An IV was strapped to her arm, a compress on her chest.

Sweet God, they had shot her in the chest. He felt the grief raging inside him now, the knowledge he could lose her, and he knew he would never bear the pain of it.

She had to live. Without her, he would never be warm again.

As the Breeds waiting in the transport heli-jet secured the basket, the hum of the craft grew louder. He heard the report the medic was transmitting to the hospital in New York City. Her vitals, the site of her wound and its depth. She was on oxygen and had an IV. Surgeons were waiting, and the Breed doctors were on their way.

Within minutes the heli-jet was landing, and they were taking Grace away from him. She was loaded onto a stretcher and rushed across the roof as a second heli-jet landed and deposited the two doctors, who had been redirected from a flight to Virginia just minutes behind Jonas. Drs. Armani and Morrey rushed across the landing area and followed the gurney. Within seconds, the heli-jets lifted off and left Matthias alone.

He stood on the hospital roof, staring around at the blinking lights, the buildings that rose like sentinels around them, and felt a striking loneliness fill his soul.

They had taken Grace away from him. Because of him, she was hurt, possibly dying. Alone. Matthias stared down at his scarred hands and saw her blood, heard the ragged growl that tore from his throat. He was lost.

He stared around the rooftop again and realized that clear to his soul, without Grace, he was simply lost.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Toe Anderson entered the surgery waiting room, his wife, sons, and their families closing in behind him. He knew him the moment he saw the young man Jonas Wyatt had told him to look for.

Wearing black leather, streaked with blood, his face resting in his broad hands, as long, night-black hair flowed around them.

He sat alone. The other families awaiting word on their loved ones were gathered at the other side of the room, casting wary looks his way.

Matthias Slaughter.

Grace had told him about Matthias, of course. Not what he looked like, or about the air of danger that surrounded him. She told him things only a woman would think of. Things like his sadness, his wariness, and how he made her feel.

Joe sighed heavily. This man made his daughter feel alive. Grace had said, "As though there's adventure around every corner, Daddy." And she had laughed. But he had heard the love in that laughter. This was his daughter's man. That made him family. No matter what. Matthias's head lifted, and the scarred face looked around, as he swiped the overly long black hair back from his face. He was an imposing figure. Standing to his feet, Matthias paced over to the windows, looked out, paced back to the small table, sat down, and tried to blend into the shadows of the room. Joe could see the man's attempts to become invisible, and it bothered him. Jonas hadn't said much about this Wolf Breed enforcer, but Joe had learned years ago how to read between the lines. And what he had sensed rather than heard, made him ache for the young man.

Joe fought back his own fear, his own anger at the thought of his daughter lying in surgery, a bullet in her chest, her life hanging on the line.

Daddy, I love you like the flowers love the sunshine. And you know they love it, 'cause they open right up and spread their petals like arms. Have you noticed that, Daddy? They hug the sun, because it keeps them safe and warm. That's why I love hugging you Daddy. You keep me safe and warm. He had to blink back his tears at the memory of her, barely ten, trying to wheedle her way out of some trouble she had gotten into at school. Grace had been his wild child. She had fought and scrapped, climbed trees, and jumped into water that was invariably over her head. Just as she had this time. And just as he had always known she would, she had picked a man strong enough to follow her into adventure. Grace loved adventure. She restrained it now, worked hard, and never got into trouble. But she still liked to climb trees, and she still liked the deeper waters.

"There he is. Joe why are you just standing here?" His wife, Janet, moved around him, her still-shapely figure drawn tight with fear for her daughter and worry for this Breed that their daughter spoke so highly of.

Matthias Slaughter was streaked with dirt and their daughter's blood, and his expression was haggard, bordering on savage. The sight of him broke Joe's heart.

As Joe stood there, Janet and his three daughters-in-law left him alone with his silent sons. Grace's older brothers were a lot like Joe. They watched and assessed.

Joe looked back and saw their eyes, and knew the boys saw the same thing he did. A man almost broken. The Breeds had lived horrifying lives. If that Jonas Wyatt's expression was anything to go by, then this Breed had known hell as few others had.

If he loved Grace as Wyatt said this man did, then the fear he would be feeling right now would be staggering.

He watched as Janet, with her mussed, shoulder-length gray hair and petite figure, fearlessly walked right up to that Breed.

The man's head lifted, and his eyes were alive with rage and agony, as he stared up at Janet. Joe knew the moment Matthias realized who she was. His expression clenched, his reddened eyes turned moist, and he whispered in a rough, growling voice, "She's my sunshine" Joe knew in that moment, Matthias Slaughter was family.

***

MATTHIAS wasn't ready for Grace's family. They would be angry, enraged at the danger he had brought to their daughter. There would be no buying or threatening their acceptance now. If she lived, they would demand his immediate removal from her life, and by God, he couldn't blame them. He stared at his hands. He couldn't wash Grace's blood from them, it was all he had left to hold on to, her blood covering his flesh, reminding him that her love hadn't been a dream. It had been real. As real as the fight she was waging for her life right now.

When he looked up at the figure that moved to stand beside the table, he had immediately been snared by Grace's eyes. Soft, gray, tear-filled eyes in a lined face.

"Matthias, I'm Grace's mother." Her voice was soft, like a whisper of acceptance, and his heart clenched at the pain of it.

"I love her like the sun," he whispered, needing them to know before they accused him, before they raged at him. "She's my sunlight," he repeated.

And he could have never expected what happened next. Tears fell from those soft gray eyes, as she wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder.

His arms gripped her, as she began to cry. His eyes lifted to the other women surrounding him, and to the men who watched him silently.

There was no condemnation. They all looked at him with compassion, especially the older man, the father, whose eyes reddened from the tears he held inside.

"I'm sorry." He was, to the bottom of his soul, so bleakly sorry that she had taken that bullet instead of him. He would give his life to trade places with her. He had offered his life to God to take him instead. He had prayed, bargained, raged, and begged the Almighty not to take his sunlight. The father nodded once. He moved forward then, drew his wife from Matthias's embrace, pulled chairs back from the table for both of them, and introduced Grace's family to him. As though he weren't the enemy. As though it was important he know who they were.

"Not the first time she's been in surgery." Joe cleared his throat, as he sat beside his wife and wrapped his arm around her. "Remember when she was six, Janet?" He cleared his throat as Matthias stared back at him in confusion. "She fell out of that tree and started bleeding internally. I thought we were going to lose her then."

The three sons nodded, the women smiled watery smiles.

Matthias stared at them. "I have money." He clenched his hands on the table. "I have some small connections." They stared back at him questioningly. "I know I didn't protect her well this time." He stared at the blood on his hands. "I'll do better." He lifted his gaze to the father. "I'll make certain I do better in the future." His teeth clenched. He had sworn he would beg if he had to. "Don't take her from me."

Joe blinked, lowered his head, and shook it.

"I won't let it happen again."

Joe lifted his eyes once again. "Matthias"

"I can't live without her." He meant to beg, but it came out as a growl of fury. "She would be torn between us. I don't want this"

"Matthias." It was Janet that reached out to him. She placed her hand on his, over Grace's blood, and caught his eyes with hers.

"We all love Grace. And if she loves you, then you're family. You don't buy acceptance, son. You don't bargain for it. It's there or it's not. You love her, and we accept you because of that. But, she loves you. Because of that, you're family."

"You don't know me." He shook his head, terrified and confused, certain they had to hate him. They had to be hiding it, for Grace's sake.

"We'll get to know you." Joe's voice was a warning.

Matthias latched onto that. A warning. He knew how to handle that. He stared back at the father, whose lips suddenly quirked with hidden knowledge. "Trust me, we'll all get to know each other. Grace will make certain of it."

He could handle that. Matthias nodded sharply before sliding his hand back from Grace's mothers touch. He breathed out roughly, stared around the room, then froze as Dr. Armani, the head Wolf Breed doctor and scientist entered the room with her feline counterpart, Elyiana Morrey. He jerked to his feet. Their expressions were pale, their lab coats wrinkled, and exhaustion marred their features.

"Nikki." He took a step toward her, then froze again.

They were watching him quietly, their gazes flickering over the family, who finally also came to their feet.

He had prayed over the past hours. He had bargained with God. He had begged for just one more chance and offered his life for hers. He had pleaded with a being that hadn't created him, but one Matthias prayed would bless him.

"It was close," Nikki finally said, a smile creasing her dark, exotic features. "But she's alive, Matthias" Two months later

"I told you to wear jeans." Grace was laughing at him, her gray eyes shining with happiness, as tears of mirth rolled down her cheeks. "Didn't I warn you to wear jeans?"

"Shut up, Grace," he growled, attempting to peel the wet leather from his legs as he stood in the middle of their bedroom, dripping from sweat and the pain. "Those brothers of yours are fucking insane," he snarled violently. "Have I ever mentioned they are fucking crazy?" His voice rose at the accusation. She was laughing. She was standing in the middle of the floor, her arms across her stomach, and she bent over, struggling to breathe as she laughed at him.

She was barely healed from the wound she had taken the night the coyotes attacked them. It had been slow progress, until Dr. Armani had given her a transfusion of Matthias's blood. After that, her recovery had moved quickly. Although the blood they had given her in surgery saved her life, her body had attempted to reject it. The unique qualities of the hormones in her body had fought it, and fought her recovery, until Matthias's blood had been added to it.

It shouldn't have worked. Their blood types didn't match, and his Breed blood should have been an instant poison to her system. Instead, from the moment it was introduced, she had begun to heal. Now, two months later, she was standing here laughing her ass off at him because he was coated with mud and grime and struggling to get his damned pants off.