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before the other two, like decorations on her pale skin.
    His bear rumbled in approval. No one would be able to mistake them for anything other than mating marks.
    She was his. She wore his marks. No one would ever take her from him.

Chapter Five
    For the millionth time, Melanie turned over, smiling when Foster grumbled and yanked her close once more. She’d grown so used to Harvey’s preferences—him on one side of the bed and her on the other—that she had trouble sleeping almost beneath her new mate.
    Mate.
    Mel wiggled and sighed, letting his heat sink into her body. Even if it was foreign, she wouldn’t give it up for the world. She could deal with the lack of sleep for a while. She let sleep lure her once more, exhaustion dragging her down as sex-filled dreams crept in…
    The sound was almost too low to hear, but she caught it nonetheless. Just a soft whoosh with a tiny squeak at the end. She should ignore it—every house had their own sounds as they settled—but for some reason, her ferret wouldn’t let her. No, it chittered and chirped, telling her she needed to go investigate. It was… worried.
    About what, she had no clue, but now that it’d gotten the idea in its little mind, waking her up further, she realized she had to pee. Ugh. Stupid thing. She was keeping her ferret on lockdown if she didn’t find a damn thing other than some stupid squirrel who decided to crawl all over the window screens.
    God help her little beastie then.
    Carefully, she wiggled and waggled, easing from beneath Foster’s firm grip. She slipped toward the edge of the bed and snaked her way to the ground. The second her knees hit the carpet, she popped her head back up and darted her gaze through the room like a… ferret. Stupid animal had her hunting for danger like a ferret.
    Ugh.
    Foster didn’t wake, so she eased to her feet and quietly moved to the bedroom door. She bent and snatched his discarded t-shirt from the ground and breathed deeply. His scent imbued the fabric and she slipped it on, her inner beastie loving that they smelled like their mate.
    Another whoosh. Another squeak.
    She should really wake Foster, right? She should. But then the scent of the intruder—and it was a familiar intruder—hit her nose.
    Seriously? Like, seriously? She still kept her movements quiet but increased her pace, quickly making her way down the hallway and toward the center of the home.
    That’s where she found exactly what she’d anticipated.
    Harvey Percival Prendergast.
    Dear God, he had a death wish. There was no other explanation. He’d already received one warning from her mate and now he’d broken into Foster’s—their—home.
    Death. Wish.
    Part of her wanted to do the job herself. Especially when she thought about the pain he’d caused her. Then again, she should probably send him a fruit basket. If he hadn’t screwed up, she’d still be with him and would have never found Foster.
    Yes, a fruit basket. Perhaps a—
    Harvey still hadn’t noticed her. At least, not until he ran right into one of the end tables and nearly sent a half dozen empty beer bottles to the ground. Mel rushed forward, hands outstretched as she caught two of them as Harvey kept the other four from crashing to the ground and instead dropped them soundlessly onto the couch.
    That’s when her ex noticed her, as she lay sprawled half-naked on the ground, Foster’s shirt high on her thighs and stretched to reveal the mating mark on her shoulder.
    “Got you.” His eyes glowed in the dimness.
    The hint of light in the room glinted off something in his hand, his fingers curled around the handle of his… gun.
    “Harvey, what are you doing here?” she hissed in a low whisper.
    “I have you now.” He reached for her, fingers curled and she realized the tips were decorated with his claws. “It’s time to go.”
    Mel let the two bottles go and scrambled away from him. There was no way she’d let him touch her.
    Her animal was adamant about that