The door banged back. It wasn’t Hugh who rushed in, though, but a whole pack of white-coated nurses. They swept Hayley aside, one of them grabbing her arm as the rest converged on Griff’s thrashing form. She caught a brief glimpse of two of the nurses struggling to hold down his powerful, mismatched limbs while a third plunged a syringe into the side of his neck, before she was hustled out the door.
“Let me go!” Hayley twisted futilely against the nurse’s grip, but he was clearly a shifter. He held her captive with inhuman ease. “I want to stay with him!”
“I don’t care what you want,” the nurse snapped as he dragged her back along the corridor. “I don’t have time to deal with hysterical humans. How did you even get in here in the first place?”
“I have a right to be here.” Hayley looked around wildly for Ash or Hugh, but they were nowhere to be seen. “You can’t throw me out. I’m his mate!”
“I have no idea what that freak is, but he’s certainly no shifter.” The nurse dumped her unceremoniously outside the ward doors. “And that means he can’t have a mate. You have no rights here. Get out, and stay out.”
***
There was a police car parked outside her house. Hayley stared blankly at it as she paid her taxi driver, her numb mind struggling to process its presence.
Police car. Here.
Why would Connie call the police? Has Reiner been trying to get in?
“Connie? Chase?” she called softly as she let herself into the house. She could tell immediately from the stillness that Danny was still asleep, even though it was nearly ten in the morning.
He must be e
xhausted after everything last night. We’ll both need lots of rest today. I’ll have to call school, and work…
Her brain stalled out. She was simply too tired to think of what else needed to be done. At least she could count on Griff’s friends—her friends—to help out.
“Connie?” she said again, heading for the front room. “Why’s there a police car-?”
She stopped dead.
There wasn’t just a police car outside.
There were police officers in her house.
“Hayley!” Connie leaped up from a chair, taking her hands. The curvy pilot’s face was pale and worried. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t to tell you over the phone. I didn’t want you to feel like you had to rush back.”
“She should have rushed back,” muttered a man sitting on her sofa. He was wearing a sharp suit and an extremely pissed-off expression. “She’s kept us waiting over an hour.”
If looks could kill, Chase would have buried the man over an hour ago. The pegasus shifter radiated menace as he glared at both the man, and a woman seated next to him. Every muscle in his shoulders and chest was tense and ready.
“I’m sorry too, Hayley,” he said. “We couldn’t keep them out. But just give me the word, and I swear I will kick them out. One way or another.”
The two police officers flanking the sofa growled, low in their throats. With a jolt, Hayley realized that they possessed the subtle but unmistakable feral aura of shifters.
“There’s no need for that,” said the woman, rising. Her pink twinset had clearly been chosen to appear friendly and approachable, but there was a certain firmness to the set of her jaw that meant the overall effect was of a Rottweiler wearing a fuzzy cardigan. “Let’s not have any unpleasantness.”
“What is this?” Hayley looked around at them all, unable to comprehend why there were so many strangers in her house. “What’s going on?”
“Me first,” the man on the sofa interrupted as the woman opened her mouth. “I’ve wasted enough time here today already.” He got up, unceremoniously thrusting a folder of papers into Hayley’s hand. “Ms. Hayley Dana Parker, on behalf of my client, Mr. Reiner Hans Ljonsson, I am formally notifying you of our intent to sue for full, sole, and immediate custody of Daniel Jamie Parker.”
Papers fell out of Hayley’s suddenly nerveless hand. “What?”
“Due to extreme and urgent concern for his son’s safety and welfare, my client has petitioned the court for an extraordinary hearing as per the Juvenile Shifter Protection Act of 1968, Section three, paragraph eighteen,” the lawyer rattled on in a bored monotone, ignoring her interruption entirely. “You may expect a court summons imminently. Until the case has been settled, you are legally required to keep Danny within Brighton city limits. Should you break these conditions, you will be pursued by the Wild Hunt and, should you survive capture, may face penalties of up to fifteen years’ imprisonment. You will find all the details required by your defense team in the provided brief. Any questions? Good. See you in court.”
Without waiting so much as a second for a response, the lawyer strode out of the room. Hayley stared after his back in shock, then switched her gaze to the woman. “What?” she repeated.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Parker. I know this must all be rather overwhelming.” The woman extended a hand with a smile that didn’t reach her hard eyes. “I’m from Shifter Social Services. I’m afraid I’m going to need to ask you some questions.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX