The Lion's Loyalty

by Emilia Hartley

  It wasn’t until Carol leaned forward and slapped the answer button on the screen that he sucked in a breath. His chest burned, but the rush of oxygen to his system sharpened the world around him. Carol took his hand in hers. He squeezed right before Sadie spoke.

  “I can’t find my daughter,” Sadie said in a rush. Her voice pitched, becoming unbearably high in her panic. “Alexis won’t answer her phone. She’s ignoring me and I don’t know why.”

  “Is she supposed to be home?” Carol asked for him.

  “Who is this? No, never mind. That’s not important right now. Alexis told me she was going camping with some friends. They mentioned Hyde Park.”

  Carol met Van’s eyes. It was the same park they’d been at not long ago, where the kids were daring each other to climb the waterfall into the dragon’s territory.

  Van cursed under his breath. They needed to put signs on that waterfall. They couldn’t risk people stumbling into that giant lizard’s hands time and time again. Sadie didn’t have to say anything else. Van turned the truck around, tires screeching on the road, and gunned it back toward the park.

  Carol clung to the bucket of chicken in her lap. She cast cautious glances in his direction, but the next time he checked on her, the caution had changed into determination. His mate gripped the handle above her head and held on while he raced down the road. The sun had sunk below the horizon by now.

  Darkness reigned, only split by his headlights. If anything happened to Alexis, Dante would wage a war on the dragon. Van couldn’t let that happen. He was the second in command, the brains behind the brawn. It was on him to keep his alpha steady and level-headed.

  “I’m sorry about our night,” Van said, never taking his eyes off the road.

  “This is what I live for,” Carol said, sounding stronger than ever. “I live to help others.”

  Which was why this ordeal had been hard for her. He understood now. Carol had only ever wanted to serve others, to make the lives around her better. To have everyone doting on her and to need to lean on those around her had been a blow to her ego. A blow she couldn’t stand. She must have felt like herself again when they were helping someone. Like the time at the food truck ring, when she saw the car accident before he did.

  Carol needed to give back in order to accept help. She needed balance, and the pack hadn’t been offering that. He could change that, though. He could address the imbalance in her life. All he needed was to know how she wanted to give back, because that was ultimately her decision.

  He’d seen the way medical supplies made her react. And shifters didn’t exactly need medical attention all that often. Perhaps she would have a new calling among them. The wilderness was vast, and people got lost all the time.

  “What would you say to becoming a search and rescue dog?”

  Carol’s head snapped up. The corner of her mouth quirked in a half smile. The sight of it made his heart flutter. He had to look back to the road to catch his breath.

  “Are you asking me to actually pretend to be a dog?”

  “Only for search and rescue operations. We get you a fake certification and a dope harness then we show up to help find people together. What do you say?”

  Her laughter was bright. It filled his heart with light. Even though it was the evening, he felt like he was standing beneath a midday sun. Her joy was that radiant in his eyes.

  “It’s so sneaky! I’d love it.”

  This time, Van laughed. They had a plan. It would take a while, of course, but as long as Carol was giving back, she could better accept the help that the pack could offer her.

  The park came into view and their mirth abated. Seriousness rolled over them like a wave of fog, bringing with it fatigue. Carol rolled her shoulders after getting out of the truck. Van stepped closer to her. He stood to lose a lot if they stumbled into the irritable dragon man. His alpha’s daughter was out here, possibly in trouble. And if the dragon man turned his rage upon Carol, Van himself would start the very war he was trying to avoid.

  “Stay behind me,” he told her.

  “That’s not going to work,” she told him. “You can’t be my shield every time we do something even remotely dangerous. All we’re doing is finding a teenager. We get her and we leave. I don’t need to hide.”

  Van wanted to argue, to tell her that the dragon shifter could kill them all in a blink of an eye, but he could tell she wasn’t worried about that. To her, this was just as simple as she’d made it sound.

  Was he overthinking it? Was he too afraid to lose her, and so he was seeing danger around every corner?

  Carol took his hand, sniffed the air, and tugged him forward. “I think they’re back at the waterfall. Seems like our display didn’t work.”

  ***

  Carol was tired. Her body ached and complained with each step. Shifting back and forth had drained her. The chicken in the truck had smelled heavenly, but she’d wanted to wait until they could sit down and eat like a real couple. She didn’t think they’d be waylaid, or that they’d be back at this park again.

  Her stomach grumbled for sustenance, but she pushed the gnawing pain aside. Her beast agreed and silenced the need. Carol sucked in a breath, thankful for her beast’s help. The creature could be agreeable. It could work with her. She knew she wasn’t in perfect control yet, but this was a start. It was better than hours ago when her beast had turned tail and run away from Harry.

  To think it had been her brother all along, looking for her, set a part of her that had been in permanent panic at ease. It was like realizing a weight had been pressing her lungs all this time. She could breathe deep. This wasn’t the great fix she’d been yearning for, but it was a step toward better.

  A step toward a life she could feel better about.

  They stalked through the night, the trail toward the waterfall becoming as familiar as the back of their hands. They’d trekked it too many times in the past few days. And, sure enough, there was a camp of teenagers at the base of the waterfall. Even from where they stood, Carol could smell the alcohol in the air.

  She remembered summer and the wild things she’d gotten up to. Van’s childhood had probably been wilder, but she had been human. She understood why these kids were here and what they were trying to escape. But when she heard their voices rise in a jeering mockery, her stomach turned.

  They were at it again. These teens laced their tongues with venom. Every word that they used against one another was a cutting blow. Only those with the most venom laughed. The rest sunk low, eyes distant. The whole scene turned her stomach.

  This was where the alpha’s daughter was. Carol hoped that she was not one of the kids getting off on being mean to the others. She didn’t like the idea. Dante could be a brute, but she was sure he could raise better kids. His pack was great.

  Maybe she should have unleashed Dante on the group of kids. He would have them straightened out in a heartbeat. Carol yearned to do more than grab Alexis and run. She wanted to teach the kids a better lesson, that there would be consequences for their actions. Frightening them with a wolf and a lion clearly wasn’t enough.

  She turned to her mate, whisper on her lips, when someone else spoke.

  “This is annoying,” a new voice grumbled.

  They both jumped and spun around. Her beast growled but did not try to steal control like it had in the past. In the dark, they could barely make out a face, but the familiar smoky scent of the dragon shifter wafted over them. Carol took a step back. Van reached to make sure she was behind him.

  The dragon shifter grumbled something again before trudging a bit closer. This close, they could see that his annoyance was directed to the party at the base of the waterfall.

  Amazingly, Carol found her voice first. “The kids said another teen they sent up that waterfall never came back. Is that true?”

  He cast a tired side glance in their direction. “Yeah. It’s true.”

  She bristled. A hundred words reached the tip of her tongue, but the d
ragon man continued before she could argue.

  “I told that kid that the others weren’t his real friends if they were sending him up here to die. I handed him a collection of books and told him to go do something that mattered instead of trying to prove something to fake people.”

  Both Carol and Van were taken aback by the dragon’s words. The mated pair looked to one another. Carol wanted to say that maybe this dragon wasn’t what they’d thought. He wasn’t the fire and fury that had stormed into the bar. He wasn’t a warden of war that would crush them if the pack stepped across the boundary lines. All the guy wanted was silence.

  But he certainly seemed like it. Which gave Carol an idea. She stepped closer to the dragon shifter. Van hissed at her and tried to pull her back, but she flashed him a reassuring smile.

  “We could use your help,” Carol began.

  The dragon shifter raised a brow. He was listening, but he didn’t look completely convinced that they were on the same side.

  “You kind of care about those kids. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have helped one.”

  Her words made the dragon shifter adjust his weight, moving it from one foot to the other. “I’m listening. That’s not to say I agree, but I’m listening.”

  That was good enough for her. “We tried to scare these kids straight earlier. Turns out that teens are braver than they should be. Or dumber. Do you think you could pose a distraction while we grab one of our own?”

  As if on cue, Van spun back toward the group of teens. His eyes were on the young, auburn haired woman that the group had pushed toward the waterfall. They were chanting at her.

  Climb. Climb. Climb.

  Carol looked back to Van for confirmation. That was Dante’s daughter. And she was swaying from whatever she’d had to drink. The girl would never make it all the way up the waterfall. The group had to know that. She would climb halfway and fall.

  Immediately, Carol thought of Lily. The human had fallen off a small cliff trying to help Carol and managed to shatter her leg in the process. If Alexis fell and hit her head or neck, she could be dead before they reached her.

  The thought lodged her heart into her throat. They had to move. Now.

  The dragon shifter clasped his hands together and rubbed them as he growled. A cruel smile slipped over his features. “I think I have an idea.”

  Carol rushed to reach Alexis, but Van hesitated. She slowed and waited for her mate.

  “No flames,” Van demanded. “Promise me you won’t use fire.”

  The dragon shifter grunted as he turned away. “What kind of fool do you take me for? I wouldn’t burn down my own home.”

  Carol didn’t stick around to hear the rest. She bolted for the girl at the waterfall. Some of the kids shouted protests, but they were quickly cut off by a roar that shook the woods around them.

  Alexis was already climbing the waterfall. Somewhere between planning and action, Alexis had managed to scale thirty feet of the cliff. But the surface was wet with evening dew and the girl’s feet kept slipping from their grips. Carol’s heart thundered. Another roar split the air around them. The girl’s grip on the wall fumbled. She dropped a foot before catching herself.

  Carol tried to yell up at her, to tell her to let go. She could catch Alexis, but the teen was stubborn. She pushed ahead. Carol didn’t know what to do. Then she saw Van appear at the top of the waterfall. Either way, if Alexis made it or if she fell, they were there to help her.

  Above, a great shadow erupted from the woods. The trees cracked and branches must have rained down on the forest floor. Everyone in the camp looked up, their jaws on the ground. Even Alexis paused in her climb. The dragon’s maws parted, and a plume of fire lit the sky. The heat radiated toward them. Carol could hear Van’s distant curse.

  She was just grateful the flames weren’t pointed at the ground. When another sprayed overhead, Alexis let out a shout. The girl fell from the cliff face. Carol jumped for her. It was the scene from a week ago, except Carol stood where Van had been.

  Time seemed to slow as the teenager descended. Carol wondered if she was in the right spot. Would she catch Alexis? Would catching her hurt her? She needed to be careful with the girl’s neck and make sure it didn’t snap back.

  Despite, or perhaps because of, Carol’s barrage of thoughts, Alexis landed safely in her arms. The teenager seemed dazed for a moment, then realized she was being carried. She cried out and tried to roll away from Carol, but her wolf strength was more than enough to hold onto a teenager.

  “I was busy!” Alexis cried.

  “You were going to get yourself hurt. And not a damn soul there cared.”

  Carol’s words quieted the young woman. Alexis dragged her hands over her face and her chest began heaving. Carol realized the girl was crying. When they reached the truck, Carol tried to find the right words. She might be young, but she had been through so much in the past years that she found she couldn’t relate to a teenager.

  Van appeared beside her and helped load the teenager into the back of the truck.

  Alexis leaned toward him. “I just wanted to make friends. When everyone found out about Dante, they left me. Everyone left me.”

  Carol’s heart ached.

  “I just wanted someone to be my friend.”

  “Damn it, girl,” Van snapped. “You don’t need friends who want you to get hurt. Not when the pack is here for you. Sorry we weren’t enough for you.”

  Alexis gaped. “No! That’s not it. I just… I wanted…” She fell silent.

  They all climbed into the truck. Behind them, the dragon swooped over the small gorge over and over. He had stopped breathing flames, but Carol could see the frightened kids and their flashlights scattering through the park. They ran in every direction like bugs.

  “I’m so sorry.” Alexis repeated the words, each repetition falling lower and lower into a murmur.

  Despite being surrounded by people, Alexis was lonely. Carol understood. She, too, was part of the pack, but felt so far away from all of them. She didn’t feel like she belonged anywhere. But, as part of the pack that had destroyed Alexis’s social life, Carol didn’t know how to reach out. She couldn’t wave her hand and summon normal friends for the teenager.

  The best she could do was be there whenever Alexis needed to fall. Much like how Van had been there for her. She reached across the console and gripped Van’s hand. He squeezed back reassuringly.

  While this wasn’t the life Carol wanted when she was younger, it was the one she had, and she would be damned if she didn’t live it. Bad things would continue to happen. There was no getting around that. The world would keep turning.

  But together, they could face anything the world had to throw at them. Carol wasn’t alone. She had her mate. She had a pack.

  And, eventually, she would reunite with her family.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Wind sang through the trees and rustled the leaves. The hushed murmur was comforting. This far away from the bar and the town, Carol could relax. The scents on the air weren’t chemical. There were so few drivers on their road that her heart no longer stuttered when someone coasted by. She had to admit Van had picked out the perfect house. Long before they’d even met, he had found the home of her dreams.

  When she first moved in with him, the boxes she’d brought with herself had been meager. Now, she’d been working for a few weeks and her checks were starting to amount to something. She could buy small things to make the house more her own and less an empty bachelor pad.

  She bought a cute doormat with swirling script letters greeting everyone who visited. She’d also added a few plush blankets and pillows to the living room because it had been devoid of anything soft. Van welcomed every small change she made. He rolled himself in the blankets and wiped his feet on the doormat with a smile on his face.

  Her heart was content. She knew she had a way to go before the scars of what happened to her would heal over, but this was a good start. Safety and love had seepe
d into every nook and cranny of this house. She thanked Van in every way she knew possible.

  More than once a day, if she got her way.

  But she didn’t thank Van that morning. She could barely find her voice that day, let alone the urge to fool around. Van had invited family.

  Not just his family. That would have been terrifying on its own. He had invited her family, too. Her parents and her brother. For the first time since she’d been changed, her two worlds were going to crash together. She knew it would be a train wreck.

  How could it not?

  She was setting down a vegetable tray out back when someone knocked on the front door. Her wolf surged to the surface. She took a moment to ask the beast to calm down. They were expecting visitors. It’s not like they were being ambushed. The beast responded with a huff, but at least it did as she asked.

  She and her beast were getting better at communicating. It wasn’t perfect, arguments often erupting over silly things. They understood each other a little better now, though. Carol knew that her beast only wanted her safety. That was all it ever wanted. It never wanted to hurt anyone. Her fear over the beast’s violent capabilities had been…an exaggerated response.

  Instead of trekking through the house to answer the front door, she walked around the outside. Part of her knew she was being anxious and that the people at the front door were family, not someone come to hurt her. Yet, she couldn’t stop herself from taking the extra precaution.

  At the corner of the house, she paused. Her breath hitched. Three people stood on the front porch, talking amongst themselves as they waited for the door to open. The two men had the same blond hair and athletic build as Carol. She never realized just how much she looked like her father until she watched him from afar.

  It was her mother who saw her first, though. The woman looked away from the door and scanned the world around her, eyes suddenly latching onto Carol. A wide smile spread across her mother’s face, and without telling the men, she stepped down off the porch. With her arms spread wide, she pulled Carol into a hug. At first, Carol was stiff. She didn’t know what to do. She clutched her beast tight and tried to hold it away from her family.