by Reus, Katie
Wordlessly Lola joined him and started fixing Dallas a sandwich, cutting up a tomato as he started toasting the bread.
“You guys, you don’t have to do all that—”
“Just sit there and hush,” he snapped with more force than he’d intended. Damn female was aging him prematurely with her stubbornness.
She blinked at him. “Did you really just tell me to hush?”
“You put yourself in danger.” And the very thought of that had him strung tight with nowhere to target his annoyance.
She shot him an almost confused look but took the carbonated drink that Lola slid over to her and sipped on it. “Thank you,” she finally said as he slid the completed ham and cheese sandwich over to her.
“That’s just the beginning. You need more energy than this.” And he wasn’t taking no for an answer.
“Ooh, there’s some leftover lasagna in the fridge I can heat up. How does that sound?” Lola asked. “Axel made it and it’s delicious.”
He didn’t want her eating any food that damn lion had made. She should only be eating food made by his hand.
“That sounds really good. I feel like I could eat half of the contents of the fridge right now.” Then she started eating, demolishing her sandwich in seconds.
As he watched her, he realized her cheeks looked a little hollow. Just like that, his possessive, protective nature fully took over.
Rhys nudged Lola out of the way and grabbed the lasagna from her. Some deep-seated need was driving him to take care of Dallas, and his dragon simply wouldn’t allow anyone else to.
He’d never felt like this and didn’t understand the compulsion, but he wasn’t going to fight it. Because deep down he knew he would do anything to take care of this female.
Because Dallas was his.
Chapter 15
Brielle stalked through the woods in human form, her backpack strapped tight to her.
“They’ve left a trail as wide as the Mississippi River,” Axel murmured next to her, his movements just as quiet as he stepped over a fallen tree. He was dressed similarly to her in dark pants, a long-sleeved T-shirt, shit-kickers. Though his hair was pulled up into a bun and hers was braided.
The moon guided their way tonight, bright and full, illuminating the thick woods. They’d been tasked with looking into reports of bears harassing a bunch of people at a campsite. Since The Fall it was all hands on deck, and Brielle and Axel lived in King’s territory now—so they pitched in with security or border issues any time they were asked. Brielle’s tiger was still getting used to a new Alpha and hadn’t decided if she’d accepted King fully yet. She liked the guy, respected the hell out of him, but actually accepting another as an Alpha was a tricky thing for shifters. Especially since before now, she’d had one Alpha since she’d been a cub—Star. And now Star was gone, thousands of miles away.
She shrugged, her mouth quirking up. “They’re bears. They don’t have to be quiet. People just run when they see them coming.”
Axel, laid-back feline that he was, looked truly annoyed. “It’s shameful. They’re shifters.”
She bit back a laugh. Axel got annoyed at the most random things. Always had, ever since they were kids. She’d started to respond when she heard a scream—a terrified, curdling sound ripping through the night air.
Neither of them paused, just sprinted in that direction. It didn’t take long to break through a clearing. In moments, she processed everything. Four tents set up in a semicircle, a fire dwindling, at least eight humans and two bears.
And blood.
A huge bear shifter was on his hind legs growling at a human male who held a pipe of sorts in his hand. A human female lay on the ground, bleeding, while two humans knelt next to her, trying to stanch what appeared to be a leg wound.
“Hey!” Brielle shouted, racing into the group.
Both bears paused and fell down onto all fours.
“Shift now,” Axel demanded as he came to stand next to her. Anger vibrated off him in waves, and yeah, she felt the same way.
It was pretty clear that these bears had been more than harassing these humans. Maybe there was more to the story, but the strong picking on the weak? That always brought out her inner tiger.
The two bears snarled, growling loudly at the two of them, but not making any advances in their direction.
“All right, looks like we’re doing this the hard way,” Axel muttered. Then he looked at her and grinned as he stripped his shirt off. Why the hell was he grinning? “Lions, tigers and bears, oh my!” he laughed out before he finished stripping.
She shoved her shoes off as she kept an eye on the bears. “There’s seriously something wrong with you, dude. Like…you were clearly dropped on your head as a baby.”
Axel simply shifted to lion and raced for the nearest tree.
“I’m giving you a chance to shift to human and talk this out,” Brielle said as she tugged her shirt off. She hadn’t bothered with a bra because she’d had a feeling she’d be shifting tonight. “We’ve been sent by King to see what’s going on.”
The bear on the left charged at her in response. All right, then. She didn’t get to take off her pants, just called on her tiger. The shift took over her immediately, fur and magic exploding as she dove through the air at the lumbering bear.
Quick on her feet, she jumped high in the air, aware of Axel pouncing down from the tree onto the other bear’s back. The fight was over before it began.
Brielle was a Siberian tiger and this bear was about to learn that it wasn’t at the top of the food chain. That it couldn’t bully whoever it wanted. She jumped onto its back and hooked her claws into its rib cage, slicing up hard.
The bear screamed in pain, trying to throw her off. She jumped and turned in midair, landing on all fours. She could hear the gasps of humans around them, but ignored everything but the predator in front of her.
She’d given these assholes a chance, after all. Behind her she heard Axel snarl in rage and knew he was doing all right. He might be laid-back, but he fought dirty. He’d win this fight.
The bear pawed the ground once, as if he was a goddamn horse, then stood up on his hind legs and roared, his jaw opening wide.
She yawned as she watched him, knowing it would piss the beast off. Yep, she thought as he fell back onto all fours and charged her.
She crouched low, and the moment before he would have barreled into her she rolled to the side in a practiced move. Then she whipped around and launched herself onto his back, this time with the perfect angle to attack his neck.
She released her claws into him again, digging into his shoulders as she bit down hard across the back of his neck. She heard and felt multiple bones break as the big beast went limp underneath her.
The moment he did, the male’s body shifted to human to reveal a dark-haired male who was now a bloody mess.
Breathing hard, Brielle shifted back to human form and strode for her backpack. She pulled out two sets of the spelled cuffs they’d brought for just this occasion. She tossed one to Axel, who slapped them onto a groaning bear turned human.
The male she’d fought wasn’t even groaning, but his chest was rising and falling. He might survive, he might not. As soon as she had his cuffs on—ensuring he couldn’t shift back to bear—she pulled out a phone and texted their backup team. They were going to need to transport these bears in for questioning and they needed to help anyone injured.
Not bothering with clothes, she hurried over to the injured female. “What happened to her?” she asked the blonde female who was busy trying to rebandage the woman’s leg.
“The bear you took down swiped her. He was…playing with us. They both were. They came out of nowhere. We didn’t even realize they were shifters at first,” she said, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Until one shifted and told us what he was going to do to us.” Her voice broke then as more tears fell freely.
Brielle gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to stride over to him and kick hi
s teeth in. “They won’t be able to hurt you anymore. Let me see her wound.” She was aware of Axel talking to the others, trying to comfort them. “Also, I don’t smell any other blood but is anyone else hurt?” she asked as the woman started unwrapping the bandage.
“No. Not really,” a male said from behind her.
She scored her palm with her claws and started dripping blood onto the wound. She didn’t do this often—rarely, in fact—but she wasn’t sure how close backup was and didn’t want to risk this human bleeding out. There had been enough blood and death in the world. She wasn’t going to let any more happen on her watch.
“Tiger blood,” the injured female said, her words slurred as she tried to focus on Brielle.
“Just lie back,” she said as she smeared more blood on the slashes. Damn, that bear had got her good. It was amazing she was even talking at this point.
“Iz…my favorite snow cone flavor.”
Brielle frowned as she withdrew her hand.
“Honey, you’re rambling, just close your eyes,” the female said as she reached into her small first aid kit and pulled out another bandage.
“Love…tiger blood,” she slurred again before passing out.
Brielle blinked at the other human. The human liked tiger blood?
“She’s delirious, I think. But tiger blood—the strawberry, watermelon and coconut-flavored syrup—is her favorite for snow cones. Also, it sounds really freaking offensive now that I’m saying it out loud so I apologize.” She finished wrapping the bandage, her frown in place. “Can I wrap your hand?”
Tiger blood was a flavored syrup? She was so looking that up later. Brielle snorted as she stood. “I’m good, but thanks.” Before she’d even turned Axel was in front of her, clothing in hand. “Thanks,” she murmured, dressing in seconds.
“We’ve got backup on the way and we’re going to get you guys the help you need,” he said to the others who all looked a little shell-shocked as they huddled together.
“Thank you,” the only human she’d spoken to said. “For saving us.”
Brielle simply nodded, not sure what else to say at this point. She looked over at Axel, then the trussed-up bears. It would be so easy to finish them off.
“Don’t,” Axel said quietly.
“I’m not doing anything,” she muttered.
“I know that look. Let King’s pack take care of them.”
She gritted her teeth and looked away from the bears. Because if she didn’t get some distance, she was going to beat the shit out of them even more. Since she figured the humans had seen enough bloodshed for the day, she held off.
Barely.
Chapter 16
Dallas braided her damp hair, feeling somewhat better, though still exhausted. After hanging up her towel on the bronze hook, she opened the bathroom door and stepped out into the hallway. She was surprised to find Rhys there, leaning against the white and gray art deco style wallpaper along the hallway with his arms crossed against his chest. And she really hated that she noticed how his forearms flexed in that position. “What are you doing?”
“Waiting for you. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
She wasn’t sure how to read him, whether he was genuinely concerned for her, or if he simply cared about her well-being because she was the key to his revenge. She was the one who could see that crest and Thurman had told them that locating it was the only way to find what he was looking for. So while she wanted to think his concern for her was real—that he’d been like a hovering mother hen in the kitchen because he cared—she wasn’t so sure of his intentions. “I’m fine. Just exhausted.”
“Is it normal to get so tired from doing spells?” he asked as he fell in step with her, his feet silent along the hallway as they headed back to her sleeping quarters.
“Usually no. But I used my own blood, something I almost never do. And I tapped into a part of myself I rarely use. It’s…complicated. But the short answer is no.”
He stayed right on her heels as they stepped into the office and she froze for a moment when she saw the new bed in the room. Rhys curled his hands around her shoulders, his chest colliding with her back at her abrupt stop. “What’s wrong?” he demanded, quickly moving in front of her to block her from the nonexistent threat.
“Nothing’s wrong. I’m just surprised they moved a new bed in here.” They’d moved some of the furniture out and now she had a fluffy queen-sized bed that looked so damn inviting she wanted to fall into it and sleep for twelve hours. The fact that they’d done that warmed her heart.
“I asked them to,” he muttered as he strode toward the French doors.
She blinked at his words. He had?
As he pulled the doors fully open, she smiled to see Willow already waiting there for her like a little sentry. Her sweet girl lifted her head and chirped when she saw Dallas. Then she crept partway through the doors, laying her head on the rug before closing her eyes in exhaustion.
“She wants to be close to you tonight,” he murmured.
Her heart full, Dallas walked over, bent down and scratched behind Willow’s ears before stumbling toward the bed. Sleep was necessary now and she was barely holding on. She figured that Rhys could just go when he wanted because she had no small talk left in her.
To her surprise, Rhys sat down on one of the club chairs in the corner, his long legs stretched out in front of him as he leaned back, attempting to get comfortable.
Okay, sleep could wait for a second. “What are you doing?”
“I’m sleeping here,” he said as if that was the most obvious thing in the world—as if her question was dumb.
“Why?”
“Because I’m concerned about you. Because you fell off my back midair because you were so tired. I’m keeping an eye on you tonight.”
She snorted and the sound came out bitter as she sat on the edge of the bed.
He frowned at her. “What’s that sound mean?”
“Nothing,” she murmured, not wanting to get into it. Mainly because her pillow was calling her name.
“It’s pretty clear that it’s not nothing. Explain.”
She let out a growl of frustration at his arrogant, demanding tone. He really was every inch a dragon. “Look, I get it. You’re worried that I’ll get injured and won’t be able to help you find that crest and eventually get your revenge. But I’m fine, I swear. You don’t have to stay here and watch over me like a mother hen. It’s ridiculous.”
He stood up and stalked toward the bed, his big body looming over hers. But then he crouched down so that they were at eye level. His dark blue eyes flared hot for a long moment, his dragon peering back at her. “I’m not in here because I’m worried about that. I’m worried about you as a person. You scared me tonight.”
There was so much truth in his words, she felt it wrap around her. She might not have the same scent capabilities as shifters, but she could feel that he was telling the truth. “Oh.” She felt a little bit like a jerk in that moment even though she was pretty sure she had every right to have made those assumptions.
“Scoot over,” he gruffly ordered.
She stared up at him and didn’t even think to argue as she followed his direction and scooted to the other side of the bed. Only when he slid into bed next to her did she jerk straight up. “What the hell are you doing now?” She really should have known what he was doing when he told her to scoot over, but her brain was firing on two cylinders right now. She felt as if she was in a haze, just struggling to keep her eyes open.
“Just roll over and close your eyes.”
She sat there staring at him, heat prickling all over her body as he stretched out on the bed, his long legs hanging off the end as he watched her closely.
She was very aware that this bed was a perfect fit for her and him, forcing them to lie close to each other. Too close. “I should tell you to get out and that you’re being ridiculous and kind of obnoxious.”
“I’m a dragon, I’m always obnoxio
us.” Then he closed his eyes and simply tugged her toward him, holding her close and making her yelp. “More sleep, less talking,” he murmured.
She curled her back into his chest, sinking into the pure warmth of him. Dragons really did run hotter than witches. This whole situation was crazy. She shouldn’t be letting him take over like this, she thought as she closed her eyes.
As she inhaled his rich, masculine scent, she knew she should be ordering him straight out of her room. But it was so nice to be held. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been held by anyone like this. Years. Maybe decades. And in his arms, she felt so safe and warm for the first time in… Forever.
She would yell at him tomorrow for being so arrogant, she promised herself. Then she closed her eyes and let sleep take her under.
* * *
Dallas shifted against the big, warm…chest? She opened her eyes and realized she was curled up against Rhys. Or more accurately, she had her leg thrown over his hip, her arm over his shoulder and her face buried against his chest. And holy hell, he smelled sooooo good. Oh goddess. That scent made raw heat and hunger curl through her. She wanted to get even closer to him—much, much closer.
“You’re awake,” he murmured, making her jerk slightly against him.
That was when she realized that he had a very possessive grasp on her hip. His fingers flexed against her, but didn’t move from her body.
“You’re like a furnace,” she murmured, rubbing her face against him before she could think better of it. The only thing she wished was that he didn’t have a shirt on. And something told her that this male didn’t often sleep with clothing on. Nope, she bet that he slept completely naked the majority of the time. And that thought was very, very hot.
“I’m a dragon,” he said simply.
Still in between sleep and wakefulness, she inhaled deeply, wanting to memorize his scent. Screw it. She was being a weirdo this morning because she couldn’t help herself. “Dragons smell good,” she murmured.
