“Sleep, my One. I will watch over you. I’ve waited my whole life for you. I will never allow any harm to come to you.”
Delilah pressed her lips against the inside of his wrist where it held her and yawned again as she settled in for sleep.
Chapter 20
“Whore! She’s a fucking whore! She fucked that Bear. Right there out in the open where all could see her. No modesty at all! And to think he’d have made her his Mate. She wasn't even worthy to be anyone’s Mate. She was a whore! All his work to regain her, to train her properly. All that time, the suffering and sacrifices he’d made. And for what? A whore. He was absolutely livid. Barely able to think at all, acting on instinct and rage only. I will show them. I will show them all. I will destroy everything! Still in Beaver form, Slatterly scurried his way all the way back to the creek he’d been staying near. He’d covered himself completely in mud each day to hide his scent, in order to get close to the idiots in the Bear’s clan. They’d been right there within a few feet of him many times as he hid in the underbrush to keep an eye on his female. And they’d never known. They were too fucking arrogant to even consider that they could be in danger on their own property. He’d planned on taking her for his own, but not now. Now, she was tainted. Now, she was filthy. Now she would pay. They all would.
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Maverik couldn’t sleep. He’d been curled up on Bane’s front porch much of the evening. He’d walked off into the woods with Callie to give the others the impression that he’d spent a little alone time with her. Well, everybody but Vince, Vince knew the truth. Callie was a good friend. She pretended often for him. But truth was, he spent no alone time with women. It was just easier to let them all think he was a man whore than to explain that he’d had a Mate who'd fucked him up so badly that he couldn't see his way to the new Mate he’d stumbled across. And that Mate now hated him so much for ignoring her that it didn’t matter anyway. So he went to great lengths to pretend that he was just what they all thought he was. And then, when that wasn't enough to eat him alive, the combat memories started. Then just for the fun of it, the memories of the kids would gut him when he thought he couldn't possibly hurt any more. He rolled over onto his back, all four legs straight up in the air, his body twisted in that funny way that only canines can do. He felt off tonight. Even more so than usual. Fuck it, he thought, I’ll run ‘til I pass out. He trotted down the stairs and turned toward the outside perimeter of their property. He’d make his usual rounds first, check that everything was secure.
He ran the length of the road, then turned and cut up along their property line, headed toward the creek. When he was just about 10 minutes from the creek, he caught a whiff of something that seemed out of place. He circled back a few paces, nose to the ground, retracing the scent. I’ll be damned, a fucking beaver, he thought, and on their property! Then he realized -- a fucking beaver on their property! Could it be the Beaver? The one that had hurt Kaid and Avaleigh and helped keep Delilah prisoner all those years? Fuck! And on their Mating night, too! He had to be sure before he disturbed them. He quickened his pace and prayed that he was wrong. That this was just some lost beaver looking for a new place to build a dam.
He smelled it before he saw it, smoke. There was smoke billowing out of their woods. Maverik charged out of the woods and found the field as far as he could see in flames that were beginning to lick at the tree trunks as well. Aw, fuck! He’s burning our shit! He concentrated, trying to rouse Kaid, and the others through their bond.
Bam, Goldy, and Bane answered almost immediately. Bam was already on his way to the creek, full out running.
Daniel was next; he woke Avaleigh immediately, shaking her awake. “Avaleigh! Wake up!”
She woke, confused, “What? I’m sleeping!”
“Wake up! The woods are on fire! We can’t get Kaid to answer us. Go to the main house, wake him up, and send him to the creek! Stay with Delilah!”
Avaleigh jumped from the bed, headed out of their bedroom, “I’ll wake him, but then I’m coming to help!”
Daniel roared at her, “You Will Not! You will do exactly what I say and stay with Delilah! Do you understand me?!”
She was stunned for a moment, knowing Daniel would never yell at her if it weren’t for her safety, “Yes, my Dragon. I understand. I’ll go wake Kaid,” and she kissed him quickly as she ran past him on her way to leave their house. “I’ll call 911!”
“No! We can’t afford to have anyone see any of our beasts if we need to shift.”
She had already run through their front door, headed to the main house, but she heard his response, so she didn’t call for help.
It took the collective power of the bond the clan all held with Kaid to rouse him from exhausted, satisfied sleep, wrapped around his Mate. But they managed. He shot straight up in bed, groggy, trying to figure out what woke him. Then he got clear pictures in his mind: fire, the creek, his clan fighting it. As he jumped out of bed, somebody started banging on the front door. It was Avaleigh. Daniel had sent her to the house to rouse him and to stay with Delilah while he went to help the guys try to contain the fire.
“What? What is it?” Delilah was still half asleep.
“Fire! I’m going to help. Avaleigh’s at the door; you stay with her,” he told her hurriedly over his shoulder as he ran for the door.
He yanked it open and started through it as Avaleigh almost fell inside with the quickness with which he opened it and the force she was using to bang on it. “Why the hell is the door locked?” she yelled at Kaid as he ran past.
“I locked it. I do not feel safe; my Beast demands it be locked,” Delilah said as she entered the room.
“Can you believe this? The field at the creek is on fire!” Avaleigh told her.
“We should be helping. I am going. NOW,” Delilah told Avaleigh.
“But they told us to wait here.”
“When do you ever do what your Mate tells you?” Delilah taunted her.
“Yeah, but this is different. There’s fire, and they wouldn't even let me call 911! They are afraid some of the firefighters may see their animals!” Avaleigh answered, as she paced, clearly flustered.
“I am going!” Delilah decided. She ran for the front door, swung it open and froze. Avaleigh slamming into her back because she stopped so unexpectedly.
“Damn, Delilah! Why’d you stop?”
“Well, looky, looky here. Seems I got my pick of the women tonight. Think after I have my taste of this little pregnant one, I think I’ll have a little of you, Avaleigh. I never did get enough of a taste of you. How nice of you to come outside and greet us all nice like,” Slatterly drawled at Avaleigh.
Avaleigh’s stomach churned and threatened to empty itself all over Delilah’s back. She never thought she’d hear that voice again. She peeked around Delilah’s shoulder and almost swayed with fear at the sight that greeted her. Slatterly held Janie with his hand wrapped in her hair and a knife to her belly. Janie was still, deadly quiet, but not sobbing.
“You leave my family alone,” Delilah warned him. “You let her go unharmed. I will go with you.”
Slatterly laughed out loud, “You? Why would you think I’d want you? You’re nothing but a whore!” He screamed at her. “I gave you a chance to come to me. You knew I was here, I stayed close so you’d know, and you fucked that Bear! You are nothing but a whore!”
Avaleigh couldn’t believe that Delilah would have known that Slatterly was here and did nothing. She had not taken her eyes off Delilah since Slatterly had accused her of knowing of his presence. Delilah never looked at Avaleigh, but she very slightly shook her head no.
Then she noticed the smell. Gasoline. There was gasoline all over the porch. Oh, fuck! He was going to burn them alive.
“Get your ass back in the house, Delilah. Avaleigh, you come on down here like a good girl, and I’ll let you live.”
“Do not move, Avaleigh. Janie, are you well?” Delilah asked.
“Yes,” Ja
nie could barely be heard.
“I told you not to talk to the whore!” Slatterly pushed the knife a little harder into Janie’s belly and a spot of blood showed up on her pale yellow nightgown.
Delilah took a step forward.
Slatterly’s attention immediately jumped to Delilah. “I told you to get the fuck back in the house, whore!” he yelled at her.
Then suddenly Delilah’s entire attitude changed.
She brought her hands up and wrung them together. Her voice was raised as though she were afraid, “I did not want to, but he insisted. I even moved out by myself. You know, don’t you? You watched. He would not leave me alone.”
Avaleigh couldn't believe the transformation. She moved out of the house and into Bam’s to give Slatterly a chance to find her? She noticed movement and looked down to see Delilah’s hands, now behind her back, shooing Avaleigh back behind her. The fuck was going on here? Okay, I’m game, Avaleigh figured. She stepped back behind Delilah. Delilah again shooed her back further, so she stepped back further, then she caught sight of another movement. There was somebody sneaking across the clearing, using the vehicles to pause and hide behind. It was far too quiet. Avaleigh didn’t know who it was, but they were obviously on their side trying to sneak up on Slatterly, so she decided to help. She started wailing. Crying and screaming. Praying at the top of her lungs for any deity she could think of to bring her Mate home safely, to save her from this nightmare.
“Shut up!” Slatterly yelled at her. “Shut up you stupid, whiny, bitch! Can’t fucking hear myself think!”
Then Avaleigh smelled it, smoke, and it was close. She darted a look at the back of the house, through the living room and saw an orange glow.
She turned back around, a terrified look in her eyes.
“Yes, you smell it don’t cha? I already set one fire around the back. It’s only a matter of time ‘til it reaches the house and the gas I poured all around it; then, the whole damn thing will go up. I’ll take it all! The fucking Bear took what was mine! I”ll take what’s his. His land, his house, his clan. All of it. Burned, gone, dea…” and he dropped to the ground. He didn't get to finish his thought or his words.
“You son of a bitch! What is it with men wanting to manhandle my baby? This has got to stop! I have had enough!” and there stood a righteous, indignant Sadie, frying pan in hand, hands on her hips. She looked up at Delilah and Avaleigh where they stood, open-mouthed and shocked, raised her frying pan in the air, shaking it as she spoke. “Did you see that? Can you believe this? That’s enough! I want a gun. Goldy said I didn’t need a gun, but you know what? If I’d had a gun, I could have shot him long before now! I was watching Amos trying to hose down the woods to keep the fire from spreading to the houses, and I saw him sneak out the side of the new house with Janie. I thought, Oh, No you don’t! I see you, you little maggot. He distracted the men with that fire, so he could get to my Janie!”
Delilah burst out laughing and ran down the stairs to where Slatterly lay in the dirt, just beginning to come to. Sadie raised her frying pan in the air again, but Delilah stopped her. “No, Mother Sadie. I have this. Avaleigh, can you see to Janie, please?”
She didn’t wait to see if Avaleigh saw to Janie. She picked up Slatterly, one hand around his throat, another wrapped in the waist of his pants and carried him around to the back of the house. Delilah stood there beside the flames long enough to shake him back to consciousness. She waited until he realized where he was and what she was going to do, then she smiled at him. By this time Avaleigh, Janie, and Sadie had followed her around the side of the house. “You will never touch me or my family again,” she whispered to him. “You will never cause pain to my Mate again. You will never be a danger to any that I love, ever again.” He spat on her, trying to twist his body out of her grip. She tisked him, “Such a sad, little, pitiful male. Do you truly think that you could ever best me?”
“I bested you for years!” he shouted at her.
“No. You did not. You drugged me for years. To keep my Beast under control. To keep me from my full potential. Guess what?” she whispered this last part.
He strained his head to turn and look at her. She allowed his movement just enough to make eye contact with her; she allowed her Beast to peak through her eyes, “She’s awake now. She wants vengeance. And she shall have it,” Delilah told him, coldly, calmly.
He started whimpering and fighting even harder to get away. Delilah laughed evilly and took a step toward the flames. “Did you know that flames will not burn me? I can withstand them.”
Panicked, realizing what she meant to do, he tried to dissuade her, “You don’t know that! You’ve never tried to withstand fire before. Don’t be stupid!” he pleaded.
“My Monster tells me things. She tells me that I can withstand the flames. I think I shall believe her.” And with that, she took the final few steps into the very center of the fire, with Slatterly still held firmly in hand, as he screamed and writhed in pain. The women went nuts, screaming for Delilah to get out of the fire, for about 10 seconds, until they realized that she wasn’t burning. At all. Slatterly was though. He’d shifted into his Beaver to try to escape, but Delilah held fast. She never flinched. She stood there, surrounded by flames, yet untouched, until Slatterly passed out from the pain. She walked to the edge of the flames, stepping out just long enough to shake Slatterly, to bring him back to consciousness again. His fur was gone, his Beaver’s flesh blistered and beginning to peel away. But she did not relent, “This time,” she paused and met Avaleigh’s eyes before she continued, “this time is for the pain you inflicted on Sister Avaleigh,” and she walked back into the flames, holding him out from her so that she could press him down into the heart of the fire again, his pitiful screams again penetrating the night. She turned and met the eyes of the other female he’d hurt, Janie. Janie knew this animal was horrible, but she could take no more. “It’s enough, I don’t need him punished for me. Just finish him off.”
Delilah inclined her head once to indicate that she understood; then, she spoke loudly enough to ensure he heard, “Janie has said you should die now. Be thankful for her kind heart.” She held him in the flames until his screams stopped, until his struggling stopped, until he was no more. Then she dropped his carcass into the fire and stood there, watching the fire do its job.
Avaleigh looked to the side and saw the flames starting to follow the path of what must have been gas toward the house. “Delilah, the fire! It’s heading toward the house!”
Delilah turned and looked at Avaleigh, ice blue eyes shining brightly through the flames, then off toward the trees where the entirety of their property seemed engulfed in smoke and flames from where they stood. There was no way they could save their land, their homes. It was just too much. The women followed her gaze, and Janie started sobbing, Sadie covering her mouth with her hands, praying for some respite. Avaleigh looked to Delilah again. “Delilah, please, if you can do anything, now’s the time.”
Delilah looked at her new family, smiled sadly. “Yes, Avaleigh. It is time.” She raised her hands in the air, raised her chin and pointed it at the sky, closed her eyes and inhaled as deeply as she could. She called her Beast. Her Monster. And this time, this time? Her Monster responded. The wind stilled, the flames flickered, and Delilah’s form began to waiver. She inhaled deeply again, held it, then exhaled through pursed lips as though she thought to whistle. The air was suddenly cooler; the leaves on the trees right behind them shuddered a little. Again, Delilah repeated these steps; then, she hunched in on herself, back curved as she curled herself nearly into a ball though still standing, held that position for a moment before she threw her body straight again, arms outstretched, mouth opened, as her Beast roared to announce her arrival. And as the haze, the wavering of the flames fell and died, there where Delilah once stood was the biggest, most frighteningly savage, beautiful, graceful, blue and silver Dragon. A Dragon so fucking big that she made Daniel’s Dragon look small. She threw her h
ead back and roared again; everything grew silent.
“Holy Fuck!” Janie said, awestruck as she watched the huge beautiful beast spray ice over the entire area with each breath she breathed. There was ice hanging on the trees, ice on the grass, ice on Goldy’s pile of scrap motorcycle parts. Ice over the back porch where Delilah had been sure to saturate the path the fire would have taken. Ice everywhere. It looked like sparkling diamonds in the moon light.
Avaleigh watched her just as stunned, “She’s an Ice Dragon. I didn’t even know they had those. I thought they only had fire ones, like Daniel!” She took a step closer to the Dragon that was Delilah, and the Dragon snapped her head around so fast that they all startled and backed up, quickly. Sadie stepped forward, “Now Delilah, Honey? Don’t make me use this on you,” she lifted her frying pan in the air. Delilah snorted at the funny and nosed Mother Sadie back a step or two.
Avaleigh indicated the now charred body of the Beaver, “Kaid always said he was going to eat that damn Beaver one day.”
Delilah turned her huge head to look back at the Beaver, then turning to Avaleigh again, her Dragon raised an eye ridge in question.
“I swear! He used to say that one day Bear was going to eat that fucking Beaver.”
Delilah turned back toward the scorched earth where the fire had been now covered in ice crystals, reached out one razor sharp claw, stuck it through the thoroughly roasted Beaver like a skewer, turned her attention back to the flames in the distance, let out another roar and took to the skies, beating her huge thunderous wings to carry her to the worst of the flames, where her Mate and their clan desperately battled the fire threatening to take everything they’d worked so hard to have.
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