by Fel Fern
The werebear had a couple of scratches on him and a large bandage on the side of his neck, probably there to cover a bite. “Is this human the reason why you weren’t around when Bennett and I visited the vamps?”
Ron tensed and he frowned.
“This is Ron,” he said carefully. “My mate.”
Randy must have read the challenge in his voice, because he grunted and studied Ron. “Huh, lucky bastard.”
“Yeah, I know. Striker’s a catch, right?” Ron asked quickly.
Striker crossed his arms, furrowing his brows. No surprise Randy let out a belly laugh. “What? Him? Nah, he’s more trouble than he’s worth, but I’m jealous he scored a mate. I pity you, though, having to put up with a temperamental and destructive guy like this,” Randy said, nodding to Striker.
“Hey, Striker is awesome,” Ron stated.
He grinned.
Randy looked at Ron dubiously. “He brainwash you or something? Anyway, I didn’t mean to interrupt your lunch, just came by to tell you, Striker, that I’m joining Bennett and you tonight.”
Striker eyed the werebear up and down. “You sure? Maybe you should sit this one out, Randy.”
“No way. Those vampires think they’re the new kings of this place or something. I’d like to be there when they realize they’re just ants to a fire-breathing oversized lizard with wings.”
“What did you just call me?” Striker asked with a snarl, pausing when Ron touched his arm.
“I like your friend,” Ron told him. “I think it’s sweet he’s got your back.”
“We’re not friends,” Striker and Randy said at the same time. Ron only kept on smiling, like he knew a secret Striker didn’t.
“Anyway, see you later,” Randy grumbled, walking away.
“Finally. I thought he’d never leave,” he complained, looking at his menu again.
The waitress finally appeared by their table to take their orders. Sheila paused and said, “I’m glad you’re here, Striker. Me and the other deer shifters were thinking of moving if things turn from bad to worse.”
“Don’t worry about it. Bennett, Randy, and I will make sure these vampires won’t kill again,” he said, but didn’t make any other promises.
Still, the more locals told him about these vampires, the more he wanted to just burn their coven house down. Sheila wasn’t the first townsfolk who approached him and asked him about the vampires. Striker looked around the diner, unsurprised a young man quickly looked away from him. Stares. He was used to that, but this time, it wasn’t because they were scared of him or didn’t trust people.
These people counted on him and that made things several times more frightening, because it also meant Striker had a high chance of disappointing them. The people of Horn always had an uneasy relationship with the lightning dragons, his ancestors who chose this location as their territory. They kept to their side of the fence and he kept to his, with the unspoken agreement he occasionally dealt with threats.
Was that relationship about to change, depending on how he acted tonight?
Fuck. Striker had never been the good guy, the hero. He’d always been painted the villain, that dragon shifter who destroyed town property and was only tolerated because of his power.
Once Sheila left, Ron turned to him, biting on his lower lip. “A lot is riding on you guys, isn’t it? Striker, be careful.”
Striker nodded. “I’m always careful, especially now that I have more to lose.”
Chapter 11
Striker made sure Ron understood what he meant.
“Me?” Ron asked, looking surprised.
“You,” Striker confirmed. “Ron, I’ve been searching for you my entire life. Well. I planned on spending more time with you, getting to know you better, and eventually, butter you up enough so you’d move in with me.”
“Butter me up?” Ron sputtered, then widened his eyes. “You want me to move in with you?”
“I know it’s sudden, but we’re mates now, and my place is a lot bigger than your apartment.”
“I think I’d like that, and this town, I like it. Even if the people are scared of these vampires, they’ve been nice to me.”
Ron simply had that way about him that made other people feel comfortable around him. Otherwise, if Ron hadn’t been with him, he doubted the locals would easily approach him. Ron made him appear less threatening, he realized, simply by being himself, by being human, and that made him grateful. Ron once admitted to him that, for a time, he dreaded going out of his apartment to buy groceries, but look how far his mate had come.
“Does that mean you’re agreeing?” he teased.
“Yes, we’ll talk more after you guys deal with these vampires,” Ron said.
“Then I’ll make sure the problem’s nipped in the bud quickly,” Striker promised. He didn’t intend to go about this blind. Right after lunch, he intended to call back-up. Smoke was good with computers, with digging up information on the supernatural.
For the rest of the afternoon, he showed Ron around town. It felt good to have his mate by his side, hearing Ron sound excited about moving to Horn. Striker could get used to this, could see building a future with Ron here and becoming old with his mate. Striker lost track time of time. Pretty soon, the sun set. Ron and he waited outside a café for Toby and Smoke to pick Ron up.
Ron said they planned to catch a movie and dinner, although Ron probably knew Smoke was there to keep a close watch on him. Ron told him he was being overprotective, but Striker didn’t take any chances. It had been a last minute request he made to Smoke, but once the other dragon shifter heard about his little vampire problem, he agreed.
Smoke’s truck finally appeared. Striker pulled Ron to him for a quick kiss. “Be safe,” he told his mate.
Ron had the audacity to roll his eyes at him. “I’ll be fine, you focus on what you need to do.”
He watched Ron get in the backseat. Smoke rolled down his window. “You don’t have to worry about a thing.”
Even now, having Smoke, another dragon shifter, in his town didn’t sit well with his dragon, but he told it to behave. Smoke was a friend and here to protect his mate in case things went south.
“I appreciate you two coming over here on short notice,” he told Smoke.
Smoke nodded and passed a folder to him. “Here’s the research you asked for. This coven is bad news, Striker. It would have been better if you’d burnt their coven house, along with the vamps, when you could.”
“They hired shifter guards, and there’s a couple of humans in there, too.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. So I’m going with Bennett’s suggestion first.”
Smoke looked dubious. “Good luck and if you need me, just call, I’ll head right there.”
“I appreciate it, but I can’t leave Toby and Ron unguarded.”
“Oh, there they go, talking about us like we aren’t here,” Ron muttered to Toby.
“Hey, baby. It’s for your own good,” he told Ron.
“Aw, look at you two. So cute,” Smoke drawled, breaking the tension.
Toby elbowed him in the shoulder. “Don’t be mean. Once this is over, we all should have dinner. Ooh! We can also invite Dark and Jake.”
“Well, watch your back,” Smoke said.
“I will.” He traded one last look with his mate.
Once they left, he flipped through the information Smoke handed to him, and what he read about the Black Coffin coven only made his mood foul and his dragon unsettled. He walked to the sheriff’s office to find Bennett and Randy waiting for him in Bennett’s cruiser. He opened the door and squeezed himself inside the backseat.
“I wanted to ride shotgun,” he muttered, annoyed at Randy’s chuckle.
“There’s been a new development,” Bennett said quietly from the front. “Linda, a member of the deer shifter clan, just reported that her cousin Bree, another deer shifter, didn’t turn up for work today. The Williams family also filed a missing person’s report of
their twenty-one-year-old son, Tim. Witnesses I’ve talked to said both Bree and Tim were hanging out with a couple of the coven members.”
Striker cursed softly under his breath. He remembered the sweet waitress that afternoon and how she and the other townsfolk had been relieved he’d be dealing with these vampires personally. He gritted his teeth and had enough with these vampires. Clearly, the diplomatic route wouldn’t work anymore. Scales covered his arms, and he could feel his seething beast ready to burst out of his skin. If he let the lightning dragon take over, he could easily decimate those vampires, but there was a chance Bree and Tim were still alive and were probably being held captive in that coven house.
Randy was more vocal in his complaints. “Fuck these vampires, who do they think they are? That Horn will just let it go that they took our citizens? What next? They’ll start picking people off the streets?”
Striker counted slowly to ten in his head, and his skin turned back to normal. “Here, I had a friend dig up information on the Black Coffin coven,” he said, passing the file to Randy. “This group’s clever, led by a centuries-old king called Noah. They move into a location they think is vulnerable, slowly pick off victims, and once their food supply dries up, they leave.”
Bennett leaned over to read the file he handed over and let out a breath. “Where did you get this?”
“A pal of mine who finds information for a living. It doesn’t matter. If Bree and Tim are still alive and in their coven house, we’ve got to get them out,” he said.
“The objective of our meeting has changed,” Bennett said. “We’re heading over there, and I’m giving Noah once chance to tell me about Bree and Tim’s whereabouts.”
“Accusing the vamps isn’t the best conversation starter,” Randy interjected.
Striker came to a decision. “We’ll get those two out, once they’re safe, those vampires are mine. Don’t worry, I’ll only take care of those who get in the way. The shifter guards are probably gone, as well, since they’re only hired during the day.”
“Hey, leave some of those leeches for me,” Randy said, flashing him a toothy grin. “I owe them some payback.”
“We’re talking about decimating an entire vampire coven,” Bennett said quietly.
Striker expected another argument about diplomacy, even though they were way past that. Bennett clutched so hard at the wheel that his knuckles turned white. “These vampires thought they could enter our town and do whatever they want. Killing tourists, outsiders, is one thing, but taking Bree and Tim is the last straw. They’ll only cause more destruction.”
“That’s right,” Striker said slowly. “They made the mistake of thinking there’s no one powerful enough to stop them.”
“Then in my official report, I’ll just say they resisted and we had no other choice but to eliminate them,” Bennett finally said. “Let’s get this done and over with so I can tell my wife there’s no need to lock all the doors and windows of our house anymore.”
Chapter 12
“We’re almost there,” Bennett said as they entered the street where the coven house was located.
“Stop right here,” Striker ordered as Bennett did as he asked and parked the car on the sidewalk. “Let’s go over the plan again.”
“While you distract the vampires, I’ll slip in, find Bree and Tim, get them out,” Randy said.
“And I’ll be waiting in the car,” Bennett muttered, tone sullen.
“Sheriff, you’ve done your part. Let me do mine. We don’t know what kind of condition Bree and Tim are in. We’ll need you to drive them right to the hospital if they need medical attention.” Besides, Striker didn’t add that Bennett might be a distraction. Once the vampires scented weakness or realized something was wrong, they would go for Bennett first or use him against Striker.
“You’re right. You sure you’ll be fine on your own?”
“Yeah.”
Striker and Randy got out of the car. Bennett drove away, and they moved to different directions. Randy would enter the coven house from the back while he’d enter the front door. Striker put his hands in his pockets and walked over to the property the vampires currently rented. Seeing him, a vampire guard hissed at him by the gate.
“Your king, Noah, is expecting me,” he said. Striker possessed one ability that was unique to lightning dragons. He could hide his inner animal so other paranormals, even vampires, would only assume he had a dominant apex predator in him but were unsure of what kind.
“Noah was expecting the sheriff and that werebear,” the vampire answered.
“I work at the sheriff’s office with Bennett,” he said, holding up a police badge he borrowed from one of Bennett’s men.
The vampire narrowed his eyes. “The sheriff too chicken to come himself so he’s sending you?”
Striker lost his patience. One moment, he stood a few meters away, the next he closed the distance between them and closed one hand over the vampire’s neck. Vampires couldn’t breathe, but he applied more pressure. Striker could tear the leech’s head from his shoulders without effort. Genuine fear shone in the vampire’s eyes.
“I won’t ask you again. Take me to Noah,” he said with a growl. The vampire sputtered some kind of answer, and he released him.
“What are you?” the vampire whispered. “Shifters can’t move that fast.”
“Say something stupid again and I’ll break your neck,” he said.
The vampire finally showed some sense and began leading the way inside the mansion. The bloodsucker opened the front door and told the other vampire there, “Representative from the sheriff’s office.”
“We were expecting Bennett, but whatever,” the other vampire said with a shrug. “This way. Our king’s expecting you.”
This new vampire led him past a corridor, more rooms filled with vampires talking in groups, but they hardly gave him a glance. Finally, his guide led him to some kind of living room filled with couches. His dragon instantly zoned in on Noah, the pale, red-headed and red-eyed vampire wearing a white silk shirt and purple leather pants. Wow. Striker wondered if that was Noah’s personal style or if he was trying to replicate one of those cheesy looking vampires in the movies.
The vampire king smelled old, of ash and death.
Noah paused from his conversation with two other vampires to look at him, then his guide. Noah frowned. “Where is Bennett?”
“Bennett sent me over. He’s busy, you see?” he said, taking a seat on the empty arm chair opposite the vampire.
“You must be the shifter Bennett’s mentioned, another werebear like Randy?” the vampire king mused aloud, stroking his chin. “Hmm. That’s odd, I can’t tell what exactly you are.”
“I’m a mixed bag of genes. What do you care? Let’s talk business. Where’s Bree and Tim?”
The two male vampires with Noah laughed. “Seems like this animal’s even dumber than the last bear they sent. At least the human had manners.”
Oh, his dragon didn’t like that, especially from these two leeches that were beneath his notice. While it was tempting to French fry them, he reeled in his dragon. He needed to buy Randy time.
Upstairs, he heard a loud thud, followed by a loud growl. Randy’s signal. Good. Right on schedule.
Noah narrowed his eyes and jerked his head to his guide. “Find out what that is.” Noah returned his attention to him. “Seems like you didn’t come alone, but Randy can’t even hold his own against three of my vampires. What about you, bear? Surrender and I might be merciful enough to give you a quick, painless death.”
“Nah, not interested.” Striker rose to his feet at the same time the two male vampires did. He opened his mouth and showed them fangs, his forked tongue. Then Striker unleashed white lightning that ripped right through the first vampire’s chest, creating a hole the size of a bowling ball, then took off the head of the second. Noah was on his feet, looking alarmed.
“An elemental? No,” Noah warily circled him. “I thought all the lightning d
ragons were dead, you’re not supposed to exist.”
“Guess you didn’t do your research right.”
“Look, dragon. We can make a deal. Together, we can rule this territory, what do you say?”
Before the vampire king could say another word, he unleashed another ball of lightning. Noah moved at the last second, so the lightning merely took a chunk out of his shoulder. The bloodsucker bolted, but Striker was right on his heels.
“Get him,” Noah yelled to his vampires.
The leeches came at him. Striker let loose a chain of lightning, striking any bloodsucker that got in his way. He chased the vampire king outside the mansion only to freeze in his tracks as Noah held a frightened blonde against him, fangs poised to strike her neck. At his feet lay a badly bleeding Randy. A car engine rumbled in the distance. Bennett. He only hoped Tim managed to escape.
“Let me go, dragon, and I’ll take my coven away from here in exchange for this shifter,” Noah said.
Striker debated his choices. He had a feeling if he let Noah leave with his coven, he might never find them again. Vampires had a way of going underground, were the best at hiding. On one hand, he wanted to save Bree, but allowing this coven to leave Horn only meant Noah could do the same thing to another town.
A gunshot boomed, and Noah turned his head only for the bullet to score the side of Noah’s neck. A few feet from him stood Ron, panting, eyes wide and holding a shotgun.
What the fuck?
Noah must have read the shocked expression on his face and came to the conclusion Ron was important to him, because he released Bree and ran right up to his mate. Striker’s control broke. He shifted. Clothes ripped, scales covered his entire body. Claws emerged from his hands just as Ron fired, panicked expression on his face.
He felt a cold wind from above him, followed by the sound of flapping wings. Smoke. Did Ron escape Smoke’s watchful eye? That would be just like his mate, to be worried and act recklessly. Ron broke into a run just as he closed his claws around Noah’s pale neck.
