Her father shrugged. “Cody is a male. He will have grieved in his own time. In his own way.”
“I think you’re wrong, dad. You haven’t spent any time with him lately. It’s more than anything he has said or done. It’s a feeling I have. It’s how he is making me feel. The Cody I’ve always known is kind and sweet. This new Cody, Alpha Cody, he’s forceful, angry and manipulative. He’s desperate to make this happen and I don’t think he’s doing it for the reasons you think. He used what happened with the dragon…”
Her father slapped the table. “It was Cody who insisted we leave the beast be.”
“What?” She lifted her brows, not quite believing what she was hearing.
“Laird and I wanted retribution. That beast should never have been on our territory in the first place. If the thing had stayed on its side of the line, what happened, would never have transpired.” He shook his head. “It’s put a rift between you and Cody…your mate, for fur’s sake!”
“That’s nonsense!” She stood up. “Cody protected Obsidian but only so that he could use him as a pawn. That’s it! What happened with Obsidian was a direct reflection of my feelings. My pent-up emotions. My resentment of what I was being coerced into doing on the basis of tradition.” She kept her eyes on her father, feeling instantly bad. Although Obsidian had been a quick rut ‒ a means to an end ‒ he had meant so much more as well. “Don’t blame the dragon. I seduced him. I wanted him—”
“That beast should never have been here. What happened, happened. It’s done! Just like your mating. It is done!” He sucked in a deep breath. “Please sit down.” He gestured to the chair behind her. “I told you this because I want you to stop blaming Cody. I think it’s commendable how he’s taken everything in his stride. How he was willing to look past your indiscretion.”
Commendable!
Indiscretion?
She collapsed back into the chair. “What indiscretion? I never agreed to anything prior to Obsidian. Everyone keeps acting like I did this terrible thing. Well, I didn’t!”
“You became Cody’s promised the day we buried,” he cleared his throat, “Brie.”
“Listen to yourself!”
“Let’s not argue about this.” He kept his eyes on her. “All we do lately is argue.”
It was true. They were never going to see eye to eye on this. There was no point in arguing anymore. They both recognized that fact. She nodded once.
“Cody is still the male you remember, only, he’s in a difficult place. His instincts will be up and in full force. Instincts telling him to finish the mating. I can’t imagine how he’s coping.” Her father looked concerned. More concerned about Cody than his own daughter. It hurt.
“He doesn’t want to finish the mating with me. He wants Brie. Dad, I can’t go through with it.”
“It’s too late, Demi. You are mated!”
“I’m not though! Not really. Please, dad. Please talk to Laird. He’s your best friend for claw’s sake. Maybe he can talk some sense into his son. Cody might listen to him. Why do we need to follow these traditions? I don’t get it. We can all still walk away. Both Cody and I will have a shot at being happy. Despite what Cody says, he doesn’t want me. He doesn’t love me and will never be happy if we are forced to mate.”
“Don’t even go there. I can’t discuss this with Laird.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“That’s just it!” Her father shook his head. “Laird and I are not on great terms anymore.”
She frowned. “You’ve been best friends forever though.”
“He was angry when you…disappeared that night. We haven’t seen eye to eye on a couple of things lately. Our relationship is…strained. It’s a good reflection of what’s happening between the packs.”
Demi was shocked at the admission. Her father and Cody’s dad had been the best of friends ever since she could remember. The packs were fine, weren’t they? It was probably her father trying to get her to finish the mating. “Talk to Cody, then. You do it!” Even though she knew this conversation was futile, she needed to try one last time.
Her dad leaned forward, resting his arms on the desk in front of him. “I can’t do that. It would cause further discord. I’ll say it again, what is happening between Laird and me is proof that the two packs are not necessarily as close as you think. That bonds are not as tight. It is not a chance I am prepared to take.”
“Even for me?” It was a question she hadn’t asked. All this time, and she’d held back pushing this far.
He swiped a hand over his face. “As the ex-Alpha, as one of the Council members, I have to think of our people. Of the wolves. We are outnumbered by the bears, who are stronger. We would be crushed if there was ever a war. You need to mate Cody.”
It was like a slap across the face…a blade to the heart.
“I’m sorry, Demi. If things could be different…”
There was a great commotion outside. Yelling, snarling…many footfalls. More yelling. Her mother burst into the study. “They are saying that dragon has been captured. That Cody took it down…” Her eyes moved to Demi. “I’m sorry, honey. It looks like the beast has been gravely injured.”
The blood drained from her body.
Chapter 16
Demi stood there with her hands over her mouth. Her body felt cold.
Obsidian lay on his back. His chest rose and fell in quick succession. He wheezed and gasped as he struggled to breathe. There were holes in his chest. They oozed blood. One…two…three…four of them.
Good lord! A burst of adrenaline hit her system. Obsidian is still alive, she told herself. Still breathing. Still here. It meant that he would recover. She could breathe a little easier. At least for the time being.
She took in Cody and the four bloody arrows in his blood-smeared hands. She fought to school her emotions. Demi couldn’t give away how much this affected her. Right then, she wished with all her heart that she had taken Obsidian up on his offer. “What have you done?” she asked, as Cody shut the door to the cage. “Have you gone mad?” she kept her voice level. “The dragons are going to wage a war on us after this.”
“You can all leave now. Brutus and Max, the two of you can wait outside. I need to speak with my female.”
“Hardly yours,” one of the males muttered.
“What was that?” Cody snarled, turning towards the males. His free hand curling into a fist. His muscles strained.
No one said anything. She scented fear.
“Get out of here!” Cody snapped at the males, who were still milling about. They all hustled outside. The door closed with a sharp click that reverberated around the room.
“He was in our back yard, Demi. I told him not to come back and yet here he is. The dragons won’t have a leg to stand on in this case. I warned him twice and—”
“Twice?” Her heart began to pound.
“Yes, twice. I know he was here yesterday. That he came to see you. What you don’t know is that he came to see me too. That beast threatened me.” His eyes shone brightly.
The blood returned to her body in a flood. Heat crept up from under her collar. “Why didn’t you say anything?” She didn’t wait for a response. “Wait a minute! That’s why you acted the way you did.” She squeezed her eyes shut for a second. “It makes more sense now.”
“I acted the way I did because you insist on standing in our way. I warned you about that as well. I knew he would come back. I didn’t think he’d make it quite so easy for me to catch him though.” Cody smiled. It was cold and calculating.
“You planned this?” There was a shrillness to her voice.
“I fetched the bow and arrows from the weapons room before returning home from my run yesterday. Run.” He snorted. “My run-in is a more apt description. I don’t like being threatened.” He shook his head.
“So, you fetched silver weapons, like a coward?” Anger bubbled inside her. “You set a trap.”
“You left me with little choice. I won
’t stand for a dragon sniffing around my female…my mate. I hadn’t planned anything yet.” He shrugged. “But the opportunity arose, and I took it.”
“But you ultimately planned on hurting Obsidian…on capturing him?”
“Yes.” Cody nodded. Zero hesitation. In fact, he looked smug. “You can’t blame me, Demi. You are mine,” he snarled, “and yet the dragon won’t stay the fuck away and you won’t...let me anywhere near you. There is a correlation between the two.”
“Nothing happened yesterday between Obsidian and me,” she spat. “The only correlation is you acting like a crazy person and the fact still remains that we don’t love each other. You’re trying to use me to replace Brie.”
“No.” He shook his head. “That’s not it at all.” He didn’t put much into the argument, even looked like she might have hit a nerve.
“You’ve never fully accepted Brie’s death. You don’t like to talk about it. You’ve never grieved. Never. It isn’t right, Cody.”
“I said that wasn’t it,” he growled. “Leave it be. We can’t move forward if we keep looking back and we certainly can’t move forward until the dragon is out of our lives once and for all.”
“What are you saying?” Fear hit. “What are you going to do to him?”
“That all depends on you.” He folded his arms. “We need to decide what happens to the beast. I can put this to Council, or as Alpha, I can make a decision myself.”
Shit!
Terrible options. Cody hated Obsidian. Her father too. Her father trusted Cody. One thing she knew though was that as one of the Council members, her father wouldn’t go easy on Obsidian. Neither would Laird. They were both highly influential members of the Council. Obsidian was in a world of trouble and all because of her.
“Your father wants it put down,” Cody said. “He believes the dragon took advantage of you while you were in a vulnerable state. He doesn’t believe the rutting was fully consensual. My father is in agreement.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it!” she yelled.
“Do I?” Cody asked.
She growled in frustration. “You know full well—”
“I am going to make your father aware of the threats made to my life as well. This is the third time the dragon was trespassing on our territory. All in all, we have a good case to take its head.”
“No!” she shouted. “How can you even—”
“That’s the way this will go down, but only if I decide to put this decision to Council.” He paused, letting his statement sink in.
Demi could hardly breathe. She could hardly think, her heart was beating so hard and so loudly.
“If I were to make the decision as Alpha, I could make sure that things go down differently. I would ensure his release. Maybe a lighter sentence…” He pretended to think it through. Again, everything about this was calculated. “Death would be off the table. Maybe fifty lashes…” He shrugged. “I’d have to think about it.”
“You nearly killed Obsidian!” she shouted. “How could you possibly want to beat him as well? Please, Cody, I know you’re hurting over Brie, over what happened but—”
His face morphed with pain. Just a second and then it was gone. “Stop bringing Brie into this. It has nothing to do with her…or what happened. You need to make a decision. The clock is ticking.”
Demi turned back to Obsidian. She gripped the bars but recoiled when her hands burned.
“Careful,” Cody warned unnecessarily. “They’re silver.”
She rubbed her hands together as the burn faded.
“Let’s finish the mating and I swear I’ll make sure the dragon is released. Once we are mates, he’ll have no more reason to keep coming onto our lands. I’ll spend the rest of my life proving to you that I’m worthy. Believe it or not, I don’t want to see him killed.” Cody looked into the cage. “I know his intentions are ultimately good.” Cody had a pinched look, like it was hard for him to say the words. “You could be happy with me,” he urged. “We could have a good life together.”
Was he for real?
“I want to first make sure Obsidian’s okay.” His chest movements were shallow and he looked pale.
“The beast is strong. He will be fine,” Cody countered with a sneer.
“We don’t know that for sure. I will nurse the dragon back to health. Once he is well again, you will have my answer…not that I’ll have much of a choice.” She shook her head.
“No. I don’t want you anywhere near it. What will the pack say?”
“No one needs to know. You can have your goons stand guard outside. If the dragon dies without a proper trial, it could spell war with the dragons.”
“He won’t die,” Cody snorted.
“You don’t know that for sure. You can tell everyone I’m distraught. Tell them that just knowing the dragon is on our territory has frightened me to my core after what happened. I’m at home and don’t want to see anyone.”
She could see Cody was thinking about it.
“That way, you kill two birds with one stone. I don’t like his color…or how hard it is for him to breathe.” The wheezing seemed worse to her. Thing was, Demi was really worried about Obsidian. No one else from the village would go anywhere near him. They were afraid of him. “I need to help him. I don’t want him to die.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“Please.”
“No one from the village is to know that you are in there with him. Thankfully we are quite far away so no one should pick up your scent.” He was talking more to himself, his eyes lifted in thought.
“Okay. Understood.” She nodded.
Cody smiled, reminding her of the Cody she had once known, which hurt since not much of that male remained. “This will work out, Brie. You…”
She clenched her jaw. They kept their eyes on one another for a few seconds. He wasn’t even going to apologize this time. “Open the cage.”
He seemed to hesitate. To be rethinking the whole thing.
“No one else will agree to go in there with him. It has to be me. I refuse to give an answer until I know for sure he’s going to make it. You know my answer if he dies.”
Cody kept his eyes on hers for a few more seconds. “Fine,” he sighed. “I will open it for you. I’ll have Brutus fetch you the supplies you will need. My males will stand guard. No one will be allowed near this area and this stays between us.”
“Yes, and thank you.” The words tasted bitter on her tongue.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Demi,” he emphasized her name. Like saying it would erase all the times he’d called her by her dead sister’s name. It wouldn’t. He pursed his lips for a second. “It would kill your father to have to watch you being put to death as well. Not to mention what it would do to your mother.”
“Don’t bring my family into this.” She inhaled deeply, trying to calm herself down. “I would never break our vows.” She kept her voice neutral. “So you can stop with the threats already.”
He raised his brows, like he didn’t believe her. “I would have to release you from your vows before…”
“I know how it works.” She sounded exasperated, which was good since she felt the emotion to her core. “I would never break my vows, okay? I’m not that kind of person and neither is Obsidian.” Even though those promises were made under duress, she would honor them.
“Just so you know, it’s never going to happen. I’m never releasing you from your vows.” He looked so sincere. “I would rather die first. So do the right thing. Save the dragon. Save your people.”
Do the right thing? Cody wouldn’t know the right thing if it jumped out and bit him.
“Twenty-four hours, Brie.”
“For the last fucking time!” she screamed. “My name is Demi. Demi!”
“It doesn’t matter.” He shook his head. His eyes vacant. “I want you in my bed…our bed, so that we can finish this once and for all.”
Horror.
Revulsion.
Fear.
Hate.
Loads of the stuff. Truckloads!
Cody unlocked the cage and she went inside. The door closed and the key turned. Yet, right then, she felt freer than she had in days.
Chapter 17
He realized two things and both at once. Firstly, he was in serious pain. Secondly, there was something warm curled up next to him. Sweet, musky, good. The sweetness reminding him of sunshine and cookies. Things he loved. He groaned when he realized what the scent was.
Female.
His female.
No, not his. Fuck! “Demi,” he ground out, the pain in his chest flaring and not only because he had been shot several times.
“Oh god! Stay still.” She sat up, leaning over him. “Don’t move or you’ll start to bleed again.” Her eyes were filled with concern. “Your wounds were made by silver-tipped arrows, so it’ll take a bit longer for the damage to heal.”
“I figured,” he growled. It hurt to talk. “It was him,” he clenched his teeth, “yellow-bellied fucker.”
“Shhhhh. I know,” Demi urged. “Don’t say anymore.” She put a hand on his chest. Not on the wounds, but close. He felt instantly soothed. Her dark eyes softened, and her lip trembled.
It was hard work, but he managed to lift a hand. To stroke her cheek. His hand fell back moments later. He felt weak. Like a day-old lamb.
“It’s all my fault,” she whispered. “You shouldn’t have come back.”
“His…fault,” he gasped. “Protect…you…had…to.” Why was she in there? Why had the bear allowed it? She had to have bargained to be there. What though? “Shouldn’t be here,” he managed. Whatever it was, it was too much.
“Here.” She brought a bottle of water to his lips. “Drink.”
Savage Dragon: Earth Dragons Series: Book 2 Page 12
