by Jane Jamison
“I’m not crazy, and I’m not going with you.” She moved away from the men as they came together, forming a line of all muscle. If they wanted to, they could tear Bruce’s body to pieces. “Please, let it go. I know you’re trying to protect me and I thank you for it, but you’re so wrong. Don’t you see? Can’t you tell how I feel about them? I love them. Whether or not you agree, you’re going to have to accept my decision.”
“Damn it, Mon, you’re mine.” Bruce’s face scrunched up, his frustration and anger transforming him into someone she no longer knew. Hated burned in his eyes. “I’ve waited a long time for you to finally see that you belong to me, and I’m not going to let these assholes take you away from me. You’re mine. Not theirs.”
She’d known he wanted her, yet she hadn’t realized how much until now. He was a man possessed with one goal in mind, and she was that goal. “Bruce, you’ve got to understand. You can’t force me to love you. If I could, I already would.”
“Don’t say that. We’re friends, and in time, we’ll be lovers.” Pain mixed with the hate in his eyes. “You always said you wanted to find someone who’d be your best friend first and then your husband. Well, here I am. Fuck, why can’t you see we were meant to be together?”
He was right. She’d wanted a friend first and then a husband. Like Bruce, she’d imagined it would take a long time to go from one to the other. “I’m sorry. I had no idea that I’d fall in love so fast. But I can’t change how I feel. Please, Bruce, try to understand.”
“No. I can’t. I won’t.” He shook his head and lifted the rifle a little higher.
“Take it easy, man.” Vince’s voice was level, a calm in the middle of the storm. “You don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“Baby, get behind us.”
Yet she yanked her arm out of Trey’s hold. Bruce was her friend and her problem. She took a step closer, ignoring the men’s orders to stay back. “Put the gun down and we’ll talk some more.”
“There’s nothing more to say. You’re coming home with me.” Bruce came toward her, and once again, took her arm.
At the same moment, Vince bolted forward and grabbed her other arm.
“Let me go, Bruce.” She startled, the sound of her voice lost in the blast of the gun.
Vince staggered back, blood quickly spreading down his arm. He didn’t make a sound as he stopped, looked down at the blood, then dropped onto a nearby chair.
“Vince!” Monica fell on her knees next to him. Gripping Vince’s hand, she stared unbelievingly at his blood-soaked shirt.
“Get him.” Trey’s order came out sounding more like a growl.
The sound of glass breaking, shouts, and growls filled the air. She twisted back around to find Bruce, his eyes rolling back into his head, sliding down the wall. Trey and Clint stood over him, their transformations started, yet still in their human forms. Fangs dripped saliva as flashes of fire erupted from the sides of their lengthening mouths.
* * * *
“Tell us again.”
As brokenhearted as she was about Bruce, she couldn’t resist a smile. It was the fifth time Clint had asked in the past hour.
The past few hours had whirled by so quickly. After Bruce had shot Vince, she’d had to fight to get the men to take Bruce upstairs until he came to. Vince, never once acting as though he were in pain, had convinced the other two men to do as she’d asked. Afterward, he’d allowed her to look at his wound and put a bandage on it. Thankfully, it was only a flesh wound. According to Vince, as a dragon, he’d heal quicker than any human, even though the aging process had started.
“She’s going to change her mind if you don’t stop bugging her about it,” groused Vince.
“It’s okay. I like saying it.” She leaned forward in the rocking chair closest to the front door and looked Vince in the eyes. “I want to be your mate.”
“Damn, I’m with Clint. It sounds too good to be true,” added Trey, who took the chair next to hers.
“Tell me what our life together is going to be like.” Talking about them was the only way she could get her mind off Bruce who was lying on his bed upstairs. The men had carried him up to his room. She’d stayed with him for a while, but then the men had talked her into coming down to the front porch. They weren’t about to leave her alone with him.
“It’ll be whatever you want it to be.” Vince glanced at the other two men. “We can live here, or we can move anywhere in the world. Or we can live here and travel as much as you want.”
“I never thought I’d say these words, but you can have your mother live here, too. Or go on trips with us.” Trey coughed. “Damn, did I just ask to have my mother-in-law with us?”
“You sure did. And no taking it back, either.” She doubted her very independent mother would want to live with her daughter and her three men. Still, her mother was fairly liberal, so who knew?
“Have you called and told her about us yet?” asked Vince, clearly worried about her mother’s reaction.
“Not yet. I’ll tell her when I go back to get my things.” Knowing her mother, she’d be concerned yet thrilled that her daughter had found love.
“We’re ready anytime you are.”
“You’re going to come with me?”
“Sure. Why not?” Trey placed his hand over hers. “The faster we get you moved out of your mother’s house, the faster we can get you moved in here.”
“You can quit your job, too. Do you think you’ll want to find a job around here?” Vince shrugged. “There aren’t many to be had.”
“Why not concentrate on your photography?” Clint put on a pose, pretending to be a model. “You can take my picture anytime you want. As long as it’s in my human form.”
She pretended to take his photo. “To be a professional photographer would be a dream come true.”
“Then start dreaming, baby. You don’t have to worry about money any longer.”
She wanted to pinch herself. In such a short time, her life had changed dramatically.
If only Bruce would come around. What would life be like without him as my friend?
But there was another person she had to worry about. “I’ll never be able to tell my mother what you are, will I?”
“You’ll probably have to if she moves in with us.” A shadow darkened Trey’s face. “We’ll just have to trust her not to tell.”
“She won’t once she understands what would happen if she did. If anyone can keep a secret, it’s my mother.”
“Good to know,” added Vince. “Our lives together will be anything we want them to be. As long as you accept us for what we are, then everything else will work out.”
“Dragons.” She blew out a breath. “I want to see you in your dragon forms again real soon.”
“You will.” Clint grinned. “The next time when you’re riding on my back, I’ll show you what real flying is like. We’ll really soar.”
She paused, thinking she heard a sound. “I should check on Bruce.”
Trey tightened his grip on her hand. “Let him be. He’s alive. Hell, he’s lucky we didn’t burn him alive.”
Monica couldn’t respond to Trey’s muttered anger.
“You would’ve had to beat me to it.” Clint leaned against the porch railing. Vince sat on the porch steps with his back against the post.
Trey scooted his chair closer. She sat in her favorite chair, one that rocked and was near enough to the front door to hear if Bruce called out.
“Why aren’t we loading his ass into the truck and hauling him to the nearest highway? After that, he can figure out how to get home by himself. Or we could make up for our mistake and rip his legs off. I’d be happy to pay for a wheelchair to roll his ass back to Gatlinburg.”
“Please stop, Trey. I know Bruce deserves everything you want to do to him, but he’s still my friend. If he doesn’t wake up soon, we have to call for help. He needs medical attention.” They’d talked her into not calling emergency services, saying that Bruce would eventua
lly wake up.
“Maybe I should call 9-1-1 now?”
“No, sugar-babe. He’ll wake up soon. Besides, what will you say to them, anyway? Are you going to tell them he shot Vince?” Clint’s eyebrows jumped skyward. “On second thought, go ahead and call. They’ll get him to a doctor, but they’ll also arrest him. You’ll be happy to file charges, right, Vince?”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” answered Vince. “Aside from the part that it’ll bring attention to us, too. Besides, with my arm healing, there won’t be any sign of a gunshot wound soon.”
“No, please. I don’t want to see him go to jail.” She couldn’t turn her back on her friend. Would he ever be her friend again? Or was their friendship broken beyond repair?
“You still care about him after he shot Vince?” Clint stared at her, incredulous.
“I have to take responsibility for my part in what happened. If I’d told him sooner that I’d never be interested in him romantically, maybe it wouldn’t have come to this.”
“Baby, you are too good for your own good.”
“She’s too damn good for the likes of you.”
They pivoted together toward the door where Bruce leaned against the doorjamb to stay upright. He held the gun he’d snuck into the park in his backpack.
Oh God. I forgot about his gun.
Trey was on his feet in the next instant with Vince and Clint ready to fight, too. Their eyes blazed as they clenched their fists.
“For fuck sake, where’d he get the gun?” Trey dared to take a step forward, but stopped when Bruce pointed the barrel at him.
“I won’t let them have you.”
She saw it coming this time. The look in Bruce’s eyes was a warning only she caught. “No, Bruce.”
Throwing her body out of the chair, she felt the bullet piercing her flesh. Strangely, pain didn’t come. Instead, like Vince had done, she glanced down and saw the blood spreading over her hip. As though in slow motion, she crumpled to the porch.
A strangled cry from Bruce.
Curses from her men.
Footsteps pounding the boards of the front porch.
Her name spoken several times, more pain in the voices than in her body.
She stared at the overhang of the porch, letting the sounds surround her. Colors faded as a growing darkness began to encircle her.
* * * *
Fighting back the urge to shift had never been harder for Clint as he raced after the cowardly Bruce. His dragon, enraged, clawed at him under the surface of his skin, demanding to be set free to claim its prey.
Only now was he beginning to truly understand what had happened. The more he understood, the angrier both man and beast became.
The asshole shot her.
Trey had caught her as she slumped to the porch. He and Vince had gone to her side, too much in shock to do anything else. He’d stared, unbelieving, as the dark stain covered her stomach. Precious minutes passed before any of them had the sense to react.
He’d jumped to his feet and run after Bruce who had gotten a major head start. Vince and Trey would take care of Monica. No doubt they’d call for help and do what they could for her. In the meantime, he’d make sure once and for all that Bruce would never have another chance to hurt any of them.
His feet pounded into the ground as he allowed his inner dragon to shift enough to pick up Bruce’s scent. The man could move fast, but he wouldn’t get away. Clint wouldn’t stop until he’d tracked him down and had his way with him.
He’s only a few yards ahead. Once he reaches the clearing ahead, I’ll get him.
He heard Bruce’s panted breaths a moment before he saw the man push through the foliage and into the clearing. Running as hard as he could, Bruce still carried the handgun.
Clint broke through the bushes then stopped. He could keep running after the man, or he could catch him quicker, easier. He made his decision and smiled.
Clint ran into the field, shifting as he did. Wings sprouted as claws burst from his changing hands. The world developed a red haze over it. Heat spread throughout his body as the flame that was dormant inside him came to life. He lifted into the air, eager to show Bruce exactly what he was.
Too bad he was too late.
What the fuck?
Bruce skidded to a stop just before entering the forest on the other side of the clearing. He stalled, unmoving for several moments, then suddenly reversed direction. Although he tried to get his gun ready to shoot, he couldn’t do so at a dead run.
What’s wrong with him?
When he saw why the man was running, he almost laughed out loud.
Clint sailed above Bruce, pulling his legs underneath his body a second before he would’ve slammed into him. By the time he dipped his wing and made a quick U-turn, the black bear had Bruce flat on his back. Screams tore through the air.
Clint landed not far from the bear and the man he’d torn apart with several quick swipes of his massive claws. He shifted quickly and ran toward Clint, but soon stopped. If he could’ve done anything to help Bruce, he would have, but it was obvious that Monica’s friend was dead. No one, not even a dragon, could’ve survived a severed head.
The bear growled and looked up from its victim. A ragged scar ran across its face.
Clint raised his hands, palms out, toward the bear. “Easy.” He stepped backward, ready to shift again if he had to protect himself. “Looks like you got your payback.”
The bear roared and rose onto its back feet. Yet instead of going after Clint, it spun around, graceful for such a large animal, and barreled into the forest.
* * * *
“Did you call 9-1-1?” Vince carefully lowered Monica onto the couch.
“Yeah. They’re on their way,” answered Trey as he rushed into the kitchen.
“Grab as many towels as you can.” Vince used one of the pillows on the couch to put pressure on her wound. “The shot hit her in the side.”
Trey returned with an armful of dishtowels. “I’ll get the first aid kit.” He was gone again.
“Hang in there, hon. Monica, do you hear me? Open your eyes.” But her eyes remained closed. He ached to take her into his arms and hug her tightly against him. Instead, he had to keep her wound covered and try to stop the blood loss. As bad as it seemed, he was thankful that the wound wasn’t in her midsection. If it had hit her dead center, she might’ve already died.
“How’s she doing?”
He ignored Trey’s question. “Monica, open your eyes. Please. Come on. You’re going to be all right. All you have to do is open your eyes.”
Trey knelt beside him. “Come on, baby. Listen to us and open your eyes. Don’t you fucking leave us. Not now. Not ever.”
Vince would’ve given his life to see her big, brown eyes. He prayed, ready and willing to do anything to save her. If he could’ve changed her into a dragon, he would have. “We need you, Monica. You can’t leave us.”
“You’re our everything. Life won’t be worth living without you, baby.”
“How’s she doing?”
Vince glanced at Clint striding into the house and shook his head. He wished he could tell his cousin what he wanted to hear but couldn’t. “I don’t know.”
The flutter of her eyelashes was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. He laughed, relief flooding him when she opened her eyes and stared up at him. Caressing her hair, he did his best to comfort her. “It’s okay, hon. You’re going to be okay.”
“Yeah, baby.” Trey’s shoulder pushed against his as he tried to get closer. “Help is on the way. They’re going to take real good care of you.”
She swallowed then grimaced. “Are you all right?” Her gaze slid behind Vince to Clint. “All of you?”
“We’re fine. Don’t worry about anything. Everything’s going to be all right.”
Yet her gaze clouded as she tried to see around the room. She moaned at the pain her slight movement caused. “Bruce?”
“He’s not here right now. He ran o
ff after he shot you.”
Vince and Clint exchanged a knowing look. His cousin wasn’t lying, but he wasn’t telling her the whole truth, either.
“Oh.” She moaned again then closed her eyes.
“What the hell’s taking them so long?” His throat closed up, making it harder to talk.
“They’re coming. They’ll get here in time. I know they will.” Trey sounded as though he, too, had a difficult time speaking. His voice was barely more than a whisper yet filled with anguish.
“They will. They have to.” Clint jerked away from them. “Hear that? The siren’s closer.” He jumped up and rushed to the door. “They’re here.”
The wail of an ambulance was the sweetest sound Vince had ever heard. He bent low, putting his mouth to her ear. “Hang in there, Monica. We need you. We love you.”
“We do, baby. We love you more than we can ever say.”
“You know it, sugar-babe. You’re our mate.”
Moving out of the way, Vince pulled Trey back with him and let the paramedics take over. He backed up, staying close enough to see what they were doing. Together, they stood waiting and praying.
When the medics placed her on the stretcher, he was ready to follow them into the ambulance. One of the men turned the stretcher loose and confronted him as they loaded her into the vehicle.
“I’m sorry, sir, but you can’t ride with us.”
His dragon roared, ready to roast the man. Fortunately, Trey pulled him back, wrapping his arm around his shoulder. “We’ll follow in the truck.”
“Let’s go,” added Clint.
The world around him seemed unreal as though he were moving through a nightmare. “Where’s Bruce?”
The glint in Clint’s eyes shone. “Dead.”
“Good.” He didn’t care how the man had died or by whose hands. All that mattered was that he could never hurt Monica again.
Epilogue
One month later ~
Monica laughed as Clint swept her off her feet. “Put me down, you big dragon.”
He spun her around before he gave in to her demand then kissed her so hard her head spun. By the time he ended the kiss, she was ready to do a lot more than press their mouths together.
