Her phone rang. Bernie answered it at once.
“Miss Gardener.” The male voice was low and husky, with a layer of growling to it that made her shiver. “My name is Leopold Turner. I’m an associate of Tyler’s in his motorcycle club. I’m afraid that there has been an incident.”
Her heart leaped to her throat and her whole body went numb from inside out. Her fingers tightened on her phone until her knuckles were white. It felt as though her tongue was glued to the top of her mouth. For several seconds she couldn’t even breath. An incident. That could mean anything. If anything had happened to Tyler, what would she do with herself?
“What happened?” she managed to rasp out. “Is Tyler okay?”
There was a scuffling noise, then Tyler’s voice came over the line. “Bernie. I’m fine.”
A howl in the background. Bernie clutched the phone tighter. Her whole body burned. Wanting to run, wanting to fight. Wanting to rush back to Xavier and hold him close. Wanting to track down whoever took Tyler and make them pay for whatever they’d done to him.
“It’s all okay. I promise. Just stay with Xavier and—”
There were more scuffling noises and Leopold’s voice came over again. “Mr. Freeman is fine, yes but we need you to come down here at once. There seems to be an argument between him and another of our members over you and we need to have this whole business put to rest. Please, come as soon as you can.”
Another member? The cold in her body was replaced by hot anger. Bill. That asshole! Her hands clenched for a moment. The phone went dead and she pushed it into her pocket. Okay. Fine. They wanted her there so they could put it to rest? She’d go. And Bill Johnson would rue the day he ever thought that she was his dream woman. There would be no more cowering.
***
Bernie marched into the club bar, her eyes blazing and her teeth clenched. Half a dozen dragons milled about. In the center of the room was a long couch. Tyler and Bill both sat on it. The tension radiating off of them both was strong enough that she could smell it. With her hands clenched, she marched over to them.
Tyler’s face was a mess. Blood dribbled from his nose, his lip was split and there was a purple-green bruise on his eye. He straightened and grimaced when he saw her. At first, she thought it was because she had come when he told her not to, then she saw the way he held his ribs. The movement must have hurt him.
At that moment, she was glad she wasn’t a dragon. If she was, her flames would have consumed her and she would have gone off like a nuclear bomb. Every inch of her trembled as she whirled on Bill. He gave her an angry, pouty look.
“Did you do this to him?” she demanded, pointing at Tyler.
“Bernie, I—” Tyler started but Bernie held up a hand and cut him off.
“Did you?”
Bill snorted and shifted on the spot. “I had to put him back in his place.”
She lunged forward. Seeing her boyfriend—her mate—in such a state overwhelmed all her common sense. Howling at the top of her lungs, she swung both fists at Bill’s face. Somebody seized her around the waist and dragged her back, so her blows just missed Bill. He jumped to his feet, smoke billowing from his mouth.
“You see?” He pointed at her but looked at the other dragons around them. “You see what he’s done to her? He’s got her riled up so much that she’d injure herself attacking her own mate! How can you say I’m not justified when he’s done this to her?”
“I tried to be polite about it but I’m not your mate!” Bernie shrugged the hands off her and gave Bill a glare that she hoped would melt his face off. “I want nothing to do with you.”
“So, you’re saying you’d rather be with this asshole?” he gestured to Tyler.
“You don’t get to decide who I’m with and frankly the fact that you think you can makes you the biggest asshole in this room!”
Bernie would have liked to have said more, but Tyler shot her a warning glance and she fell silent. She glanced around to find all the dragons looking at her with expressions of various excitement. A chill ran down her spine. What had she done this time?
“We have two males here both claiming this woman as their mate.” One of them, who sounded like the dragon she’d talked to on the phone, clapped his hands. “We’ll just have to resolve this the old-fashioned way.”
Old fashioned? Bernie shivered. In this case, she couldn’t help but think that it was code for the sexist way.
“The two challengers will fight for their mate,” Leopold continued. “We’ll give Tyler twenty-four hours to recover from these injuries and then he and Bill will fight for the right to claim her. The winner will have the human and his mate and—”
“No.” Bernie interrupted. “I make my own decisions, I choose who my mate is. And that creep,” she gestured to Bill, “will get a bullet in the brain if he tries to touch me again. I swear if you think that you can just come in and tell me what I’m doing with my choices and my body—”
“Who you mate isn’t your choice.” Leopold’s voice was so condescending she nearly took a swing at him. “Mates are destined. Your destined mate will win this fight. The loser will abide by Fate’s choice.”
Bernie stared at him, her jaw hanging loose. She didn’t even know how to respond to that. One thing was for certain, though… this was a very, very bad situation. She turned to Tyler, but both he and Bill were being hustled out.
Twenty-Four hours. And then they were going to fight over her fate. The man she loved against the man who thought he owned her. Arguments flashed through her mind but they had already proven that they didn’t care what she thought, or what she wanted.
“Wait!” she called, just before she lost sight of Tyler. Everybody paused. “Wait, I need to say one more thing.”
She started toward Tyler. Leopold grabbed her arm, but she elbowed him in the stomach, making him let her go. Once she got to Tyler, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly. It didn’t matter who else was around. She didn’t care.
There were tears on her face when she pulled back. Part of her was embarrassed by crying. She ignored that, however. She had good enough reason to cry.
“I love you, Tyler Freeman,” she whispered to him.
Bill growled. The dragon holding him back tensed. Tyler ignored him as he wrapped his arms tight around her waist. There was a desperation in his kiss that made her pulse skitter.
“I love you, too,” he whispered.
And then she was being pulled away. He was gone within seconds. Leopold stepped between them and gave her a funny look. It morphed into a smile and he patted her shoulder.
“Cheer up. If he is your mate, there is no way he’s going to lose.”
Bernie opened her mouth to demand to know if he thought there were real witches in Salem, too, but closed it again. There wasn’t any point in arguing. She wasn’t going to change anything. For all she knew, fighting at this moment would only end up putting Tyler in a worse situation.
Her hands clenched. What was she going to do with herself for twenty-four hours?
Chapter Sixteen
Tyler
Tyler wasn’t allowed to go home for his twenty-four hours. Leopold, who had taken leadership for this mess, stated that he wasn’t allowed to contact Bernie until it was decided who her mate truly was. Never mind that she didn’t want anything to do with Bill…
The day was enough for his injuries to heal and soon enough Tyler found himself in a huge warehouse facing off with Bill. It was the club’s ‘gym’ and all the equipment had been dragged to the sides to leave an open space in the middle. Wrestling mats had been put down, although it was unlikely that they were going to do much good. Not with two big dragons fighting.
Bill punched his fist into his hand as he stared down Tyler. Tyler, for his part, did various stretches while waiting for Leopold. He had to do this fight, but that didn’t mean he was going to injure himself by pulling a muscle. Not only was it a bad idea, but it would also put him at a disadvantage.
His fires billowed a little higher, though he tried to keep himself calm.
Did Bill honestly think that a woman who wanted nothing to do with him could be his mate? But then, apparently, he was blaming Tyler for Bernie’s disgust of him, so…
Leopold stepped between them. “No weapons. No shifting. No killing. You fight until one of you passes out or surrenders. If one of you kills the other, then neither of you gets the girl, understood? We’re not savages, after all.”
Tyler fought the urge to roll his eyes. Forcing them to fight when Bernie had made her own choice very clear wasn’t barbaric? Riiiight.
Leopold moved to the side. Most of the club stood up on the upper floor, looking down at the two of them. Bernie was at the side with Leopold, though. She looked furious but worried at the same time. Tyler waved at her, trying to show that he wasn’t worried even if his gut churned. Bill was a much, much bigger dragon than he was…
“Don’t fret, my dear,” Bill called to her. “I’ll claim you and we will live our lives forever orbiting one another.”
“Never going to happen,” she shouted back at him. “I am never letting you lay a finger on me!”
Bill rolled his eyes. Tyler took the opportunity to dodge in and land the first blow. His knuckles cracked as he hit Bill in the jaw. The bigger dragon stumbled back. His head whipped around, smoke billowing from his mouth. He jumped, moving quicker than Tyler had anticipated and brought a hard blow down on Tyler. Tyler ducked to avoid it but the fist still caught his shoulder.
Cheers rose up from the watching crowd. Tyler could just imagine them passing bets but didn’t look. Unlike Bill, who threw his hands into the air and started to yell victoriously.
Tyler regained his feet and rolled his shoulder, checking the mobility. Something clicked but there wasn’t any extra pain. He charged at Bill again. When the bigger dragon turned to greet him, he slipped under his arms and punched rapidly into Bill’s stomach. Bill grunted, doubling over. Tyler sprang upright and made to elbow him in the back of the neck.
Bill seized him around the waist and threw him to the mats. The bulky body landing on him shot the breath from his lungs. Stars danced before his eyes. Bill reared back and punched him twice in the face and chest. Something snapped and pain blinded him. Tyler lifted his hands to ward off the blows. Smoke filled the air, filling the space between them. Bill continued to punch blindly.
Seizing on an incredible, stupid idea, Tyler threw himself forward. The motion unsteadied Bill but not as much as Tyler’s forehead crashing into his nose. Bill let out a howl of pain and rolled off of him. Tyler took a moment to steady his swirling vision before he flung himself over Bill. He pinned him down and started beating on his face. Sweat and blood mingled as more smoke belched into the air.
And then he was suddenly thrown off to one side. Wings snapped out behind Bill. White-gold scales covered his body and he threw back his head and roared. His neck became long and sinewy, his arms morphed into legs and his hands and feet became six-fingered, grasping claws. Flame flickered in his mouth as Bill stared down at Tyler.
“I said no—”
Bill’s tail lashed out. It caught Leopold in the stomach and threw him across the warehouse. He crumpled. Above them, the others in the club had gone silent. Tyler scrambled away from Bill, blinking blood from his eyes. Shivers ran up his spine as he stared upwards. His fires raged and burned but he couldn’t make himself shift.
To do so would be, for all intents and purposes, throwing the validity of his claim to Bernie away. So what if Bill had just done the same; the club would forbid him to be with her if he broke the rules, and then what? He’d be without friends in order to be with his mate. It was a sacrifice that he was willing to make, but his hesitation lasted too long.
Bill seized him in one of his clawed hands. A rumbling laugh echoed in the warehouse, drowning out the club as they shouted at him to put Tyler down. Tyler squirmed and kicked, but the grip was so tight that he couldn’t shift even if he wanted to.
“Surrender!” Somehow Bernie’s voice was clear and sharp in this confusion of noise. “Tyler, surrender! Please!”
It went against every instinct in his body, but Tyler managed to get the words out. “I surrender.”
Bill paused. More laughter as he dropped Tyler. He threw his hands into the air as though that had been a victory and shouted to the ceiling. Tyler struggled to breathe as he got to his feet. His legs buckled and he went down again, staring helplessly as Bill stalked over to Bernie. He grabbed her arm.
And she responded by driving her fist into his stomach. All the sounds from above cut out at once. Bernie, her face twisted in determination, elbowed Bill in the back of the neck and then kicked him in the face.
“Now I’m going to fight for myself!” she screamed. “I claim myself as my mate and you’ve got to fight me!”
Bill snarled. “That’s not how it works—”
Bernie drove her fists into his chest. The force knocked Bill down but he jumped up again. With a roar, he reached for her. Tyler wasn’t sure when exactly he had made it back to his feet but suddenly he was there. One arm went around Bernie, spinning her away from Bill, while the other punched into his temple. Bill’s mouth opened, closed, opened again and then he crumpled.
The club members started to stream down, all talking at once. Several of them ran to Leopold, while others came to congratulate Tyler. Bill’s cronies pulled him to the wall and left him there.
“All of you get away from us before I go Hurricane Bernie on you,” Bernie snapped. She glowered at the dragons around them until they backed off. Then, supporting Tyler’s weight on her, she tugged him away. It wasn’t until they were out of the warehouse that she started to tremble. “That… that asshole. He was going to kill you.”
Tyler nodded in agreement. “And he’ll be punished for it. One thing that the club can’t abide is that behavior. I won’t be surprised if he’s in jail within the hour.”
Bernie growled in her throat. “As soon as I get you patched up, we’re calling the cops. This is unacceptable. So very, very unacceptable… although…” Her mood lightened and she gave him a pained half-smile. “You were very hot fighting shirtless. That’s a sight I’d like to see more often. Just not in an actual serious situation. Maybe you should get a job as an actor in action thrillers. Then you can be naked and pretend fight all the time.”
Tyler chuckled, though it hurt. “From shirtless to naked? Somebody’s objectifying male muscle.”
“I have to.” Bernie’s lip trembled. “If I think about what he would have done to you—"
“Don’t think about it.” Tyler kissed her lightly. “Just don’t think about it.”
***
Rather than going home, Tyler directed Bernie to take him to the bar. There, she patched him up. Just as she was finishing, the others came in. Jackson told him that they had handed Bill over to the police on various charges, including stalking, harassment, and attempted murder. They were all going to testify against him. Bill’s cronies had all slunk into the corner of the room and didn’t speak.
With that out of the way, they had a couple rounds of drinks to celebrate. Bernie was clearly furious with all of them for allowing the fight to happen, though, so Tyler quickly made up an excuse to head home. On the way there, he dug out his phone and found dozens of missed calls from Polly, which made him wince. After he called her and assured her he was okay, he turned the phone off and closed his eyes.
Once they were back at the house, Bernie took him to his bedroom and helped him to shower. Then she bandaged him up again while he sat on the bed in only a robe. She ran her hands over the bandages and shook her head. “I know I can’t blame myself for this, but it feels like my fault.”
Tyler held his arms out to her and she lay down in them. “It’s not your fault. You’re right, you can’t blame yourself.”
“But if—”
“Don’t think about it. It’s not your fault. I’m fine. You’re fine. Bill is
in jail where he’s never going to hurt anybody again.” He kissed her lightly, then grinned. “And you think I’m sexy.”
Bernie laughed and rolled her eyes but accepted the kiss. Her fingers dug into his shirt as he teased her lips open.
Chapter Seventeen
Bernie
“You’re still hurt,” Bernie whispered as she eased his shirt up and over his head.
“Then you’ll have to be gentle with me.” Tyler grinned at her. “Won’t you?”
Bernie rolled her eyes at him but returned his grin. She pressed a very gentle kiss to his mouth, then peppered more over his face. The adrenaline of the fight was still pouring through her and she found herself wondering if it was going to be possible to control herself. Her heart slammed into her chest over and over again.
I could have lost him. Then, Tyler’s voice spoke in his mind as though he had developed telepathy. Don’t think about it.
Very carefully, Bernie took all of her fears and tucked them away. Yes, it had been terrifying, but he was with her now. They were both here, bodies stretched out together, tongues tangling. She explored the contours of his chest, memorizing the heat of his skin and every hill and valley of his perfectly sculpted muscles.
She kissed him again and he teased her mouth open at once. She delved deeper into the kiss, turning her head first this way and then the other, not surfacing until she was gasping for air. She straddled his lap and ground herself against him gently. He smelled of smoke, like he always did, but it was clean and fresh. The smell of his soap was almost as strong. Droplets of water clung to her fingers as she ran her hands through his hair.
Tyler undid her robe and pushed it to either side, exposing her to him. Her back arched and her head fell back. One of his hands cupped her left breast, squeezing gently, while he kissed the right one. Her grinding against him shifted his robe out from under her. He pressed hard against her thigh and Bernie sighed with desire.
“I want you,” she moaned. “I want you now and forever. I want to be your mate, Tyler Freeman, and I want you to be mine. I want this to be the first time we make love as mates and I want there to be hundreds of hundreds of times that we make love after this. In beds, in cars, in tents. Here, in Canada, in Peru, in Egypt. Wherever our lives take us.”
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