by Becca Van
“Did you kill him?”
“We had a hand in his death,” Russ answered. “He was trying to kidnap Belinda.”
“He was crazy, love. We couldn’t let him live. He came to our lair with the intention of killing us all and hurting Belinda,” Rex said in a matter-of-fact voice before filling his mug.
“So what am I supposed to do?” Niki asked. “You’ve just confessed to the murder of Wallace Core and my job is to uphold the law.”
“We need you to trust us, baby. You’re in danger.” Randy met her stare for stare. She looked away first but then got to her feet and began to pace.
“How can I trust you? I don’t even know you.” She spun to face them. “And why the hell would I be in danger?”
“Because your boss is a hunter?”
“What? Darrien? Are you kidding me?”
“We would never joke about something like this.” Russ took her hand in his.
“How do you know he’s a hunter?”
“Our dragons could feel it. They pick up on anyone who has power,” Rex explained.
“And we think he felt us.” Randy sighed.
“When?”
“Russ was flying in his dragon form and spotted you at the reservoir. He knew as soon as he saw you that you were our mate, and came back to the lair to get us.” Randy paused to take a breath. “We were all at the scene when your boss and the other deputy turned up. Just as we were about to leave your boss looked up as if he could feel us.”
“Why couldn’t I see you?” Niki frowned. “I looked up into the sky when I felt a gust of wind but couldn’t see anything.”
“Our dragons have a natural ability to reflect our surroundings. We are hidden unless we want to be seen.”
“Like a mirror?” Niki asked.
“Of a sort,” Russ said. “Our scales do reflect like a mirror but different. I can’t explain it to you, because we don’t really know how it works. It just does.”
“Damn, what the hell am I supposed to do?” Niki muttered. “I think you guys need to leave. I can’t deal with any of this right now.”
Randy’s heart stuttered and then pounded in his chest. He should be thankful she hadn’t drawn her gun and tried to take them into the sheriff’s office to arrest them, although she wouldn’t have been able to take them in even by using force or shooting them. Bullets just bounced right off of them, even in human form. Nevertheless, he didn’t want to leave. He needed to stay with her, wanted to hold and love her and needed to know she was safe, but he could see the tension in her shoulders and from the way she was squinting, she had a headache and was beyond exhausted.
He rose to his feet and nodded at Rex and Russ to do the same. Just because she didn’t want them in her house didn’t mean they couldn’t keep watch and keep her safe. She rose on shaky legs and followed them to the door.
Randy turned to face her, cupped her face in his hands, leaned down, and kissed her lightly on the lips before he released her and walked out the door.
“Can we give you our cell phone numbers?” Russ asked.
Randy paused midstride and awaited her reply. A long, loud sigh escaped her mouth before she answered. “Okay.” He heard the beep of buttons being pushed and when he glanced over his shoulder Russ was hugging her. He kissed her on the head before catching up with him.
“Make sure you lock your door and whatever you do, don’t answer to anyone,” Rex ordered. “In fact if someone comes calling, you call us right away. Okay?”
When Niki shrugged instead of answering, Randy knew they would be the last ones she’d call. Pain slammed into his heart. Had they lost their mate before they even had her? Was she scared of them because she knew they’d helped take out Wallace Core? He sniffed the air and sighed with relief when he didn’t smell fear.
Niki closed and locked the door and Rex moved up to his other side. “Maybe we should bring Belinda and our leaders to visit our mate.”
“Do you think she’d listen?” Russ asked as they walked away from her house.
“Anything is worth a try.” Randy scrubbed a hand over his face. His dragon was fighting him, trying to get him to turn around and go back to their mate. When he glanced at Rex and Russ and saw that their eyes were glowing more than usual he knew they were dealing with the same struggle he was. “I don’t know if Ed, Eli, and Erwin will allow their mate out of the lair when there’s another hunter so close. We all know that if a mate is killed there is no way to contain the inner beast.”
“So what are we supposed to do?” Rex asked angrily. “Just take her against her will?”
“No. We give her time to assimilate and we come back tomorrow.”
“And if this fucking hunter realizes she’s our mate?”
“Then we don’t give her a choice,” Randy said in a hard determined voice.
* * * *
Niki stumbled to her bedroom, secured her gun, stripped, and fell into bed. She was so damn tired and her head was pounding like a jackhammer. Her brain felt like it was overloaded with information and she was torn. Torn because it was her job to uphold the law but there was no way she could arrest three dragon shifters. First, because they could probably take her out in the blink of an eye, or fry her to a crisp. And secondly, because they were hers. The thought of handcuffing and arresting them—although probably laughable because she was human and they were way bigger and stronger then she could ever be—made her heart hurt.
And how was she supposed to believe that Darrien was a hunter? He was an asshole, yes, but a hunter?
She sighed and pushed everything from her mind, too tired to deal with any of it.
When Guinevere showed up she wasn’t surprised. The lady didn’t say a word just took her hand and led her to the edge of a field. Niki stood and watched the horror in front of her.
At first there was laughter and happiness, but then a shadow seemed to cover the gaiety. The men pushed the women and children behind them and began to change into dragons.
A beautiful dark-haired woman emerged from the trees and she gave a malicious laugh. Behind her were thousands upon thousands of hunters.
“You will not win, witch.” A long-bearded man in blue flowing robes moved in front of the dragons and pointed his staff toward her.
“I already have, you bastard wizard,” she screamed.
Streams of energy poured out of the woman’s hands only to be absorbed into the wizard’s staff.
“You’ll have to do better than that, Rose.”
“Oh, I will, Merlin.”
Niki shook as the witch and wizard battled with magic and the hunters she’d brought with her let out a battle cry with black-tipped spears raised in the air as they ran toward the dragons.
The dragons began breathing a pure white fire from their mouths, incinerating the hunters to dust, but there were too many of them.
Niki saw one man on the side of the field gathering the children and then he ushered them away to safety. He tried to get the women to follow but they refused. And just as Niki thought the dragons were going to win, more hunters arrived from three other sides of the field. The dragons and their mates were surrounded.
Screams rent the air as spears pierced the metallic glasslike scales covering the dragons and one by one they began to fall. The women were surrounded by hunters and although the ladies tried to fight, they didn’t stand a chance of escaping.
When she looked back to where the witch and wizard were still battling, Niki gasped when she saw that their energy was combining and a when there was only scant inches between Rose and Merlin a massive white light shrouded the whole field and an explosion rent the air.
Deathly silence followed and when the light faded the field was empty. The dragons, the women, the hunters, wizard, and witch were all gone. Ashes floated in the air to settle back on the ground. The silence was deathly. Not even the twitter of a bird could be heard.
Niki covered her mouth when a sob erupted and before she could take another breath the scene
changed. This one was of Darrien and he was talking to a large man with pure white hair.
“Did you get a lock on those fucking dragons?”
“No, but I think I know why they showed up,” Darrien said with his head bowed.
“And why is that, hunter?”
“I think one of my deputies is their mate.”
“Excellent. You know what to do?”
“Of course, Lord Jerome,” Darrien replied.
“Good.”
A shiver of trepidation ran up her spine as the images faded.
“Trust your mates. The hunter is coming for you,” Lady Guinevere cautioned as she faded away.
Niki bolted upright and gasped in lungfuls of air. When she rubbed her eyes they were wet and she realized that she was crying.
Why the hell had she asked her mates to leave? Why hadn’t she trusted them?
She glanced at the clock on her bedside table and saw that it was nearly four a.m. Too early to call and talk to them, but she knew there was no way she would be able to go back to sleep.
Maybe she could use this time to search online for information on the hunters and the Lord Jerome. She just couldn’t sit back and do nothing. She would gather what information she could and do everything she could to help her mates and the other dragons take out the hunters.
Although she knew that what she was about to do went against everything she’d been trained to do, there was no way she could do anything else.
She couldn’t arrest her mates because there was no proof other than their word that they’d had a hand in killing Wallace Core. Besides, if she put any of this in a report she would be the one locked up. In a mental institution.
Chapter Six
Russ spent the night outside Niki’s house, keeping watch in case the hunter showed up but all had been quiet. Randy and Rex had gone back to the lair to talk to Bid, Ed, Eli, and Erwin, hoping their leaders would allow their mate out to talk to Niki.
Russ was hoping that by having another woman explain some things would be the catalyst for Niki to accept them as her mates, but he wasn’t about to hold his breath. He’d become worried about her when the lights in her house had come on around four, but she’d made herself a drink and fired up her computer. She’d been there ever since and now the sun was rising in the east.
When he heard a car coming down the road toward his mate’s house, his dragon pushed to get out, but Russ held him back. There was no way he was giving his beast free rein if there was no danger, because if he did and the hunter was close he may be able to get a lock on his animal’s heat signature. And that would put all his friends in danger.
Russ had a feeling this was just the beginning of an inevitable war and although he would relish taking out the faction so they couldn’t harm more humans, the revenge burning in his gut would never be appeased. The assholes who had killed his parents and his friend’s parents were long gone and nothing they did would ever bring them back.
Looking to the past would only make him angry and although he and his dragon friends could learn from what had gone before, they needed to look toward the future. His future was so close and yet so far and he didn’t know how to breach the walls she’d thrown up last night.
A low rumble formed in his chest when he saw the deputy from yesterday and although the sound wouldn’t be heard by human ears, he pushed his dragon down further. The guy was young and although not as tall as him, Rex, and Randy, he would still tower over Niki by head and shoulders. He was okay to look at and he had the sleek muscles of a swimmer but he was probably considered handsome by women.
When he realized what he was doing he snorted. He was jealous of the man but didn’t think he had any reason to be. Niki had treated him like any other colleague yesterday and hadn’t given him an indication she was attracted to him, but he definitely wasn’t leaving anything to chance. He brought his dragon up closer to the surface and used his enhanced hearing to listen in on the conversation.
“Reece, what are you doing here?”
“I wanted to talk to you about yesterday.” Reece shifted from foot to foot nervously.
“What about it?”
“I don’t know why Darrien thanked me when you are the one who found the mayor’s car.”
“He’s an ass.”
Reece snorted. “You got that right. He’s got it in for you but I don’t know why. You’ve solved more cases and taken down more crims than I have and I’ve been here longer than you.”
“Don’t sweat it, Reece. Some men get jealous when women show up men.”
“I don’t think that’s the only reason. And why the hell do you think he put you on two weeks’ leave? None of this makes sense.”
Russ cursed when Niki waved him inside and closed the door. Not because he wouldn’t be able to hear them, but if that guy made a move on his mate it would take him longer to get to her. And he wasn’t sure this Reece wasn’t in with the hunter.
“I think I was getting too close to solving this case,” Niki said after handing Reece a mug of coffee.
Russ had moved around the thick tree trunk until he could see in the kitchen window. Niki was leaning against the counter and Reece was standing a few feet away with the mug halfway to his mouth.
“You think Darrien had something to do with Core’s disappearance?”
Russ tensed as he waited for Niki to answer.
“No.” She snorted. “What I think is that he doesn’t want me involved in solving another crime. He wants to solve it for political reasons.”
“You think he wants to run for mayor?” Reece asked incredulously. “God help Rock Springs if that ever happens.”
“Yep and then you would be promoted to acting sheriff.”
“You’re a better candidate for sheriff than I am, Niki, and we both know that.”
“Thanks for that, Reece, but there is no way in hell that will ever happen in this town.”
“You never know, honey. Just because he’s pushing for the mayor’s positon doesn’t mean he’s a shoo-in. The citizens in this town aren’t stupid.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“So are you going to let Darrien force you to take the two weeks off?”
“I was thinking about taking it anyway. I’m tired, Reece. I haven’t had a break since I started here.”
Reece nodded, drained the coffee from his mug and walked toward Niki. He reached around her and placed the cup in the sink before leaning his hands on the edge, caging his woman in.
“So when are you going to have dinner with me?”
All Russ’s possessive instinct roared to life. His dragon nearly got away from him and his talons began to push from his fingertips. If Niki hadn’t shoved Reece away from her, Russ wasn’t sure he’d have been able to hold his dragon back.
“What are you trying to pull, Reece? You already have a girlfriend and you know I think of you like a brother.”
“Shit, Niki. You didn’t think I was hitting on you did you? You know I only have eyes for Lucy.” He smirked at Niki and she rolled her eyes.
“Lucy asked to meet me didn’t she?”
“Of course,” Reece answered.
Russ felt all his rage and jealousy fade away and the tension in his body dissipated while his long sharp claws retracted.
“You’re an ass.” Niki smiled.
“Yep, but Lucy loves my ass.”
“TMI, Reece.”
“So will you come meet Lucy?”
“When?”
“Tonight!”
“Uh…” Niki hesitated.
“You have plans?” Reece asked.
“No.”
“But you’re hoping to?”
“Yeah.” Niki sighed.
Elation and hunger surged through Russ at her answer and he knew then that Nikita was going to be theirs, as long as they kept her safe from the hunters.
He rubbed his hands together, his heart beating a rapid staccato in his chest, and his cock went from flaccid to full attention i
n seconds. Reaching down, he adjusted his aching dick so it wouldn’t feel so strangled in his jeans, and then connected with his friends.
“I think she is coming around.”
“Are you sure?” Randy asked.
“Sort of.”
“What the hell do you mean sort of?” Rex snarled his question.
“The other deputy just asked her out for dinner to meet his girlfriend and she said she was hoping to have other plans.”
“Fuck, Russ!” Randy growled. “That doesn’t mean we are shoo-ins. She could have her eye on someone else.”
“I don’t think so,” Russ replied. “She knows a lot about us and she’s been sharing our dreams. I don’t think she’ll be able to walk away from us.”
“But there’s a possibility.” Rex sighed.
“I suppose so, but Niki gets turned on when we’re near her.”
“Yes, she does.” Russ could hear the smile in Randy’s voice. “My dragon is driving me fucking crazy, pushing me to claim her.”
“Mine, too.” He moved to the other side of the large trunk and crept along behind the trees when he heard the front door open. Reece left and after giving her colleague a wave, Nikita went back inside. “What do you want me to do?”
“Stay there for now,” Randy ordered. “When the sun sets we’ll come to you. I want to invite her to the lair.”
“Okay. Is Bid willing to talk to Niki?”
“Yes. Even Ed thought it was a good idea. He and the others are going to do everything they can to help Niki make up her mind about accepting us.” Russ felt hope pouring out of Rex and his optimism grew.
Hopefully she would agree to her dating him and his pod brothers.
“What’s Lance got planned for dinner?”
“Hang on.” Randy faded from his mind for a moment. “He and Bid are making lasagna.”
“Good. Let’s hope our mate likes Italian.”
“Do you think she’ll come back with us?” Rex asked.
Normally he and his friends were confident about everything including women, but there was so much at stake and having their mate so close and yet so far out of reach was killing him. He and his pod brothers had no idea whether she would agree to date them, or tell them to take a hike.
