by Anna Lewis
And in his embrace, trembling from pleasure and gasping for air, Maria found that she didn’t want him to let her go.
She never wanted to leave.
* * *
“What are you going to do?” Maria looked over at Lucas with a worried expression on her face.
Lucas was staring at the ground, the wind whipping the tent around them. “You should go.”
“What?” Maria’s eyes widened in surprise. Whatever she had been expecting, that was not it. Lucas glanced at Maria with serious eyes.
“Go. You were brought here against your will, and I won’t blame you if you want no part of this.”
Maria frowned, considering his words. “So you’re happy for me to go?”
“Jake’s obviously keeping a lot from us.” He frowned deeply. “Why should I listen to his orders?”
Maria felt warmth flood her chest. She rested a hand on Lucas’s arm, “I’ll stay.” Even as she said the words, she realized how true they were. She wanted to stay here with Lucas. Her old life seemed too far away already, even though only a few days had passed. The temptation to drown in this new freedom was overwhelming and Maria couldn’t help but jump straight into it.
Lucas looked at her with obvious surprise, shaking his head slowly, “I don’t understand you.”
“If you love someone let them go, huh?” Maria laughed, her eyes sparkling as she watched him move.
He smiled and nodded. “Stay clear, though, okay? This won’t be pretty.” He turned and took her hands in his own, looking at her seriously, “If something happens to me, get the hell out of here. We’re only a few miles from the nearest town.”
Maria felt anxiety curl in her stomach, but she nodded slowly, “Of course.” She smiled, a tentative smile, “But nothing’s going to happen to you.”
He smirked and suddenly he was all easy confidence and ego again, “Of course not.” He stood, rising to his feet and stretching his limbs, “Just a friendly chat, anyway.” He grinned.
Then he grabbed Maria and kissed her, his lips searing hers and lingering. It felt like it was burning into her skin, and she felt shaky and tingly all over. Even though it had been over an hour since they were last intimate, Maria still felt very shaky about it all.
She stared into Lucas’s blue eyes, losing herself in the moment. He stroked her hair and she held him tighter. She wanted to call out to him, to insist that they grab his bike and ride off together, just the two of them and no one else. No clubs, or gangs, or false loyalty. No lies. Just Lucas and Maria and the open sky soaring above them.
Before she could gather the words, he had turned and was moving towards Jake’s tent. Maria moved a little closer, watching with baited breath and trying to stay out of sight, just like Lucas had advised.
The clouds seemed to roar, a low rumble of thunder on the horizon. The day had changed so quickly. Maria gazed at the sky and wondered, hoped, prayed. She thought she would be waiting forever, but things seemed to move far quicker than that around here.
“What the hell do you mean, for the good of the club?!” Lucas’s voice came like thunder from the tent. The flap was thrown open and Jake stormed out, Lucas hot on his heels.
“Answer me!”
Jake rounded on him. “I don’t have to answer to you! I’m in charge, so know your place,” he hissed, a dangerous sound. Maria could see the tension rippling through them both, hidden power that seemed to pull just below the surface.
“You’re lying to everyone!” Lucas’s voice was loud enough to be heard by almost everyone in the camp, and it didn’t take them long to start watching.
“Lying? Protecting everyone from the scum of the dragon hunters!” He hissed, “From humans.”
“You landed the first blow! You asked for this war! No one else here wanted it.”
“You don’t know what you want!” Jake looked furious now, the veins throbbing in his neck. Maria could see them even from where she was standing.
At this, Lucas lost his cool. Maria didn’t even see it coming—she barely saw it happen at all. Lucas launched himself at Jake, grabbing him by the jacket and slamming him into the dirt. His fist connected with Jake, and Jake roared in anger.
The blows came hard and fast, both of them quick and skilled fighters. People were backing away and it wasn’t until Jake started to shift, that Maria realized why. She realized why they rode on these big, abandoned roads, why Lucas had told her to stay back, why dragon shifters were dangerous.
The ground was shaking, a literal tremble across the dirt. Jake was shifting; with a roar, he threw himself at Lucas, his size changing and morphing into something huge and deadly and dangerous. It sent shivers down Maria’s spine. Magnificent.
He was huge, towering over Lucas in a way that made Maria long to run out and help him, snatch him away from this madness. The fleeting desire didn’t last long. Jake wasn’t the only one with this ability and Lucas wasted no time in joining Jake in shifting.
It was terrifying and majestic all at once. While Jake was ugly and gnarled, a dragon with scars and dark scales, Lucas was something else entirely. He rose above the land with great beats of his wings. His scales were shimmering a gorgeous white, interlaced with the blue of his eyes. Maria felt like she could tell a dragon based on who they were as a human, and it thrilled her to see Lucas like this, in all his glory.
Disbelief gave way to awe, terror following soon after as Jake launched himself at Lucas. It was chaos. Everyone was moving out of the way, but Maria could only stand and stare at the smoking landscape as fire was billowing from them and desecrated the landscape below. It was gorgeous, it was terrifying, and it was everything that Maria had never dared to let herself dream about.
Claws and teeth, roars of power and fire that could melt the land. And yet Maria couldn’t move, even when the heat reared up and threatened to drown her in all its fury. This was like nothing she had ever seen and she couldn’t tear her eyes away.
It was a fierce fight, but she knew who would win. She knew who would be the victor. Lucas was relentless, and he fought with a ferocity that Jake in all his cruelty just couldn’t match. Lucas fought for the good of everyone and Jake fought only for himself.
It was only when Lucas landed a devastating blow that sliced through Jake’s scales that Jake backed off. He screeched, an inhuman sound, and roared in anger, before he lifted into the air and flew out of sight. Maria shivered, in shock, as she watched Jake fly into the distance.
It all happened so suddenly, so quickly that Maria could barely take it in. But she didn’t have to. She just needed to be at Lucas’s side. She turned and ran. Ran across the plains, between the bikes and tents, where no one dared to go. She ran closer and closer to the towering form of Lucas, her heart pounding, her lungs aching.
Everyone stayed back, but as Lucas roared, a cheer broke out amongst the club, everyone yelling at the top of their lungs. Maria didn’t hear it, didn’t hear anything but the pounding of blood in her ears.
She didn’t stop until she reached his side. She ignored the cracked and charred earth, ignored the towering danger, ignored it all, until her hands fell on his skin, running over the shimmering scales, that shone in the light, blue and pale, and white and on fire all at once. Magical, majestic.
So much power. A shudder ran through her and she shut her eyes, everything rushing through her in one fell swoop and leaving her giddy. She clung to him, held on so tightly. Maria barely noticed when he shifted. It was only when his arms came to rest around her that she looked up.
Lucas was smirking back at her. He was streaked with soot, but his eyes glimmered brightly. Maria held on tightly and didn’t think about the crowd when she kissed him, passionate and unreserved.
He was alive. He was alive and he was safe and Jake was gone. Maria’s heart swelled with happiness, an unbreakable feeling that she was right where she belonged, that she was exactly where she needed to be and that nothing and no one could ever change that.
He sm
elled more like smoke than ever, and when he lifted her into his arms, she didn’t bother to protest.
“Council tonight,” Lucas shouted, his voice echoing and strong, victorious and triumphant. He had won and no one seemed to want to argue that fact. She had a feeling that Jake had been hated, because Lucas was being hailed as the new leader without a moment of hesitation or explanation.
Or maybe that’s just how it worked. Maria didn’t know and she didn’t care. Jake was gone, Lucas was safe and everything was right in her world.
Lucas took her back to the tent and set her down on the bed. She sat up immediately, looking at him keenly. “Are you hurt?” She narrowed her eyes, the question burning through her. She would have asked earlier, but she wasn’t in the mood to fuss in front of everyone.
He shrugged and Maria looked at him sternly, “That was a big fight.”
“Bruises, cuts, nothing fatal,” He murmured, pulling her into his arms. She relaxed against him, nodding.
“You should still get that checked.”
“By who?” he smirked. “You want to play nurse?”
She pushed him away playfully and he smiled. “Get some rest, okay?” He glanced outside. “I have to talk with everyone, settle the mess that Jake has made. I’ll be back with dinner.”
Maria nodded, feeling too tired to care. She didn’t know how Lucas was managing it, after such a huge fight. Maria could barely keep her eyes open. She attributed it to the stamina of dragons, and closed her eyes.
As Lucas stepped out of the tent, a little thrill ran through Maria. Dragon! She was with a dragon shifter, an honest to goodness dragon. It was nothing like she had ever imagined. She had expected increased speed and strength, maybe a reptilian appearance, but not that.
Not a dragon that towered over her, breathed fire and roared through plumes of smoke and shimmering scales. Maria realized that she couldn’t decide when Lucas looked better, as a man or as a dragon.
She laughed, the sound happy in her chest. Everything seemed too far away now, the painful death of her parents, the agony of the dragon hunters, the dull thudding of her boring, ordinary life. It all fell away and something far more beautiful took its place.
She could hear Lucas outside, speaking in a strong, commanding voice and she realized that she was proud to be with him, proud to be with a dragon shifter, a biker, a man with more courage than she would have ever imagined.
He’d defied orders, set her free, kept her safe, loved her with passion, and was still taking care of her, even now.
He was everything that she wanted, but she just hadn’t realized it. Hadn’t admitted it to herself. Her parents would have loved him as a man, hated him as a dragon, and she didn’t think Lucas would have cared. She certainly didn’t.
As Maria closed her eyes, she found herself drifting into sleep, a sleep more peaceful and pleasant than she had had in years.
And outside, the sound of Lucas’s voice kept her feeling safe, kept her feeling content. She fell asleep in the den of the dragon. And she was loving every single minute of it.
* * *
The next few days passed in a blur. Maria felt like everything was moving far too quickly, and she loved every single minute of it. She was swept up in the plans from a new leader, the new leader being Lucas. There was talk of a truce with the dragon hunters, of abandoning the war. They still moved from place to place and it was starting to light up Maria’s heart in ways that she didn’t think were even possible. It was perfect, it was breathtaking, it was everything that she could want and so much more.
She loved every second of it, and it made her heart race. She abandoned any thought of ever calling the dragon hunters again. Jake had been kicked out, humiliated and injured. He had been brought to justice.
Maria would never feel right ending another’s life, so she felt that this was a good compromise. She was flying high and she never, ever wanted it to end. Everything was perfect, Maria was happy and she felt like nothing could ever shatter the beautiful joy that was buzzing in her chest and pounding at her spirit. It was perfect, absolutely perfect. She had everything she had ever dreamed of, and so much that she hadn’t even admitted to herself.
It wasn’t until several days later, when she was sitting with Lucas in the headquarters tent, sipping on a warm drink, that disaster struck.
It started abruptly, a man running into the tent, yelling that there were dragon hunters on the horizon. Lucas turned to her, anger and shock etched into his features, “Did you call them?!”
His voice was angry and harsh, but Maria could hear the hurt throbbing beneath a mile away. He felt hurt, betrayed and Maria was reeling.
“No! I’d never do that!” Maria cried, desperation and anger lacing her words, “I wouldn’t turn on you.”
Lucas glared at her with a face full of thunder. “Then how the fuck did they find us?! You’re the only one with ties to them!” His voice was low, but he might as well have been shouting. It pierced Maria’s chest and she felt sick.
Before she could say another word, Lucas had turned, left the tent and was running down the main strip, barking orders.
“Lucas!” She called out after him, but it was futile. There was no stopping him and Maria felt a lead weight sink down her core and shake her deeply. The dragon hunters. How had they found them? She didn’t even have her phone and she sure as hell hadn’t contacted them in any way, shape or form. So how the heck had they been found?
Confusion and panic swirled around in Maria’s head. As she stepped out into the camp, she found it in chaos. Everyone was yelling, bikes were being revved and people were arming up. It was panic, it was pandemonium, and Maria just couldn’t understand how everything had gone from perfect to this in a matter of minutes.
Lucas had turned on her, the camp was in shambles and everyone was in danger of losing their lives. Maria didn’t know what to do, but she did know that she had to stop this. At all costs.
Her heart pounded as she left the tent and fled into the fray. She was horrified to see the fire that surrounded them, the yelling men and roaring dragons, the way they all yelled and fought and swore.
The violence and bloodshed, the screaming. Maria felt dizzy and sick, feeling like she was spinning out of control, losing her grip on reality, everything slipping from her fingers in a spectacular crash. It shattered around her and left her feeling shaken, but still she plowed on.
As she glanced around, she found that she knew so many of these people, the bikers that yelled and roared, the hunters that waved their weapons. She knew these men and women. So she knew who she needed to find. She needed to find Travis. He would be here—she knew it.
She needed to find him and she needed to find Lucas. Her heart pounded as the sky darkened, red blazing across it in a bloody wave that made her feel sick with fear and awe. She weaved between bikes, between dragons and humans.
“Travis!” she yelled, her voice stronger than she could have ever dreamed it could sound. It was born out of fear and panic and the anger at all of this violence, senseless, senseless violence that never had to happen. It was terrifying. She choked up at the blood, but coughed, took a deep breath, and surged forward.
“Travis! Come out, you coward!” she yelled. She was ready, ready to take on Travis if that’s what it took, ready to do anything that she could.
When she rounded a corner, her heart stopped. She felt her blood freeze in her veins, the color and life draining out of her world. She thought she was ready for anything. She wasn’t. She had found Travis, but she wished that she hadn’t. She had found him.
And she had found Lucas.
Lucas was coughing, an expression of shock on his features. A sharp, lethal looking sword had pierced him, and he was bleeding out fast. Travis withdrew the sword and shot her a triumphant look, “You might have abandoned the dragon hunters, but I got what I wanted, in the end.”
“Lucas!” Her voice cracked and she rushed towards him. Travis lifted the sword and pointed it to
wards her, stopping her in her tracks, “Jake told me exactly where to find you, and how you’d switched loyalties,” he hissed. “I should never have trusted you.”
Maria stared at Lucas, slumped on the ground, barely clinging to consciousness. Her blood boiled and panic fluttered inside of her. She needed to find a way to fix this. She searched hard for the answers, and it hit her in a flood of memories, the way her father had instructed her.
“I invoke my right of ius vendendi pace!” she yelled, and everything seemed to stop. Her voice echoed and the fighting stilled.
The triumphant look on Travis’s face seemed to melt right off. “Your what?!” he growled.
“Ius vendendi pace.” She stared him down, her eyes hard as stone, glaring at him.
Panic pounded in her heart, making her feel dizzy and sick but still, she stared him down, determined not to let this bastard win.
Travis was shaking with fury, but all eyes were on him. He hadn’t banked on her knowing about this right. Most people didn’t, and Travis was powerless against it. The right to end a feud, a battle, unless due reason was given for a fight, and discussed with council.
She stood firm, calm, even as she panicked about the blood that Lucas was losing.
“Fine,” he growled, a dark, sour note in his voice. “Fall back!”
Amongst startled protests and confused men, Travis barked order after order, forcing a retreat on the battle that he had started. Forcing them to back up and leave the dragon shifters alone. Many were injured, the dragons having put up one hell of a fight. They probably would have won.
But Maria could not stand the bloodshed, could not stand the horror of the fight for another moment. Besides, she didn’t think Lucas had much time left at all.
She ran to his side, falling to her knees in the dust and looking him over. He was drifting in and out of consciousness, and Maria felt tears welling up in her eyes. She turned, “Someone call 911, now!” Men grabbed their phones and Maria turned back to Lucas.
