Like that green dragon.
Cal moved first. He jumped at Jasper. There was barely time to swat him away. Jasper let out a cry of pain as claws sank past his scales. Cora felt a fire inside her burst with unbearable heat. She attacked, biting the back of Cal’s neck. The spikes pierced her tongue, but she held on to Cal’s neck. If she could pull him back, then Jasper could do the rest.
But Cal must have been desperate. He’d killed before. He planned to kill again.
Cal would not take this from her. He wouldn’t take her mate, her clan, her future. She sank her teeth deeper until they grazed bone. All around her, the sounds of fighting filled the air. Beasts cried out. Claws scraped against scales. It was madness and destruction.
She was done with it.
Cal’s spikes pierced the roof of her mouth, but she refused to let go. He tossed his head, but it wouldn’t shake her. When he tried to claw at her, his claws only slid off her crystal scales. She was unbreakable.
***
Jasper and the demon that lived inside him fought against the pain. Cal had hit on his blind side. While the curse had been burned away once and for all earlier in the day, it didn’t stop Cal from being a strategist. The dragon might have been desperate, cornered by Jasper’s proclamation, but he still knew how to bring a colossus down.
Then Cora latched onto Cal’s neck and the pain began to lessen. Cal was being pulled away. Jasper’s heart lurched when Cal swiped at her, but Cal’s claws only glanced off Cora’s scales. Jasper’s mate was safe beneath her own scales.
He didn’t have to worry about her yet.
He worried about his clan, though. The metallic dragons, his knights, were here. They were fighting for him. He caught Lilah and Mina with the green dragon. The red dragon had switched to their side and was helping Griffin push back one of Cal’s dragons. No one was unmarred, though. Every dragon would bear the scars of this night forever.
This should have been easier. Had everything gone to plan, Cal never would have been brave enough to fight. He couldn’t think about that just then. He needed to get Cal off of him. Gathering heat on his tongue, he snapped at Cal’s face. His bite missed, but tongues of flame slipped between his teeth.
Cal’s eyes widened, but he didn’t run away. His claws dug deeper, they began to tear down, ripping through flesh. Jasper damned his soft gold scales, but he would not be stopped. He would wear scars proudly for the rest of his life if he could win this night.
This was for his mate. It was for his clan. It was for everyone who’d had to deal with Cal.
Like a well oiled machine, Jasper grabbed at Cal’s throat just as Cora let go. She flew back, wings buffeting the air to put distance between Jasper and Cal. Without sparing a second, Jasper brought Cal to the ground. The creature’s back hit the snow and sank into the soil. Jasper had wanted to spare him, but he was starting to think a grave might be best for this man.
Jasper looked down at Cal. The fire on Jasper’s tongue glowed in the reflection of Cal’s eyes as they widened with fear. This was a warning. The heat of his fire was not the only thing Jasper could produce. It was only enough to singe Cal’s cheeks and burn his nostrils.
While pinning Cal felt like a win, Jasper saw that not everyone else was having as much success. The metallic dragons were limping, gashes leaving trails of blood across the snow. Grove needed them. Grove needed them to win. This was not the win Jasper envisioned.
Just when he thought he’d failed his clan, the sky overhead darkened. He thought a cloud had passed over the thin moon. Then Cora let out a sound of surprise and excitement. It drew his attention up to the dragon bodies gathering above.
They moved in sync, though he was sure none of them had ever worked so closely. This was more than the metallic dragons. It was all of his clan, both old and new. It was those who’d lived in Grove for generations and the dragons who’d tired of Cal’s threats. Jasper didn’t know what had taken them so long, but he was proud, nonetheless.
One by one, they landed until they formed an impenetrable circle around the fight. Cal’s dragons looked around, wary. Jasper let go of Cal. The demon issued one more tongue of flame, a warning, before it let Jasper return to his human form.
“Do you still think you can take us? All of us?” Jasper asked.
Cora crouched behind him, a creature that shone in the night like an angel sent to earth. That’s what she was to him. An angel to his demon. She brought light to every dark place in his life. He would continue to bring heat to hers. In the form of passion, of course.
“You have two options, Cal.” Jasper scanned the clearing. Cal’s dragons snarled and snapped, but they didn’t attack. “Leave and never bother my territories again, or you will find yourself six feet beneath the ground you stand on.”
Cal’s beast slunk low to the ground, stepping back. He thought the idiot might attack, but then his wings snapped open and he took to the sky. He was nearly out of sight before his faithful dragons realized they’d been abandoned. If Jasper was lucky, they would turn on Cal and take care of themselves.
Watching them go, he let out a sigh. His shoulders sank and his head felt heavy. It was over. Not only that, his clan had shown up. All around him stood the dragons he’d spoken to not long ago when he was going door to door. They looked back at him with pride and a little bit of relief.
He’d been right in guessing that their presence alone would push Cal away. None of them had to lift a finger. That was up to his metallic dragons, his knights. It was good to know that he had brought his clan together as a whole, that if push came to shove, they could band together. They might fear a fight, but they would not shy away from it.
Jasper never imagined this kind of life for himself. He’d always wanted to be the distant king. The lives of others were not something for Jasper to rule. The problem with that ideal was that he didn’t understand what it meant to rule. He’d thought his fingers had to be in all of their lives to be a ruler.
All he had to do was stand when they needed him.
Chapter Eighteen
The entire metallic court limped home.
Jasper was now the king of two territories. There was no way to hold it for long without someone challenging him. He knew he would give it up to the first dragon who could prove themselves, but until then caring for the other clan was his responsibility.
Inside the house, he reached for the whiskey bottle, but stopped. Instead, he grabbed a bottle of wine. The cork popped and zoomed through the room. Ryker’s hand darted out and snatched it from the air.
Jasper took a long moment to regard his court. Up until a few months ago, they’d been spread across the country. Each had found their own life in the world until they’d been summoned back to Grove. While he knew they had new lives unfolding in Grove, they wouldn’t say no to him.
Someone had to go protect the new territory.
Ryker approached with the cork. He slammed it onto the counter, glanced back at Mina, and flashed a grin. “I’ll do it. I mean, we will do it.”
“What are you talking about?” Cora asked, looking between Jasper and Ryker.
“A king needs an emissary,” Jasper told her. Realization dawned in her eyes before they darted to Ryker.
Her lips pursed, like she might say no. Jasper couldn’t go. He needed to remain in his own territory. They needed to know that their king would always be there for them. Besides, they had a wedding to plan.
“Are you sure?” Cora asked.
Ryker nodded. “I never liked being stationary for too long. Mina has never seen the world. Nevada could be a good place to start.”
“Then it’s a deal.” Jasper approached his mate before addressing his court. “Take your fill of wine and get out of my house.”
Their laughs weren’t as loud as they could have been, but he could feel the joy in them. The war was over. Cal would not be a problem. Not anymore.
Cora was safe. She was strong.
She was his.
He
lifted her in his arms before taking the stairs two at a time. Already, her hands were running down his neck, her lips on his ear. The demon in him writhed. He could barely take it. They didn’t even make it to the bedroom before Jasper set her on the floor of the landing and took her right there.
Chapter Nineteen
Cora missed her mother desperately.
There were magazines covering every inch of the coffee table. A binder sat open, but she wasn’t sure what to put in it. Cora never once thought she’d be planning a wedding. Yet, here she was.
Jasper leapt over the back of the couch to sit beside her. The coffee in her cup sloshed, earning Jasper a glare. He only grinned and leaned forward to steal a kiss from her. When they pulled away, his gaze slid to the table and the mess spread over it.
“Still can’t decide?”
She threw her hands in the air. “I don’t know a damn thing about planning a wedding.”
He shrugged. “Then hire a wedding planner.”
His words struck her. She didn’t know why she hadn’t considered it before. Her bank account was minimal, but marrying Jasper meant access to his funds. The owner of a resurging bank certainly had the means to hire a wedding planner.
“Are you sure you want to pay for something like that?” She bit her lip.
“If it takes some stress off your shoulders, I will have my assistant call one right now.”
Her brow furrowed. “When did you get an assistant?”
She couldn’t help but imagine a lithe young woman in a mini-skirt and blazer. Jealousy pierced her lungs even though she knew she had little to worry about when it came to a mate.
“You’ve met him,” Jasper said, trying to hide a laugh behind his lips.
“Him?”
The door swung open, bringing cool spring air and the smell of Ashton. “Speak of the devil,” Jasper muttered. He raised his voice to call out. “Check the reviews of every wedding planner in Grove for me!”
Ashton’s response was an annoyed snarl, but he didn’t say no. The youngest shifter in the family went to the kitchen, poured himself a mug of coffee, and joined them. Standing behind the couch, Ashton glared at the magazines on the table.
“Do you realize how much flak I’m getting for this? Every other question from Makenna is about getting engaged. When will I propose? When will I buy her a ring? How will I propose? If she sees me checking wedding planners, she’ll think I’m actually going to do it.”
Jasper pointed up. “My office is open. Go use it. Return with a list of the best planners in town.”
“I hate you,” Ashton grumbled.
While Cora was grateful for the help, she still wished her mother could have been here. Cal had taken her parents from her too early. He’d wanted Cora alone and defenseless. There were so many things happening in Cora’s life now that she wished her parents could have seen. She had no father to walk her down the aisle. One of the other metallic dragons would probably have to do it.
Or she could walk alone. Right into the arms of her mate.
He wound his arm around the back of her neck, and she leaned into him. They listened to Ashton on the phone with his own mate and struggled not to laugh. While Cora no longer had her old life, this new one was more than enough. She never thought she’d find a place where she was so loved.
Not even Ashton looked at her with malice. He teased and joked with her now, like she was one of them.
Because she was.
Cora hadn’t inserted herself into someone else’s life. She wasn’t an interloper. Instead, she’d found a family. They didn’t replace the one she’d lost, but they changed her life so that it would forever be better.
“Speaking of family,” Jasper whispered, his lips brushing her ear.
She was in the midst of pushing him back, about to remind him that they’d agreed to wait on attempting to start a family until after the wedding, when Ashton shouted at them.
“I am still in this house! I swear, if you start getting frisky down there, I will throw your computer out the window!”
They dissolved into laughter, which led to cuddling, which led to exactly what Ashton didn’t want to hear.
The sound of the computer crashing on the ground outside didn’t bother either Cora or Jasper.
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Jasper Drake Page 14
