“I’m fine.” Emily pouted as she turned away from Lloyd. “It was nothing.”
“C’mon now, don’t be stubborn.” Foster reached forward, touching her forehead. Immediately, she winced, pulling away.
“Ouch!”
“See. Now let me take care of it before it gets infected.”
“I can do it myself!”
Foster clicked his tongue and ignored her pouting as he rummaged through the sparse medical supplies, looking for some disinfectant and a bandage. With a small, wet cloth he had brought along from the bathroom, he started to wipe the blood off her face. “How are you feeling? Did the man do anything else to you?”
Emily shook her head. “I’m fine. I already told you that, but it seems stubbornness runs in your family.”
“Technically we aren’t related,” Foster answered in a matter-of-fact tone. He sat on the edge of the coffee table as he carefully wiped off the blood around the wound, trying not to hurt her. Still, she winced. “I’m sorry, did that hurt?”
“Of course it hurt! Some guy just bashed my head against the bar. I have a headache like you wouldn’t believe…” She groaned, her own voice echoing through her mind. Her stomach curled up and knotted. She felt like she would vomit. Quickly, she rushed off the couch and dashed into the bathroom, heaving into the toilet.
Her fingers shook around the bowl. Foster was quickly by her side, holding her hair away from her face. “It’s okay… let it out.” He rubbed her back with a soothing, circular motion as he waited for her to calm down. “I know all of this must’ve been traumatic for you, but I want you to know that Lloyd and I will never let anything happen to you ever again…” He squatted down and gently pinned a strand of hair behind her ear. “Is there anything I can get for you?”
“Mouthwash.” Emily collapsed onto the cold tile floor. Her skin was clammy and her face had a green hue to it.
Foster handed her the mouthwash and smiled gently. “Now, are you going to let me take care of you?”
“At this point, I don’t really have a choice, do I?” She tried to get up, but her body felt like it had turned to lead.
“So sassy.” Foster chuckled, teasing her lightly, trying to ease the tension.
“Well, are you going to help me up or not?’ Foster grinned before he picked her up and carried her back to her room, setting her down on the bed. “I’ll be right back with the bandage.” Emily found herself nodding. She watched him leave the room, missing him the second he was out of sight. She scrunched up the sheets between her fingers as a strange sensation wrapped around her heart, squeezing it tight.
“How is she?” She heard Lloyd asking.
“She should be fine. The whelp didn’t do much damage. She just has a small cut on her forehead, but I think she’s a bit shaken up by the whole thing. She just threw up in the bathroom, but I don’t think she has a concussion. Though, we might want to persuade her to go to a doctor tomorrow morning.” There was a long pause of silence before Foster reentered the room with a smile. “Here we are.” He said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Emily stared at him, wondering if she should question him about the man who attacked her, but she was much too tired to formulate a question. It was like someone had sucked all the energy out of her and all she wanted to do now was fall into a deep, never-ending sleep.
Finally submitting, she allowed Foster to place the bandage on her cut. He then pulled up the covers and tucked her in. “Sleep well, okay?” He whispered in her ear before kissing the top of her head in an affectionate manner. As he left the room, he hit the lights and closed the door softly, leaving Emily all alone.
Outside, Foster ran his fingers through his hair with a heavy sigh. Slowly, he entered the living room, sitting down beside his step-brother. “What are we going to do about all of this?”
“What do you mean?” Lloyd was playing with a cup of clear liquid in his hand.
“This. All of this. We have gotten too caught up in Emily’s life and we’ve put her in danger. She’s no longer safe.”
“Of course she is. She’s here with us, isn’t she?” Lloyd took a sip of his drink and then leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.
“No. You know that’s not true. We don’t know what happens here during the day. We have no way to keep her safe while the sun is up and you know it.”
“There’s no whelps around here during the day. The Den closes at six.”
“You don’t know that. Emily has to do something when we aren’t around and I don’t like the thought of her being put into jeopardy because of us.” Foster pointed out, his voice tense.
Lloyd turned, facing his step-brother, his deep-set eyes dark and threatening. “Well, if you just let me mate with her, we wouldn’t be having this problem. We could take her back to our world and live happily ever after.”
Foster growled possessively. “I won’t let you have her. She doesn’t want to be with you anyway.”
“Oh, and she wants to be with you, does she?” Lloyd shouted as he got up, his voice rising.
“Quiet, you fool. You’ll wake her.”
“I don’t care!” Lloyd bellowed, his eyesight sharpening and his nostrils flaring. “I’m prepared to fight over her. Don’t tempt me.”
“You’re a disgrace to our kind!” Quickly, Foster disappeared out the door, running toward the stairs. Lloyd rushed after him, but the younger dragon was already weaving through the crowd. In a rage, Lloyd barreled through the dance floor, stepping outside. The cool nighttime breeze blew against his burning cheeks as he looked around, searching for his step-brother. His ears perked up as he heard a loud creak. His eyes turned toward the fire escape, seeing Foster climb up to the roof.
Without hesitation, he allowed his wings to emerge and shot into the air, landing on the roof with a powerful thud. The concrete shook underneath him as if hit by an earthquake before Lloyd straightened out, staring down his sibling. “Did you really think you could run away?” Lloyd laughed, a wicked smile playing on his lips. “Then again, I don’t know why I’m surprised. You always were a coward. The first to run away.”
“I wasn’t running away.” Foster’s fists tightened by his side as he felt his blood boiling under his skin. “Now get out of my way.”
“No. We settle this right now. If one of us doesn’t claim a mate soon, Silvia will take over as the Dragon Queen and I’ll be damned if I lose my right to become King.” He stepped forward, squaring off to Foster. “So, either be a man or I’ll march back inside and take her right now.”
“I’m not going to let you do that,” Foster responded through gritted teeth.
Lloyd reached his breaking point and lunged forward, tackling him to the ground.
“Get off of me!” Foster screamed, his nails turning into sharp claws as he dug them into Lloyd’s arms, but the dragon prince didn’t even flinch. His nostrils flared again, blue sparks flying toward Foster’s face. He managed to turn away in time to avoid being scorched, but he wasn’t quick enough to avoid a clip from Lloyd’s large wings.
The large claw at the end of Lloyd’s leathery wing cut across Foster’s cheek. “You son of a bitch.” Foster suddenly shoved off his elder brother, his own dark wings shooting out of his back. He roared with rage as he pulled his fist back before slamming it into Lloyd’s face. There was a loud crack as Lloyd’s nose broke. Foster laughed. “Suits you.” He spat, about to get up when Lloyd swept his legs. The younger dragon landed on his hip, groaning in pain before Lloyd pounced on him again, pinning him to the ground.
The two dragons started to roll around before they shot off into the sky, disappearing above the clouds before their bodies transformed into full-fledged dragons. They lunged and bit at each other, their colossal bodies slamming into one another.
Down below, as patrons left the nightclub, they looked up and saw the sky lighting up with vermilion reds and azure blues. Strange-sounding thunder boomed through the town. Some of them pulled out their phones and started to record the unnatural
phenomenon. None of them noticed the large shadows that zipped across the sky as the dragons charged at each other.
Out of their sight, however, the two dragons continued their battle. Lloyd’s barbed tail whipped out, slamming into Foster’s side. He howled in pain before his sharp, dagger-like teeth sunk into Lloyd’s arm, determined to rip it from its socket.
It was going to be a long trip home for the two dragons.
Chapter Eight
Emily laid in her bed, listening to the strange booms outside her window. Occasionally, her room would flash with light before descending into darkness again. She clutched the sheets tight, pulling them up to her neck like she was a little girl hiding from the monster in her closet.
Eventually, the strange thunder faded away and she was left with a suffocating silence. She turned and stared at the wall, feeling the weight of loneliness on her body. She closed her eyes, trying to forget about everything that had happened. She just wanted to fall asleep and wake up in a world where men didn’t have strange cat-like eyes or burning skin.
Emily sighed, hearing the clock on her wall tick away. Tick-tock. Tick-tock. She looked up, watching the pendulum move back and forth rhythmically. Her eyes followed it. Back and forth. Back and forth. Eventually, she fell asleep, entering the world of dreams.
Emily was in a wide-open field. Long wheat stalks swayed around her in a soft, sensual dance. Slowly, she pushed them aside and walked forward, looking for a way out of the field. Her footsteps were silent as she turned right and then left and finally right again. She felt like she was walking in circles. She paused and sighed, irritated to find herself in this ridiculous situation.
She sat down, hugging her knees before she fell back onto the ground, crushing the wheat stalks under her body. The sky above was a bright blue color. A few fluffy clouds lingered overhead. Emily felt her mood lift at the beautiful sight and she smiled to herself.
As she enjoyed the view, a rush of movement to her right caught her attention. She turned her head, spotting large, winged creatures coming her way. As they came into focus, Emily couldn’t help but gasp at the sight of two living, breathing dragons. Their long necks moved left and right as they propelled their way through the sky, slicing through the wind.
Their wings flapped slowly, the vibrations reverberating through the ground until Emily could feel them underneath her body. She felt the urge to get up and run away, but at the same time, she couldn’t look away. Her heart was pounding as the two mythical beasts spiraled downward, looking like they were about to crash into the ground before they panned out and hovered right above the wheat.
The dark-scaled dragon zipped forward, causing a ripple in the stalks. Strands of Emily’s blond curls moved onto her face, obscuring her vision before the larger, white dragon let out a loud roar, giving chase. The enormous bodies collided together in a vicious attack before separating. They almost seemed to be grinning at each other, their sharp fangs on display as their lips curled back. A heckle emerged from the black dragon’s throat before he soared into the sky, looking like he would fly all the way up to the sun.
Emily sat up, a deep fascination in her blue eyes as she observed the creatures, envying their ability to fly. She wondered what it would feel like to glide across the sky. To be weightless and free. As she thought about it, the two dragons settled down and landed on the ground a few feet away from her.
Slowly, they started to shapeshift, their features blurring together. Emily’s eyes grew wide when she recognized Lloyd and Foster standing in front of her. “What the…?” She whispered to herself, quickly getting to her feet. “This can’t… no… this… makes… no sense…” She stuttered as she backed away. Slowly, the men withdrew their wings, their eyes returning to normal.
They stepped forward, holding out their hands. “Come home with us.” They said in unison.
Emily shook her head and turned on her heels, running through the field. She didn’t care where she went as long as she moved far, far away from them. Her heart felt like it would explode and her lungs burned as she ran as fast as she could. She tried to push the winged men away from her mind, not wanting to acknowledge that this impossible event was actually happening.
As she ran, she tried to ignore the deep yearning she held in her heart. She wanted to turn around and collapse into their arms. She wanted to be with them, despite their strangeness. She wanted to throw caution to the wind but she couldn’t. No, would do the right thing. The normal thing. Eventually, she would come across a nice regular guy. It would be for the best after all.
Thinking about this, Emily became distracted, not paying attention to her surroundings. Her body was working on auto-pilot. Suddenly, however, she came across the edge of a cliff, but it was too late to stop. She fell forward, plummeting into the chasm as the darkness ate her up.
Emily woke up with a gasp from the nightmare. She clutched the blanket to her chest as she heaved for air, her whole body covered in a cold sweat. She blinked, trying to push away the darkness of her room, but it was impenetrable. Slowly, she got up and searched for the light switch, her heartbeat drowning out the sound of her clock. Finally, she flipped the switch and sighed in relief as she found herself in her room.
“It was just a dream…” She tried to convince herself as she leaned against the wall, trying to make sense of it all.
As she stood there, she heard the door of her apartment slamming shut. She tensed up, straining her hearing, but her heart thumped even harder, making it impossible to detect the soft footsteps that now approached her bedroom. She held her breath as she inched toward the nightstand, grabbing a vase she used for decoration. Her fingers wrapped tightly around the porcelain, ready to use it against anyone who might come through the door.
The doorknob turned slowly and Emily tightened her grip even more as she hugged the wall. Maybe it was just Foster and Lloyd coming back to apologize, but as she looked out the window and saw the sunrise, she had the feeling it wasn’t them. They always left just before dawn. This had to be someone else.
The hair on the back of Emily’s neck stood on edge as the door was forced open, accompanied by a long squeak. It sliced through Emily’s soul, making her cringe. She shut her eyes tight and when she opened them again, there were three men in her bedroom, all of them with bloodshot eyes and slits for pupils. Without thinking, Emily charged forward, slamming the vase into the head of the closest man. He didn’t even flinch. He just chuckled, a deep smirk appearing on his face. His sharp, jagged teeth came into view. “You shouldn’t have done that…” He warned, his voice echoing.
The men quickly surrounded her. Emily could barely think, but her body was working on its own as she leaped over the bed, putting it between herself and her attackers. “Get out of my apartment!” She screamed. She grabbed a pillow and threw it at them before reaching for her lamp, looking ready to swing.
“You humans are so amusing.” The leader of the group said with a grin. “But luckily for us, you’ll help us prove a point.” He rolled his neck. A series of loud cracks filled the room. In a flash, he was on the other side of the bed, pushing Emily down onto the mattress. His hand wrapped around her wrist, pulling it behind her back. “One wrong move and I’ll break your arm.” Another whelp took the lamp away from her.
“What are you going to do to me?” Emily asked, her voice choked.
“Whatever we want…” The man whispered, his lips pressing against her neck. “Who knows, you might even learn to like it…” He chuckled, but at that point, Emily lost all control, imagining the implications. She started to thrash about, managing to land a kick between the man’s legs. He groaned, letting her go. She was about to run for the door when one of his accomplices grabbed her around the waist, slamming her down on the mattress.
“Don’t make this any harder than it needs to be.” The whelp hissed as his fingers tightened around her wrists, pinning them above her head. Emily struggled, feeling his burning skin. The smell of burning flesh invaded her
sense. Her burning flesh.
“Let go of me!” She screamed hysterically as she bucked her hips into the air, trying everything she could to get this man to let go, but there was already another attacker holding her legs, preventing her from kicking.
Suddenly, the third man pushed something into the side of her neck. She felt a sharp pain. Her vision slowly began to blur. “No… please… I’ll do whatever you want…” She tried to plead with them, realizing that her life was in danger. As she lost control over her body, pure terror settled into her soul. It felt like someone was sitting on top of her, preventing her from breathing. She gasped, trying to breathe in the much-needed air into her lungs. “This can’t be happening…” She whispered, her voice barely heard over the men’s victorious snickers.
“Oh, we’ll have our fun with you alright.” The leader grinned, running his long, claw-like nails along her skin before she finally submerged into darkness.
***
Foster and Lloyd arrived at the nightclub. They had spent the whole day bickering with each other, only to agree that Emily should be the one to choose. “I can’t believe I agreed to this… Emily is obviously going to pick me. Why would she want a weakling like you?” Lloyd grinned as he saw the scar now running across Foster’s cheek. It would heal soon, but for the time being, it was a good reminder of Lloyd’s strength.
“Don’t be so sure.” Foster retorted confidently. “You forget who she danced with all night long.”
Lloyd growled at the memory. “Let’s just settle this once and for all.” The dragons approached the entrance and pulled at the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. “Huh?” Lloyd gave the door another forceful tug, but it still wouldn’t open. “What’s going on?” He turned to Foster in question.
“And you call yourself tough.” Foster laughed, wrapping both his hands around the handle before he pulled back with all his might. With a groan, he lost his grip and fell back, nearly landing in a puddle.
Alpha's Love (Rocky Mountain Shifters Book 3) Page 48
