The Rookie

by Abigail Owen

  His brothers had found mates, but Drake had not. “What about you? You don’t sound too concerned about finding a mate.”

  Drake snorted. “I let go of that hallucination a long time ago.”

  “Why?”

  Drake gave a twitch that Aidan guessed was a shrug. “I’m not sure I believe that there’s only one man for each mate out there.”

  “Then why do they die if the wrong man tries?”

  Another twitch. “Maybe only women who can survive the fire are meant to be dragons. Who knows?”

  “So, with Sera, you didn’t even consider that she might be your mate?”

  A beat of silence greeted the question. “She said it herself. No connection.”

  “But you’ve hardly spoken to her.” Then again, Drake hardly spoke to anyone.

  “I’ve spoken to her enough.” The red shifter was getting irritated now, his voice acquiring an edge. He didn’t like to talk much in general, but definitely not about himself.

  “Still… You weren’t curious when you saw your brand? It’s the largest of the three.”

  Drake sighed and sat up, slumping against the rough rock wall his cot was pushed up against. He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I won’t find my mate.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I’m dying.”

  Aidan froze. He’d seen the red dragon falter ever so slightly, but nothing that would have pointed to dying. Drake was their best fighter, a tough son of a bitch with an attitude to match. “How is that possible?”

  Drake pulled his foot up onto the cot and propped his hand on his knee. “I’ve aged out early, I guess. It’s been happening for a while now. Getting worse.”

  Dragons who went unmated too long developed ailments that eventually killed them. Some suffered diseases of the flesh, like the Rotting Red King. Some developed mental diseases, the condition attacking their minds. However, that wasn’t supposed to start happening until around a dragon shifter’s thousandth year on the earth. Drake wasn’t even close to that age.

  Aidan got to his feet moving to the bars between their cells. “You haven’t been sick a day in your life as far as I’ve seen. You can’t be more than a decade over seven hundred.”

  “Seven hundred seventy-five to be exact.” Roughly thirty-five in human aging.

  Older than Aidan had thought. “That’s still too soon. What signs have you had?”

  Drake shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. When I can no longer function, I’ll leave the team.”

  Drake meant it. The man was absolutely certain. “When do you think that will be?”

  “Another year.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Maybe.”

  Aidan gripped the bars. That soon? “Fuck, man.”

  “That’s the word for it.” Drake gave an unamused laugh. “I’m well and truly fucked.”

  “A mate could save you.” Sera could save him, if she was his mate.

  Drake shook his head. “I’m too far gone. No way am I risking taking a woman’s life on the off chance that she’d save mine. The odds are pretty fucking slim. It’s too late for me.”

  “But you’re not even trying. You didn’t give Sera a chance—”

  “Because she’s yours.”

  Drake was obviously finished with the conversation, because he flopped to his back again, arm over his eyes once more. “It’s a done deal, rookie. Let it go.”

  “Let it go?” Aidan slammed a fist against one of his cage bars, the metal giving a muted clang. “This is your life, Drake. You don’t think it’s worth fighting for?”

  Drake didn’t look up. “I think that’s my decision to make.”

  “Does Finn know?”

  “No,” Drake snapped. He levered up on one elbow to glare at Aidan. “And don’t go around blabbing this. I don’t want the guys to know until I have to leave.”

  “No way—”

  “I only told you so that you’d stop second-guessing Sera. Swear to me that you’ll keep this to yourself.”

  “But—”

  “Swear it.”

  Aidan shook his head. How was Drake not doing everything in his power to find a mate?

  A red fire lit inside Drake’s eyes. “Swear.”

  Shaking his head, Aidan still agreed. “They won’t hear it from me.”

  Drake banked the fire in his eyes and nodded, falling back to the cot.

  “Is that why you’re such an asshole?” Aidan joked even though Drake wasn’t looking at him. Anything to relieve the tension still riding the red dragon’s body.

  A low grunt that could’ve been a laugh reached his ears. “Who says I’m an asshole?” Drake said. “I’ll rip him a new one.”

  Aidan forced a chuckle and resumed his seat on the cot. Only no chance in hell could he sleep now. Because he couldn’t get past Drake’s belief that perhaps no one pair was destined, and a successful mating was more about the woman being able to take the fire. If that was true, what if Sera could save Drake?

  Pain settled in his chest—an ache he wasn’t sure would ever go away, because whatever happened next, someone got screwed.

  A clang rang down the long, narrow corridor of the dimly lit dungeon and the door at the far end slammed against the rough rock walls. How they’d managed to make this area feel medieval when it hadn’t been built into the caves until the last hundred years, Aidan had no idea.

  “Let me go, asshat,” a man snarled.

  Hall?

  Aidan surged to his feet, pressing his face against the bars of his cell, trying to get an angle to see down that hallway. That was definitely Hall.

  Where the hell was Blake?

  After a second, they came into his view. Three of Tineen’s men dragged a kicking, flailing Hall down the corridor. One released him to use the keypad and unlock the cell on Aidan’s other side, away from Drake. The other two shifters growled as Hall doubled down on his efforts to give them no quarter.

  Still, with a lot of growling and a few landed punches, they thrust Hall into the cell and slammed the door closed with a ringing bang followed by the unmistakable snick of the heavy bolt sliding home.

  Aidan strode to the bars separating them and thrust a hand through. “Are you okay, brother?”

  Hall grasped his hand with strength. “Nothing that won’t heal.”

  This close, Aidan got a decent view of his teammate’s face. Three wicked unmistakable claw marks of dried blood slashed across his face diagonally, one narrowly missing Hall’s eye.

  “Tineen’s men did that to you?”

  Hall’s shook his head, anger flaring to life in his eyes as twin green flames danced there. “A group of shifters broke into the cabin. They took Blake.”

  Reaction slammed through Aidan hard, and Hall winced as he clamped his hand tighter. Blake wasn’t just Sera’s son. That kid had come to mean more to Aidan than he’d ever suspected could be possible. Blake was his son, in heart if not by blood. “Who? Rune?”

  Hall dropped to his cot with a grunt, going quiet. For him at least.

  “Rune took Sera,” Aidan said when Hall said nothing.

  For another beat, Hall didn’t speak. “I didn’t recognize the men,” he said finally. “They weren’t dragon shifters.”

  What the fuck? “What were they?”

  “Hard to tell. I haven’t scented that type before. Best guess…grizzlies.”

  …

  A large shadow passed across the shades drawn over the small windows of her bolt-hole, and Sera froze.

  No doubt that had been a dragon. During daylight hours? Friend or enemy?

  They’d stuck her in a remote spot in the southwest and left her there. Or, at least, that’s how it felt to Sera. Rune hadn’t taken her as far as she would’ve liked, but apparently dragons could only make it so far without having to rest.

  All she knew was the towering mountains covered in green pine trees had morphed into vistas of reds and yellows with large flats broken by areas of rock formations or canyons. Rivers were easy to spot
as they brought the only slash of green across the surface of the earth.

  He’d dumped her in what appeared to be an abandoned double-wide tucked underneath an overhang of rock formations. The mobile home had seen better days, the exterior chipped and dented and painted multiple shades of white like someone couldn’t be bothered to match the shade. The interior wasn’t much better, with stained, mismatched carpeting, and faux wood-paneled walls.

  Dust coated everything, even though she hadn’t opened a door or window since he left her here. And who knew that “hot” could have a smell, but it did. Hot and dry mixed with her own sweat, despite the home having a window unit air conditioner working overtime—a constant buzzing that still didn’t manage to cover the eerie whistling of the wind that went on night and day.

  Not that beggars could be choosers. She was safe here. She hoped. The bed she’d found in one of the bedrooms was in decent shape with brand new white sheets that showed creases from recent packaging. Rune had pointed out the working bathroom and kitchens, and warned her of limited water supply.

  “My men will be watching from afar. We don’t want them to get to you because of us, so you need to stay here alone for several days. Maybe a few weeks. Don’t go outside. No matter what.”

  “Blake?” she’d asked as he’d turned away.

  Rune faced her with an unblinking expression. “We can’t risk bringing him yet but will reunite you as soon as it’s safe.”

  Then he’d left her.

  Boredom had never been something she’d dealt with well. Not being able to go outside and having no media and not even a book or a magazine to peruse meant she basically sat around or slept…and worried. Meals—even the boxed and canned variety—were the only thing to break the monotony. An uninspiring combination of tuna casserole, mac ’n’ cheese, and ramen noodles, all rendered a little off by the coppery flavored water the tap spewed.

  Four days in, Sera was losing her mind.

  Where was her child? What had happened to Aidan? The team? What was going on out there? And who the hell had come for her now?

  Rune had said his men would check on her, but she hadn’t seen a hint that they’d been anywhere close by. Not that she could, holed up in here with every window covered. Still…

  A soft knock on her door had Sera up and out of her chair.

  What do I do? Answer it?

  She didn’t move. Didn’t breathe.

  “Sera?”

  That was Rune’s voice. Even after only a few conversations, she couldn’t mistake those dark tones. With a sucked-in breath, she rushed to the door and unlocked it, then gasped and dropped to shaky knees, pulling Blake inside and wrapping him in her arms.

  He submitted to a long hug for a moment before wriggling. “Mom, you’re squishing me.”

  Sera laughed into his hair and loosened her grip. “Sorry, buddy.”

  Only she didn’t let go, tugging him with her as she got to her feet. She ushered Rune inside. “What’s been happening?”

  “We had to shuffle Blake from location to location to lose the Alaz team and the Alliance. All while staging a kidnapping so that no one suspected Hall’s involvement.”

  God, what a nightmare.

  “But we’re safe now?”

  “We’d like to get you farther away, but we can’t risk it yet.”

  Dang. She was ready to claw her way through the flippin’ walls. “Buddy, why don’t you go check things out?”

  “Cool,” Blake said, and wriggled away to explore the home.

  Rune smiled after the boy, then sobered as his gaze landed on the charred sofa. It still smelled sour in here from the melted plastic or whatever the thing had been made of. His eyes flashed to her. “What happened there?”

  Sera grimaced. “Not a dragon.” She paused. “Well…not an official one. I lit it on fire.”

  The man in front of her scrubbed a hand over his face, his palm scratching against his several-day-old growth of beard. “Why would you want to go and do that?”

  She snorted. “Wasn’t my choice. Believe me. It just sort of…happened.”

  “Dragon sign,” Rune said. “I thought you were only shifting your eyes?”

  “I guess stress brought out more?” She flashed some jazz hands. “Surprise.”

  He just shook his head. “I’ll need to get you somewhere more fireproof.”

  “Is Blake safe?”

  He grimaced. “Hopefully having him will have reduced the stress, but just in case make sure you can get out easily and have the fire extinguisher handy.”

  He paused, and Sera took a moment to examine him more closely. “When’s the last time you slept?”

  The man looked haggard—face drawn, eyes sunken in, his pallor only highlighted by the black jeans and shirt he wore.

  His mouth flattened. “Don’t worry about it.”

  In other words, none of her business. She couldn’t get a good handle on this man, though she’d determined to lump him in the friend category.

  “There’s another bed in the second room. Why don’t you rest?” She waved toward the end of the home with the bedrooms.

  Rune tipped his head, regarding her closely, as if surprised that she’d be kind. “I can’t stay. You’re not the only situation I’m dealing with at the moment. I have an…unusual problem I’ve been dealing with far too long.”

  No wonder he looked exhausted. “I hope it works out.”

  No visible reaction. “I’m going to draw anyone following away to a different location. Another few days. Then someone will come for you to take you elsewhere.”

  But he didn’t mention where or exactly when. This man obviously operated in secret a lot. Must be hard, not trusting anyone. Isolated.

  “If it’s not me, they need to tell you Blake’s middle name. If they don’t know it, don’t let them in. This home is warded so that they shouldn’t be able to see it, and definitely won’t get in.” He grimaced. “Easily.”

  Sera didn’t like that last word he tacked on but nodded her understanding. Whatever it took to keep Blake safe.

  She walked Rune to the door. As he walked down the stairs she stopped him, unable to help herself. “One more thing…”

  Rune turned, eyebrows raised in question.

  “Aidan Paytah.”

  “Your mate.” Speculation narrowed his gaze. “Are you still sure?”

  “Even more than when we met.” Sera swallowed. Did she dare ask more from this man?

  Obsidian eyes went flat before sparking with dark flame. “How?”

  “We didn’t know they were real until just before the Alliance came, but we were connecting in dreams before I showed dragon sign. He’s my mate.”

  Rune dropped his gaze to glare at the dry red earth for a long moment. “Fuck. I don’t have the resources to go after him, too. Getting you out was hard enough.”

  Sera put a hand on his arm. “Please don’t give up. I think you have good motives. Maybe a messed-up way of acting on them. But I don’t know who else to ask.”

  Rune just shook his head. “The Alaz team still hasn’t released them.”

  “Released them?”

  “They have all four of the men who escorted you locked up in their headquarters. Your mate included. Finn should arrive today. He’ll get them out. We made sure to leave obvious signs that your abduction was us and not them. Blake’s, too.”

  Sera’s throat closed up tight on a combination of panic and tears. Aidan had been imprisoned? Was that why he hadn’t visited her in dreams?

  Please let him be okay.

  Chapter Twenty

  The hush of footfalls reached Aidan’s ears long before the heavy dragonsteel door opened into the long, narrow hallway of the dungeon cells.

  He got to his feet slowly, a low grunt pulled from him. Deep bruises not yet healed after his “interrogation” protested the movement. Drake, Hall, and Titus had come off about the same, Titus getting it worst. Even with their accelerated healing, his face looked more like a rot
ten potato—lumpy and all sorts of shades it shouldn’t be. He’d been the one to lose Sera after all.

  Not that they had anything to share. Not really. He had no fucking clue where she was or how Rune had got involved.

  Drake also got silently to his feet. Titus remained prone, though he raised his head.

  “Back for more?” Aidan growled at the shadowy group of men still at the far end of the hall. Difficult to make out both in the dim light of the underground chamber, and from the side, the bars of his cage not allowing him to see straight down the hall.

  A familiar scent hit him before one of the men spoke.

  “We’ve come to take you home.” Finn said.

  Aidan gripped the bars, shinier and smoother in the spot he held, probably thanks to previous inmates doing the same. He and his teammates had been freed? Sure enough, out of the gloom, Finn emerged, shoulders stiff, jaw rock hard, and mouth set in a grim line. Deep appeared behind him, the craggy lines of his face equally grim. They’d called in the big guns bringing him into it. Had the previous leader of the Huracán Enforcers vouched for them? Put his life and that of his mate on the line?

  As soon as Finn got a good view of Aidan’s battered face, he whipped his head around to glare at Tineen, who’d followed. A growl that raised the hairs on Aidan’s arms ripped from his Alpha’s throat. “You beat my men?”

  Tineen stared him down. “We interrogated them.”

  “Semantics,” Aidan snarled.

  “Release them,” Finn said.

  No doubt in every mind that was an order, and Tineen’s jaw worked. “I need these men’s words that there will be no retribution. We were doing our jobs.”

  Aidan wouldn’t mind decking the guy. “You turned on your own kind.”

  “At the orders of the Alliance. You were involved in the kidnapping of a mate.”

  Aidan bared his teeth at that. “We brought her to the Alliance, asshole. If we wanted to kidnap her, we would never have let them know she even existed.”

  Tineen’s head went back, eyes flat. “I had orders.”

  “We understand orders.” Deep spoke up, his voice controlled, a sure sign he was pissed.

  “Yes, we do,” Finn agreed. At least he wasn’t growling anymore. But Aidan knew his Alpha. Furious didn’t begin to cover Finn’s state.