by Julia Mills
Unable to keep a straight face or stay mad at her very own goofballs, the dragoness rolled her eyes and sighed, “Whatever, like either of you ever listen to me anyway.”
“Hey, that’s not fair,” Daire complained. “I always listen.”
“Yeah, but do you do what I say or take any of my advice?”
“That’s not what you said.” Pulling her into a big hug that smeared the remaining icing from her dress onto the front of his navy dress shirt, Daire added, “Now, look, we match.” He kissed her cheek. “All better, right?”
“If you say so,” Dani chuckled, once again very thankful for having been adopted into such a loving family.
“Oh, I say so. You hear me, missy?” Daire had a twinkle in his eye that didn’t bode well for Dani when his cell phone rang. Putting his hand over the mouthpiece, he teased, “You are gonna get it as soon as I get rid of whoever is on this phone.”
No sooner had he said hello than his tone turned grim and his expression dark. “He was where?”
She could hear the male caller’s voice but couldn’t make out what he was saying even with her preternatural hearing.
“And he saw what exactly?” There was another pause while he listened and then a gruff, “Meet me in my office.”
Disconnecting the call, the Alpha took a long, deep breath while scratching his perpetual five ‘o’clock shadow. Dani waited patiently, doing her best not to listen in on her brother’s thoughts with all her might. Finally, after what seemed like forever, but in actuality wasn’t even a whole minute, Daire looked up and shook his head, “You better come along. I know Darragh is out with the Trackers checking the perimeters and the other Council members are all either in bed or headed that way. No need to alarm anyone until we know for sure what is really going on.”
Turning to leave, Daire stopped and held out his hand. “Well, come on.”
Grabbing her brother’s hand, Dani asked, “Alright, but can you at least explain on the way?”
“Better you hear this for yourself,” was his only response as he pulled her up the back stairs and into the red dragon’s room.
Dani’s eyes immediately went to Wolfe’s as he stared at her like she had three heads. Opening her mouth to properly tell him to go straight to Hell, the dragoness clamped her lips shut as she remembered where she was and instead, spoke directly into his mind, “I don’t know what is wrong with you or why you have chosen to be such a dick, but it needs to stop.”
“Later,” was his grumbled reply as he looked away.
“Don’t you…”
The witty retort she had planned was cut off as Daire slammed the door and said, “Tell me everything you saw. Leave nothing out.”
Motioning to the chair next to Olivia and Ellie for Dani to take a seat, the Alpha listened as Wolfe explained, “I was flying over the mountains, out past the big lake behind the Lodge, trying to get the lay of your property and what bordered it. I decided to land and take a look at one of the bigger, darker ravines. It just struck me as a good place for those rogues you’ve been talking about to use as a hidey hole.”
“You were flying? As a Dragon? Have you lost your mind?” Dani spat directly into the Guardsman’s mind, receiving a growled, “I will deal with you later,” as a response, a split second before she felt him slam his mental blocks into place.
“What did you find?” Daire asked, obviously irritated by Wolfe’s pause.
Throwing Dani a warning look, Wolfe continued, “I hit pay dirt, that’s what happened.” He stepped forward, turned the map that was spread out on the small café table towards the Alpha and pointed. “You have a huge problem, Daire. There was about a hundred to a hundred and twenty-five shifters – not only rogue wolves but also coyotes, black bears and deer – being led by an honest to the Goddess Shapeshifter and they all want to see your head on a pike and your pelt under their feet.”
“Wait,” Daire looked up from the map with his hands on his hips, and his brow furrowed, “You’re telling me that the rogues have organized? They’re acting like a Pack?”
Wolfe gave a single nod as the Alpha continued, “And there are multiple species banding together? With a leader you think can shift into multiple animals, at will?”
Daire was shaking his head in disbelief as Angus answered before Wolfe could. “He is not only telling you, but I am also assuring you. We share a blood bond, I can see what he sees, and I am telling you that you have an angry mob out there ready and willing to take not only your land but your Pack and your life.”
Angus moved around the table until he was standing in front of Daire. Looking the Alpha in the eye, the Ancient Guardsman went on, “And I felt the power and mysticism that Wolfe experienced in the presence of this woman. There is no denying she is one of the Legendary Shapeshifters we all thought long dead and gone. Do you know who they are? What they are? Have you ever met one?”
“No,” Daire quickly answered. “They were gone before my time, or so I thought.”
“They are an ancient race of Shaman with deep ties to both good and evil Earthen magic. The legend states… that centuries ago, one of the original Shaman Elders was lost alone in the mountains of the Middle East. Out of food and water, he was sure he was about to perish when he happened upon a deer, mortally wounded. Offering his thanks to the Goddess for providing him with sustenance, the Shaman not only ate the meat of the animal but also drank his blood.”
“Falling fast asleep with his belly full and provisions to sustain him until he hopefully found a home, the Shaman dreamt. His visions were filled with thoughts of the deer. He saw the animal galloping through the woods. He watched as it tasted of the flora and fauna and drank from the many lakes and streams. Soon, he was no longer watching but experiencing what the animal had.”
Waking with a start, disoriented and hardly able to move, the Shaman finally opened his eyes only to find himself no longer a man but now the very deer he had dined upon. Scared and sure he was being punished, the Elder Shaman prayed, “Dear Goddess, I am so sorry for my transgression against you and yours. Please allow me to repent and pay penance as you so deem necessary, so that I may return to my human form.”
“Light shone through the trees, and a heavenly body appeared before him. ‘I am Elianna and I speak for the Goddess of All. Dear Shaman, you misunderstand. You are not being punished, but rewarded for helping that poor animal and using what the Goddess hath provided. From this day forward, you and any of your descendants, should they drink the blood of an animal when it is being used to provide sustenance, you will retain a part of their essence and thus be able to take its form at will.’”
“The rest of the story details how the Goddess led him home, and he reproduced, and his sons and daughters did the same until there was a race of true Shapeshifters.” The older Guardsman paused, looked around the room and then added, “Of course, like all things, the dark reared its ugly head, and in its quest for power a later generation turned to trickery and began killing any shifter they came across, draining the blood and sharing with all of their coven. At the pinnacle for their depravity, they used their magic to hold whole Clans and Packs in a type of status. The poor beings were paralyzed but still awake and aware as they were exsanguinated. The Shapeshifters had become unstoppable by all but the pure fire of a dragon.”
“I remember my brethren and I, the Enforcers, were sent out on several missions to eradicate covens of the miserable parasites. I cannot, nor will I, relay the details of what I saw there.”
He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Suffice it to say, we saw horrors I would not wish upon my worst enemy. Several years before we were spelled and locked away, we were sure we’d done away with the last of them.” He shook his head and looked at Wolfe, “But I can see we were wrong.”
Glancing to his mate, Angus held out his hand, adding as the she-wolf stood and moved to his side, “Olivia has also seen what Wolfe experienced because of our mating bond. She has agreed to let you view those im
ages.”
Dani watched Daire nod and take ahold of Olivia’s hand. She felt all the wolves in the room lending their considerable strength to the connection her brother and the she-wolf shared. Looking from face to face, she wasn’t surprised to see their eyes shining and the images of their animals glowing like transparent masks over their faces. Ellie smiled in Dannika’s direction, the fur of her beautiful white wolf descending from her hairline while Caleb’s face was almost completely covered.
Glancing at Wolfe, she was shocked to see the radiance in his eyes, as well. Smiling, she was thinking how lovely his blue eyes looked with the elliptical pupil of his dragon when the idiot had to ruin by saying it, “Be careful there, princess, your dragon is showing. We wouldn’t want anyone to know your little secret, now would we?”
Dannika’s eyes snapped to the mirror on the opposite wall, shocked to see that her eyes, although brown, matched Wolfe’s in their shape. Jerking her head back towards the pain-in-her-ass behind her, pushing back the hurt she felt at his words, the dragoness narrowed her eyes and spat, “You really shouldn’t meddle in affairs above your paygrade, Wolfe.”
His name was so much like a curse spewing from her lips that Dani actually had a split-second of remorse as Wolfe’s hurt feelings bled through his mental walls, but then he snarled, ‘My paygrade?” In an accusing tone when he’d been the one to start the whole horrible fight between them that she got right over it.
Dani was just about to tell Wolfe where he could get off when the jerk added insult to injury by saying, “Who the hell do you think you are?”
Not one to be outdone, she sarcastically grinned, “I’m the princess. I believe it was you...” Her grin turned to a smug smile as she went on, “who gave me the title.” Winking, she added, “Be careful what you wish for…cause you just might get it, Sport.”
“Sport? Look here…”
Thankfully, he was unable to finish his retort as Daire looked away from Olivia, exhaled heavily and shook his head, “I’ve never seen that woman before in my life.” He stepped forward as Angus followed his mate back to her chair, standing beside the she-wolf when she sat. “And as for the wolf who was with her, his name is Vychan. He’s a bastard through and through. I have no idea how many Packs he’s been thrown out of across the country, but ours was the first. His dad died before he was born and his mother followed her mate to the Heavens when Vychan was only a child. I think somehow he always blamed my father, even though his dad was killed by rogues when dad was out of the country, and his mother died from what the Healers all called a broken heart.”
“Vy was taken in by a good family and given everything a kid could want, but he always had a chip on his shoulder and caused fights. When he came of age, he continually challenged the older, stronger wolves for dominance.”
“But aren’t those fights supposed to be to the death,” Wolfe asked, still glaring at Dani to which she could only roll her eyes.
“Yeah, but they always felt sorry for Vy, so the wolves he fought had my dad intervene and call the fight for some made up reason to save the kid’s life. We all knew he was an Omega, but there was no convincing Vychan. Finally, he went too far. A bunch of Trackers found him down in the valley with a much younger, much weaker female fox shifter.” Daire ran his fingers through his hair, leaving several hairs sticking straight up as he looked down at the ground and added in a low voice, “If they had gotten there a minute later the stupid son of a bitch would’ve raped that poor girl.”
The Alpha cleared his throat, took a deep breath that he slowly let out then looked up. “Dad took the girl home and explained what had happened to her father, the Taichou of their Skulk. The Tod was understandingly enraged, but thankful his daughter had been saved and agreed with my dad’s decision to exile Vy. The last time I saw his sorry hide, he’d just been escorted to the border of our land and told he was out of our Pack and out of the state for the rest of his life.”
“Yeah, well that shit didn’t work,” Caleb growled from his place beside his mate.
Ellie quickly asked, patting her mate’s arm, “When was the last time you saw him?”
Looking at Dannika, Daire asked, “It’s been at least fifty years, right Sis?”
“At least,” the dragoness nodded. “I can check the records, but I’m sure you’re correct.”
“And this is the first sign you’ve had that he’s back in all that time?” Angus questioned, looking at Wolfe as he added telepathically while Dani eavesdropped, “Did you get anything from his scent that said where he’d been or how long he’d been in this area?”
Daire answered aloud, “Yes, and my Trackers all know to keep an eye out for him.” At the same time, Wolfe replied, “No, the aggression and fury was so strong that’s all I could get. I swear if that Shapeshifter hadn’t started talking bloodlust would’ve taken over and there would’ve been no stopping the angry mob from charging towards this Pack.”
Nodding, Angus spoke aloud, “Then we have to assume that this Vychan and the Shapeshifter found one another somewhere along the rogue’s travels and he has brought her back home to exact his revenge upon you and yours. She will see your three hundred or so strong, vital wolves as a way to make more of her kind. I have no doubts, with her age and abilities that she can now turn any other magical beings.” His expression turned stormy. “And not only will they be shifter and Shaman but also Shapeshifter and therefore, I fear, almost unstoppable.”
He patted Olivia’s shoulder before stepping back to the table and pointing to the path the shifters took as they exited the ravine. “Wolfe, Grey and I will use the cover of darkness and magic to fly over here. I want to see where all these shifters are holed up, how far apart they are from one another and if they are truly organized.” He looked up at Daire. “We have two weeks to prepare, and even strike first if you chose.” Turning to Wolfe and Grey, he added, “So, let’s get some sleep and talk tomorrow then at nightfall, we take to the skies.”
Daire held out his hand and as he and Angus shook on the plan as it was so far, said, “Thank you for your help. We have to go on with the talks during the day, but if you need anything from me, just holler.”
“We will let you know.”
As the impromptu meeting adjourned and everyone stood around talking, Dani decided it was a good time to sneak away. First of all, she needed out of her icing-covered dress. Secondly, and infinitely more important, she needed as far away from Wolfe as she could get.
Out the door and halfway down the hall, the dragoness gasped as a hand clamped around her arm, she was spun around, lifted off the ground and unceremoniously thrown over the shoulder of the most obstinate man she’d ever met. Not wanting to make a scene, Dani growled under her breath, “Put me down, or I swear I will do something you will regret.”
A stinging slap to her ass shocked a loud, “Ow!” from the dragoness just before Wolfe threatened, “Do something stupid, and there’s more where that came from.”
“I’m gonna gut you like a pig as soon as my feet touch the ground, you bastard.”
“Promises, promises, Princess.” His hand, still on her ass, rubbed her stinging flesh, making wonderfully delicious tingles shoot through her body and land squarely in her center.
Fighting her arousal by grabbing ahold of her anger, Dani threatened, “If it takes every ounce of strength I have, I promise I will slap the shit-eating grin I know you are wearing right now off that smug face of yours.”
“I welcome the challenge.”
“I hate you,” she growled.
“You wish,” he chuckled.
Chapter Seven
Running through the woods in the wee hours of the morning with the one woman in all the world who made him simultaneously want to kiss her and kill her flung over his shoulder may not have been the brightest move Wolfe had ever made, but it was way too late to turn back. He had acted on instinct, wanting her by his side, needing answers to the multitude of questions running through his mind and he was goi
ng to get both or die trying.
Which if this woman has her way will be sooner rather than later.
Pounding her fists on his back, Dani screamed, “Put me down, you Neanderthal! Who the hell do you think you are?”
Slapping her butt for the second time, Wolfe goaded, “You know exactly who I am and we are going to talk, Princess.”
“Stop. Calling. Me. That.” Each word she growled was accompanied with a punch to his back.
Opting for silence, Wolfe ran clear of the trees, past the lake and into a valley between two small mountains, sliding to a stop under a large White Oak. Slowly lowering Dannika off his shoulder, the Guardsman kept his hands on the dragoness’ waist until she was steady on her feet, quickly stepping back when it was obvious she was considering slapping him across the face again.
Grabbing her wrist as it came flying at him, Wolfe pulled Dannika’s body tight to his and grinned, “No more of that crap, Princess.”
Narrowing her eyes, he could feel the fury bubbling up inside of the dragoness as she growled through gritted teeth, “Let go of me, you bastard.”
“Nope.” He wrapped his hand around her waist, holding her even tighter, loving the flames of fury and passion growing in her eyes. “Not until you answer my questions.”
Glaring at him like she was trying to shoot daggers from her brown eyes, Dannika wiggled and squirmed, trying to free herself, causing Wolfe’s mind to detour into thoughts of more amorous pursuits. Rolling his hips, the Guardsman smirked as his dragoness gasped, her eyes grew big, and she immediately stopped all motion. The scent of wildflowers filled his senses as visions of their previous kiss floated through her mind.
Unable to resist, Wolfe lowered his lips to hers. Sparks of their connection flashed through his body as Dani’s resistance evaporated. Opening completely with a blissful sigh, the dragoness’ hands, still trapped between their bodies, scratched at his chest. Leaning farther into their height distance, the Guardsman growled at the loss of contact with her body.
