by Fel Fern
“Holy shit, Benny. You never said the guy’s a fucking dragon shifter,” Ray said with a hissed, beginning to tug at Benny’s sleeve.
Smoke opened his mouth, revealing rows of very sharp fangs. Smoke’s throat glowed orange, and he swallowed, aware Smoke was about to set something or a couple of someones aflame. He couldn’t speak, not when he felt nothing but white-hot burning rage coming from Smoke through their mate bond. A car skidded to one side and a large, muscular man with brown hair and eyes and a scar on the left side of his cheek came running out.
“Smoke, I saw you in the clouds,” the man said, slightly out of breath. Judging by the way Ray and Benny ran and hid behind him, Toby guessed this was someone important. “Don’t set fire to this neighborhood, or us. Please, Ray and Benny are idiots.”
“Alpha,” Benny began, but Will silenced them both with a severe look followed by a growl.
His heart nearly stopped for a moment. Toby wasn’t sure about what he was doing, but he tried to reach out to his mate through the mate bond, sending him reassuring energy. Smoke closed his mouth.
Will and his werewolves wisely took that as a cue to leave. “Get in my car, now,” Will ordered the two werewolves. Will turned to him. “My apologies, Toby. I told them to back off, and I’ll give them suitable punishment.”
“I understand, can I make a request? Even if I no longer live here, my friend Ron,” he began, faltered, gesturing to Ron behind him. Smoke might have called off his attack, but he could still feel the anger radiating from his mate. Smoke once told him that dragon shifters were so much dangerous than any other apex predators, especially when provoked, because they were capable of causing large-scale destruction with dragon fire.
“I will offer your friend my personal protection,” Will said. “That way, none of the paranormals in this town will touch him.”
“Thank you. Ron, will you be okay?” he asked, knowing Smoke remained restless, and his dragon wouldn’t leave until he would.
Ron nodded. “Go, Toby. Contact me once you arrive?”
“I will, thanks for seeing me off.” With that, he got inside his car and started the engine. Once the car started to move, he noticed Smoke lift himself in the air for take-off. Smoke wouldn’t turn back to human form, knowing being in his other form made him more dangerous. He drove on, past the town, and entered the country roads. Occasionally, he looked out the window to see glimpses of his silver dragon in the clouds.
* * * *
“So, we’ll see you guys again next week?” Jake, Dark’s human mate, asked. Both Dark and Jake saw them out the door.
Smoke thought that after nearly turning those two werewolves to ashes, he’d be in a bad mood. Instead, being around his brother and Jake, in good company, relaxed him. He’d finished his work early and decided to surprise his mate. Maybe his dragon instinctively knew his mate might run into trouble. Either way, only Will and his mate probably understood he’d been this close to wreaking havoc.
If Will didn’t arrive or if Toby hadn’t sent him that calming energy, he probably would have given in to his dragon’s destructive urges.
Toby gave him a glance and smiled at Jake and Dark. “We’d like that, thanks for dinner.”
“Next time, it’s your turn to make dinner,” Dark told Smoke flatly.
“Sure,” Smoke said good-naturedly. “Be prepared to be amazed by my cooking skills.”
That got a laugh out of Toby.
“Don’t poison us,” Dark said.
“Hmm, Jake, you’re safe but you, bro? Let me think.”
Dark snarled in his face and slammed the door shut. He chuckled and ignored Toby’s appalled and disapproving look.
Smoke noticed that Toby seemed initially worried about meeting Dark and Jake earlier but soon relaxed as the night wore on. He reached for Toby’s hand. Toby gripped his hand tight as they walked toward the clearing big enough for Smoke to shift and take them back home.
“I enjoyed tonight. Jake’s great, and your brother doesn’t really say a lot, but I can tell he cares about you,” Toby said.
“Is that caring? He grilled you with questions all night,” he complained. In fact, he wanted to sock Dark a couple of times, but he guessed he’d been suspicious of Jake initially at first, too.
“Dark’s really great, and I can tell he loves Jake very much.”
“I’m happy for him, never thought anyone would settle for him.”
Toby gave him a playful nudge. “Seeing you two argue like that, it’s sweet.”
He grunted. “Yeah right. Dark’s always been jealous I’ve inherited the better looks and have a great sense of humor to boot.” That comment made Toby laugh. He turned serious. “Toby, back at Burrell, I nearly lost it. Thanks for bringing me back to reality.”
They rushed all the way here, so they didn’t exactly have time to talk about the incident. Toby shook his head. “Ron and I should be thanking you. If you didn’t arrive, I don’t know what would have happened to us.”
Fear had clutched Smoke, seeing those two werewolves approach his mate. Smoke never wanted to experience that again.
“How did you know we were in trouble?” Toby asked.
“I didn’t. I wanted to surprise you, see if I could catch you. Maybe my dragon knew all along you might need me.”
“Then I’m grateful, and I’m happy you didn’t end up causing damage to my neighborhood. Will Ron be all right?”
“The Alpha will put a tighter rein on his wolves, I’ll make sure of that, and I think his whole pack would know by now that if he messes with Ron, he’ll also mess with me.”
“My scary, awesome mate,” Toby declared, stopping to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Cupping his cheek, Smoke gave him a true kiss, deep and rough. Toby, his fiendish mate, rubbed himself all over him, making him growl. Oh, Smoke was definitely in the mood for a second dessert once they get home, and he bet Toby wouldn’t protest one bit. He pulled his mouth away, smiling at Toby’s dazed look.
“Come on, baby. What do you say we head back home and get that second dessert?” he asked.
THE END
FELFERN.COM

Siren Publishing, Inc.
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