A wolf howled.
Then another.
And another.
They’d spotted Tor. Or scented him.
Either way, Col wasn’t going to let his companion get torn apart by a group of bloodthirsty wolves.
Wolves killed because they liked it. Even on Reylea, they’d kill stragglers or loners just for the fun of it. Slowly and cruelly. They enjoyed inflicting pain, and everyone hated them for it.
He leaped from Saul’s back and started running down the ridge into the small valley. He shifted, taking even bigger strides with his dragon form.
Trees crunched beneath his claws. He roared, shaking the air with his anger.
A wolf charged at him from the right. A quick spray of fire ended his attack in a scream of rage and then pain. Then silence.
Col didn’t stop. He just kept running. They knew he was a dragon. If they really wanted to challenge him, they would all die.
Tor roared and fell into pace beside him.
Col stopped, took a deep breath and shot out an arc of flame longer than his body, ahead into the forest. He swung his head wide and a huge swath of the trees burned bright like a thousand torches had been lit all at once.
After the flames were soaring into the night sky, he roared, snarling and snapping at the air with his massive jaws.
Let them come.
They’d feel nothing but his wrath.
A few yelps and howls echoed through the air. But not a single wolf approached.
Saul and Kann trotted to stand next to Tor.
Col swung his head around to look down at the large cats. He flicked his tongue and tasted the air. Ash. Shifters. Naomi. Her scent filled the breeze coming from down the mountain.
Her blood. That was new.
He growled and took off running, plowing his way through the burning trees. Even if he couldn’t fly, he’d get to her. He’d climb the entire mountain claw by claw if that was what it took.
Trees snapped in his path as he tore through the forests and climbed. Col flapped his wings just to see if they’d lift him. He managed a few feet of gliding before the pain was too much. He needed more time to heal. The wing wouldn’t stay extended.
They were past the foothills now and climbing up the side of the snowcapped peak. The one his mate had called Deh-nah-lee. It was so high. Higher than any mountain in Reylea. The highest in the whole of the range surrounding him right now. Her blood was stronger in the wind now. It didn’t matter how high. Or how far. He had to get to her. She could still be alive.
She could.
He hoped and wished and prayed to the gods of every world that would listen.
Kann and Saul galloped next to him on his right. Tor kept pace on his left.
Harder.
Faster.
They all pushed their animals to the limit of their abilities. His heart pounded. His legs burned. Col wasn’t used to running and his short legs and massive claws weren’t meant for this kind of distance. Quick leaps or sprints were easy, but he’d run for miles now. His lungs burned from sucking in the cold air.
It didn’t matter. His shuarra was injured. Hurting. Scared…or dead.
Failure was not an option. He would find her.
Naomi woke with a start and screamed. The pain was worse. Her head felt as though it were splitting open. Her skin still burned. She writhed back and forth on the narrow stone ledge on the side of the mountain, trying to breathe through it, but her lungs stuttered and gasped. Her heart skipped, and the moment she finally managed to gulp in a breath of air, the bottom of the ledge fell out from under her, like that horrible dream in the middle of the night that people never grew out of.
Falling.
Weightless.
Lost.
The seconds ticked by. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t see. Everything was rushing. Her heart. The wind around her. Only the sky was a constant. As she fell, the sky didn’t change. She watched the beautiful colored lights ripple across the inky blackness.
She had a strange sense of calm wash over her being. Almost like someone was there with her. Which was ridiculous. She was alone. Falling to her death off the side of a mountain. But still, the panic didn’t take over.
The pain in her head faded as she fell.
Her skin no longer burned.
Her ribs didn’t hurt.
Thud. Her back met the pillow of snow on the ground like a bus that’d gotten shoved off a freeway overpass. Every tiny microscopic ounce of air was knocked from her lungs. She wanted to move. Wanted to breathe. Wanted anything than to be frozen on her back unable to draw breath.
Maybe she was dying?
Finally, her lungs unlocked and she gulped for air. Her lungs felt as though they were as big as cars. Her breath just kept going and going. Air had never felt so good.
Not dying. At least not yet.
Her thundering heart slowed as her inhales and exhales found a lengthier rhythm. She opened her eyes and looked up at the sky. It was the same as before. Dark. Full of colorful lights. Beautiful. She looked up at the side of the mountain from where she’d fallen. Then her gaze drifted down just a hair and she stared at what looked like a dragon’s claw sticking straight up into the night sky.
She groaned and tried to move.
The leg moved too.
The claws contracted.
Her body felt so heavy. So huge.
She waved her hand, except it was a claw that moved again.
Her stomach churned and heaved and didn’t know which way the fuck to climb.
She gasped again and froze when the sound that came from her throat wasn’t…human. Her heart thundered, harder and louder than before. Like she had a whole heavy metal rock band inside her chest.
Holy shit. I’m a dragon.
She screamed again, and this time the call was unmistakably exactly like the bugle cries she’d heard out of Col.
I really am a dragon.
She blinked and stared up at the night sky. Her vision zoomed, like she’d turned a dial on a telescope. The Aurora Borealis was brighter…or closer? And, damn, it was almost like she was up in the Milky Way.
She couldn’t tell. Then her vision changed again, backing up like she’d turned a dial on a pair of binoculars. Now she could see the whole mountainside stretching before her and the valley between this mountain and the next.
She rolled to the side and struggled to get her feet beneath her—all four of them. Being a dragon certainly explained why the fall didn’t kill her, but coordination was going to be an issue.
A yellow light glowed in the distance, catching her attention.
Fire?
How could anything be on fire out on the side of a mountain…unless. Col!
Mate. An unfamiliar voice in her head spoke. Find mate.
Yes, she very much wanted Col. Her mate.
Naomi took a step forward and fell flat on her stomach. Her head turned…or rather swung to the side. A part of her she didn’t recognize was moving…behind her. She could feel snow swishing back and forth. Naomi turned to look over her shoulder and belched out a cry of shock. She shouldn’t have been surprised to see a tail. Col had a tail. She moved her head, surprised by the angle she could achieve. She had spikes up and down her back, just like Col too. She wasn’t black, though. Even in the semi-darkness, she could tell the color of her scales were different from his.
She moved her tongue and it flicked between her lips. Really big teeth.
I really am a dragon. This happened.
Yes. The unfamiliar voice called from inside her again.
She lifted her arm and peered through the darkness at a massive clawed foot.
Ohmygod!
Naomi put that foot down and lifted another. Her entire body was a novelty. The wind still whipped around her body, but she didn’t feel the cold at all now except when she breathed. None of her previous injuries seemed to remain. The slashes on her torso or the gash on her head. Either that, or they were so small while she was
in this form they were non-issues.
Mate. The voice called out again.
Right. Col.
She needed to get back to Col.
What about Sefa? She could barely walk. What would happen if the female dragon came back for her right now? She wouldn’t stand a chance.
Fly. The voice urged.
Hell, to the no!
She swung her head around again, just to check. Sure enough, she had enormous wings tucked tightly against her side. No way was she even going to attempt flying. It’d been bad enough with Col carrying her. She was deathly afraid of heights. She’d get off this mountain, but she was doing it on four legs.
No flying for her. Dragon body or not.
She clambered through the snow clumsily, trying to figure out how to balance her huge body. Her tail was helping a little, but it felt so strange. Then there was her head and long neck that kept rocking back and forth with every step making her seasick.
A grove of tall spruce trees blocked her way forward. She pushed her chest through the first few and winced as they snapped with each step.
This was the quickest way down the mountain, and the quickest way back to Col.
The cabin where she’d been staying was miles and miles north of Mt. Denali. That bitch of a female had carried her a long way.
How would Col ever be able to find her?
A loud trumpeting cry spilled out of her as the desire to cry became overwhelming. Then another. And another.
Naomi pushed through the last few trees and came to another open snowy space. She was moving faster now, having found some semblance of coordination between her four limbs. The mountain just kept going. Further and further down. She must’ve really been nearly at the top of the twenty-thousand-foot peak.
A trumpeting call from her left made her slide to a very ungraceful stop, meaning her legs folded underneath her, sending the rest of her rolling several times before she was able to stop and right herself.
Light from the approaching sunrise was chasing away some of the shadows, turning the blackness to a lighter gray. Her vision narrowed in on movement along the top of a ridge.
The view changed and suddenly she was seeing the ridge magnified at least ten times. Very cool ability. There on the ridge charging toward her was Col—in dragon form—and the other shifters she’d met too.
Holy crap! Those were big cats. She remembered seeing Tor change into a tiger just before Sefa had grabbed her, but the lions too were slightly bigger than average too and had fangs like some kind of prehistoric saber-tooth. They were all as scary as fuck. Of course, she was one of them now…wasn’t she?
She was like Col. His bite had changed her. All the pieces fit together. The fever. The way her skin hurt and burned. All that pain had been her body changing…shifting to what she was now. Falling off the ledge. She’d started to change and when she had…she’d fallen.
They were getting closer now. They weren’t slowing down. Would Col recognize her?
He wouldn’t think she was the other female, would he? Panic set in and she started backing up. She could run. Well, attempt to run. Though she probably couldn’t keep up with a deer at her level of coordination.
Please know me.
She made a low whining sound and crouched to the ground, instinctively trying to protect her belly.
Please know me.
She closed her eyes and waited.
17
Col raced toward the trumpeting dragon. It had Naomi with it somewhere. Her scent was all over it. Sefa and Jaha hadn’t been alone?
How had he missed another female? He charged forward, checking his sides.
The cats were still keeping up with the grueling pace he’d set.
When he’d heard the first bugle cry, his dragon had nearly lost it. He’d tried to fly again but still couldn’t.
Frustrated, he’d pushed himself even harder, climbing the foothills to the snow-covered mountainside at a pace that had him panting for air and his heart kicking against his ribs.
The darkness had changed to a light gray.
The unfamiliar dragon was ahead, backing away slowly like it was scared. She was hunched low in the snow and her wings were still firmly entrenched against her back. Why wasn’t she fleeing?
Then again, why had she called out? Surely, she knew he’d come for his mate. That he would kill any who got in his way.
She trumpeted again, a strange call that sounded more like a cry of fear than a challenge.
He stopped abruptly and snarled at the cats, warning them off. They were still out of fire range, but if they kept going, they wouldn’t be. A scared dragon meant unpredictability. He huffed at them and shook his large head. They nodded and backed off a few steps, understanding his request.
Col continued forward. The female wasn’t raising her wings. She wasn’t growling or being aggressive. If anything, her body language said she was cowering.
Where was Naomi? Her scent covered this new female. What had she done with her? She was right to cower because he’d beat her until she shifted and told him where his mate was.
He wouldn’t make the same mistake with this one like he had with Sefa. Wouldn’t kill her quickly. Not until he had answers.
Mate. His dragon roared inside his head.
He bellowed out a challenge cry, but the female didn’t move.
Her sleek head was barely above the snow. Her bright yellow eyes were watching his every move. Was Naomi’s body beneath her? Was that why she was hovering over the snow, moving so slow?
The female made a low whine and shook her head back and forth.
No challenge.
She wasn’t going to fight?
He roared, his frustration building.
The other dragon backed up a few more steps, fear evident in its wide flashing eyes. Gold swirled with brown and it made the strange whining sound again.
Col stalked forward, his gaze stuck to the snow she’d uncovered. No Naomi. No sight of her anywhere, except her scent covered the ground.
She was here. Or had been here.
He shifted to his human form and kept walking toward the female. It was a risk. She could kill him more easily in this from, but his gut said she wasn’t going to attack. “Where is she? Where is Naomi? What did you and Sefa do with her?”
The dragon’s head tilted at his words. She made a pitiful sound, worse than the whining.
“Where is my shuarra? I will kill you for hurting her,” he bellowed.
The female’s head pulled back with a jerk of surprise and she backed up a couple more steps.
“Show me my mate! Are you holding her?” Col maneuvered, trying to see if the dragon had a body in one of its large claws. He couldn’t tell. The snow was so deep. He was struggling to stay on top of the powder as it was.
He breathed deeply, trying to calm the fire and anger bubbling beneath the surface. Naomi had been here. Her scent was so strong. So sweet. It was everywhere.
The female dragon stood quietly as he circled around to her left, slowly scanning the trees. Her tailed whipped back and forth without consequence, like that of a youngling who had not been trained. She was all gold and bronze, her scales smooth and glassy without a single mark. He didn’t recognize her…at all. She was not from his Tribe.
Who was she?
Her head swung over her back and she continued to watch him, quietly now. No whine. No growl. Just an intense stare.
Col’s stomach dropped to his feet, all air rushed from his lungs, and his heart did a somersault inside his chest. How could he have missed it?
“Naomi?” He met the dragon’s gaze.
The female visibly sighed and sank into the snow, releasing all the tension and fear she’d been holding onto. She swung her head low, inching it closer and closer to him, until she was nudging his hands with her snout.
“My shuarra, I didn’t realize.” His bite had changed her. Made her like him?
Naomi was a dragon…Naomi was a dragon!
His heart soared with relief and excitement and guilt all at the same time.
She was alive. She was a dragon. He hadn’t lost his mate.
Col had changed her without her permission. He hadn’t known it would happen. He’d needed to mark her. Needed to bond their souls. He hadn’t known it would change her so completely. “I—” he started. “Forgive me, shuarra. I would’ve asked first, if I had known what my bite would do.”
The dragon nodded her head up and down, butting him softly in the side with her lips.
“Shift for me, my love.” He kept his voice soft. Coaxing.
Naomi shook her big bronze-colored head and made the whining sound again.
Could she not shift?
He studied her carefully and thought. As younglings, they had to learn to control the animal within. Find a balance that could be shared by both halves of the soul.
Naomi wouldn’t have that training.
He put a hand on her snout and rubbed her warm glassy scales.
She stopped whining.
“Listen to me, my shuarra. You must think of your body as you wish it to be. The dragon is part of you. She will listen to your desires. I am here. I will never leave you again. You are beautiful Naomi. Sleek and strong and perfect in this form, but I wish to hold you in my arms.
The dragon in front of him disappeared in an instant.
In the center of the space where the large body had been, his mate sat curled in the snow. Tears ran down her tawny cheeks. Her brown eyes were ringed with red. Exhaustion. Fear. So much poured from her.
“Col!” she wailed. She stretched out her arms and he shoved his way through the slushy snow and plucked her naked body from the ground.
He buried his face in her hair, then in her neck, breathing in her scent, assuring himself and his dragon that they had her back. That she was safe and whole and once again where she belonged—at his side.
“God, Col I was so scared. I woke up on a ledge at the top of the mountain. I started to change and fell off. Then all the pain disappeared. And I realized I was a dragon.”
“What pain, my shuarra?”
“My skin was on fire. It was so bad I wanted to rip it off. And then my head hurt. Pounded so hard, like something was bashing it in with a rock. Then I fell and it all disappeared.”
Knock Down Dragon Out Page 14
