The Panther's Rival

by Emilia Hartley

  Rhiannon opened her mouth to reply before quickly snapping it shut. Wilson had told her this. He was the one who detailed the mating rituals and requirements of the dragon world to her.

  Maggie made a sound of sudden realization. “I think I know where you’re coming from. I don’t want to offend you, but I loathe that man in the deepest sense of the word. If he was squashed beneath an elephant’s foot tomorrow I wouldn’t feel an ounce of remorse.”

  Rhiannon couldn’t help the laugh that fell from between her lips. “I used to look up to him. I realize now that it was all a lie.”

  “One God awful lie, I have to say. The mate bond is a once in a lifetime experience that not everyone gets to have. Who cares if you can’t bear children? I say the dragons live too damn long as it is. Your bond with Gareth is sacrament. No one can ask you to break that and no one will. I promise.”

  Rhiannon let go of a breath that she’d been holding and felt the pressure in her chest disappear. Her heart gave one hard thump when she realized how much more she had to fight for. She was no longer facing a life alone, but one that she could potentially spend with the gruff man who charmed her heart.

  “Shit,” she breathed as she ran her hands over her face.

  Maggie was about to speak, but when Rhiannon’s hands fell away from her face her eyes fell on a familiar head of pale hair. Raph rounded a corner between two buildings. Rhiannon motioned to Maggie and heard the woman slap down a few bills to pay the tab. Both women leapt out of their seats and were across the street before the waitress could yell.

  The two women slipped into the alley and found Raph waiting for them. He stood facing them, his arms casually crossed over his chest and smirk on his lips.

  “To what do I owe the visit? A fallen agent of GOE and the dragon queen herself?”

  Fallen? Rhiannon didn’t see herself as fallen. Instead, she liked to think that she’d finally risen above the crap that GOE tried to force feed her, the lies and misinformation. GOE might have begun with a good pretense centuries ago, but it has only mutated into something that bred hatred.

  And Raph liked to dip his toes into the mess and mix it up for his own gain.

  “Why are you doing this? Why are you attacking Snowdonia?” Rhiannon asked, even though she knew. She had to get the idiot to begin talking.

  Raphael turned and began walking with a cheerful gait between the buildings. Rhiannon and Maggie followed, sending each other apprehensive glances.

  “Isn’t this exciting?” Raphael jeered. He cast a smirking glance over his shoulder at them. “Soon, Snowdonia will be shut down for the red dragon clan.”

  Rhiannon stifled the urge to punch him in the back of the head. She couldn’t be the one to throw the first punch. They still needed his highness to gloat a little more. She walked, pretending to be casual with her hands in her pockets even though one thumb was on the recorder.

  “It’s easy to convince a GOE official that you’re on his side when it was a red dragon that caused the Occurrence. Just a few sweet nothings in his ear and he was all for the eradication of your people. Once they’re gone, Snowdonia will return to its rightful owners.”

  “I would very much like you to meet Elgar someday,” Maggie muttered.

  Raph picked up on her words and huffed a nervous laugh. “Don’t be such a poor sport, professor.”

  “What, exactly, did you whisper to Wilson?” Rhiannon interrupted.

  Raph’s cold eyes fell on her. “How is life as a red dragon?” he changed the subject.

  Rhiannon didn’t answer. This wasn’t as easy as it had seemed in her head. The Raphael she remembered loved to gloat about himself. He loved to remind others that he was superior. While she was glaring at the back of his head, she didn’t think to scent the air. She didn’t think that he was leading her into an area with limited visibility.

  When she realized what he was doing, she cursed. But, it was too late. Tall forms stepped out of the shadows. Their pale hair and eyes matched Raphael’s. She had led not only herself, but Maggie into the hands of the white dragon clan. There were four to her left and another four flanking on Maggie’s right. Rhiannon’s stomach flipped once and fell, heavy.

  She couldn’t change shape and fly away this time. The entire city was on high alert for the red dragons. They were trapped. And it was her fault.

  A tall, ashy haired dragon stepped forward with a smile on his lips. He yanked her hands from her pockets and bound her wrists with rope. The recorder fell from her pocket and bounced on the pavement, cracking. “I hope you appreciate our hospitality. I’m sorry we don’t have any tea to offer, though.”

  “What is this?” Raph bent and scooped up her recording device. “Thought you were being smart?”

  She watched him crush the device in his hand. She felt her beast push to the surface and rumbled her chest with its growl. The black bits of plastic rained to the ground. The whole plan was now up in smoke. Their only hope now was to drag the group out into the public and force their change. She had to force them to expose themselves. The city would panic to know that an entire family of dragons was hiding within their home, undocumented.

  Rhiannon used the only thing she had left in her arsenal. She opened her mouth and screamed. It was a high pitched, terrifying sound. Raph’s eyes flew wide. Maggie quickly hopped on board and followed Rhiannon’s lead.

  “Dragons!” Rhiannon screamed into the alley.

  Behind her a ruckus started. Other people screamed, men shouted. She could hear footfalls quickly approaching them. Someone coming to their rescue.

  “They’re unbound! White Dragons! Someone help me, please!”

  Raph’s hand struck out. It slapped her across the face. Her world spun and stars touched the edge of her vision. It was too late, though. There was no taking back her scream. There were already people running down the alley toward them. Men shouted, asking if they were okay. Rhiannon was surprised to find that she could smell a weapon drawn, the tinge of black powder tickling her nose.

  Rhiannon spun clumsily, raising her bound hands and opening her eyes wide with feigned fright. Raph and the white dragons had thought they won the upper hand, but they forgot that they were in a busy city. Busy city meant witnesses, and lots of them.

  She let herself fall into the arms of one of the men that came to her rescue. He pushed her back to check her for wounds, but she let herself fall into a stream of tears.

  “I was having brunch with my professor,” Rhiannon cried, “when the dragons forced us down the alley! They bound our wrists.” She added a small tremble for added effect.

  She didn’t expect to look up into Everett’s face when she opened her eyes. A wry smile curved over his lips as his hands tightened on her arms. She felt her knees tremble for real. Stinging bile rose in the back of her throat.

  She gritted her teeth. “You cannot ignore the white dragons in front of all these people.”

  “Two birds with one stone,” he admitted. Her heart flip flopped.

  Everett didn’t unbind her wrists as he reached into his pocket for his cell phone. She could hear the voice of a GOE official on the other end.

  “I have in my possession several unbound dragons trespassing in the city. Send in back up for detainment. Bring silver zip strips.”

  Rhiannon knew that she was caught. But, she glanced over her shoulder toward the white dragons standing still in the alley. They looked to one another with wide eyes, confused and scared. They could run, but a dozen citizens and a GOE agent had already seen them. They were officially outed.

  “Release her,” Maggie demanded.

  “I cannot, Ma’am. This beast is wanted for the attempted destruction of a GOE building.” Everett said to Maggie before he turned to whisper in Rhiannon’s ear. “Do you know how disgusting I felt when I learned I slept with a dragon?”

  Rhiannon growled and let her beast flood her eyes. “Do you know how hurt I was when I realized GOE killed my family?”

  Everett jumped
back. His eyes fell on the rope around her wrist. He forgot she wasn’t bound with silver. He didn’t know she wouldn’t dare attack. She had to preserve the reputation of the red dragon Territory. She closed her eyes and asked the beast to step back for the time being. She thought of Gareth and the home that was promised to her when she returned. The beast agreed for the sake of their mate.

  “I think you forget that I know all of your dirty little secrets,” Rhiannon whispered.

  Behind them, black GOE cars and vans skidded to a halt and agents poured out onto the street. They filled the alley, rushing toward Maggie and the white dragons. Glancing back, she realized that a couple of them had slipped off, but Raph stood still. A man bearing a GOE badge on his hip held a weapon pointed in his direction. Rhiannon sent the white dragon a wink.

  His lips twitched in a sneer. Everett and the other agents helped drag Rhiannon and three of the white dragons toward the vans waiting outside the alley. Everett dragged her toward a van and slapped a silver strip over her wrists. She felt the numbing nothingness that she had once been accustomed to flow over her. She found that she was lonely and empty without her beast, even if she’d only lived with it for a week.

  ***

  Gareth was stuffing randomly grabbed clothing into a duffle bag when he heard Drystan’s cell phone ring downstairs. He paused, knowing that the right thing to do would be to give Drystan privacy. He also knew that he wouldn’t be able to do the right thing. He crept onto the landing and into the spare bedroom where he could pry the vent in the floor open. From between the metal slats in the vent, he could look down into the kitchen. Drystan slapped the button on the screen and held the phone to his ear.

  Maggie’s breathy voice rose from the small electronic device. Gareth’s heart clenched.

  “Everything went sideways,’ Maggie explained. She regaled her husband with the situation, each word making Gareth’s stomach clench tighter. “GOE grabbed three of the white dragons, but they also took Rhiannon. They didn’t put her in the same van as the white dragons. I just watched them shove her in a different van and drive off in the wrong direction.”

  There was no stopping the roar of anger that escaped Gareth. Drystan looked up, surprised. Gareth’s fist hit the floor and debris rained down in the kitchen below, but it didn’t do anything to appease the anger and fear that filled him.

  His mate was in the hands of GOE once more. He wasn’t there to help her. He wasn’t there to protect her from the enemy. She was going to die in that van. He was sure of it.

  Gareth flew down the stairs. Drystan darted to the door, barring his escape. A low, menacing growl emanated from Gareth’s chest. He would not be stopped by anyone. Not even his leader.

  “Move,” he said between clenched teeth.

  Drystan rolled his shoulders back and seemed to grow in height. He stood over Gareth’s massive form and looked down at him like he was a boy.

  “You’re going to force me to stay here and wait for my mate to die?” Gareth asked. “When Wesley’s mate was in trouble we flew to her rescue without a moment’s notice.”

  “I went through the proper channels to make sure we were welcome in the city then. We are no longer welcome there. I will call in some favors and do what I can to make sure that van is stopped and searched.”

  The fire was extinguished in Gareth’s chest at his leader’s promise. All that was left was a nervous ache that refused to go away. He clutched his fisted hand over his chest and willed his mate to live.

  “Do what you can,” Gareth growled. “If I don’t get results soon, I will go after her. I don’t care if you allow it. I don’t care about honor.”

  “Honor isn’t about obeying your leader,” Drystan said, his voice low and calm. “It’s about doing the right thing. I think you’re starting to understand.”

  Drystan left him standing there, the world spinning around him. Gareth leaned forward, placing his hands on the wall to steady himself. Distantly, he could hear the dial tone of Drystan’s cell phone as he began to call in his favors. His leader detailed exactly what needed to happen to the local law enforcement. Gareth wondered who his leader knew on the police force.

  Gareth pulled his fisted hands from the wall and slipped out the door while Cameron was trying to talk sense into Owain, Drystan’s father, as the old dragon shouted his opinions and no one listened. Gareth’s house was caught in chaos. No one heard him softly close the door behind him or start his truck, even.

  He would go to Rhiannon. He had to make sure that she was safe. He couldn’t trust his human connections to help her. Humanity had been failing her for as long as she’d been alive. It was a chance he couldn’t take.

  Chapter Twelve

  Her old partner jerked the van door open and shoved her inside. Distantly, Rhiannon could hear Maggie shouting at someone, but she couldn’t hear what was said because the van door shut in her face. The world around her grew dark. The van’s engine roared to life. She looked up and realized that she was alone in the van with Everett.

  Dread settled over her as she realized what his intentions were. Wilson must have whispered in his ear. That, or she’d put her foot in her mouth earlier. She did, in fact, know everything Wilson and Everett, by proxy, had done recently. She knew their dark dealings and their communication with the white dragon.

  That meant he couldn’t afford for her to make it to detainment alive.

  “I see you realize what this means,” Everett said.

  She swallowed hard. She wished her beast would rise through the silver, but all she could feel inside of her was the stormy sea that was her stomach. Everett’s foot connected with her stomach and she collapsed, gasping for air. Her chest was on fire. The feeling of being human again was crippling.

  “You don’t want to do this,” Rhiannon rasped. She bit back the bile rising in her throat. “We are still friends. We’ve known each other since we were teens. Our history has not changed.”

  Everett knelt beside her, his face twisted in an angry sneer. “You lied to me through it all.”

  Rhiannon laughed, tired and exasperated all she could do was laugh. Everett didn’t seem to agree. His hand struck her face. Her cheek burned.

  “Wilson lied. He lied to me. He lied to you. Do you know that I dug a silver implant out of my arm a week ago? This is as much a surprise to me as it is for you.”

  Everett paused, his entire body going still while he processed her confession. “You’re lying again. Wilson warned me that you would lie and slander his name.”

  Rhiannon let her head fall against the cold metal of the van’s floor. “Wilson was the man that raised me. Or, did you forget that? I lived with him most of my life. Do you really think that I planned on infiltrating GOE at the tender age of three?”

  “Stop. Lying.”

  Rhiannon just had to keep talking. Maybe Everett wouldn’t believe her in the end, but if she could keep him from killing her on the way to GOE headquarters, then there was a chance she could get through the rest of the day alive.

  “Wilson stole me from a pair of dragon ambassadors that died thirty-three years ago. He had a piece of silver implanted into my arm and over the years, without the dragon inside of me, and with Wilson’s upbringing I forgot what I actually was. That doesn’t mean I am any different from the girl you grew up with. I just realized that I was on the wrong side of the moral line.”

  “Did you forget that a dragon nearly levelled our city years ago? One dragon came from the wilds of Wales and set Bangor on fire for no reason. They are evil creatures that will stop at nothing until they see humanity dead or enslaved.”

  “Is that really true? If it was they why haven’t the dragons actually done anything in the past decades? If they wanted to destroy humanity why haven’t they done so already?”

  Everett paused, the answer not waiting on the tip of his tongue this time. He was forced to mull over her words in order to submit a rebuttal. Rhiannon knew that her words wouldn’t instantly turn him to her si
de, but it made him think. Everett was a smart man. He joined GOE to make a difference, to protect people from the chaos and disaster of the Occurrence.

  Outside the van, Rhiannon could hear the wailing of sirens. The van made a sharp turn and her body slid across the floor until her back jammed into the metal leg of the bench seating. She hissed in pain.

  The sirens followed them, familiar even though they were muffled. Was the GOE van being chased by the local police? It was impossible. GOE ranked above the PD. Still, the sound of the following sirens brought a small amount of relief to her, lifting the hand that had been clenched around her heart. She shoved herself into a sitting position and turned her head up toward her old partner.

  He looked down at her with indecisiveness in his eyes. Here sat the beaten and bruised woman that had been his best friend for years, his lover for months, and the person that had his back since they met.

  “I’m not going to sit here and fight for all dragons. It’s clear that Raphael and his gang of brutes are up to no good, but nothing they’ve done so far has even been against humanity. They hate the red dragons for living in a place that they think is their rightful home. The red dragons are just trying to live in peace. They have mates and families.”

  Everett sank onto the barely padded seat, his hands in his lap. Rhiannon felt a jolt of surprise. Had she managed to sway his mind, after all? It felt far too easy after what she’d gone through. That was when, through the dim light in the van, she noticed the weapon in his hand. He looked down at it, his shoulders slumped.

  His eyes moved toward the van doors, the sound of the sirens growing louder by the moment as other cars joined the chase. Soon, the van would be forced to stop. Everett raised the weapon and aimed it at Rhiannon. She felt her heart stop.

  This was it. She was going to die by the hands of a friend. In that moment, all she could see were Gareth’s sad eyes. She was sorry that she never had the chance to see if she could love him. She was sorry that she threw away the opportunity to live a long life with him. She could only hope that her death would be questioned. That Everett and Wilson would finally take the blame for their actions.