The Panther's Rival

by Emilia Hartley

  She settled her hands onto his claws, pouring the source of power that she trusted into him. In her mind’s eye, it gathered around his wounds and glowed a soft blue. Flesh knit itself back together, a process guided by his body and abetted by her magic. Meanwhile, her lips moved silently as she cast the See Me Not spell once more.

  A fine layer of sweat broke out on her forehead as she held both spell and raw power at work. She hoped that they were close to where the red dragons hid because she could not do both for much longer. Her magic flowed from the claw marks on his wings and into his body, searching for more injuries. A rib was cracked from the initial impact. Her raw power wrapped around it and pushed it back into place to heal properly.

  Cameron seemed to notice what she was doing, because his speed increased. The land below them flew past at a nauseating speed. Time seemed to pass slowly as she held both spells in place. Her eyes scanned the ground below them. Fear that another white dragon might break from the foliage made her heart beat an irregular beat. She didn’t know if twenty minutes or an hour had passed since the white dragon attacked. Ahead, a range of mountains rose from the earth like priestesses praying to the sky, she thought. Cameron didn’t angle himself to land on the ground below, but back flapped so that he could touch down on the mountain’s side.

  She was sure that it was probably the only way to get into their secret home inside the mountain. As his claws sank into the cliffside, he lowered her onto the even ground and released his grip on her. Exhaustion caused her knees to fold beneath her.

  Cameron’s form disappeared, scales folding away and out of existence to leave only a man behind. He rushed to her side, panic and fear written across his face. She put a hand out while she caught her breath. Her limbs shook, but as her body pressed to the earth she asked for some of her magic to be returned. The earth saw the potential for magic in her and gladly gave up a bit of its power.

  She could do that to replenish the power she used so often, the power that was green and peaceful. The dark power that swirled inside of her was another story altogether. Where it had come from, Gwen didn’t know. It could have been a gift from her non-existent father, or it could have grown inside of her, birthed by her own darkness.

  She would have blamed her ex if she hadn’t known better. A white dragon had attacked them. Why did it have to be white dragons, she bemoaned silently. She spent a very long while trying to get as far from them as she could manage only to throw it all away in a single day. She had let herself be carried right into their fight.

  Before her, Cameron’s knees dropped him to the earth. She looked up at his queasy face, but other than that he seemed in-tact. She was grateful for that, so happy that she’d been able to heal him. That relief brought up a new set of questions. Why did she trust this man so much? She should have known better than to freely trust any dragon, but here she was. She had let one drag her back to his home and was prepared to be his weapon.

  “Are you… are you okay?” Cameron’s voice was a strained whisper.

  As the green magic settled inside of her, she managed to nod. She felt a bit like herself once more.

  “I wasn’t expecting an open attack,” Cameron confessed. “I should have known better. I should have taken to the forest floor and hiked until we met the mountain. You would have been safer that way.”

  She was warmed by the concern he had for her, but she knew she had to tell him the truth. Yet, she couldn’t stomach the truth just then. There was no voice for it, so she turned to the other confession she still had yet to share. “I fell asleep.”

  “What?” The confusion was clear on his face. He didn’t know how that had anything to do with the attack.

  Her fingers dug into the earth. She was ashamed. It was her fault, too. It was her fault that he’d been hurt. His hand touched her arms. He pulled her into his embrace.

  “I fell asleep and my See Me Not spell faded. That was how we were caught by the white dragon.” She didn’t tell him about her history with the white dragons. She didn’t tell him that was where her fear of dragons stemmed. She didn’t tell him that she could very well be useless to him and his family.

  Worse, she could quickly become a liability if her ex learned she stood with them.

  But, she had fought the white dragon in the sky. In that moment, Gwen hadn’t felt fear. She had tapped into the malicious power inside of her and thrown it at the white dragon to save their lives.

  Cameron forgave her while he held her close. After a few moments, both of them were settled enough to pull themselves from each other’s arms. They turned toward the face of the mountain behind them. Gwen couldn’t see the entrance to the mountain home, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there. Dragons had a touch of magic, too.

  Cameron reached out and gripped her hand. “Are you ready?”

  No, she wasn’t. Her death loomed on the horizon. She was sure of that now. She knew that the cards were warning her that she’d come across Malcom again. Now, she only hoped that the Ace of Pentacles spoke of a heaven, some place where she can finally be a rest.

  Instead of voicing her fears, Gwen simply nodded. Cameron led her forward and the stone face of the mountain became immaterial as she stepped into it. A dark cavern hall, barely lit by the light that streamed in from behind them, greeted her.

  ***

  The dark hall looked the same as when he had left it. Cameron didn’t know why he expected it to change. Part of him feared that the white dragons finally found their hiding place and smoked his family out. Instead of screams and war cries, only soft silence filled the mountain home.

  He didn’t let go of Gwen’s hand as he led her down the winding tunnels. He knew that this had to be terrifying for her. Dragons seemed to trigger some long ago wound that hadn’t healed correctly. It made him ache for his mate. Every day would be a struggle toward healing if she would stay with him.

  “Where are we going?” Gwen asked beside him.

  “You promised to help us, right?”

  In the dim light of the cavern, Cameron could see her flinch. “I did,” she said finally.

  He didn’t like that response, but he couldn’t call her out on it. She was trying to hold it together. “Then I’m going to introduce you to our leader. Drystan can be a bit dry and hot headed, but he’s kept us together since the Occurrence. I hope, for your sake, that Maggie is here.”

  “Who is Maggie?”

  “She’s Drystan’s mate. They’ve been together for as long as either has existed, it feels like. She’s definitely a foil to him. Maggie is a strong and determined woman that was either born in the wrong generation, or was one of the women that stood for the change that made this generation better.”

  “Mate,” Gwen said the word as though she were tasting it. “Do you have a mate? Or, did your leader send you because you were without a woman?”

  Cameron struggled with the answer to her question. In truth, he did have a mate. She was his one and only. She was the beginning and end. But, she didn’t know that. To say that he did, in fact, have a mate would either imply that he was taken or reveal what he was hiding.

  “Mates are hard to come by these days,” he said, instead. “Times have changed and it seems harder to find women extraordinary enough to become mated to a dragon.”

  Gwen snorted. “I tried it once. Turns out witches cannot be dragon mates.”

  The growl that rumbled through him came on too quickly for him to hold it down. The sound filled the hall around them. She turned surprised eyes toward him. The beast wriggled, trying to break free so that it could claim it’s mate. He was sure that Gwen watched the gray-green of his eyes melt into gold.

  “Is that who made you terrified of dragons?” Cameron asked through his growl. The beast wanted to throw his body over her, to be the shield against anything that might hurt her. He didn’t know how to tell the beast that they could not protect her from the pain she felt inside.

  Gwen yanked her hand from Cameron’s grip. He was
about to say something when she wrapped her arms around herself, her eyes cast downward. His heart cracked. He turned to her, dropped to his knees on the cavern floor, and pulled her hands into his.

  “You are the Witch of Caernarfon. Whatever foe you cannot take care of yourself, I will protect you from. I promise that I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe until my last breath.”

  The witch had no words. She stared down at him, a mix of surprise and warmth on her face. She squeezed his hands once before pulling away.

  “Don’t sacrifice your vows for someone that isn’t your mate,” she whispered.

  “I’m not.” The words slipped from him before he could stop them.

  Her whole body froze, her back to him. “Then you’re wrong.”

  The beast felt spurned. It gripped control of his human body to reach out and spin the witch around. He pulled her tight to his body, his hands slipping down her back to feel all of her at once. She looked up at him, brows flat over her glaring eyes.

  “Do you think to tell me that you don’t feel this bond between us?” You think to tell me that you can deny how you feel for me when I touch you?” The beast growled through him.

  Her breath seemed caught in her throat as her lips parted. Recognition danced lightly in her eyes, like she could see the truth, but wanted to fight it with everything she had.

  “You might not have been the mate of the dragon before me, but you are mine and I lay claim to you until my dying breath.” The beast captured her mouth for a greedy kiss. His lips slid from hers and traveled to her neck, where his teeth bit down into the tight skin of her neck.

  She cried out, hands rising to grip his elbows.

  Cameron didn’t know what was wrong with him. He usually had much better control. The beast pulled back, but Cameron stayed where the beast left him. She would likely be terrified of him now. He ruined his chances at earning her love.

  “You’re wrong, Dragon Man,” she whispered.

  “I’m going to take you to meet Drystan, but after that, take the time you need to sort through everything. Come back to me when… if you want to.”

  He suddenly let go of her and turned away. Gwen was left standing where she was as he continued to lead them into the heart of the mountain.

  Chapter Eleven

  Gwen didn’t know what to believe. His actions, the feelings inside of her. They both said one thing while her mind told her another. Her mind said that he was lying to her again. He would lie to keep her allegiance after her display of power.

  But, her heart whispered something else to her. It was her heart that made her follow him down the hall, one hand over the place where he’d bitten her. The feeling of his teeth had sent a spike of pleasure down to her core and if he hadn’t held her, she would have let her knees drop her then and there.

  Eventually, the cavern hall led into an open room, one big enough to hold a regal ball. Pale lights burned on the walls, flames held inside of beautifully wrought braziers. In the very center of the room was a long table. Ornate chairs, indicating the time when the home inside the mountain was crafted and furnished, sat around the table.

  Maps and reports were spread out before a man that sat with legs askew at the head of the table. His chin was in his hand, elbow resting on the arm of the chair. He didn’t look up when she or Cameron entered, but she could see from the shift in his body that he knew they were there.

  “It is so nice to have you back from your vacation, Cameron,” the man said. He turned his icy stare up to the dragon man beside her. She stifled the urge to stand between them, strangely at odds with how she should have felt. She should have the desire to hide behind Cameron. Not the other way around.

  “There is no need for lies,” Cameron said, his voice flat and emotionless. It moved something in her heart to hear him without the sunshine she’d seen outside of the mountain. She tucked that emotion away, reminding herself that she was not his mate. She couldn’t be.

  “You told her my plans?” The man in the chair sat up straight, his teeth on edge as he spoke.

  Cameron shook his head. “You did. It was your text to me that alerted Gwen of your plans. Next time, try calling me.”

  The man, who could only be Drystan, narrowed his eyes at Cameron for a long moment before he burst into laughter. “I will have to be more discreet with my texting next time. It seems I have become too reliant on word messages since Maggie gave that damned phone.” His eyes turned in Gwen’s direction. “And you still chose to come? You still chose to fight for us?”

  She drew in a breath. “It seems that my own death is on the horizon. I might as well see it fighting for someone. Turns out, it has me fighting against my ex-lover, if he’s still part of the white dragons.”

  Cameron’s growl was low and constant. She flicked a glance at him. Her confession pained him.

  Drystan nodded. “He very much is.”

  “You knew?” Cameron’s voice held a sharp edge. His body tensed, almost but not quite ready to attack his leader over her safety.

  Drystan studied Cameron’s face for a long moment, confusion passing slowly into understanding. Gwen couldn’t read what was happening between them. It seemed like there was a silent conversation being had, one in which she was the subject.

  “Just tell me what you need me to know,” Gwen interrupted the silent conversation. Both sets of male eyes flicked to her. She clenched her jaw under the weight of their gazes.

  “I would like to wait until Malcom makes a move. I want to see what he plans on using GOE for before I attempt to hurt him.”

  “He’s using GOE?” Gwen blurted.

  It was Cameron that nodded. “They announced it on the news earlier today. The white dragons have partnered with GOE to create a dragon embassy, their words, not mine. Malcom is the head of such embassy.”

  No one spoke for a moment. Then, because he couldn’t seem to help himself, Cameron spoke.

  “You dated Malcom Whittaker?” His voice was a sound of pain, of wariness.

  Gwen’s arms wrapped around herself as her mind spiraled back into the times she tried to forget. He promised her a mating bond, a lifetime of love and compassion. When the bond never snapped in place, when he realized he couldn’t keep her power through love, he turned to using pain. In the end, Gwen realized that all he wanted her for was the power that curled deep inside of her.

  She looked up. Had she stayed with him, he would have launched his attack on the red dragons a long time ago. Together, they would have razed all of Snowdonia. She ran a hand through her knotted and snarled hair, cursing the wind from her flight to the mountain.

  “It was a long time ago,” was all she could manage to say.

  Cameron’s hands fisted at his sides. She took note of it, but didn’t say anything.

  “Take her to your room, Cameron.” Apparently done with them, Drystan turned back to the maps before him.

  “Wait,” she stuttered. “I don’t get my own space?”

  “Limited space inside the mountain,” was all Drystan said, but she could have sworn she saw the spark of mirth in his eyes as he carefully avoided looking at her.

  After a few unheard protests, Cameron led her through the winding halls that led out from the great room. She highly doubted that, inside such a large mountain, there wasn’t at least one extra room for her to sleep in.

  The halls grew darker and darker, illuminated by small torches that dotted the walls every twenty feet or so. The sun was absent and it made her yearn for the open skies once more. It made her miss the garden that she’d left behind. Would this be her life from here on out? Confined to the dark halls of a cavern home? Thankfully, she didn’t have to deal with it much longer. She would soon be dead, at Malcom’s hands no less.

  Finally, Cameron stopped at a door. His hand reached out and she watched as claws and scales rippled over the human form, a smaller version of the beast that was inside of him. The claws pressed into tiny holes in the stone door. There was a soft click
and the door swung open. It was neat, but she wondered how she was supposed to get in and out.

  “I take it this was built in the day and age when most mates were female dragon shifters.”

  Cameron glanced at the locking mechanism in the door, taking it in for the first time. If he noticed anything odd, he didn’t mention it. Instead, he turned back to her, his eyes flaring with fire and pain.

  She didn’t have the energy to deal with his emotions, with his lies. Head high, Gwen strolled past him. There was a long bed that sat on a raised dais of stone, the modern design on the quilt at odds with the magically carved room. She dropped her bag beside the bed and spied an arched doorway that leaked light into the large room.

  Drawn to it, she discovered a large bathroom that pressed against the side of the mountain. A round, stained glass window was set into the angled wall. It cast a rainbow of light over a wide pool that was constantly refilled by a fountain that streamed from an underground source and poured from the wall. The lights danced in the water, captivating her attention.

  “You saw your death in those cards?” Cameron asked, his voice low and tight. He’d been holding it back, fear most likely turning into anger after a while.

  Gwen’s shoulders sunk. She wanted nothing more than to sink into that tub and ease the tangles from her hair and the knots from her muscles. Instead, she turned to face Cameron. She wasn’t expecting the breadth of emotion that filled his eyes. Fear, concern, and even love. His whole body seemed to tremble with the force of what he was feeling.

  It made her snap her mouth shut, swallowing the sass she’d been about to throw. This dragon man had claimed to be her mate earlier. He promised to do anything he could to keep her safe.