by Eva Chase
My mate gave me a pained smile. Then she bobbed up on her toes to kiss me. I leaned into it, reveling in the softness of her lips and the sweet scent of her skin. Wishing I could offer her more reassurance than I already had.
Ren
I finally peeled myself away from Nate’s side when I realized it was past noon and I’d already lost half of the day. I didn’t want to leave my mate, but the vampires were no doubt preparing for a full-out assault tonight. If there was anything I could do to protect the rest of my kin, I needed to be here to do it. They were counting on me.
Walking down the halls in a bit of a daze, little aches shooting through my legs where my wounds weren’t quite healed, it took me a minute before the change in atmosphere registered. There was a bustling sort of energy moving through the estate. And more kin than I remembered seeing before. A lot more.
When I emerged from the halls into the central common rooms, unfamiliar figures were scattered all over, filling the chairs and sofas, clustered around the tables and doorways. A hum of nervous chatter and a cacophony of shifter scents surrounded me.
Not all of those scents were canine. A group of avian shifters had collected in one corner. A haggard but alive Leonard had been joined by several other feline shifters where he sprawled in an armchair at the other side of the room.
I spotted West coming in from the front yard as I passed the main door. He was talking with Bertrand. I waited until he’d dismissed his lieutenant to go over.
“What’s going on?” I asked, motioning to the crowded rooms.
He gave me a tight smile. “We’re evacuating the shifter settlements closest to the main vampire hubs. As many as we can reasonably house on the estates. There’ll be a lot of bed sharing and sleeping on the floor, but the fewer boundaries we have to defend, the better we can defend those that matter.”
That made sense. And it made sense that the evacuated shifters would come to the estate closest to them, even if it wasn’t the main center for their kin. I let out my breath. “And everything’s ready around the estate? If we need more fire here?”
He nodded. “We’ve been ready since yesterday evening, but I had my people expand the barrier.” His gaze slid down my body. I’d thrown on a simple shirt dress without much thought. The thin cotton only hung to my knees, exposing the scars below. The sting of last night’s wounds prickled at me again.
“You should be resting, not walking around,” West said. “You were hit pretty bad last night.”
“Nate was hit bad,” I said, with a sudden wrench of my heart. A fresh wave of anxiety passed through me, the image of his slumped body and slack face rising in the back of my mind. “Is there anything else your people can do to help him? They had Kylie up and walking around after she was torn up so bad before, and she’s not even a shifter.”
West’s stance stiffened. “My kin have done everything they can,” he said sharply. “He’d be dead if they hadn’t. I look after my people, and that includes everyone under the protection of my estate.”
I blinked at him, thrown by the sudden change in his temper. “I didn’t mean—”
West was already shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter, Sparks. You just get on with whatever you feel you need to be doing.”
He stalked off before I could say anything else, leaving me feeling strangely adrift. What had just happened there? Had we even been having the same conversation?
“Still not getting along so well with Mr. Wolf?” Kylie said, tucking her hand around my elbow as she came up beside me.
“Apparently,” I said. “I’m not even sure what was bothering him this time.”
“Well, it’s not exactly the most relaxing of days, is it?” My best friend tipped her head against my shoulder. “I heard about Nate. And about how the whole vampire thing went down. Seems like I made a very wise decision sitting that one out. Is he going to be okay?”
“No one’s sure yet,” I said, swallowing hard. “He looks like he’s healing. But it’s not like anyone’s made me any promises, so I guess that’s not a guarantee.” And how long could healing from that many bullets take? One of them had only barely missed his heart. What if he couldn’t heal completely?
“He’s a tough guy,” Kylie said. She squeezed my arm. “I’m sure if he’s made it this far, he’ll pull through.”
“That’s what I want to think.”
A slim figure with tawny hair emerged from the bustle—Felix. He was carrying a plate with a few sandwiches and some sliced veggies. “Dragon shifter,” he said with a bob of his head. “I wanted to thank you for having our backs last night. Those bloodsuckers got what they deserved. And also, have you had anything to eat? I know you’ve been with the bear alpha since we got back.”
He hesitated, looking suddenly uncertain. “He fought well for us, too. I’m sorry I couldn’t take down the vamp that got to him first.”
My chin wobbled, but I managed to smile. “Me too. Thank you. I can’t say I’m hungry, but it’d probably be better if I got some food in me.”
I accepted the plate, picking up one of the sandwiches and then offering the spread to Kylie. She raised an eyebrow at Felix. “Is this for the dragon shifter only, or is her human friend allowed to chow down too?”
He made a face, but the lowering of his eyes was embarrassed rather than annoyed. “I saw the supplies you were able to arrange to have brought in. Pretty impressive. I think you’ve earned at least a sandwich.”
“Hmm,” Kylie said, grinning. “I wonder what I’d have to do to earn a prime steak. Or a nice big slice of chocolate cake.”
Felix’s eyes widened. “I don’t think we have any cake at the moment.”
Kylie laughed. “I’m kidding. It’s okay. Thank you for the sandwich. And no hard feelings. I’m used to being underestimated.”
Felix looked a bit confused. Then he smiled back. “I’ll make sure not to do it again.”
Marco had slipped into the hall. Timothy, the lieutenant the vampires had roughed up before sending him to us with their message, was walking carefully but steadily beside him, nodding at something his alpha had said. This was the first time I’d seen him up and around since he’d staggered in here yesterday.
“Back to dragon shifter duty,” I said to Kylie and Felix. I hurried over to the jaguar shifter and his companion.
“Princess,” Marco said with a smile. He pressed a kiss to the side of my head. “My lieutenant was just telling me about what the dregs of the rogue group have been up to.”
My eyebrows rose. I turned to Timothy. “Last night their king mentioned that the rogues had been talking with him. Did you see them?”
The lieutenant inclined his head. “Only a handful of them. From what I gathered, that’s all that’s left of the group they once had. At least, all who are still planning to keep fighting. But they know they don’t stand a chance against you and our alphas. There was one grizzled old guy there—I didn’t get close enough to scent him, but he looked canine. He seemed to be leading the stragglers. And he’s led them right into the vampires’ grasp.”
I grimaced. “How can they ally with the vamps? Don’t they know the king hates all shifters?”
Timothy shrugged. “They weren’t acting very friendly with each other. The bloodsuckers were pushing them around some. But I guess to those few it mattered more to them to finish their fight than what happens to them after.”
“Too much pride and not enough sense,” Marco said, wrinkling his nose. “Well, they’ll learn their final lesson pretty soon, I’d be willing to bet.” He patted his lieutenant on the arm. “You did a good job, Timothy. Keep focusing on your recovery for now.”
“Have you checked in on Nate again?” I asked my mate as Timothy ambled off.
Marco nodded. “No change. Is there anything I can do to help out here?”
“I don’t know,” I said. I still had to find some way to help prepare for whatever the vamps had in store for us tonight. But thinking about my last interaction with
West, the prospect of asking him for ideas felt pretty daunting.
Marco must have read some of that feeling in my expression. He touched my cheek. “Is something else wrong?”
“No. I just—” I bit my lip. “West seemed angry with me. I’m not sure if I did something wrong somehow last night—I did lose control of my fire—or… I mean, it’s not like it’s strange for him to be grouchy, this just seemed a little more extreme than usual.”
Marco gave me a crooked grin. “I don’t think that’s about you, princess. Wolf boy—well, let’s just say I’m sure recent events are stirring up a lot of uncomfortable emotions for him. And he does seem to have difficulty processing those emotions without getting them all over everyone around him.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?” Obviously the vampire attack had upset all of us, but Marco sounded like he was hinting at more than that.
The jaguar shifter shrugged. “It’s not really my place to talk about it. He’d probably bite my head off—maybe literally. But I don’t mind pointing you in the right direction. Next time you have the chance, get him to talk about his mother.”
Chapter 7
Ren
The late afternoon sun had already dipped to the tops of the trees, but it still managed to blaze against my dark hair. “Is that the last of it?” I asked, wiping sweat from my forehead.
The canine shifters glanced along the line of hastily chopped firewood we’d already heaped up just outside the estate wall. “I think we’ve done all we can,” Bertrand said. “We’d be able to keep this fire going for a good long time. If we even need to, with your dragon fire on our side.” He shot me a respectful smile.
At least West’s kin figured I could hold my own.
“I think it’s just about time for dinner,” Felix said, licking his lips. The faint smell of roasting meat was drifting over the estate wall from the house. My own stomach gurgled.
We tramped across the cleared earth around the ring and through the gate. Bertrand shut the door with a thump and locked it. Then we all filed into the dining hall.
The canine estate wasn’t quite as posh as some of the others, but the dining hall was still impressive. Huge oak beams crisscrossed the high ceiling all through the immense space. Heavy rugs overlapped each other under the matching oak tables, each of which was large enough to seat twenty. Light danced in sconces all along the walls, even though enough daylight streamed through the windows at the head of the room to make them unnecessary.
The roasting smell thickened as we stepped inside. My gaze snagged on the head table by those front windows, the one meant for me and my mates. Normally I’d have sat there with West by my side, for him to show me off the way the other alphas had. But since the estate was crowded with refugees, the tables were merely being used for serving now, with everyone eating on their feet as they circulated through the room.
I spotted Aaron and Marco at the far end of the space, but I couldn’t see the canine alpha.
Would West even have wanted to show me off? We’d barely had a chance to really talk since we’d arrived. And I couldn’t blame that on him, not really. The vampires had kept us plenty busy.
What did his kin make of the fact that he hadn’t consummated our bond yet? They still seemed to treat me as if they considered me their dragon shifter.
All I knew was the uncertainty dragged at me—like a rough wind that washed over me every time I thought about that missing piece in my role as dragon shifter. In my life. I was meant to stand united with all four of the alphas, all four of my mates. And one of them continued to keep his distance. Another now lay on what could turn out to be his death bed.
I was pretty sure this was not the future my mother had meant for me when she’d spent all that time trying to keep me safe. In fact, I’d be willing to bet this kind of danger and turmoil was exactly what she’d hoped to keep me out of.
At least my chances of surviving this situation were a lot better than they’d been when I was five. Small victories.
Bertrand moved to grab some pork tenderloin off one of the tables, and I made myself follow him. I couldn’t afford to dwell on my worries right now. As far as I was concerned, every shifter in this room was my kin. They needed me girding myself for the battle ahead, not wallowing in whatever dire possibilities my imagination could come up with.
I chewed and smiled and chatted with the many canine kin—and a few avians—who came over to meet me. The canine shifters were as fawning as the ones I’d met before, but their eyes looked a little haunted. I found myself reassuring them again and again. “We won’t let the vampires win. I’ll see that they pay for what they’ve already done. The one thing they can’t beat is dragon fire.”
Even though I knew that wasn’t entirely true. The vamps could shoot through the flames. And I couldn’t promise I’d have enough, not when I hadn’t shielded Nate quickly enough yesterday.
I’d eaten about as much as my stomach would take around the knots it’d tied itself in when I caught a glimpse of West near the doorway. He was just popping a last piece of flatbread into his mouth with a nod to the attendant he’d been talking to. Then he ducked out the door.
I didn’t let myself think. I just hurried after him.
The wolf shifter was vanishing around the bend when I reached the hall. I jogged over in time to see him turning into another room just past the kitchens. What the heck was he doing over there?
When I reached that door, I paused before easing it open. On the other side, West’s head jerked up.
He was standing in what appeared to be a storage room. Several metal tanks were stacked against one wall. They gave off a dull yellow shine in the dim light of the overhead bulb. A sour tang tickled my nose.
“Kerosene,” West said, noticing my puzzled stare. “We keep a stock of it to hold us over in case there’s a problem with the natural gas line. We’re pretty isolated out here. In the winter… Anyway, I was thinking we might want to have them more readily at hand. In case we need extra fuel.”
“Oh. That could be a good idea.” I took a step inside, letting the door swing shut behind me. My skin twitched with an increased awareness of how small the room was. How little distance remained between me and my wolf shifter.
West rubbed his temple and ran his fingers back through his hair, the silver strands glinting amid the light auburn. He looked at me, his mouth flat, his eyes unreadable.
“I’m sorry about how I talked to you earlier,” he said in a tone brisk but not quite dismissive. “I’ve got too much on my mind. Too much to keep track of. Is there something you needed?”
It wasn’t the most effusive apology I’d ever gotten, but I could see the strain in him so clearly that any hurt I’d held on to melted. “No,” I said, and then reconsidered. When would we get another chance to talk like this? That was why I’d followed him, wasn’t it?
I sucked in a breath. “Actually, there is. I just—I want to understand. This war, or whatever it is, with the vampires… It’s weighing on you more than the other alphas.”
West let out a hoarse chuckle. “We’re on my territory here. This is my estate. The difference between host and guests, Sparks.”
I fixed him with an insistent look. “It’s more than that.” Because he’d been more on edge, more worried about possible consequences of any conflict we faced, from before we’d had any idea the vampires might attack. From the moment he’d met me. And, hell, maybe even before, for all I could know about that. “Marco said I should ask you about your mother.”
West muttered something under his breath that sounded like it contained several curse words and the word “cat.” He shook his head, moving to brush past me to the door. “You don’t want to hear that story.”
I grabbed his arm, just above the elbow, with enough strength to halt him. To remind him that he might be alpha, but he was talking to a dragon.
“Yes,” I said. “I do.”
West met my eyes straight on for the first time since I’d com
e into the room. I felt suddenly hot, standing that close to him, my bare hand against the solid curve of his bicep. But I held his gaze. I wasn’t backing down, not this time.
“Fine,” he said, stepping away from the door and from me in the same movement. Just like that, I could breathe again.
The wolf shifter turned his head as if inspecting the tanks. “There isn’t much to it. There’s a major fae habitation not far from here. We had a clash with them when I was fifteen. They’d told earlier alphas we could settle on a part of their territory they were no longer using themselves. Then they changed their minds. Some of the younger shifters mouthed off at the fae who barged in to tell us to leave. I tried to make peace, but I’d only been alpha for four years.”
“And you were only fifteen,” I said. My heart was already sinking with the sense of where this story was going.
“Old enough to know my responsibilities,” West said. “They thought we were weak, that they had an excuse to root us out and grab some of our domain to add to theirs at the same time. They hit the village by the border of those grounds. We all went out to fight, all of us able-bodied.”
He hesitated. When he spoke again, his voice was rigidly even. “The fae were coming at us from all over. I was alpha. I was giving the orders. My parents had come to fight too. My mother was practically beside me. One of the fae came at her out of nowhere, knocked her over with a blast.
“I could have jumped in. I might have saved her life. But at the same time a whole charge of fae rushed at us from the front lines, where most of the fighting was, and my kin there started to falter…”
He stopped. The silence hung for a long moment. “I raced to the front,” he said. “As fast as I could. Called everyone to me. Took down three of the glowy bastards myself. If I hadn’t, it would have been a slaughter. We’d have lost at least a dozen more lives. We might have lost the whole village. Instead we pushed them back.”
