by Abigail Owen
Hand stuffed in one pocket to hide the absence of his king’s mark, Drake faced down Mathai unblinkingly. The white dragon had been the leader of the Alliance since its inception. Older now, he rarely got involved, leaving it more to the other five members from the different clans to govern in his stead and only stepping in when the heavy bat was needed. His presence alone was an indicator that more was going on than Finn and the team thought.
“Why?” What did they know about Cami already? Or what did they assume?
Ogun, the Alliance member from the Green Clan, stepped forward. “Show some respect.”
Drake ignored the man who’d been so determined to take Sera and give her as a prize to the High King, rather than to Aidan who was so obviously her mate. Ogun’s actions had forced Sera to escape…with Rune’s help. Forced a lot of other things Drake couldn’t think about right this second.
Instead, he remained focused on Mathai. “A human is a waste of your time,” he said.
Ogun’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Since when do you have a human woman on the side?”
The lie came with ease. “Since last summer. I saved Cami and her family from a fire and was struck by her courage. After wiping their memories of me…” He shrugged as if that covered the rest.
Mathai gave no visible reaction, but Ogun did, frowning. “So you approached her later?”
“Obviously.”
“When?”
Drake snapped his gaze to the man. “After being locked in an Alaz dungeon and beaten,” he said on a snarl.
“Careful,” Kanta murmured in a low voice off to his right. “We all know now that Rune was responsible for Sera’s disappearance. We would’ve done the same to other dragons under similar suspicion.”
“You weren’t there,” Drake said without turning his head. Not that he blamed Kanta.
He also wasn’t a moron. Antagonizing the Alliance wasn’t a good idea, but this was deliberate. Of the four Huracán members who’d been held by the Alaz team, Aidan had gone rogue, Titus was dead, and Drake would be dead soon enough. That left Hall, the traitor who would join Rune permanently once the time came. Meanwhile the others—Finn, Levi, Rivin, Keighan, and Kanta—could use the distance from that event and all involved.
He’d take the heat for the team, then crawl off somewhere and die.
Ogun’s lips curled like he wanted to spew something back but didn’t. Instead Macon, the representative for the Blue Clan, stepped in front of him. “An incident which everyone involved recognizes. I’m sure you understand why it had to be done.”
Drake continued to glare at Ogun. After a long moment, the green dragon dropped his gaze. Coward.
“Back to this human,” Mathai said slowly. Almost as though he hadn’t even noticed the tension ratcheting up between Drake and Ogun. “She knows nothing of dragons?”
Drake shifted his gaze to Mathai. Rather than answering the question he asked one of his own. “How are you aware of Cami, exactly?”
Ogun bristled visibly. “That’s our concern—”
Mathai slashed a hand through the air, cutting him off. “On my orders, a member of the Alaz team has been investigating the last fire set by Rune as well as all aspects of what happened in their territory with him.”
Drake didn’t miss the way Ogun’s gaze snapped to his leader. Had the green shifter not expected that? Or was Mathai lying?
Drake clenched his jaw in a reflex and the scent of smoke filled the air, a sure indication that every single one of his team members didn’t like the implications. With more effort than it should’ve taken, Drake kept the flames from reaching his eyes. Thankfully, the Alliance would take his irritation as having to do with how they’d bypassed Finn.
But his thoughts weren’t on that. They were with Cami out in the hall. Would she figure out that they were talking about the fire around her house? And that Rune was responsible? His actions had almost killed her.
Finn stepped up beside Drake. “We’ve already investigated.”
Mathai gave a regal nod. “Forgive me, but you’re not exactly neutral when it comes to Rune Abaddon.”
Finn leveled a look on the man that anyone on the Huracán team knew meant he’d crossed the damn line. “He betrayed us. His brothers. If anyone is going to take down Rune, it’ll be the Huracán team. Every man in this room is a loyal soldier for the clans and kings.”
Mathai didn’t even flinch. “But he was a Huracán once, a brother. Hard to ignore that history.”
Finn grunted. “Rune has made it very easy to ignore that fact. He’s made his choices.”
Mathai raised a single eyebrow. Unimpressed. “Nidhogg found that Rune wasn’t the only one responsible for that fire.”
Every man in the war room stiffened, though Drake doubted the Alliance members could tell, but the tension blanketed the room like a plastic bag shoved over their heads.
“Who?” Finn asked. He didn’t bother denying anything.
“We’ve discovered evidence that your man, Titus, was involved.”
Well, shit.
Beside him, Finn gave a sharp nod. “I can’t say I’m surprised. As you know, we killed Titus months ago.”
In actual fact, Titus killed himself after attacking Sera and her son, Blake, an unforgiveable offense driven by loss of his soul. Something they’d had no clue Titus struggled with. In the fight that ensued, it came out that Titus had lost not one mate to his fire, trying to turn them, but three.
When a mate died, that death dragged a piece of the shifter’s soul with it to the grave, often resulting in a broken man. No way could Titus’s soul have survived the damage of losing three. But the team had had no idea. None.
One of the hardest things Drake had ever had to endure, witnessing that moment.
But the Alliance didn’t need any of those details. The Huracáns would’ve had to put Titus down themselves if he hadn’t handled it. He’d committed several crimes with a punishment of death. Sera, Blake, even Aidan, could have died in his crazed attack. Three women did die without finding the right mate. One officially through the mating process, and two others whose identities would never be known.
That was on the Huracáns. They should’ve seen the darkness in Titus. Sensed it somehow. Titus had saved them from that final decision, an act which might have destroyed the team.
But, as far as the Alliance was concerned, they took care of business.
“Nidhogg will return to show you the evidence,” Mathai said.
That didn’t necessarily mean the gold shifter had gone back to his team in Colorado. Dammit. I shouldn’t have taken the risk to fly Cami here. No matter how diligently he scoured the skies and ground.
“We appreciate the…help,” Finn replied. What else could he say?
Mathai wasn’t finished. “We’ll send Tineen with him.”
The Alpha of the Alaz team? That would go over about as well as a clown at a funeral.
Beside Drake, Finn twitched his head, a frown descending. “Why?”
“We want more information about Titus and Rune. This should be discussed in person.”
Only because he was standing by his Alpha could Drake detect how every muscle in the man’s body clenched hard. Not that you’d know it by his voice. “Of course,” Finn said, all easy accommodation. “We’ll be ready.”
Yes, they damn well would.
Mathai gave another one of those regal nods. Who did he think he was, anyway, with those condescending nods? One of the kings? “We look forward to your cooperation,” Mathai said.
With that, the call ended, the screen going dark in front of them.
Kanta blew out a long breath. “Boss—”
Finn held up a hand. “Let’s all return to our beds. We can discuss this more tomorrow.”
Except Drake could tell that wasn’t Finn’s intent. Was he worried that
the Alliance was still listening or watching?
Rather than question their Alpha, they filed out of the room, their sizes forcing them to go one at a time. Drake managed to beat the others out only to pull up short at the sight of Cami standing there with tears streaking her face in silent rivulets, hands fisted, and shaking.
She sucked in a breath and opened her mouth to speak, but in case Finn was worried about the Alliance listening, he jumped forward, covering her mouth with one hand while cupping the back of her head with the other. Cami stiffened, but before she could squeak a protest, he put his lips to her ear. “They may still be listening.”
She glared at him over the top of his palm with accusing eyes gone almost black, the irises swallowing the warm brown of her eyes, the fire inside her brightening with the threat of another firecracker flare-up. But she nodded her understanding.
He released her, doing his damnedest not to register the silky slide of her hair against his hand, or the feel of those lush lips against his palm, there, then gone. Warmth lit in his hand from that not-so-simple contact. He gave his hand a shake, trying to dispel the sensation, knowing the others would take it as a sign that his degenerative nerve disorder was acting up.
Together, they all made their way upstairs to the kitchen. Delaney was already there waiting, her golden-brown hair pulled up in a messy ponytail, cheeks still pink from the warmth of her bed.
At a guess, Finn had woken her, but left her behind on purpose, not wanting to remind the Alliance of the way their mating had gone down. No doubt her connection with Finn had kept her somewhat in the loop. She had to be feeling his tension. His concern.
She crossed the room to take Finn’s face in her hands, looking him in the eyes with a serious expression. “What happened? I’ve never felt you…” She paused and shook her head. “You’ve never felt like that before. Not even when Titus died.”
Before Finn could answer, Cami swung around to face Drake. “Did you know? That Rune set the fire?” she demanded.
Yeah. She figured out that Rune’s fire was the one that almost claimed her life and destroyed her family’s ranch. He wasn’t going to lie to her, though. “Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“No.”
Her hand flashed out and she slapped him across the face. Hard. Not quite hard enough to move him, but pretty impressive for a tiny human woman.
Hall gave a low whistle. “I like her.”
Cami cradled her hand and glared up at Drake, fury in the form of a human facing down a dragon shifter with zero fear. Her entire body was shaking. Drake knew that kind of tremor intimately. He didn’t mistake her trembling for fear. That was rage. A need for action when she could take none.
“Were you ever going to tell me?” she demanded.
“No.”
Off to his right Rivin and Keighan both grimaced. “Should’ve lied,” Rivin muttered.
Keighan nodded. “Dumb-ass move.”
Drake ignored them, focused on Cami.
“I trusted Rune,” she said, accusation rife in her tone like that was his fault.
Irritation surged under the guilt already weighing him down. Why was he getting the blame here?
“How is this my problem?” Drake demanded.
“Because you knew and you said nothing.” Cami didn’t take her gaze from Drake’s. “Omission is the same as a lie. I could have handled knowing, but you didn’t trust me to, did you? But I trusted you,” she whispered, her voice cracking on the last word.
Fuck. That hurt.
Cami wasn’t done. “He almost killed me, destroyed a good portion of our ranch, which we can’t afford, but worse, he came to me afterward like nothing had happened and convinced me to leave my family and go with him.”
“And you were safe.”
“For now. What if that was just softening me up for something else. I don’t know him. Not really.”
“If it helps”—Delaney moved to stand beside them—“I don’t think Rune meant for that fire to reach you.”
“If the Alliance is right, and Titus was involved, he may have made it worse, forced it to move toward humans,” Finn added.
“Maybe you’re the bad guys and you’re playing me,” she said. “How am I really supposed to know?”
“That’s ridiculous,” Drake said.
She shook her head. “As much as your kind seems to be obsessed with mates, it’s not a stupid question.”
“He saved your life.”
Drake flicked a quick glance in Hall’s direction where the comment had come from. The green dragon was standing up for him?
Cami just shook her head. “I know.”
He still hadn’t gotten over that revelation piled on a whole heap of revelations where this woman was concerned. Had that been only yesterday? If every action, every kiss, every moment from her had been motivated by gratitude, he’d lose his shit. Except the doubts and anger staring back at him from an expression he could only describe as shaken reached inside his rib cage and gripped his heart like a vice.
I have to fix this.
He crossed his arms. His irritation spiked with the action, because, dammit, a defensive gesture gave away too much. “Rune’s responsibility for that fire was up to him to confess. Your family was safe. The ranch could be rebuilt. And Rune was the only thing standing between you and the clans.”
“I see.” She crossed her arms, mimicking his stance.
“Do you?” It didn’t sound like it. Look like it, either, if the hard light in her eyes was any indication.
She shrugged, the way her arms were crossed pushing up her lush curves. “Sure. Keep the dragon mate quiet and biddable. Right? It’s not like I mean anything to you. I’m a good distraction from dying, nice little fuck toy, and you owe me nothing.”
Everyone in the room stilled. Hell, if they’d been outside, even the breeze wouldn’t have dared blow at that moment.
Drake wanted to take her by the shoulders and shake her, then kiss her until she turned pliant in his arms. Because that statement was so far from the truth, even he could laugh at it, if he could laugh.
Except… His willpower had already proven non-existent where Cami was concerned. Mating was still off the table. He’d never risk her life like that. Keeping her at a forced distance was definitely what both of them needed.
“That’s exactly right,” he said on a growl.
The growl wasn’t him. His dragon was protesting the words, both halves of him warring against each other.
Her expression went flat. Dead. Like a veil had fallen between them. A glass wall he could never break again. “You asshole.”
Cami stalked from the room.
Drake dropped his gaze to glare at the floor and let her go.
“I’ll talk to her,” Delaney said quietly, and hurried after her.
“Well…she sure has your number,” Hall commented.
Drake didn’t even lift his head. “I’d be happy to replace some of the bruises on your face with fresh ones, Hall.”
Lyndi stepped in front of him, her earlier anger replaced by something worse. Accusation and sadness. “She’s not wrong.”
Hall nodded. “Just like you didn’t tell us you were dying; you didn’t tell her some pretty important things.”
“That’s right.” Drake snapped his head up to glare over his sister’s head at the man. “Just like you didn’t tell us you were spying for Rune.”
A snarl ripped from Hall’s throat. “If I hadn’t been on the inside, I wouldn’t have been able to save Sera.”
Dammit. The man was right. Drake still wanted to beat him to a pulp, but he couldn’t.
When the Alliance had made it clear that Aidan wouldn’t be invited to Sera’s mating, guaranteeing her death, simply because she also bore the High King’s mark, Hall had hooked her up with Ru
ne and Rune had managed to steal her away.
Hall had known all along that Rune was right, and the team was wrong. No matter the fact that he was a dick, that had to have been hard. Caught between his team and the man who’d mentored him, caught between loyalty to the old traditions and the knowledge that those traditions were turning into a twisted version of what they’d once meant to protect and cherish.
Still, the fact that Hall was the traitor made this so much worse as far as Drake was concerned.
Lyndi rolled her eyes. “You and I aren’t done.” She added a stink eye. “But I’m going to talk to your new mate.”
“She’s not my mate,” he called after her.
“Why not?” her voice floated back to him from the hall.
He wasn’t touching that question without a hazmat suit.
“Why did you bring her here tonight?” Kanta asked. The peacemaker as always, stepping in to redirect the conversation.
Drake dragged his gaze from Hall to address Kanta directly. “She was asking questions. I needed to fill her in on Nidhogg somewhere I knew he couldn’t listen in.”
“You don’t think he would’ve noticed a woman on your back?” Rivin asked, eyebrows raised.
“I was careful,” Drake muttered.
Finn stepped in. “It doesn’t matter. We need to decide how best to deal with Nidhogg and Tineen showing up here soon.” He pinned Drake with a look that brooked no argument.
Drake hooked a stool from under the kitchen island and dropped into it, looking at his Alpha expectantly.
“They’re going to expect you to be around,” Finn pointed out.
Drake nodded. He’d figured that much out already.
Finn crossed his arms and nodded at Drake’s bare hand. “How long before they notice you’re missing your king’s mark?”
Which put the target squarely on his back.
…
Cami’s anger carried momentum with it as she stalked through the surprisingly well-lit caverns that made up the Huracáns’ home base.
No torches here giving a decidedly medieval feel to the place. Instead, normal lamps and overhead lighting, powered by electricity that didn’t constantly make a buzzing noise, illuminated the rooms. In addition, strips of lighting followed the seam of the ceiling. They were dim now, as if they reflected the moonlit night sky outside. Would they brighten in daytime?
