Truth be told, Gavin intimidated her. If Dillon hadn’t vouched for her, Gavin surely would have eaten her by now. The idea of calling him conjured a cold flutter in her gut, but she asked Evangeline for his number anyway.
Evangeline asked why, over and over, but Isabella assured her there wasn’t time. If Gavin was their leader like Evangeline had claimed, then he would be able to do something about this.
So, when she stood before him an hour later, she tried to keep her chin raised and her spine straight even though the cold tendril of fear never quite went away. Gavin glared down at her. She suspected he saw her as an annoying ant and nothing more.
When she laid the situation out before him, his reaction defied all her expectations.
“I didn’t expect him to be the first to end up in handcuffs.” Gavin pinched the bridge of his nose.
Isabella blinked.
“I’ll handle it. And before you start to worry, unlike my friends, I know how to mitigate situations without using my fists.”
She doubted that but clutched her phone tight and watched Gavin head outside. Soon, a bright Jeep raced past the front window like a bat out of hell.
21
Dillon sat in the small cell. There were three other humans in the cell with him, but they made sure to keep their distance. Dillon sighed, annoyed that people either raced to be the first to hit him or gave him a wide berth.
He hoped Isabella had made it home safe. Dinner could wait for another night. So long as she was back at Gavin’s cabin, Dillon was satisfied. Gavin and the others would keep her safe, no matter how they felt about her.
They wouldn’t do a whole lot for him, but he didn’t think they would abandon a simple human woman.
When a familiar voice started issuing demands, Dillon leaned forward. A growl slipped up his throat. He narrowed his eyes and waited for Gavin to appear.
It took longer than he expected. Dillon didn’t know the legal system very well, which meant he didn’t know what the cops needed to do before they could let him out. To him, it was as simple as unlocking the cell and getting out of his way.
Gavin’s voice continued to fill the station. When he wasn’t giving in to his dragon’s whims, he sounded great. Like he had complete control over himself and the world around him. Just the way a clan leader should.
Dillon had faith that Gavin would rise to the occasion and become a great clan leader. Not just because that’s what Gavin had been raised to be, but because he was a protector. Dillon could already tell that Gavin was pissed that one of his dragons was locked in a jail cell.
When Gavin and his sneer appeared, Dillon grinned.
“What do you have to smile about?” Gavin asked, obviously confused and annoyed.
Dillon shrugged, still grinning. “You sound like a real clan leader, is all.”
“Oh, go fuck yourself,” Gavin snapped.
Dillon chuckled, stood, and wiped off his jeans. His cellmates looked between him and Gavin. Their eyes were wide, as if they’d never seen men like them. Dillon paid them little attention. He didn’t want to insult their manhood much more. Gavin, on the other hand, clicked his tongue and gnashed his teeth.
One man flinched, then looked wholeheartedly embarrassed.
Once the cop opened the cell, Dillon stepped out and put a hand on Gavin’s shoulder. “Don’t play with them. If you’re here, then Isabella is alone.”
Gavin seemed offended. “Do you really think I’d leave your human all on her own?”
Dillon’s upper lip curled against his will. “Don’t tell me you left her with Erik?”
“No one deserves to be left alone with that freak. I called Casey home. He and his chihuahua of a mate are babysitting your human.” Gavin seemed to have no problem drawing a line between himself and humanity in public.
So, when Gavin dragged Dillon outside and cornered him, Dillon didn’t expect what he had to say.
“You shifted and flew over town earlier.” Gavin’s voice dropped into a warning growl.
Dillon shrugged Gavin’s hand off his shoulder, but Gavin slapped it back down and dug his fingers into Dillon’s flesh.
“You need to listen to me. You could risk our safety by doing that. Don’t shift during the day. Don’t fly over town. If you do it again…”
Dillon spun on his leader. “Are you going to threaten to punish me? What happens when I have to chase your ass down because you lost control to your dragon again?”
They stared each other down in silence. Gavin’s eye twitched, the only indication that he’d heard Dillon’s truth. Dillon held his ground. He’d given so much of his time and energy over to Erik and Gavin, only to have Gavin shout this bullshit at him? Dillon wanted to be grateful that Gavin had come to bail him out of jail, but it was painfully obvious that Gavin was out of touch.
“Get in the fucking Jeep,” Gavin snarled.
This conversation wasn’t over. Dillon could tell it was just on hold until Gavin could come up with a proper counterargument. Until then, Dillon would keep watching over his little clan. He would keep staying up all night with Erik. He would hunt Gavin down when the beast took over.
Dillon would keep giving his all to this clan. He wanted it to work so badly. Even though they sometimes acted like this, they were the closest Dillon had to family. They didn’t know that his own mother dropped him on Zander’s doorstep because she couldn’t handle raising a little dragon boy on her own. He’d tried to be the best little boy for her, but that still hadn’t been enough to make her want to keep him.
Not even Zander had wanted to keep him. It was as if Zander had seen some sort of defect from the get-go. Zander dropped him in the lap of an old, childless couple who’d never had plans to raise a child. The moment Dillon could leave, he struck out on his own. He never wanted to be the weight that pressed on anyone’s shoulders. Yet, Zander had thrown him into this mission to save Gavin.
Which could only mean that even supporting himself on his own, Dillon was a dead weight.
It was why he threw everything he had into this small clan. He wanted them to know that he was worth keeping. He wasn’t just a ham-fisted oaf who could push people around. Dillon had patience and love and even some wits.
It seemed like Gavin hadn’t taken notice yet.
“Look,” Gavin began without taking his eyes off the road. “I don’t say the things I say because I think I’m above the law. I know I’m setting a horrible example. My own safety isn’t exactly paramount to me right now, but I need you and the others to stay safe.”
Dillon cocked his head, paying attention while staying silent.
Gavin sighed. “It’s not because I like any of you assholes.”
“Uh huh,” Dillon said.
Gavin had bailed Dillon out of jail after all. That had to mean something. Maybe that wasn’t the kind of affection that Dillon craved, but it might have been the most he would get out of Gavin. He would take it.
“That dipshit Isabella left isn’t going to press charges, either,” Gavin said. “I think he was there that night, with Trevor. That witch said she erased their memories, but I’m not sure she scrubbed them well enough. Guy took one look at me, and I swear I saw a stain forming on his jeans.”
Dillon cringed. He didn’t bother to ask if the stain was on the front or the back end. He didn’t need to know.
As the jeep coasted to a stop in the driveway, Gavin paused.
Dillon could tell Gavin wanted to say more. He didn’t press but waited patiently until Gavin raised his chin and sucked in a slightly shaky breath.
“Don’t get attached to the human,” Gavin warned him. “She’s as jumpy as a rabbit. A man like you is going to scare her away. Having a woman run out of you isn’t a good feeling, and if she runs right back into that guy’s arms, you’re going to start a night like that again.”
Immediately, Dillon’s beast rose with a ferocious snarl, one that found its way out of him and into the truck’s interior.
“You ca
n’t keep me away from her,” he growled.
Gavin sighed and ran his hand across his face. “That’s what I was worried about. You’ve known this human all of two days. Look at you. You’re ready to lay down your life for her. Don’t you see how ludicrous that is?”
Dillon kicked open his door. Vicious words reached his tongue. He would have kept them back in any other circumstance, but Gavin needed a bit of bitter medicine.
“Maybe you’ve never been in love in your whole life, then.”
Dillon stalked away, not bothering to wait for Gavin’s reaction. Once more, Dillon felt hollowed out. He couldn’t carry this clan on his back. He was not Atlas, capable of lifting worlds. He was just a dragon man trying to do his best.
When would his best be enough?
He kicked opened the front door, still fuming. A yellow shape darted toward him. Before he could move, Isabella had her arms wrapped around his middle. Her cheek pressed against his chest. He wondered if she could hear the thunder of his heart.
“I was so worried!” she said. She pulled back enough to look up at him. Her soft eyes were wide and rimmed with unshed tears. “Just let me talk to Tommy. I think I can get him to dismiss the charges.”
Dillon hated the idea of her ever going to talk to that man again. He and his ilk clearly had no empathy for women. Though she was perfectly civil and reasonable, Tommy would spitefully hold everything against her and turn her own mind against her. Dillon would break the man’s kneecaps if he ever insinuated that she was being passed around again.
“Don’t worry about it,” Evangeline said as she entered the room. “We can ask Nel to make him forget about the fight. I’m sure she’d love to mess with Tommy again.”
Gavin entered behind Dillon. “Speaking of your witch friend. I don’t think she can do her job properly.”
Evangeline widened her stance and put her hands on her hips. “It’s because of you that I’m not letting anyone near her. Do you hear the way you’re talking?”
Gavin groaned. An argument would ensue soon. As if she felt the coming storm, Isabella tugged Dillon’s hand and led him away from the entryway. Isabella spared one last glance back when Evangeline’s voice roared down the hall.
“I don’t know how she talks back to him like that. Your friend is terrifying.”
“He would never harm Casey’s mate,” Dillon assured her. “Besides, I think their arguments help him blow off steam.”
“So, Evangeline is helping him? That’s kind of her. She always finds interesting ways to help those around her. Leave it to her to figure that out.”
Dillon didn’t think Evangeline knew what she was doing. He was pretty sure she just wanted to shake Gavin up every now and then. Gavin needed to be challenged. He would learn how to be a better leader after being forced to see from all sides of the clan.
* * *
Isabella watched Dillon pull out his phone. He seemed to drift away from her. She’d wanted to be alone with him, though she refused to admit to herself that she wanted to be alone with him because she was attracted to him. It was still far too early for her to move on. She wasn’t looking for a rebound. When she started dating again, she would have to be serious about it.
She wasn’t alone in this world anymore.
But Dillon’s distance hurt.
“Oh! I didn’t make dinner for you! I promised you a home-cooked meal, and I totally forgot. You’re probably mad. I can get that started for you if you’re hungry.”
Her heart stammered, hammering out an erratic beat until Dillon looked up from his phone. He raised a brow and turned his phone around so she could see the screen. A little car chugged across a familiar map.
“Food is already on the way,” he said.
Her lips parted, surprise washing over her. Guilt followed soon after. “You didn’t have to do that. I made a promise. I should keep it.”
Besides, her stomach clenched with a hunger so deep she didn’t know if she’d ever be able to fill it. If she made Dillon dinner, then she could make herself a little something, too. It wasn’t like he would order food for her, too. She’d done nothing to deserve it.
Fifteen minutes later, Dillon came to find her. He hefted a plastic bag laden with take-out containers.
“Come with me,” he asked, holding a hand out to her.
She glanced at the giant bag of food. At first, it seemed like a lot for one person. Then she remembered that Dillon was no normal man. He was a dragon man. He probably needed all those extra calories so he could turn into a dragon.
Her stomach let out a ferocious growl. “Do you mind waiting for me while I make myself something to eat? I promise I won’t take long. I’ll throw together a sandwich real quick and…”
“I didn’t get all this food for myself.”
She paused. Evangeline had told her that these guys were nicer than the men they’d been with, but Isabella never thought they would try to feed her. She’d assumed that her role here was to feed everyone else. That was the only reason they’d allowed her to stay.
So, why would Dillon want to feed her?
She took his outstretched hand and followed him outside. They walked in silence for a long while, following a trail that wound through the woods. The smell of earth and pine comforted her and washed away any leftover confusion.
All that mattered was her hand in Dillon’s. His warmth travelled up her arm and wrapped around her heart until she couldn’t stop smiling. Whenever Dillon glanced over at her, he smiled, too.
At the top of a hill was a small grove on the edge of a cliff. A picnic table stood in the center so that anyone who sat down could look out over the mountain and the town in the valley below.
The sight stole her breath and beckoned her closer. Dillon hovered behind her, like he was afraid she would throw herself off the cliff. It wasn’t even that far of a fall. The cabin roof sat only ten feet beneath the ledge. She wanted to tell him to back off but didn’t know how.
Room to breathe was all she wanted to ask for. She told herself that this was different. Tommy hovered over her to make sure she could never do anything for herself. Dillon wasn’t trying to do that. At least, she didn’t think Dillon would do something like that.
She wasn’t made of glass, though. Her small frame and high-pitched voice made her look frail, but if she could be broken, then she would have shattered long ago.
When he didn’t step away from her, she swallowed her sigh and went to the table. Dillon set the bag of food down and started to unload it, carefully opening every container and pushing them toward her. When he pressed a plastic fork into her hand, she pursed her lips.
“I know I’ve made some awful decisions that make me look like I can’t take care of myself, but I know how to eat,” she said, keeping her voice low and meek even though she felt a restlessness thrashing in her chest.
Dillon froze. He blinked. “You don’t want to eat my food because I paid for it. I put that fork in your hand, so you have no excuse.”
Her cheeks heated. Now she felt like an ass. Dillon’s hovering had brought out her bitterness, and he didn’t deserve to be treated like that.
She hung her head, ready to apologize.
“Don’t say sorry. Try a crab Rangoon.”
The scrape of a container against the picnic table brought her attention up. Dillon sat beside her, so his thigh touched her and filled her with more warmth.
She couldn’t figure out how he made her want to throw herself on him and shove him away at the same time. Clearly, there was a problem with her and not him. Dillon had done nothing wrong. She was struggling to find a balance in her new life. While Evangeline had independence in her very bones, Isabella had to forge her own.
Her first attempts at it were truly weak.
Would she ever be her own person? Or would someone always have to pull her strings and follow in her wake to make sure she did nothing stupid on her own? She hated the thought that she would always be someone’s responsibility and never her
own person.
She would be a great mom, though. That was the one thought that she clung to. No matter what else happened in her life, she would raise a happy baby, and she would savor every moment of it.
“Don’t like crab Rangoon?” Dillon asked, almost sheepishly. He shuffled the boxes. “I bought eggrolls, honey chicken, and something called Bang Bang shrimp.”
She finally took in the containers laid out before her and realized that Dillon had gone overboard. Perhaps he could eat all this food on his own, but it still seemed an odd assortment of items that didn’t really match.
Unable to deny her hunger any longer, she grabbed an eggroll, but paused. “Did you buy all this because you didn’t know what I liked?”
“Well, yeah. I wanted to make sure you could eat.”
She cocked her head and smiled. “You know, you could have just asked me what I wanted. You wouldn’t have had to buy so many different entrees.”
Dillon seemed unperturbed. He popped a spicy shrimp into his mouth and winked.
The array of choices felt like a buffet. Looking at all the open choices before her made her mouth water. In the end, she ate way more than her fair share. Yet, Dillon still didn’t seem to care. He acted as though the food was hers, rather than his.
She felt a bit of guilt for being mad at him earlier. He’d only been trying to protect her.
“Why are you so nice?” she asked, lifting her gaze to meet his.
Dillon stared at her. Somehow, her question had stunned him. He always said the right thing at the right time, but now it was as if he was at a loss for words. He blinked and looked away.
“I’ve told you before, this is how all men should act.” He offered her a fortune cookie.
She took it from him, letting her fingertips graze his in the process. His breath hitched, a small gasp that she caught. Her heart got over-excited and began hammering.
“The last man to buy me this much food was my father,” she said, trying to joke.
“Where is he? He should have been the first to warn you about Tommy.”
Rogue Dragons Series: Box Set Books 1-5 Page 18
