“Are any of your notes salvageable?” she asked while cleaning up the mess Zander had commissioned.
Stricken and probably a little confused, Ford watched her. His gaze slowly moved to the charred notebooks on the table. He didn’t move right away. Daphne prepared herself to be more forceful about making the best of this, but Ford finally flipped through the topmost notebook.
“The first chunk of pages is lost, but I can read the latter half. I don’t think they let it burn for long. Guess whoever did this didn’t want to garner too much attention by burning the house down.” He looked around. “Are you sure you want to stay here?”
“I don’t let anyone push me around,” Daphne said, trying to sound confident.
Ford chuckled. He gathered his notebooks into a pile, probably to deal with them later, then went to get the broom. The sound of metal scraping metal soon filled the air as Ford cleaned up his shattered knives.
Daphne told herself, over and over, that this was only a setback. Zander wanted to scare them. He was trying to make them as unsettled as possible so when it came time to fight, they wouldn’t be able to think straight. Daphne refused to play into his tactics. Zander would not win through trickery and fear.
Finished with the couch, she went into the bedroom to pull the sheets from the bed and shove them into the washer. One foot past the room’s threshold, a hand closed around her wrist. She let out a shriek when her world tilted.
A commotion in the kitchen was followed by a grunt. Daphne had little time to acknowledge it as she was pulled face to face with a shifter she’d trained. She bared her teeth before the shifter spun her around and twisted her arm behind her back.
She hissed in pain. The shifter apologized in the dark, his voice soft and filled with regret. Her beast slammed against the surface. It was ready to fight. The room was too small, though. If she shifted, she risked breaking down walls and exposing herself to the world.
The shifter shoved. Her shoulder wrenched and sent a lightning sharp pain through her. She gritted her teeth and walked forward, the shifter directing her.
In the kitchen, Ford towered over the now-broken table. Another of Zander’s shifters had crumpled onto it. Ford looked as though he would jump to action, but the shifter behind Daphne tightened his hold on her again. Her shoulder sang with burning pain until she could no longer hold back her grimace.
“The boss wants her returned home,” the shifter said.
In her pain, Daphne had forgotten his name. After what he’d done, he no longer deserved to be remembered by her. Maybe he did feel bad, but that would never excuse what he was doing. This man had been a friend of hers. Now, he kneeled to Zander’s cruel machinations.
“Things will get much uglier if we don’t take her back,” the shifter said.
The man at Ford’s feet groaned and rolled over. He got to his feet and put some distance between himself and Ford. Her mate scanned the room. When his gaze settled on her, she realized he would not move for fear of getting her hurt.
His concern for her warmed her heart. So few people ever put her first in their lives. She’d always been an accessory or an employee. Even her own brother had walked away from her without much care. Ford’s only concern was for her.
With a grin on her face and pain coursing through her shoulder, Daphne threw her head back. Her skull connected with the bridge of the shifter’s nose. He howled in pain and released her. She spun and brought her foot up into his groin. He crumpled as he looked up at her like she’d betrayed him when it was the other way around.
There was a shuffle behind her. She turned in time to watch Ford throw the other man out the door. The shifter Daphne had kicked in the nuts staggered to his feet and charged out the open door as well. If they believed in Zander and what he was doing, then they would have fought harder. Their abrupt retreat told her that they were doing as told only to avoid punishment.
No one really wanted to side with Zander. He ruled with power and not compassion. He only wanted to protect those who granted him power. He would keep coming for her because she allowed his clan to constantly grow in numbers. So long as the numbers gave him power, he would keep assaulting them.
Daphne sighed. Her knees trembled. Exhaustion threatened to drop her right then and there. If they let their guard down, Zander could send more. Daphne needed to sleep, though. She needed to lie down and rest.
Ford lifted the broken tabletop and hauled it out the open door. She listened to it hit the curb before he stormed back inside. He froze in the doorway, his eyes on her. His brows furrowed ever so slightly as his lips parted. Then, she watched his shoulders droop.
“This is going to be way harder than I thought,” he said.
Daphne should have asked why, but the only thing running through her mind was the need to find somewhere to collapse. Her shoulder throbbed. It might have been dislocated. Shifting would put it back in place, but they were in the middle of town. No room would be large enough to hold her dragon form, so she had to suck it up.
She spun and swayed in place before lurching back toward the bedroom. The sound of hurried footsteps caught up to her. Gentle hands braced her.
“I realize now that since you can fight back, that means you’re going to be in harm’s way a lot. I’m not prepared to lose another mate.”
She grinned. “So, you’re admitting that I’m your mate?”
He huffed and stepped away from her. “Seeing you in danger and pain…”
“I can protect myself,” she argued.
He opened a nearby closet and grabbed something from inside it. Shoving the bundle under his arm, he turned and finished ripping the sheets off the bed. “I’m not saying you can’t. I’m saying I can’t handle it. You’ve been in harm’s way twice in just as many days. If I have to…”
He didn’t need to finish that sentence. She knew how it would end.
He snapped open a fresh sheet. She caught the other side and winced when her shoulder flared with fresh pain. She must have made a sound, because Ford stood beside her before she even realized he’d moved. He hesitated, hands hovering over her like a silent request for approval. Daphne nodded.
No pain she’d ever experienced could have compared to that moment. Her eyes watered as the joint slid home. She hissed through clenched teeth. Ford’s hands left her the second they were finished, like he thought she would blame him for the pain.
He finished putting fresh sheets on the bed and pulled a blanket over top. “Sleep,” he commanded. “You deserve it. I’ll stay up and keep watch.”
Before he could leave her alone, she grabbed him by the front of his shirt. “Stop trying to serve me.”
He cocked his head. His stare made her cheeks warm. She met his confused gaze and tried to put the right words together.
“We’re a team,” she said. “You don’t have to stand watch. You don’t even have to make me dinner. Sleep with me. If anything happens in the night, we face it together.”
He seemed skeptical. She yanked him down onto the bed and then crawled up beside him to curl into his body. Her aching bones finally settled, and she let out a breath to release the tension wrapped around them. Ford’s arms were the only home she had anymore.
62
Ford’s life had taken a turn. He wasn’t sure if it was for the worse or better. While his loneliness had been abated, he now had a new weak spot in the middle of a volatile war. He carefully stepped around his kitchen, wary of the shards of metal that might have been missed the night before.
Daphne had padded the couch with pillows and lounged across them while she shrugged off the last of her grogginess. Ford watched her as the coffee maker dripped behind him. He couldn’t help but admire her long legs and how she had one arm thrown to the floor.
All around her, the house still bore evidence of the invasion. No place felt safe enough for Ford. He’d already lost one lover. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing this brash and brazen woman. She’d fought off her attacker the nigh
t before, but he didn’t know if she would win every time. He didn’t know if he could spend every waking moment at her side like a guard dog without her wanting to punt him to the moon after a single day.
He didn’t want to live up her ass, but he hated the idea of losing her.
Where was the fine line he was searching for? Would he ever be able to find it? Or would he chase her away with his fear?
“I’d make you breakfast, but…” He gestured to the state of his kitchen.
Daphne blinked, as if slowly processing everything. Her lips twisted to the side.
Ford shouldn’t have been blessed with two mates. He didn’t know which was the true mate, but he knew not to question it any longer. His past love was as valid as what he felt for Daphne, and the reverse was just as true. If anything were to happen to her, Zander would be a dead man.
Ford didn’t care if he had to die in the process.
He didn’t want to join a war. He knew little about this clan he’d joined, only that it was still very new.
Daphne opened her mouth to say something, but the sound of her phone vibrating cut her off. She glared at the device she’d left on the coffee table but grabbed it and answered it anyway.
Ford listened to her conversation from the other side of the room. Casey called it a morale day. The clan wanted to get together and celebrate how they’d grown. Someone in the background called it a slap in Zander’s face, which Ford had to admit he appreciated. He just didn’t know if now was a good time for a cookout.
Daphne met his gaze across the room. He gave her a curt nod. There was little else he could do other than acquiesce. Clans had rules. Everything they did as a family was to make them a tighter knit group. Ford had to start partaking, even if he wasn’t ready.
Daphne hung up and said to him, “We’ve been assigned grocery duty. We need to get something that can be thrown on the grill.”
Ford knew how to do that much, at least. He could busy himself with knives and fire. He could find no release with Daphne, for every time he stepped near her, he felt the searing heat of the inferno they had stroked into existence. His mind spun when he touched her. His body ached.
Perhaps some time alone with his thoughts would help…though he really doubted it.
* * *
The air crackled with static. The clan seemed like they were trying to pretend that nothing was happening. Daphne stood on the edge of everything. Smiles seemed pasted on. Words felt hollow.
Her shoulder had healed in the night, but every now and then she felt a twinge of pain as if her body wanted to remind her to be on guard. She’d tried to make the best of the situation the night before and had fallen into a trap. There was no telling what awaited them.
She searched the woods around them, but she found nothing out of place. Eventually, her gaze dropped to the pond below the deck.
“Gavin…Do you seriously have koi fish?” she asked, incredulous.
“Their names are Sydney, Tokyo, and Seoul,” Gavin growled.
He sat in a foldable patio chair, his arms over his chest since he’d been kicked off the grill. Ford towered over the gas grill, a pair of tongs in his hands as he flipped the chicken pieces. Gavin’s foot tapped the deck impatiently.
“Where’s your witch?” Daphne asked, trying to lighten the mood.
Gavin’s glower only deepened.
“What? Did I say the wrong thing?”
Evangeline laughed. “No. He’s just mad that Nellie still refuses to be his witch. She doesn’t want anything to do with his pouty ass.”
Gavin shot out of his seat. “I am not pouting.”
Ford met Daphne’s eyes across the deck. Daphne had to smother her laughter. Even he and Daphne had an easier romance than Gavin seemed to be having with Nellie.
“I’m not trying to woo her!” Gavin threw his hands in the air. “I want to hire her. Money. I want to give her money.”
The women shared glances. Gavin stiffened, like he could tell something had been said silently. He looked from female face to female face.
“Who knew teasing Gavin could be so good for clan morale?” Evangeline asked with a grin.
He pointed his finger at her. “I take back what I said. You’re a horrible dragon.”
Evangeline shrugged. “I learned that lesson firsthand. You don’t need to tell me twice.”
Except, Evangeline had shown great progress. Though she still gave in to fear from time to time, she had proven that she could come out the other side of the dark place it brought her. Daphne took in the construction on the side of the cabin and wondered what it might have felt like to be human in the midst of a dragon fight.
This clan might still be small, but it was intimate. The tight knit relationships that this exile had brought made them strong. The shifters that had been rejects and misfits became a family that functioned like clockwork.
Daphne had never thought much about such things, but she realized she liked this. The intimacy of this little cookout, with everyone in the clan present, laid a lot of things bare. Gavin did nothing to hide his frustrations and rage. Unlike his father, he let everyone see just who he was.
She appreciated that about him. She never thought she would throw her allegiance behind Gavin, but he’d won her over. Perhaps it happened the night Gavin had looked Ford in the face and said he understood. Her mate hovered over the grill, but his gaze bounced from face to face like he was trying to read them like books.
He seemed out of place until Bree brought him a beer. She clapped him on the shoulder, and Erik made an offhand comment about stealing his mate. Ford shot a pleading look at Daphne, like she would intervene on his behalf.
She kicked up her feet and spread her hands wide, as if to say this was his problem. With every minute that passed, the fear that had been floating in the air slowly bled away until there was laughter and joy. Even with horror awaiting them, this clan knew how to find happiness. Daphne needed that.
She needed the list of things she’d ordered to replace everything that had been destroyed the night before, too. Ford had nearly caught her making an expensive purchase earlier. Zander hadn’t blocked her from accessing the clan’s accounts yet. Usually, the funds there were reserved for emergencies, but she knew they came out of his bank. Because of the rank she’d previously held, she had access.
So, she’d bought Ford the most expensive set of chef’s knives she could find before locking down her own bank account to keep Zander out. Vengeance came in many forms. She just hoped they would survive to see the day when the knives would arrive.
Ford deserved to know that he meant everything to her and that she was horribly sorry about the way things had gone. She never meant to bring any of this upon him. The smile on his face as he joked with Evangeline meant everything to Daphne. That simple expression told her that they’d both made the right decision.
They needed this small family and the support they offered.
“Oh my god,” Daphne muttered.
All eyes turned on her, even though she’d thought she’d been quiet.
“I need to find a new job,” she said after looking from face to face.
This clan would not grow exponentially, like Zander’s. The benefits of belonging to Gavin’s clan came with how few members there were. They did not have to stretch themselves thin to support hundreds of shifters.
That meant that Daphne’s previous role was almost obsolete. Of course, Bree and Evangeline would need help for a good while to come. Once they were comfortable in their new skin, Daphne had nothing else to do.
“Well, that depends on what you want to do,” Casey said as he passed her a cold can. “You can run finance for my construction company. I’m sure Evangeline could use help at her shop, especially now. If you wanted, Ford might be able to find you a job at the restaurant. It’s all up to you and what you want now.”
Daphne’s jaw dropped. She’d never had so many options open to her at once. “I don’t know what I’m even good at.”
Casey snorted. “You’re good at keeping everyone in line, at holding everything together, and at being a general badass. You can do anything you put your mind to.”
Her eyes misted. Her brother had never said anything so kind to her. When she looked past him, to Ford, she found him wearing a soft smile.
“I agree,” he said.
“It looks like I have a lot of thinking to do…” Daphne glanced around.
Evangeline sat forward and put her elbows on her knees. Her pastel hair danced in the wind, so soft compared to the devilish expression she wore. “You need a tattoo, too. Both of you. It’s a clan requirement.”
Gavin rolled his eyes.
“One of us! One of us!” Bree chanted.
Her mate joined in, then Dillon started, and Isabella joined. Daphne’s chest warmed. Was this what it was like to be wanted? Zander’s clan had needed her, but she’d never felt so wanted in all her life.
“Wait,” Isabella said softly. “Shouldn’t we be chanting two of us?”
Everyone paused, their expressions twisting while they tried to figure out how to chant for both Daphne and Ford. Meanwhile, Daphne realized there was nowhere she would rather be. She pulled her chair up beside Ford. He let his fingers trail lazily over her exposed shoulder, tickling the claiming mark he’d left on her.
She had to savor the quiet moments while she could. This wouldn’t last. Zander wouldn’t fade into the night. From what she’d shared and what she’d heard, every other attempt he’d made to upset the new clan had failed. He wouldn’t hold back any longer.
She stole a glance at Gavin. He, too, watched his new family with a strange mix of pride and fear. He must have come out here to be alone and, in no time, found himself surrounded by a new clan of faithful shifters. Life took unexpected turns like that.
If his witch relented and gave in to him, then they might stand a chance. Daphne knew from one look that Gavin was aching for something. If he’d left Tiffany behind, then perhaps she hadn’t been the mate they’d all thought her to be. This witch, Nellie, just might be. Her love could be the factor that would give Gavin the strength he needed to finally defeat his father.
Rogue Dragons Series: Box Set Books 1-5 Page 52
