After the grilled chicken pieces were reduced to bones and scraps, Evangeline got to her feet. She bounced on the balls of her heels.
“I need to do something,” she announced.
Daphne nodded and joined her without question. The new dragon in Evangeline would have too much energy for her human body to contain. Daphne needed to get up and stretch her weary body, too.
“What do you have for contact sports?” Daphne asked. “A football? Or, any ball at all?”
“I’ve got balls for you,” Erik said with a smirk.
Ford’s hand fell on the back of his neck, making Erik cringe. Erik whispered a soft apology, making his mate roll her eyes.
“You deserved that one,” Bree said. She pulled her bracelets from her wrists and let them spill onto the table. “We don’t need anything to play tag.”
Daphne’s brows rose. “That’s a good idea. We just need to decide who’s it.”
Casey put his finger to his nose. Others quickly follow suit, even if they didn’t understand what was happening. The only ones who didn’t mimic the gesture were Ford and Gavin. They shared a glance, both their brows falling flat as they awaited what was to come.
Daphne rubbed her hands together. She didn’t know which man to choose. Ford kept himself on the edge of this family, like he was perpetually waiting for a dismissal. On the other hand, Gavin encased himself in ice and needed to become closer to his clanmates.
One thing she knew for sure, Gavin was going to regret folding her into his clan. Her shifter management instincts would never go away.
Daphne lunged forward and slapped her hand to Ford’s chest. “Tag! You’re it!”
She would make Gavin regret his decision another day.
* * *
Shifters crashed through the woods, chasing after one another. His mate was it, but no one had caught her yet. He stopped and found her scent on the air. The darkness might have hidden her form, but he could find her anywhere. Every path he walked led him back to her.
Laughter filled the air as Ford split off from the group. He padded along, keeping quiet. He intended to cut her off as she rounded back in his direction. Before she reached him, a blazing light illuminated the sky.
Everyone came to a crashing halt. Ford looked to the sky and saw the dark silhouettes of dragons circling the cabin. On the ground, headlights flooded the area with harsh light. Some of the clan groaned, and he saw them shield their eyes.
He hadn’t expected Zander to make a stand today, but he shouldn’t have been surprised. When Ford told himself to step forward, his feet rooted themselves to the ground. He felt his beast moving. It didn’t share fear or worry, but yet it wouldn’t move.
Ford wanted to howl with frustration, but he didn’t make a sound.
63
Zander’s gaze found her first. Daphne wanted to recoil. She held firm, though. She wouldn’t allow Zander to see how much he bothered her, how he scared her. Hand outstretched, he beckoned her forward.
“Your vacation is over,” he said. “I have asked you to come home. I have sent trusted friends to bring you home. You have ignored me every step of the way. Don’t try to fight. You brought this on yourself.”
Her jaw dropped. “Trusted friends? You mean the shifters you sent to trash Ford’s house? The same shifters who tried to kidnap me?”
Fury rolled through her. The world took on a red hue, as if she were looking through her beast’s flames. She searched the shifters coming forward, but Ford wasn’t among them. Her stomach dropped and the red hue faded. Fear slithered in to take its place.
Daphne turned her attention back to Zander. Behind him, more shifters spilled out of the vehicles boxing them in. Faceless black silhouettes stood in front of the glare of the headlights.
“Get the fuck off my land, Dad,” Gavin growled.
He placed himself between Daphne and Zander. Casey followed suit. Daphne wondered where her mate had gone. Her heart raced, nervously tapping her sternum. Her mate should have been beside her. The fact that he was nowhere to be seen bothered her. It left her nervous and hopeless.
She tried to lock the hopelessness away, but it proved wily and sprang out of her fragile grasp and sank to her feet until they were leaden.
“You’re to give me the woman,” Zander declared. “If you do not hand her over, I will end this little rebellion of yours right here and now. You’re not prepared to fight me. You never will be.”
Gavin snarled, but he held his ground. Daphne could tell that he wanted to throw himself at Zander and rip him to shreds, but Gavin had too many people to protect now. His clan was outnumbered. Bree and Evangeline were vulnerable. If a real fight broke out, they could get hurt and Gavin would lose not just two shifters, but four, when their mates went feral.
Daphne pressed her eyes shut. Her own mate had abandoned her. Now her brother and Gavin were left to protect her when they had better things to live for. Gavin hadn’t even managed to court his witch yet. Daphne wasn’t going to cut that strange courtship short.
She shoved between them and stepped toward Zander. Her brother called out her name. She didn’t dare look back for fear of seeing Ford standing somewhere on the sidelines, not by her side. She’d thought he would always be there. It seemed she’d been wrong to assume that Ford felt the same about her that she felt about him.
Her beast gnashed its teeth at her thoughts. Ford had not abandoned them. He was their mate, their one and only. Trust came in many forms. She’d only just met him. How was she to know the ways he would protect her? Just because Gavin and Casey took center stage did not mean that Ford had left her.
She held onto her beast’s hope and let it fill her. The feeling allowed her to raise her chin as she approached Zander. She had to buy more time. Ford must have something in mind. He’d killed one clan leader already. He would stop Zander’s power play.
He had to. Right?
Daphne dug in her heels. She put her hands on her hips even though she was trembling on the inside. She’d never stood up to Zander before. This was a fine time to start, but that didn’t mean she would be great at it.
“I told you once already,” Daphne said. “I’m done. I’m not working for you. I’m leaving the clan and starting over. You can train someone else to do my job.”
Zander’s upper lip curled, only for a brief second. He ran his hands down the front of his jacket, probably in an attempt to control himself. Daphne didn’t care. She would poke and prod all his nerves until he couldn’t contain himself anymore.
“You’re special to me, Daphne. No one else can do what you do. You’re an invaluable asset to our clan. Don’t throw your lot in with a clan that will never last. Gavin has always been close to losing control. He will fail you all someday, and you’ll be left with no leader and no clan.
“I. Will. Not. Go.” Daphne spoke each word slowly, because that had to be the first time Zander had ever heard them in that order.
Ford? Where are you? I need you.
* * *
Ford grabbed the first shifter by the back of his coat. The man’s feet flew out from under him, rendering him defenseless for a split second. Ford used that moment to knock the man unconscious. It wouldn’t last long. Dragons healed alarmingly quickly. He would have to work his way through the numbers at a breakneck speed, or he would have to start killing people.
Ford had no plans to end any life other than Zander’s, so he moved as quickly as possible. All the while, he listened to his mate mouth off to Zander. Ford watched out of the corner of his eye, waiting for Zander to finally lose control and make a move toward Daphne. If he struck, Ford would strike back.
But Zander kept it together while Daphne berated and defied him.
There were too many shifters on Zander’s side. Ford knocked out five more before he heard the groans of the first as the man came to again. Turning back, Ford paused when he heard a soft grunt before the first man dropped once again. A crouched figure crawled out from behind one of the ve
hicles. A flash of pastel hair told him all he needed to know.
“My shifters tell me you’ve found a man responsible for destroying his entire clan,” Zander said.
Silence followed, interrupted only by Daphne’s growl. Ford’s heart swelled. He’d been worried that she would lose faith in him. He should have been by her side, but Zander’s numbers made it difficult to face him head on. Ford wanted to even the odds a bit.
“Do you really think that he won’t cause your downfall as well? Or were you hoping he would kill me before he turned on you? I hate to tell you that his clan leader was a weak facsimile of myself. Your little mercenary won’t be able to help you the way you’d hoped.”
Ford could practically hear Daphne rolling her eyes.
“You talk too much, old man,” Gavin said.
Ford’s skin prickled. When he glanced back toward the center of the clearing, where Zander stood before the clan, he noticed that Gavin’s eyes had found him. Ford didn’t wait for the near imperceptible nod. He kept leading Evangeline through the crowd of shifters Zander had brought with him.
Another crouched form joined his parade. Ford couldn’t catch the shifter’s scent on the air as they were downwind, but the feminine form suggested the newcomer was another woman. Ford bit back his chuckle as he recalled Bree’s heroism streak.
When a third figure, most likely Dillon from the silhouette’s broad shoulders, joined them, Ford pulled back. They followed suit. He stood and rolled his shoulders. His beast surged toward the surface and burst free of him. The three others did the same. As one, they spun and swept their tails over the remaining men.
In the center of the clearing, Daphne’s jaw dropped. The corners of her mouth rose with laughter. Ford nodded to her as he walked through the space he’d emptied only a moment ago. He eyed Zander as he passed, a silent warning sent to the enemy clan leader.
Zander spun and took in his fallen army.
“Funny,” Gavin said. “You try to intimidate us with all this big talk, but four of my shifters just toppled your power force. Two of those shifters barely even know what they’re doing. You can’t deny that my clan has staying power anymore. We won’t dissolve under your threats. We won’t back down, either.”
Ford dug his talons into the earth. For the first time, he felt a surge of pride. Gavin spoke like he felt it, too. This was a family, not just a group of confused assholes. Ford meant only to protect Daphne, but he knew now that he would lay his life on the line for any one of them.
Zander’s hiss rippled through the air. He lunged forward, hand out toward Daphne. She staggered back, leaving an opening for Ford. Without thinking, he attacked. His teeth found purchase in flesh.
A fresh wave of rage coursed through Ford. This man thought he could keep Daphne like a tool in his shed when she deserved to be loved and cherished. No one would steal her joy anymore. No one would force her to work until she lost sight of her own future.
Ford bit down. His teeth tore through flesh and ripped down to the bone.
Fighting filled the air around him. Zander’s shifters had gotten back to their feet. The sound of cars being overturned echoed like shattering glass. Some of the army Zander brought were trying to shift, but they were stopped before they changed.
Ford snapped back. Blood covered his tongue. Zander stared down at where his hand had been, quite lucky that Ford had not gone for his head.
“Looks like you’ve lost some weight,” Daphne said, snidely.
Behind her, Casey laughed then ran to join his mate in the fray. His massive beast plowed through the unaware shifters.
The corners of Gavin’s mouth were tight, but not because he was upset. If anything, it looked as though Gavin was trying not to smile.
“Were you prepared to spend an arm and a leg for this?” Daphne asked.
“For fuck’s sake!” Zander howled.
Daphne leaned against Ford’s flank. Her presence reminded him that she was solid and real. Zander had not harmed her. Ford lowered himself to the ground and curled his neck around her body like a shield made of flesh and scale. She put her hands on him.
“Tell me this is the last time,” Gavin said, his voice booming. “Tell me that you’re done trying to intimidate and threaten us. We want nothing to do with you or your clan. Leave us be, and we won’t take that leg Daphne suggested.”
Zander’s lips curled. His eyes snapped to Gavin before they darted around the clearing to the battle his men were losing. Jaw clenched and arm against his middle, Zander backed up. He raised his other hand and gestured to his shifters. Those who could retreat did so.
“I will spend the rest of my days with a singular purpose of making your life a living hell if you ever come back,” Gavin said. “I will hold onto the last of my humanity if only to make you regret ever bringing me into this world. Do you hear me?”
Ford had kept himself away from clans. He’d closed himself off from ever loving another person, shifter or otherwise. Now, he stood in the middle of a war. Danger would hover over them for days, months, maybe even years to come.
Yet, he regretted nothing. No man was an island. Even the strongest needed a network of support. Gavin had the power to hold off his father, but with the help of this growing clan, he had the power to stop him.
Zander might retreat this time and never come back, or he could make another attempt at fracturing their clan. Either way, Ford and his new family would prevail. They would end this tyrant and live lives filled with happiness.
Once Zander and his men piled into the cars that hadn’t been tipped over and sped away, Daphne whistled and wiped at her forehead with the back of her hand.
“Well, that was unexpected,”’ she declared as she slumped against Ford.
Gavin snorted. “I’ll make better preparations for unexpected visitors.”
Ford nudged his mate. He hoped she’d forgiven him for leaving her to stand alone before Zander. When her gaze dropped to the hand still on the ground, her face paled a little. Still, she stepped out from Ford’s protective embrace, grabbed the hand, and jogged to catch up to Gavin.
She tapped him on the shoulder with it and held it out once he turned. “Job well done,” she said.
Ford ignored his mate’s obviously delirious reaction to what had happened and shifted back. Gavin’s beleaguered sigh surely could have been heard all the way into town.
They had survived the night and come out stronger. Ford, back in human form, pulled his mate away from Gavin. The clan leader shot him a look of appreciation before stealing away. Ford turned Daphne in his grasp so he could hug her.
“I can’t believe I put up with that man for as long as I did,” she said into his bare chest.
“You made it out to the other side,” Ford told her. “You have the strength and resilience to make it through this, too. After that…we can do whatever you want.”
She sank into him and wrapped her arms around him in return. Ford rested his cheek on her head and watched the horizon. He thought it should turn pink with the light of dawn soon, but once he found his lost clothes, he realized it was barely into the night.
Zander’s attempt to steal Daphne hadn’t lasted quite as long as it’d felt. After he and Daphne helped clean up, they piled back into his SUV to head home. He didn’t leave her alone for a second. Ford could barely keep his hands off her, an arm around her shoulder as they walked or a hand on her thigh as he drove.
His mate was strong. She would survive. And, in the end, when Ford had blood on his hands again, she would be there for him. He didn’t want to have to take another life, but he had a feeling that it was becoming increasingly unavoidable. Ford’s only solace was that Daphne would not look at him any differently.
He knew she wouldn’t shun him or call him a monster. She was a woman of duty. She would understand.
Wouldn’t she?
64
Daphne sat in front of the open closet. She’d found a shoe box of old photos that Ford had likely buried. Sh
e never thought she would find out what his previous mate had looked like, but now that she held the image of the woman in her hands, Daphne found her heart warming.
No jealousy stirred in her. Ford had a past and that was quite alright. Everyone led lives before meeting their final love. She didn’t see a point in holding it against him. Besides, his mate had been beautiful.
She looked nothing like Daphne. Instead, his previous mate had been short and slight. Her hair had been cropped close to her head and tousled, making her look more like a wild thing from the depths of the forest than a human woman. She could see why Ford loved her. She practically radiated energy.
Daphne reached for the nearest frame. It had room for three photos. In the topmost slot, she added a picture of Ford and his previous mate, both grinning at the camera. In the bottommost slot, she put in a picture of her brother and Evangeline at the courthouse. The middle slot remained empty.
She didn’t have a picture of her and Ford together yet. Soon enough, she would rectify that.
Getting up from the floor, Daphne padded over to a nail on the wall and hung the picture frame. She stood back and admired her hard work, even though there was an empty spot in the middle. The promise that it would soon be filled warmed her.
Besides, if Ford hated it, the knives she’d ordered would make up for it. They’d arrived while he was at work. She placed them on the magnetic strip over the sink, right where his last set had been.
She glanced at the clock, eager for him to be home. She’d spent the early part of the day trying to figure out what she wanted to do next. While her search for purpose had proved fruitless, her work around the house had cleaned it up a bit. Yet, there were only so many things she could do by herself.
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