Bloodrunner Dragon

by T. S. Joyce

  The gate was wide open. He pulled on through and came to a hard stop in front of 1010. The sun had set behind the mountains, and dim evening light made the autumn-painted woods seem other-worldly. But that wasn’t what had his heart thumping in his chest. Two lit, flickering lanterns sat invitingly on the porch, one on either side of the door, which was open wide.

  Wyatt shut the truck door quietly and made his way up the stairs. And when he reached the doorway, he was stunned into stillness. The scent of seasoned steak and lemon pepper asparagus brought an instant rumble to his belly. She had an old radio plugged into the wall, and a love song filled the small cabin with soft notes. A blanket was spread on the floor, topped with a couple of beers and a bowl of late season strawberries. It was Harper that froze his breath in his chest, though.

  She stood with her back to him, stirring something on the stove, swaying gently to the music. Her dark hair had been curled at the ends and hung down to the middle of her back. She wore dark, skin-tight jeans tucked into hiking boots, and a moss green sweater clung to her curves.

  “So you know, I won’t be cooking like this all the time,” she said softly. Harper threw him a boner-inducing smile over her shoulder and pulled the pan off the stove. “This is a special occasion. I’ll be setting up an online law practice that will keep me busy, so you’re gonna have to get on that grill if you want to eat.”

  He chuckled and ducked his chin to his chest. “Noted. What’s the special occasion?” Claiming marks, their reunion, his reconciliation with the boys…really, it could be a lot of things.

  Harper busied herself with piling food onto two paper plates, then sashayed those sexy hips his way. She dipped her gaze like she had grown shy all the sudden, and the words seemed to stay lodged in her throat, even though she parted her lips like she wanted to speak.

  Worry slithered through him. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  “I suddenly don’t know if I’ve done the right thing. Or if you will be mad. Maybe this won’t be a celebration for you.”

  Wyatt strode over to her and gripped her elbows. “Whatever you’ve done, I won’t be mad. Just tell me.”

  Harper ghosted him a glance with those gorgeous half-dragon eyes of hers. She set the plates on the blanket and reached into her front pocket. She handed him a folded piece of paper, then wrung her hands.

  Wyatt didn’t like this, didn’t want her upset. His bear let off a low growl as he opened the damning piece of paper that was causing his mate’s anxiety.

  As he read the paperwork, a creeping numbness took him. Couldn’t be. He looked up at Harper to make sure this wasn’t some kind of joke. “Is this really an offer on the mountains?”

  “Well, it’s a copy of my offer. Martin’s realtor has the original.”

  He pointed to the signatures at the bottom. “Martin signed this.”

  “Yeah,” she whispered, her dark, delicate eyebrows arching with concern. “He accepted my offer today, and we’re trying for a quick close. Two weeks. But…I just thought about what this could mean to you. Your bear chose this place, and I’m buying it out from under you.”

  Hope flared in his chest. Carefully, he asked, “Harper, what does this mean?”

  “I can rescind my offer if your bear—”

  “Tell me fast. What do these mountains mean to you?”

  Harper pursed her lips and locked her wild gaze on his. And so softly, so quietly, she murmured, “They’re mine.”

  Wyatt covered his face in his hands because, goddamn, hearing those words was everything he could want.

  “Are you mad?”

  Wyatt shook his head and paced to the door, then back, overwhelmed.

  “Are you hurt?”

  Wyatt crushed her against his chest and lifted her off the ground, buried his face right near the place he’d bitten her last night. “Tell me this is real. Don’t play with me right now.”

  Harper laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m serious. I tried to leave today—”

  Wyatt jerked to a stop. “What?”

  “No.” Harper cupped his cheeks gently. “Not really leave leave. I just wanted to see if I could.”

  “What happened?”

  “I got to the bridge outside of Bryson City and couldn’t go any farther. My dragon wouldn’t let me.”

  “Why?”

  She was grinning so big now.

  “Harper, why?” he asked louder, desperate for her answer.

  “Because I found my treasure.”

  “The land?”

  “And you. I think it’s a package deal. I can’t leave you. I can’t leave the mountains. This is home. You are home. I haven’t had any seizures today. Only the happy humming.”

  It was working. Not the way he’d planned, but it was working. She’d bonded to the mountains, sealed the bond to him. Now, maybe she could be okay. Maybe she could stop hurting, and maybe he could keep her, not just until The Unrest took his mate, but for always.

  The picnic dinner meant something different now. Something bigger. Harper had set up their first meal in 1010.

  His muscles shook with relief as he held her. She’d never looked happier or more beautiful than in this moment, cupping his cheeks, searching his eyes. And there it was, that happy rumble in her chest.

  He’d never thought a sound could mean so much, but this one was everything. It was the signal that all was right in her world, and thus, all was right in his.

  Dragging her waist closer just to feel her, he kissed her hard, then softer and softer until he laid sipping pecks on her mouth. She was crying, and it wasn’t like when he’d left all those years ago. It wasn’t the ragged, heartbreaking, body-wrenching sobs he’d seen in his rearview mirror as he’d driven away.

  This right here was Harper telling him silently that she was overwhelmed in a good way because she’d somehow found joy after everything she’d been through.

  “You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met,” he murmured.

  And when she looked up at him, her differently shaped pupils contracting, she had the sweetest smile on her lips, the most adoring look in her eyes, and he was certain, in this moment, Fate had known what she was doing all along. He and Harper had paid their dues to be together. They hadn’t given up or forced each other from their minds. They’d held on when there was almost nothing to grasp onto. Because the only way to tether a soul to another living being was if they did it together.

  They’d both been stripped bare in their years apart, and then to find each other again and feel this depth of consuming reprieve?

  Their journey to this moment mattered.

  As they settled in to eat the food she’d prepared, Wyatt couldn’t help the smile on his face because the soft music in the background was textured with her giggles and laughter as they talked. He couldn’t drag his attention away from the curve of her lips and the small smile lines at the corners of her eyes. He was enamored with her dark lashes brushing her cheeks every time she got thoughtful and looked down, and he was stunned over and over whenever she graced him with her gaze. One brown eye that said she was soft, womanly, caring, vulnerable, and then her fiery blue one with the elongated pupil that said she could be a fire-breathing death-bringer to anyone who messed with her or the people she loved.

  Loyal Harper, one of the last Bloodrunner Dragons, and she’d seen right through his grit and chosen him. Him. He was going to spend the rest of his life earning the devotion that pooled in her eyes.

  He opened his mouth to tell her how beautiful she was, but the long, haunting note of a wolf sounded on the breeze. Wyatt stood quickly and strode to the door, threw it open as a second howl joined the first.

  “The Valdoro Pack?” Harper asked from right behind him.

  Headlights shone through the trees up ahead, and Wyatt bared his teeth as his thoughts rushed. A third wolf joined the song. His bear could handle four, maybe five wolves at a time.

  “Stay here,” he murmured.

  Harper snorted. �
��Not likely.”

  Right. Harper had never been a sit-on-the-sidelines type of person.

  A wave of fear and protectiveness took him. It was a new sensation and had been consuming him since he’d bitten her, but the second he made Harper feel like she needed protection, she’d likely char his hide and remind him she was no damsel in need of rescuing.

  Wyatt led her to the yard and waited for the silver SUV to come to a stop in front of them.

  A single man got out. He was tall, lithe, and stank of fur and dominance. His face was scarred on one side, like some animal had clawed him, and his eyes were churning silver under his crop of mussed, dark hair.

  He came to a stop in front of his ride and dragged his furious gaze down Wyatt’s torso like he was measuring him up. “Wyatt James,” he said in a snarly voice.

  “Axton,” Wyatt greeted in a dead voice.

  “I said I want you out of my territory, not to make another offer on this place!” His words tapered into a snarl as the veins bulged in his neck.

  Harper stepped forward out of the shadows behind Wyatt. “It’s not your territory.”

  “I wasn’t talking to you, bitch.”

  Wyatt canted his head, and now he couldn’t take his eyes off Axton’s throat. “Talk to her like that again, and I’ll be separating your head from your body, dog.”

  “I have ten wolves behind me, and you are out here unprotected. Save your posturing, bear.”

  Wyatt blew out a sigh and shook his head. “You should think of the well-being of your pack and leave. Leave here, leave this land.”

  “It ain’t your land! It’s mine!”

  “Wrong,” Harper said. Her chest rattled with a long, prehistoric rumble that rattled the air around them and made it hard for Wyatt to draw a breath. A smattering of pops sounded, and Wyatt stumbled out of the way as Harper’s green and gold dragon heaved out of her body. She was four times the size of his bear, and her wings stretched long enough to cover the clearing. Her eyes blazed with fury as she snaked her long, scaly neck toward Axton.

  “Holy fuckin’ shit,” the alpha of the Valdoro Pack murmured as he backed away slowly, his neck arched all the way back to take in the towering dragon.

  Wyatt tried to contain his laugh, really he did, but from the look of mingled anger and terror on Axton’s face, he and his inner wolf were at war on what to do. Fight or flee, fight or flee.

  The howling in the woods stopped. Harper sucked in a heaving breath and let off a roar that echoed off the mountains. She was so fiercely beautiful.

  Harper leapt into the air, beating her wings as she aimed for the clouds above. Hurricane-strength winds made Wyatt splay his legs to keep upright and pinned Axton against his ride. Then she was up, gracefully arching her back as she searched for the wind currents she wanted.

  For a moment, she was nothing but a massive shadow blocking out the stars. And then the fire rained down in a long line through the woods.

  “W-what is she doing?” Axton asked. “Pack!”

  “She ain’t after your pack, so settle the fuck down.” Wyatt turned slowly, watching her fire cease, only to resume again in another long line as she worked her way north along the territory’s edge. A slow smile took his face, and he huffed a soft chuckle. “She’s marking her territory. If she burns it, she earns it.”

  “That doesn’t make sense,” Axton said, his wild eyes locked on the powerful burst of flames lighting up the forest. “She hasn’t closed on the land yet.”

  “Sorry, asshole. Them’s the rules.”

  Harper dipped sharply, dove for the ground, then rose above the tree line again, trailing plumes of blackened earth from her mouth. She was eating ashes, just like her ancestors had fed on when they’d scorched the earth. She was consuming her mountains. Chills blasted up the back of Wyatt’s neck.

  As she disappeared around the first mountain and the night sky behind it glowed red again, Wyatt advised the alpha, “I suggest you take your pack and leave her territory. She’s a fair woman, but mess with something she loves, and she’ll burn every last one of you to the ground. Never come here again.”

  Axton let off a shrill whistle. Wyatt pulled his shirt off and prepared for a Change in case he was calling his Pack in to attack, but the glowing eyes in the woods backed away and disappeared into the night.

  Axton swung his furious gaze to Wyatt. His face was so contorted with hatred, he barely looked human. “I heard what you did to the Queen of the Asheville Coven. You’ve made too many enemies now, bear. If we don’t off you, the vamps will. Even dragons have to sleep.” He spat on the ground and snarled out, “This ain’t over.” And then the alpha of the Valdoro Pack strode around the side of his SUV and fishtailed out of the yard, spewing dirt as he gunned it.

  As Wyatt watched him leave, he linked his hands behind his head and gritted his teeth against the curses he wanted to spew. The wolf was right. Wyatt swung his attention to where Harper was working her way around the back of the mountains. They didn’t have the numbers, and that put them at risk. It put Harper at risk.

  His mate was as tough as her armor-like scales, but she wasn’t invincible.

  And Wyatt would be damned if he let anything else happen to the woman he loved.

  He still had work to do to make sure his mate was safe.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Harper held onto Wyatt’s taut waist as the four-wheeler under them bounced and bumped. They’d closed on the land today, paid in full, the financial aid was coming through for Martin, and the deed was now hers. She smiled against the strong planes of his back as he sped through the woods. “What happened to taking me out on a fancy fourteenth date in Asheville?”

  “Fourteen? Woman, are you counting our dates?”

  “Maybe.”

  Wyatt’s deep chuckle reverberated off her cheek. “This will be better,” he promised over his shoulder. “Trust me.”

  And she did. Life with Wyatt over the past few weeks had been nothing short of magical. She hadn’t had a single bloody nose or seizure. With each passing day, she’d grown stronger and more confident in her body. She’d grown to love her dragon again. She hadn’t felt anything but undiluted happiness. And yesterday, Wyatt had driven with her over the bridge outside of Bryson City and gone as far as the airport near Asheville. She’d been fine, and the relief that she could leave her mountains and visit home again, as long as Wyatt was with her, was proof that he was a huge part of her treasure. Her dragon trusted him, but then, she always had.

  Harper could smell the scorch marks now. The wind kicked the smoky scent of ash into the air, which meant they were nearing the property line. Axton and his Valdoro Pack had left, and the vamps were lying low. Though her instincts told her this was only the calm eye of the storm, she was bound and determined to enjoy every moment of peace with her mate. Butterflies drummed around her middle at that thought.

  Wyatt was really hers now. The mark on her shoulder was undeniable proof that she belonged to him, and he to her.

  “Close your eyes,” Wyatt murmured, cupping his hand over hers as she tightened her arms around his waist.

  She’d always adored surprises, and Wyatt had been so good with them when they were kids. Thoughtful invites to parties, little gifts wrapped in newspaper and left on her doorstep, flowers when she least expected them. And now that same sweet thoughtfulness she’d loved in the boy was still present in the man.

  Harper closed her eyes as he pulled the ATV to a stop. He helped her off and spun her slowly, angling her shoulders toward the scent of the scorch marks she’d made those weeks ago.

  His short facial scruff brushed against her cheek as he rested his face right against hers and wrapped his arms around her middle. “Open your eyes, Harper,” he whispered.

  What she saw in front of her rendered her breathless. He’d brought her to the cliffs, right on the edge of their land. Beyond, the fall colors of rust red and burnt orange drifted across the valleys and mountains like ocean waves. But sitting
on a row of black boulders, right on the edge of the cliffs, were three men her heart would know anywhere.

  Aaron, Ryder, and Weston were there, talking low, shoulder to shoulder, looking every bit like they belonged.

  “Did you invite them?” she asked.

  Wyatt smiled against her cheek. “Yes. Today is a big day, and we should be celebrating with them.”

  Harper stepped into the clearing, and the moment her shoe hit the wild grass, Weston turned, a slight and ready smile on his face. The boys met her in the middle of the clearing.

  “Tell her,” Ryder said, his eyes on Weston and blazing the gold of his snowy owl.

  “Tell me what?” she asked, instantly worried something had gone wrong.

  Weston shifted his weight and adjusted the hat on his head. When he lifted his gaze to her, his eyes were the pitch black of his raven. “I’ve been having dreams.”

  “What about?”

  “It’s the same every night. I see the cabin, 1010, and you’re standing inside. Your mouth is covered in blood, and I try to run inside to help you. But then you smile, and the red disappears. And right before I wake up, you say the same thing, every time.”

  That she knew of, Weston didn’t dream like his father before him. He’d never had the sight, but recurring dreams were a big deal. “What do I say?”

  Weston swallowed hard and murmured, “You tell me, ‘Come home.’” Weston fell to his knees and angled his face, exposing his neck. “Alpha.”

  Harper rocked back on her heels as Ryder dropped to his knees beside him, angled his neck and murmured, “Alpha.”

  She bit her lip hard to keep her emotions inside as Aaron dropped down in front of her, his blazing silver eyes locked on hers and that wicked smile on his lips. “Alpha.”

  And when she looked over at Wyatt, just to see if this was his plan, if he’d asked them to do this, he kissed her gently, then dropped to his knees. His chest heaved with emotion as he angled his neck. “It was never my destiny to be alpha, Harper. It was yours.”

  Deep within her, a long, loud, satisfied humming sound vibrated through her entire body. Her dragon stretched, and tendrils of power unfurled within her. If she did this, she was owning that she was okay and strong enough to protect them, guide them. It was a declaration that she was unafraid of The Unrest taking her. It was expanding her treasure and an oath to protect the ones she loved with her life. The decision was an easy one now because she wasn’t scared anymore.