Dragon Scorned

18. Ryker

Iwas just getting ready to pull out of the student parking lot when a guy pulling down a mask caught my eye.

Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to wait and see what this mystery guy was up to. I didn’t have a lot to do, I just needed to go and get Knox’s spare set of keys he kept in his desk at home. It was my ticket to letting River into his office.

That had my thoughts spinning around River, with her piercing blue eyes, she was exquisite. My brother wasn’t lying when he said she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. She was, and when she showed me her beast, shifting her eyes so I could just see it lurking below the surface. I was fascinated with the woman.

I looked down at my hand, willing it in and out of existence, practicing the chameleon power Moonbeam was kind enough to give me. They tried to cross me with more but this was the only one that stuck. I was slowly gaining control of it. Practicing to the point that I was invisible, completely blending into the background, unless you looked hard enough.

They experimented on all us supernaturals, turning us into chimera’s. It only ever took to the strongest of us, giving us unique abilities, like my chameleon powers.

The weaker ones always died, their body unable to handle the amount of power Moonbeam shot into our veins. The chameleon power they gave me was a mistake though, it’s what allowed me to set off the bomb and escape.

A stupid new guard came into my cell when he saw it was empty and left the door open, rookie move. I easily slipped out, breaking the main gas line. That same idiot guard decided to have a smoke and boom. The entire west wing went up in a glorious burst of flames. The explosion caused an override to their system, unlocking all the cells and doors, allowing everyone trapped there a chance at freedom.

I slipped out through the chaos, undetected, and shifted. It was a long time since my dragon was let out and he relished in it, taking off toward home. My new chameleon power concealed us as we flew in the night sky.

It wasn’t long before the guy returned. I watched as he had something over his shoulder. No, not something…someone.

Anger pushed my dragon to the surface as I saw just who that someone was. I jolted out of my car, not even bothering to close the door in my wake, as I bound over to the man.

River was slumped over his shoulder, unresponsive, and I got to him just as he tossed her in the trunk of his car.

I didn’t say anything, just tapped him on the shoulder as he went to close the trunk. When he turned, my fist flew into his face. Blood skirted from his nose as I felt crushing bone under my knuckles.

“Mother fucker,” he roared, bringing his hands up to clutch his nose as blood was steadily streaming down his face.

“Who are you?” I yelled, grabbing his shirt in my fist and shaking him, bringing my fist back for another blow.

He just looked at me with a hard expression. I reached out instead and yanked his mask off his face, revealing the man before me. He wasn’t someone I recognized. The only thing distinguishable on him was the arrow tattoo on his pointer finger, marking him as a hunter.

I surged my fist into him again, connecting with his jaw this time, “What do you want with her?”

Once again, I was met with silence, the man just staring blankly at me. I punched him again and again, releasing all my anger on this man. When I pulled back, ready for another blow, he began laughing, showing me his bloody teeth.

“They will get her eventually, it’s only a matter of time,” he said in a slimy voice.

“Who?” I roared, sounding more beast than human. “What does Moonbeam want with her?”

I shook him violently as he began laughing more, and then the distinctive sound of a capsule crushing hit my ears.

Cyanide.

“No,” I hollered, shaking the man more as his mouth filled up with a bloody-white foam. Gurgling hit my ears, and he began choking.

“Fuck,” I threw him to the ground, discarding the slimy fuck as I went to check on River. He would be dead in a matter of minutes anyway.

I looked down into the trunk as the seemingly sleeping girl, itching to pull her into my arms. If I touch her, though, I’ll activate the mate bond, and I don’t think she”s ready for that yet.

“Fuck,” I hissed, pulling my phone out of my pocket to message Tate.

Me

River is in the student lot. She was ambushed by a hunter. Drugged I think.

Good Twin

I’m on my way. Is the hunter still there?

Me

He’s dead, I’ll clean up the body when you get here.

I pocketed my phone, looking back down at the captivating girl. Her hair was disheveled, lying across her face. I picked up a strand, moving it to the side. Just as I did, the sweetest sound fell from her lips as she shifted her body, showing me the smallest prick on her neck.

Rage boiled in my blood at the sight, the thought of him hurting her set my dragon in a frenzy. Needing to spill blood, I peered around the car at the dead hunter, vowing to kill them all.

When I brought my gaze back to River, the peaceful look on her face calmed my vengeful beast raging inside me. The need to reach out and touch her was overwhelming, to feel her smooth skin against my calloused hands.

I reached out, my hand shaking, the desire to touch her too great against my mind telling me not to.

Tate came running up, screeching to a halt beside me. I yanked my hand away from her, looking over into eyes that mirrored my own, or did until my scar.

“What the fuck happened?” He asked, reaching down to carefully swipe the hair off of River’s face.

Jealousy roared inside me, and I pushed it down. I couldn’t be mad at my brother for touching what’s his, but she is also mine.

I just couldn’t have her, not yet. Not until the time is right. I wanted to play with her a bit first, after all. What was the fun in her knowing I was her mate before I got the chance to toy with her first?

“She has a needle prick on her neck. I’m betting he came up behind her and injected her with a drug to knock her out,” I told him, nodding at the wound on her neck.

“I’ll take her home and make sure she’s okay. You deal with that.” He pointed at the dead hunter lying on the ground.

I gave him a curt nod as he reached in to scoop River up, cradling her to his chest like she was the most precious thing in the world.

He had one arm around her back and another under her knees. Her head lulled to the side, resting against his chest.

I ran over to open his car door, waiting as he gently placed her on the seat, careful not to hurt her. He pulled the seat belt around her, buckling her in place so she didn’t slump forward. This was the only time I fucking wished our cars had a damn backseat.

I took one last look at the beautiful girl before closing the door. “Keep her safe.”

“You know I will,” he told me, climbing behind the wheel and starting his car, racing out of the parking lot.

I huffed, spinning around to head back to the mess I now had to clean up. Fucking stupid hunter, why did you have to go and kill yourself before I got the chance to torture answers out of you.

I walked over to the lifeless guy, giving him a good kick to the stomach.

“Stupid fuck,” I said between my powerful blows.

“I think he’s already dead.”

I spun to look at the man with a questioning look at the hunter on the ground.

“Way to state the fucking obvious,” I growled, focusing on the man standing in front of me now. Completely forgetting the body lying at my feet.

He had long blond hair, and brown eyes that swirled with black. He was tall and lengthy, with a small muscular build to him. I immediately recognized him as Jax from Tate’s description of the guy. He was also one of River’s mates.

“What do you want, Jax?” I snapped, pulling his attention off the hunter. His beast swirled in his eyes, right below the surface, begging to be released. I guess you don’t have as much control as you claim, allowing your dragon that close to the surface was a dangerous game.

He stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged, “I just followed Tate, but when I got here…he’s nowhere to be found, and instead, you”re here. Kicking an already dead guy.”

He raised his brows in question, looking from me to the hunter.

The snow started falling suddenly, encasing the world around us in a complete whiteout. Fuck, was it supposed to snow today? I could hardly see in front of my face. Well, getting rid of the body just got a lot harder.

“Are you going to fucking stand there or help me?” I asked him as I bent down to grab the hunter’s ankles, not giving him any of the answers he was seeking.

“Maybe, if you tell me what happened?”

I growled at the guy, clearly his help came at a cost. Was I willing to pay the price though? I weighed my options. It would be nice to have him follow me so I had a ride back while I drove his car off a cliff.

I huffed out an annoyed breath, “He drugged River. I killed him. The end.”

His eyes widened in surprise and concern for his mate. “He drugged her? Where is she? Is she okay?”

I rolled my eyes at his rapid-fire questions. I didn’t fucking have time for this. I needed to get home before Knox did so I could get his spare keys.

“She’s fine, and I’ll tell you where she is after you help me,” I told him, trying and failing to cover up the annoyance in my tone.

“Fine,” he seethed before bending down and looping his arms under the hunter’s shoulders.

We picked him up effortlessly, shuffling back a few steps to toss him in the trunk. I slammed it closed before facing Jax.

“Follow me in your car so you can give me a lift back,” I told him, not waiting for his reply as I climbed behind the wheel.

I reached to turn the key, only to find it gone, fuck. I started looking through the center console and glove compartment. When I opened up the glove box, instead of keys I found a folder labeled River Moonstone. I quickly pulled it out, glancing around to make sure Jax wasn’t spying on me, and shoved it into my jacket.

I’ll deal with it later. I continued my search for the keys. When I flipped down the visor, they fell into my lap, bingo.

I fired up the car and pulled out of the lot, waiting a moment to make sure Jax could follow simple orders.

Once he pulled out after me I raced down the road I knew all too well. The very one I was driving when Moonbeam hunters ambushed me. How poetic that it would be the same place I would send this hunter”s car off the mountain.

The drive wasn’t long, and before I knew it, I was pulling to a stop at the edge of the cliff with Jax pulling in behind me.

“What the fuck is that?” I asked him as I got out of the car, leaving the door open and the engine running.

The snow wasn”t letting up, it was quickly covering our tracks. At least I didn’t have to worry about that.

“My truck? It’s more convenient than those death traps you race around in, let me see you haul stuff in the trunk of those.” He told me, hopping out of the ugliest shade of brown F350 I have ever seen.

“It looks like a turd on wheels. You really couldn”t have gone for a less shitty color?”

He grimaced at my words, “Let”s just get this over with. I need to pick something up for River.”

“I”ll get him into the driver”s seat, and you go find a rock to hold down the pedal.”

Jax nodded at me before turning on his heel and looking for a stone big enough to hold the gas down. I popped the trunk and bent down to sling the man over my shoulder. Once I got him hoisted up, I walked over and threw him in the front seat, adjusting him into a sitting position. It wouldn”t matter anyway once the car tumbles off the cliff since I have no interest in strapping him in with his seatbelt; it”ll flip him ass over tits. I just like being through.

“Got one,” Jax said, handing me a giant rock.

Perfect, I pushed the emergency brake down and popped the car into drive. When I set the rock on the gas pedal, the tires started squealing and smoking.

I pushed the emergency brake down and dove out of the way, watching as the car took off over the cliff.

Getting to my feet and dusting the snow off me, I walked over to the edge. Watching as the car tumbled down the mountain.

“Remind me to never piss you off,” Jax said, slapping me on the back.

“Not touching me would be a good start,” I seethed, slanting my eyes at him. Just because he helped me with this task didn’t mean he was off the hook for fucking River over like he did.

I may be a hypocrite because I’m hiding my own secrets from her, but at least I planned on telling her before I initiated our mate bond. I just wanted to play with her first. This asshole didn’t give her the option of knowing who he was first.

He yanked his hand away from me, “Noted, ready to head back then?”

I headed over to the passenger side of his shit stain, ignoring his question.

“Okay then, I’ll take that as a yes.” He said, following me and jumping in the driver’s side.

He turned to me, opening his mouth. I let out a growl, and he snapped his lips closed. Then, he started up the truck to head back to Willow Hollow.

Before we could pull away Nikolai landed in front of the truck, letting out a booming roar.

“Fuck,” I dropped my head. What does this asshole want?

I hopped out of the truck as he shifted and began striding toward me.

“What happened?” He yelled, clenching and unclenching his fist at his sides. He was seconds away from losing his shit. I could tell, I’ve been there countless times.

“River was attacked, drugged by a hunter. I took him out, and he killed himself with cyanide. We dumped the body, and Tate took her home.” I told him, squaring my shoulders.

There was no reason to lie to him, if I wanted River and her mates to trust me then I needed to tell him the truth. I was already hiding who I really was, no need to add fuel to the fire. I looked around, the snow was still falling around us, but it was like we were trapped inside an invisible barrier. The snow was leaving us untouched in a perfect bubble.

“Are you doing this?” I gestured to the blizzard going on outside the bubble we were in.

“Blizzard dragon, I can control the snow. Did you get the needle the hunter used?” he said, like I should have known he was a fucking blizzard dragon.

The strongest dragons are able to control things like water, earth, air, acid, shadows, snow, I could go on for days listing the different dragon classes. There were so many different dragons, and we all controlled something different, apparently Nikolai could control snow. I wielded acid, I could completely dissolve a person with one spit of it.

“It”s right here.” I pulled the syringe the hunter used out of my jacket pocket.

Nikolai snatched it out of my hands before placing it between his teeth and turning his back to me. He shifted before I could ask him what the hell he wanted with it and took off.

The barrier blocking me from the snow left with him, and it began falling around me once again.

I got in the truck, Jax didn’t say anything, just put it in drive and headed back to the university. Good, I was in no mood to make polite conversation.