Chapter 16
Dread coursed through Lambda’s body. He’d been in tough spots before. His first year on security, he’d faced down a pack of seven roaming wolves alone for half an hour before Epsilon and Gamma showed up. He’d nearly died that day, surrounded by those wild wolves, his heart in his throat while he held his own.
But he’d never felt fear like this. This was something living, crawling beneath his skin, like a reptile trying to worm its way into his vital organs. The looming threat had become a moving thing, infecting every corner of his being.
He’d never had anything to lose. But now, he had the greatest woman in the world—his mate. His beautiful, sexy, strong Vallie, set in her ways and her power. And she would stand beside him as he entered Dragon’s Keep, though all he wanted to do was run her back to his house and lock her away from all the ills of the world. He wanted to put himself between her and any danger.
It was a terrible, glorious feeling to love someone this much and burn this brightly for another soul.
Lambda held Vallie closer and pressed his face against her hair. He breathed in her scent, the sweetness of her being, and held his breath. How could he let her face such danger? Was he failing as a mate, allowing her to take such a risk?
Her body felt so fragile as she slept beside him. Her skin was too soft, her bones too breakable. She wasn’t built like him, a creature made for battle. She could get hurt.
She could die.
Lambda wrestled with himself, the battle between the man who believed she should be allowed to save her sister and the beast who wanted his mate safe at home, waiting for him to return victorious. His beast screamed to take her to safety. He’d been able to keep the wolf quiet this entire trip, let the beast believe that by walking beside her, he was keeping her safe.
But now, now that they had both tasted her, the beast howled.
“Vallie,” he said softly. “You need to wake up.” Lambda kissed her neck softly. There wasn’t time to have her again.
There wasn’t time for so many things he wanted.
“I’m up,” she mumbled. She wiggled out of his arms and stretched, then grabbed the canteen to take a swig of water. She passed him the water, then opened the pack, and tore into a piece of jerky.
“Vallie,” he began. “I care so deeply for you.”
“I know,” she answered, a small smile playing over her lips. “I care about you, too.”
“Entering Balaur is going to be very dangerous,” he continued. “The dragons are not kind creatures.”
“Don’t have to tell me. I’m the one who lived in Balaur for eight years. It wasn’t exactly a fun experience.” She rubbed the small bump on her nose. “Do you know they broke my nose at least three times? There were two other times I wasn’t positive because I didn’t get the double black eye bruises that usually come with a broken nose.” She took another bite of jerky. “It’ll be nice to finally stick it to them. They may have had me for eight years, but they don’t have me anymore, and they don’t get to keep Verona.”
“I think I should take you back to Luven,” he spat out before she could say another word. He couldn’t take it, listening to her go on about how she was tormented by the dragons. How they had abused her for years. Because she deserved to be the one who fucked them over.
But Lambda’s heart couldn’t handle it.
“Excuse me?”
“I should take you back to Luven. I’ll come back for Verona with Iota and some other wolves. We can get her out. Maybe some other women, too.” Lambda had no idea whether or not any of the other wolves would come with him…Sigma would have done it before Millonia, but he was miles away in the Emptylands now.
“We’ve been over this,” Vallie interrupted. “You don’t know what Verona looks like. You could come home with thirty women and still miss her.”
“There are thirty women still in Balaur?” Lambda asked.
Vallie rolled her eyes. “There are probably fifty. Brides, pets, servants—these dragons don’t use human men for anything. It’s all women. I told you; I’m coming. No matter what.”
“Please don’t make me watch you go into Balaur,” he continued.
Vallie set her jaw. “I’m here. I’m going into Balaur, and I’m not leaving without Verona. Plus, you want to come back with a bunch of wolves? So you can all faint the second you cross the wall? Fuck, Lambda. I thought you were my partner. We were supposed to be a team. Remember? We both make it out? You promised that we wouldn’t leave each other. I’m not going to let you do this alone and we sure as hell aren’t going home without Verona.” She shook her head and rubbed her hands over her eyes. “Why are you doing this right now? We have to leave in a few minutes.”
“Because I’m afraid!” he shouted a little louder than he meant to. “I’m afraid that we won’t get back to Luven. I’m afraid there will be too many dragons for me to fight and I’ll die, and you’ll be thrown back into their dungeons, if they even let you live.”
“Being afraid is part of life! Fuck. Look at you. If your mom hadn’t dropped you in Luven, you’d be living in the Emptylands. My whole life has been scary. Every day. Maidenhead, Balaur, even Luven. I had no fucking idea what the wolves were going to do to me. But now that I know there is peace to be had in Luven, I have to free Verona. I can’t let her languish in Balaur, waiting for Bedek to die so some horrible dragon can take her away. She is my family.” Vallie scrubbed her eyes. “Don’t make me abandon my family.”
“I didn’t mean to make you cry,” he said quietly, reaching out to touch her shoulder. She shrugged him off.
“It’s fine.” She ran her hand over her face one last time. “I’m going to take a piss and then we need to leave.” She disappeared into the woods.
Lambda had failed. Not only was Vallie coming, but she was angry with him now.
And they still had to face the dragons.
*
They walked the last two miles in silence. Lambda still held out his arm for her to grab on uneven land, but that was their only contact.
He could smell anger rolling off her.
Fuck. He didn’t want her distracted by anything, least of all him. They both needed to be sharp to outwit the dragons and hopefully get in and out undetected.
Half a mile out, they came upon the rank beginnings of a pond. Lambda squatted beside it, spreading the stink over his arms and legs, hoping it was strong enough to cover his wolf scent.
“Fuck, that smells awful,” Vallie commented finally. “Bad enough to wake someone from a deep sleep. I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“It’ll hide the wolf scent. They’ll just think they have standing water somewhere,” Lambda explained.
“Yeah, and they’ll go looking for a flood and find you covered in pond muck.”
“I’ll smell them before they know it’s me,” he pointed out. “It’s better than going in as a wolf.”
“Sure,” Vallie finally conceded. She looked up to Balaur. “Fucking dragons. Saving Verona won’t topple their empire, but it’ll be a thorn in their side. Better than nothing.” She turned to Lambda, her eyes alight. “Ready?”