Chapter 11
Cole glided his hands around Nia’s waist. He pulled her close, his mouth searching for hers.
She was warm and soft, and her body molded around him in a way that made him groan with pleasure.
He’d never felt such ecstasy as he did when her silky hair fell around his face and fanned out on the pillow.
The desire in her eyes made his body shiver with its craving for her.
Nia. His mate. They could finally be together.
Bang!
Nia disappeared, and his dark bedroom coalesced around him. Cole sat up, breathing heavily. He’d kicked off most of the covers, and only the flat sheet was left, twisted up at the foot of the bed. He swiped at his face and found a thin sheen of sweat. He’d been dreaming.
It was one hell of a dream, though.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Shit.” He hadn’t just woken up from a dream. Someone was pounding on the front door of the packhouse. Cole snagged a pair of shorts from the chair near the window and yanked them on before speaking to the smart device on his nightstand. “Show me the front door.”
The camera blinked to life. Cole squinted against the flood of bright light, which revealed a woman on the front porch.
Her dark hair was frizzy and tangled, and she had an oversized jacket wrapped around her thin frame.
Her teeth were clenched as she slammed the side of her fist against the door before turning around to check behind her.
“What the hell?” Cole grabbed a shirt and pulled it on as he quickly made his way to the door. He jerked open the locks and opened it. “Can I help—whoa.”
The woman had raised her fist to pound once again, but with no door in the way, her knuckles headed straight for Cole’s face.
He dodged them and took a step back. “Easy, there. What’s going on?”
“You tell me!” She charged into the house, her hands reaching for his throat. “Where are they?”
It was the middle of the night, and Cole was barely awake, but his training kicked in easily. He swiped away her hands with a quick move of his forearm and darted backward. “Where’s what?”
“As if you don’t know!” She launched herself at him, throwing the full weight of her body behind her blows.
Cole managed to snag one wrist, which fit easily into the circle between his thumb and finger. He pushed his arm out straight in an effort to keep her back from him, but he didn’t let go. “Calm down!”
But she continued to swipe at him with her free hand, her lips peeled back and her pale blue eyes wild. “Give them back! They’re mine! I know you have them, and you had no right to take them!”
“Hold on!” Cole put his hand up to fend off the next attack, but it was clear that this woman wasn’t going to quit.
She screamed wildly as she lurched toward him again, swiping at his eyes. “You kidnapper! You fucking asshole! How could you do this? Give them back right now, or I’ll rip your eyes right out of your head! Don’t think I don’t know how!”
Cole’s left hand was still around her wrist. He jerked it to the right, spinning her away from him. He let go just long enough to clamp his biceps around her, pinning her arms to her sides. He found her wrists again and folded her lower arms over her stomach.
“Stop it, or I’ll sweep your legs out from under you,” he told her firmly in her ear. “I don’t know what you think is going on here, but I’ll have you know that you just forcefully entered the home of the police chief. I strongly suggest you reconsider what you’re doing.”
Wrestling suspects to the ground had always been one of his least favorite parts about being a cop.
He’d taken jiu-jitsu and Krav Maga classes to learn safe and effective moves, and his body knew them well.
He could overcome even the most difficult suspects, but he’d preferred to talk through any situation.
“I don’t care if you’re the fucking King of England,” she hissed. “Your shiny badge doesn’t mean shit to me if you have my children!”
“I don’t have—” He stopped when a ripple of silvery scales erupted along her arm, gleaming in the moonlight that came in from the front window.
Cole understood. “Listen to me very carefully. Your children are here, but they’re not in any danger.
I only brought them here to keep them safe.
I’m more than happy to take you to them, but you have to promise me that you’re going to behave.
I’m not going to just let you loose in my house if you’re going to keep acting like this. ”
She was breathing heavily through her nose, her jaw still clenched. “How do I know you’re not going to kidnap me, too?”
“I guess you’ll just have to trust my shiny badge. I wear it for a reason, you know.” Cole let go of her wrists first to see how she’d react. The woman stood stiff and scared, like a wild animal caught in a trap. He then let go of her arms as Linda walked into the room.
She was dressed in a fuzzy pink bathrobe and leopard print slippers. “What’s going on here?”
“I believe this is the mother of our little guests,” Cole explained.
The woman took a step back from Cole, but she looked hopefully at Linda. “Are my babies here?”
Linda smiled at her. If she was concerned about the woman’s ragged look, she didn’t show it. “They are, dear. We’ll take you to them right away. What’s your name?”
“Eve.”
“Eve, how lovely,” Linda cooed as she took the woman’s hand. “I’m Linda, and you’ve already met Cole.”
Cole followed them. Scratch marks along his arms and neck were beginning to burn. Eve had managed to get a few licks in, anyway. He let Linda take charge. Eve was clearly scared, and the presence of another woman had calmed her down immensely.
She paused at the top of the stairs, her shoulders stiffening with trepidation.
Linda pulled her gently along. “We knew right away they were very special babies, so we wanted to keep them in the safest place possible. I believe Trinity is the one on duty tonight. We never leave them alone for a moment.” She knocked on the door before opening it.
The room was illuminated by a single lamp in the corner. Trinity sat on the couch, her eyes barely open as she rocked one of the babies. “Hey, Linda. Oh, what’s going on?”
Eve rushed into the room. “My darlings! My babies!” She flung herself onto the mattress and pulled the children into her arms.
The babies woke with a few cries of protest, but the little ones seemed to understand what was happening right away.
Their little arms went around her, and they squirmed and wiggled to get as close to her as possible.
Even the baby in Trinity’s arms, who’d been nearly asleep a moment ago, was trying to throw itself toward Eve.
Trinity got up and brought the baby over, placing it in Eve’s lap with the rest of his siblings.
“They know me,” Eve sobbed, her fingers grazing over all their little heads. Tears cascaded down her cheeks as she kissed them, inhaling their scent. “Oh, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there when you hatched. My darlings. My sweet babies. I thought you were gone. Let’s get you out of here.”
“Hang tight,” Cole urged. He took one of the armchairs. It was a lovely reunion, but he couldn’t just let this woman run off into the night without an explanation. “There’s no rush. Your children are safe here, and so are you.”
Linda, obviously aware of just how much her presence was needed, took one of the other chairs. “That’s right.”
Now that she wasn’t trying to claw his eyes out, Cole could see just how desperate the woman looked.
It wasn’t just her need to get back to her children.
She was too thin, and dark circles sat heavily under her eyes.
The hems of her pants were dingy, as though she’d been wearing them for several days.
It concerned him. “Trinity, could you do me a favor and bring a plate of food to our guest?”
“Sure.”
“You don’t need to do that,” Eve said quickly, though her eyes had brightened at the mention of food. “We won’t be staying. I just want to take my babies home.”
When she was gone, Cole gave Eve what he hoped was a gentle and understanding look.
The newcomer was already worried, and he didn’t want to scare her off.
He wanted to help. “Your children are pretty remarkable. Most of us didn’t even realize that dragon shifters still exist in the world, so it was a very pleasant surprise. We’ve been happy to take care of them.”
“They’re delightful little things!” Linda added. “Good eaters, too.”
Eve studied her children as they snuggled in her lap. She ran her hands over their clean clothes and full bellies. “I’m sorry that I accused you the way I did. They were gone, but I picked up their scent and found you. I thought they might’ve been hurt.” Another tear slipped from her eye.
“As mothers, we always worry,” Linda assured her. “That will never go away.”
“No.” Eve had her back against the wall, and her legs angled outward so that she could hold all of her babies at once. They were settling in against her, but she couldn’t stop touching their tiny fingers and toes. “I suppose not.”
It didn’t go away for fathers, either. Brianna had been as small as those little dragons once.
She’d fallen asleep in his arms with milk dribbling down her chin.
She’d climbed onto his lap and patted her soft little hands against his cheeks.
She’d wanted to make sure he was watching as she learned to control her wolf legs.
Now, she didn’t even want to speak to him or see him.
Cole had actively tried to be a good dad, but it was as though his connection with Nia had thrown all of that effort out the window.
It was difficult for Cole to see Nia as a grown woman rather than just his daughter’s friend, but Brianna was having just as hard a time understanding that he was a man, even though he was still her father.
They’d gotten stuck in their roles, and now it was threatening future happiness for all of them.