Chapter 15
Cole made his way up the steep slope in his wolf form, following the directions that Eve had given him. When they’d readied themselves to leave, Eve had asked to come along, hoping she could try talking to her mate.
Cole wasn’t sure if Eve was concerned about what the Montclairs and the Salem dragons would do to Joel, or if she genuinely thought she could make a difference, but she’d been through so much already.
He couldn’t risk her getting hurt when she needed to be there for her babies, so he asked her to stay at the packhouse.
It was a good thing, too, because he had enough to contend with as he and the other wolves slipped through the wooded hills, followed by a lynx and two dragons.
Why did you bring Nia? Brianna hissed inside Cole’s mind.
Because she was the one who made all of this happen. It’s only right that she should get to see it through.
Brianna was silent for a moment.
He thought the discussion was over, and he even hoped she might have a little sympathy for her friend. He was wrong.
Why let her be involved at all if she’s just going to leave anyway?
Cole turned to look at his daughter. She looked sullen, even in her wolf form, with her head low and her tail hanging down as she moved through the trees. You can’t be bitter about her leaving when you told her you didn’t want to have anything to do with her.
Well, I don’t, she replied stubbornly.
Cole felt frustration bloom inside him. He understood why his daughter was so upset about Nia. He really did. But this encounter with Joel and potentially other dragons in the mountains was much more important than her resentment. I’m not going to do this right now.
Whatever.
He sensed that there was more she wanted to say, probably something very rude. When it didn’t come, he hoped it meant the matter was dropped for the moment.
Nia was in his head, too, but only as a presence. They couldn’t break their telepathic connection, but she didn’t try to speak to him at all. She was comfort, joy, and destiny, yet he couldn’t have any of those.
He reached a cluster of trees and stopped. This is probably about as far as we should go without shifting.
The wolf pack behind him morphed into their humans, as did Nia. Two large shadows floated in a short distance away, where they had space to land, and Beck and Kendrick walked up.
“Just over this rise, there should be a cave.” He’d already briefed everyone, but it was vital that they were all on the same page. “That’s where they live.”
“Living in caves,” Kendrick said with a shake of his head. “I admit it’s difficult to deal with human society sometimes, but our people haven’t been living in caves for hundreds of years!”
“Just as we told Eve, we’ll let the two of you go ahead of us,” Cole went on. “Our presence will tell Joel that we mean business, but we’ll hang back so it doesn’t look like an attack.”
Beck nodded. “Whatever happens, we have to be careful to keep these dragons alive. There are too few of us left in the world. These dragons are obviously living in extreme circumstances. They might not be as bad as they seem.”
“Right. Everyone ready?” Cole scanned the small group. In addition to himself and the two dragons, Morgan, Rachel, and Scott had come along. Brianna practically burned holes in the back of Nia’s head with her eyes, and Nia tried very carefully not to look at Cole or stand too close to him.
Cole was doing the same thing, leery of ruining his relationship with his daughter for good if he so much as said a positive word to Nia.
They had the dragons outnumbered, even if they were all home, but Cole reasoned that the size difference made it all right.
“Let’s go.” Kendrick strode forward with Beck at his side.
They were on a narrow path that was really nothing more than a deer trail. The trees were spaced out and a bit more stubby due to the altitude, with little underbrush. The trail sloped upward to a ridgetop, and Cole watched it closely.
Before the dragons could reach the top of it, a figure appeared.
The man instantly came to a halt, his feet solidly shoulder-width apart.
His shirtsleeves bulged around his biceps as he crossed his arms over his wide chest. To Cole, he looked like one of those overbuilt superheroes whose muscles far exceeded what most folks can achieve in the gym.
Even in his human form, he would be a formidable opponent.
“Who the hell are you?” The stranger arced a gob of spit into the trees.
“We’re looking for Joel,” Beck replied.
“Yeah?” He repositioned his hands on his hips as he gave this a moment of thought. “You found me, but you still didn’t answer my question.”
“I’m Beck, and this is Kendrick.” Beck took a single step forward up the slope. “I believe we have something in common.”
Joel’s head moved slightly. His hair was cut high and tight like a soldier’s. “With two of you, anyway.”
So he understood that Beck and Kendrick were dragons. Would it make any difference?
“That’s right. We’re here to talk to you about Eve,” Beck said cordially.
Joel, however, lost even the smallest bit of decorum that he had about him. He came charging down the path, his big boots thudding. “Where is she? What did you do with her? If you have her held prisoner somewhere, I’ll—” He reached for Beck’s collar.
Beck took a simple step back and held up his hands. “It’s nothing like that.”
Joel curled his fists at his sides. “You’re lying. You kidnapped her, and that’s why she’s not coming back.”
This man was a damn fool. Cole didn’t know Eve well, but he knew she’d be a lot better off without him.
But then, she was fated to him. She didn’t want to leave.
If she did, she would’ve jumped at the chance to raise her babies safely in Massachusetts with a clan of dragons who truly cared about her interests.
“No, but we want to talk to you about that. Man-to-man,” Kendrick told him.
Joel narrowed his dark eyes.
“Eve is concerned about your children’s future,” Kendrick went on. “She left because the two of you have very different ideas about how to raise them. Eve wants them to have a real childhood, not to turn into little soldiers.”
“I don’t need to hear all this. Where is she?” Joel pushed between the other two dragons. “Eve! Get out here and let’s go home.”
“She’s not here.” Cole moved forward slightly, keeping his thumbs in his belt loops to avoid looking like he was trying to start a fight. “We thought it best to come talk to you without her.”
“What right do you all think you have to get involved in our lives?” Joel asked, still nearly shouting.
“Because Eve is scared and we want to help her.”
Cole whipped his head around to look at Nia. She looked calm and confident as she addressed Joel. Cole’s heart thundered as the dragons’ gaze went to her, and a surge of protective anger flowed over him. If he did anything to hurt her…
Their group now stood around Joel in a loose circle, none of them too close. He pointed his finger, turning slowly to encompass them all. “You’re hiding my mate and children from me, and now you’re trying to tell me how to live my fucking life? How to raise my children?”
“We only want to talk,” Beck tried again, but it was too late.
Joel shifted furiously into his dragon, his claws digging into the dirt and his wings snapping out. His dark green scales blended in with the trees, highlighting the bright golden yellow of his narrow eyes as he chose his first target.
Adrenaline shot through Cole as he brought his wolf back, glad that it’d been simmering so close under the surface of his skin.
His mate and his daughter were there. He’d brought them.
It was supposed to be a diplomatic mission, but it had quickly gone sour.
Get out of here! He sent the message both to Nia and Brianna.
Hell no. Brianna was next to him in her wolf, her hackles up. I think I could use a fight.
Nia said nothing, holding her stance among the wolves.
Joel surged toward Cole. His claws slashed through the air, missing by mere inches as Cole leaped backward.
His wings stirred up a breeze as he attacked again, this time lunging his great head forward on his neck.
His jaws snapped shut with an audible clack that sent a frisson of terror down Cole’s spine.
He wasn’t the kind of man who got scared. He put his life on the line every day, but he’d never had to fight a dragon before.
Joel’s chest expanded as his head reared back, and suddenly, Cole knew what was coming. He could outrun claws and teeth, potentially, but what about fire?
A roar shattered the woods as Beck leaped into the sky with a single beat of his wings. He crashed down on his opponent, smacking Joel’s chin into the dirt. A puff of smoke escaped from Joel’s nostrils, but the fire had been stopped for the moment.
Joel slashed his thick tail through the air, swiping Beck backward.
The dragon hit the ground hard, sending a reverberation through the earth and into Cole’s paws.
Kendrick attacked just as Joel turned. The two of them locked in battle, their wings and tails steadying them.
Kendrick ducked and dodged, looking for an opportunity to subdue his opponent.
Joel wasn’t being nearly as careful. He wasn’t concerned with preserving lives.
He only wanted to win. His claws cut three parallel lines into Kendrick’s chest. Then he clamped his jaws down hard on Kendrick’s shoulder.
The older dragon roared with fury. With his right side captured in Joel’s mouth, he pummeled his opponent with the side of his head. Joel was holding on tight, and Kendrick used his free hand to press against the front of Joel’s throat.
Cole looked for the right chance to jump in. He couldn’t let any true harm come to his guests, but neither did he quite know how to fight this battle. The dragons’ bodies were nothing but armor and weapons, and they were huge. That wouldn’t stop him, though.
He watched Joel’s tail, got the timing, and rushed. With his heart in his throat, Cole clamped his jaws on the dragon’s tail with every ounce of force he could muster.
Joel’s roar was a scream of surprise. He let go of Kendrick, but the other dragon’s blood still dripped from his teeth. The crimson drops gleamed in the late afternoon sunlight as Joel cast a furious eye on Cole.
He felt it like a tremor before an earthquake. As if someone were holding the other end of a rope, a ripple of movement rumbled down Joel’s tail and directly toward Cole. The great tail heaved and whipped, lifting Cole off the ground and flinging him away.
The wind whipped through his fur. His feet flailed as he automatically searched for some grip on gravity.
Cole! No! Nia screamed inside his head just before he smacked into the ground.
His vision was full of stars. His stomach turned, and his body ached.
Cole was lucky he hadn’t hit a tree, or even the swift healing of his shifter body might not have been enough to keep him alive.
He forced his feet to get back under him.
Cole wasn’t going to give up. He and the other wolves were small by comparison, but they outnumbered Joel.
They wouldn’t let him win this. Cole wouldn’t be intimidated into giving up, not when he’d come this far.
He shook his head, the ripple extending down his shoulders and sides and finally to his tail. Cole was ready to fight again.
Movement on the ridgetop caught his eye.
Three men appeared there. They took one look at the scene before them and came running down the hill, their beasts bursting out of them as they did so.
Sneakers left the ground and came back down as clawed feet.
Great black wings brushed against the trees.
A burst of flame belched into the sky, along with an angry roar.
A mass of blue scales pummeled down the slope, heading right for them.
Joel was only the beginning of their problem, and he wasn’t alone.
The new dragons joined the fray. The black dragon attacked Beck from behind. The blue one slammed his body into Kendrick’s, using his weight and his speed coming down the hill to send him sliding into a nearby tree trunk.
An orange dragon, slightly smaller and more agile than the others, passed the knot of reptilian flesh and went straight for the wolves waiting on the other side. He swept Rachel and Morgan to the side with one swift motion of a clawed hand. His chest expanded as he found his next target.
His long lips stretched into something like a smile as he lifted his head and blasted a massive fireball directly at Nia.