CHAPTER 25
Jakob
Jakob felt it before he saw anything.
The fear slammed into him like a blade between the ribs, both sharp and absolutely not his own. The same fear he had felt when he first met her dangling from the cliff.
Mallory.
The bond he refused to name and hadn’t dared examine too closely flared hot and violent in his chest and stole the air from his lungs.
It wasn’t panic though that spurred him forward.
It was worse. It was knowing. Knowing she was terrified.
Knowing she was hurting. And knowing he was running out of time.
Hurry up, his dragon growled with claws that scraped restlessly inside his bones.
“I am,” Jakob snarled. His breath burned in his throat as he pushed himself harder.
He’d been searching for over an hour and following every sign he could find from scuffed dirt, snapped twigs, to trampled snow.
The faint metallic tang of fear that clung to the air like smoke helped.
The mountain had gone unnaturally quiet as he climbed, the way it did before violence.
No wind, no night sounds. Just the crunch of his boots and the pounding of his heart.
He reached a path that had several pairs of footsteps and knew he was on the right trail. She was close. And she was in trouble.
Jakob broke into a run. His lungs screamed as he raced up the narrow mountain trail. The incline bit into his calves, but he didn’t slow. He couldn’t. The pull in his chest grew stronger with every step and dragged him forward like a hook sunk deep beneath his ribs.
Ahead, the trail funneled into a narrow opening between jagged cliffs. Voices echoed off the rock walls, harsh, mocking tones layered with low, threatening murmurs. A woman’s voice that was not Mallory’s reached his ears and he frowned. The Ruecrags usually didn’t travel with their women.
Then his confusion was cut short when a sound cut through it all.
A slap. The crack from the blow echoed off the highest peaks of the Silver Snow Mountains.
Something inside Jakob snapped as he slipped through the chasm into the clearing just in time to see it happen. Everyone had their backs to him so his entrance was unnoticed as he took in the scene before him.
Mallory was knelt on the frozen ground looking up at a man who loomed over her. His expression twisted with satisfaction as his hand cracked across her face. Her head snapped to the side and she collapsed onto her shoulder and didn’t move.
Jakob’s heart stopped when she didn’t try to get up. He couldn’t tell if it was intentional or if she was unconscious.
Blood roared in his ears. The world narrowed until there was nothing left but red and the raw, feral need to destroy. There was no time to wait for Sven and the others to arrive. Mallory needed him now.
His dragon wasn’t helping. Kill them. Kill them all. Save our mate.
“That’s what you get for disrespecting her like that,” the man growled. He lifted his boot and lined it up with Mallory’s ribs.
The ‘her’ he referred to let out a giggle and she grabbed the man’s arm. Rage obliterated Jakob’s vision so he couldn’t tell if she was going to stop him or encourage him.
He didn’t wait, and he didn’t announce himself.
He just struck. Hard.
The distance vanished beneath his feet. Dragonfire surged through his veins and burned away restraint and any mercy. Jakob hit the man with enough force to lift him off the ground. There was a sharp, wet crack as Jakob’s hands twisted and the body went limp before it hit the dirt.
The woman skittered off to the side. Another man shouted and reached for his weapon.
Too slow.
Jakob tore the blade from his grip and drove it clean through his chest, the impact shuddering up his arm. He yanked it free and turned as the clearing erupted into chaos. Men yelled. Steel flashed. Someone fired a shot that went wide, the bullet ricocheting off stone.
Jakob moved like a force of nature, fast, precise, and merciless. He ducked a swing, broke an arm at the elbow, slammed his fist into a throat. Bones cracked beneath his grip. Blood sprayed hot against the snow and steamed in the cold air.
His dragon roared inside him, furious and unleashed, its claws itching beneath his skin but he couldn’t let it out. Not here in front of the enemy.
Then one of the men grabbed Mallory by the hair and yanked her upright.
Jakob turned and the world went very still.
For one heartbeat relief punched through him so hard it nearly dropped him to his knees. Her eyes were open. Glassy with pain, unfocused, but open. She made a small, broken sound as she was hauled up, and Jakob latched onto it like a lifeline.
She’s alive.
Then the man’s fingers tightened in her hair and jerked her head back. Jakob’s relief curdled into something black and murderous.
“Don’t,” Jakob warned.
The word came out low and distorted. They were dragged up from somewhere deep and feral and barely sounded human. The dragon surged against his ribs, furious and demanding blood.
The man glanced at Jakob before his eyes flicked over the bodies on the ground and the blood staining the snow. Fear flashed across his face, quick and undeniable, but he covered it with a laugh that cracked at the edges. His grip tightened instead of loosening.
“Don’t you dare hurt her.” He couldn’t tell if it was the same one that had struck her across the face.
Mallory whimpered and her hands twisted uselessly at his wrist.
Jakob felt it like claws raking down his spine.
“I’ll do whatever I have to,” the man choked out in a voice that shook now despite his bravado. “She’s leverage.”
Leverage. The word echoed in Jakob’s head, cold and obscene.
He took a single step forward.
Heat rolled off him in waves. The air around him shimmered, and the man’s smile faltered as instinct finally caught up with stupidity.
“You let her go,” Jakob said quietly. Deadly calm wrapped around his fury and sharpened it to a blade. “Right now. Or I swear by every god you believe in, I will make your death long and slow.”
The man swallowed. His hand twitched and indecision flickered in his expression.
Mallory suddenly pushed up with her legs into the man and knocked him off balance. His hand loosened in her hair as her knee found his groin.
“You bitc…” he screamed as he tried to regain control of her
The dragon roared and Jakob moved.
The word never finished leaving the man’s mouth before Jakob crossed the space in a blink and ripped his throat out.
Two more rushed him at once. One went down with his spine shattered against a rock. The other managed to land a blow that glanced off Jakob’s shoulder before Jakob drove his elbow into the man’s skull and dropped him where he stood.
The remainder of the Ruecrags broke then. By the time the last of them scattered into the trees, most of the group lay broken and still across the clearing. Jakob stood among them with his chest heaving.
He turned toward Mallory and then saw the woman who stood several paces away, untouched by the violence. She was composed, her posture straight, and her expression cool and assessing rather than afraid.
This was the source, their leader. She had orchestrated this and hurt Mallory.
Jakob stepped toward her, every murderous instinct roaring back to life.
“Well, well, well. The good King Jakob comes to the rescue.” The woman gestured with her hands. “My apologies to the lady. I never thought I’d see the day.”
“You’re about to not have to worry about seeing anything again.” He nodded toward the bodies. “Your men are waiting.”
“Oh, I don’t think you’ll be able to kill me.” Her arrogance oozed sarcasm.
He stepped closer. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that. You hurt Mallory. I’m just the executioner.”
“STOP!”
The cry tore through him.
Mallory stumbled forward and put herself between him and the woman. Her face was bruised, her lip was split, and her eyes were bright with unshed tears.
“Jakob, stop, please!” she cried. “Meg is my sister!”
The words hit him like a physical blow.
Sister.
The missing piece slid into place with explanations for the tension in Mallory’s actions, the half-truths, and the fear she’d tried to hide. Now the text messages he had read made more sense. She was trying to protect them both.
Jakob froze mid-step. Dragon rage slammed against the walls of his control, furious at being denied and confused.
He looked at Mallory and the rage twisted into something worse.
Fear.
Because even now, it wasn’t ending here. He didn’t want to make Mallory choose between him and her sister. Fate wasn’t done taking from him.
He turned his head, confusion and fury warring inside his chest. The pause cost him his concentration on the situation.
“Jakob,” Mallory screamed. “Look out!”
He spun around to see one of the wounded raise up a rifle that pointed toward him. The crack of a gunshot split the air.
But the aim was off. Jakob spun back around when Mallory gasped, the sound sharp and broken, and her body crumpled. He lunged forward and caught her as her legs gave out.
“Mallory.”
Her gaze dropped to the red blooming across the front of her coat.
“Oh,” she whispered faintly. “That’s… not good.”
“No. No, no, no,” Jakob breathed. His hands shook as he pressed them to her wound. Panic clawed past rage for the first time. “Stay with me. Mallory, look at me.”
Her lashes fluttered, pain etched into every line of her face.
Behind them, Meg was already running and shouting for the remaining Ruecrags to scatter into the mountains. Within seconds, they were gone. Jakob didn’t chase them. He knew that Sven was close so he could deal with catching those who fled.
In the immediate moment, Mallory mattered more than vengeance.
He swore and scanned the terrain. She was losing too much blood and they were too far out. There wasn’t enough time.
“There’s no other choice,” Jakob said, voice tight with urgency. “I have to shift.”
Mallory frowned weakly. “Shift… what?”
He met her gaze and braced for the fear of her rejection.
“Trust me,” he said quietly.
Jakob stepped back and let go.
Bones reshaped. Power surged. Fire ripped through him but not from pain but release. The dragon burst free in a cascade of heat and shadow and his wings unfurled.
Jakob waited for her scream but it never came.
Mallory stared and her mouth fell open. Her eyes were wide but not with terror, but with awe so pure it nearly broke him.
“You’re…” she breathed. “You’re beautiful.”
The word anchored him.
Jakob lowered his massive head and carefully gathered her against his chest, his scaled claws gentle despite their size. She was so small. So fragile.
And he loved her.
Go, his dragon urged.
Jakob leapt into the air and his wings beat hard against the mountain air. Mallory pressed her face against him and murmured, barely audible over the rush of air, “I love you. All of you. Human and dragon.”
Jakob closed his eyes as he carried her to safety.
For the first time in his life, the dragon didn’t feel like a curse.
It felt like home.