Madd
EIGHT
The guards brought me a suit.
It wasn’t an orange prison jumpsuit, thank gods. I’d been hoping for a change of clothes, something like another pair of jeans and a clean T-shirt. But this was an actual suit like Flint wore in the office, though he wouldn’t be wearing one now that he was on a mission to save me.
I fingered the dark fabric which was of excellent quality. I knew little about clothes, but my cousins had expensive tastes and they’d introduced me to their tailor.
The suit was draped over the guard’s arm, and he lay it on the bed without looking at me.
“Get dressed. You have thirty minutes.”
“Did someone die?” I hoped the dragon flight didn’t have a tradition of dressing up their victim before they slaughtered him.
He left without answering, and the lock clicked into place.
I stared at the suit, but as I pondered why I had to wear the damned thing, I recalled in my research that dragon shifters performed a ceremony during mating, whereas wolves mated when and where they wanted, often in bed.
What happened to forty-eight hours? And me being given a choice? I shouldn’t have been surprised that somewhere in this house, people were preparing a ceremony I hadn’t agreed to.
My wolf growled as the door opened and Evander stepped in.
He was the last person I wanted to see because he and his father had joined forces against me.
I sighed because he was dressed in a suit too.
He looked like a man on his way to his own wedding, which he kinda was, as mating was the shifter version.
“Before you say anything.” He held up his hand as if anticipating what I was about to say.
“Your father lied.”
“He moved the timeline. Your Alpha’s coming, and if the mating isn't completed before he arrives—”
“Your father loses some of his leverage. I understand the math, Evander. I don't need it explained.”
I couldn’t fathom from his expression whether he regretted what his father had done or if he’d known all along that he wouldn’t observe the timetable.
But I was past caring about Evander's feelings because my family was on their way, though I was still a prisoner and the deadline for mating was ticking closer.
“You don't have a choice.” Evander bowed his head and studied his black shoes.
“I was offered one, but that was a pretense.”
He glanced at me. “Father creates and breaks rules as he pleases.”
This was the man I was being forced to spend the rest of my life with. His dragon was going to mark me by searing my skin, leaving me in the family’s clutches and unable to leave.
“I’ll give you a few minutes.” He closed the door.
But instead of one hundred and eighty seconds, he was presenting me with a lifelong jail term.
I lay on the bed beside the suit and closed my eyes.
What would Flint or Ranger or Hunter do?
Alpha wouldn’t be in this situation; he would have knocked everyone unconscious at the bar and walked out.
Ranger would have blown something up, and Hunter would have tried to tunnel his way out of this damned room.
Grandpa Arnie would have befriended the kitchen staff and had them smuggle him out in a delivery van.
I wasn’t any of those people. I was Madd, the undercover guy, the one who played roles, gathered information, and came home. Except my cover was blown, my information was useless, and home was getting further away by the minute.
My wolf was listening, not to the guards outside the door but to someone on the floor below us. He was vibrating, making my hands shake.
Stop whatever you’re doing. That doesn't help us.
Needing to do something, anything, I got up and looked out the window. How many times had I stared at the wall, thinking it was too high for my beast to clear. I’d been down there, and even my wolf was unsure if he could leap over it.
But if I could get out of this room, I’d have options like swinging a rope over the wall or smashing through the door that led into the garden. There was a gate in the garden wall that led into the woods, and while there was a security camera located above it, I could destroy that easily.
But the bars on the window told me I was stuck.
He’s here.
Huh? There was a crash that vibrated through the floor, a thump, and screams in the corridor. It had to be multiple people or a herd of elephants.
My wolf scoffed, thinking I was trying to be funny.
There was shouting and a gun went off. I froze and yanked the mattress off the bed, putting it against my chest, though it wouldn’t stop a bullet aimed at me.
There were too many boots hitting the stone floor.
Maybe Flint and the others had arrived early and were getting the crap kicked out of them.
A roar so loud my beast complained about the noise had me gripping the mattress as the building shuddered and the window shattered. Part of the wall, including the door, was crushed, and a long scaly tail curled into the room.
There was a dragon destroying the building. Oh shit, I was toast. They were going to flame me and turn me into a pile of cinders.
There were no wolves fighting with the guards. Flint and the others hadn’t come to save me, but there was one beast with fur and four legs and he was mine. He hadn’t asked permission, and he stole my skin, shifted, and replaced it with fur.
My clothes shredded, and my wolf shook himself. He wasn’t afraid of the winged creature, but there was a force pulling him toward the huge beast.
I’m doing this for you.
The remaining part of the wall collapsed, thanks to black claws ripping it apart. As more of the beast was revealed, the claws were attached to scales, a head, and spikes. Dark eyes were fixed on my beast who was motionless as if the dragon was pinning him to the floor.
Conrad's beast wasn’t the sleek creature I'd imagined behind the man's rigid posture.
This dragon was massive, radiating heat that made the air above his scales shimmer.
His wings were half-furled against his sides because the corridor was too narrow for them, and plaster was crumbling where they scraped the walls.
What passed between my wolf and Conrad’s dragon was a force that had been set in motion the moment the dragon shifter and I met. Whether we liked or loathed it, we were fated mates. My wolf stepped forward and the dragon lowered his head, and their breath mingled.
The dragon snorted and smoke wafted from his nostrils which was terrifying coming from something that could incinerate a building.
We went down stairs that the dragon barely fit through.
Stone cracked under his weight, and his tail took out a banister.
Guards scattered. I saw them flatten themselves against walls and someone screamed orders.
There were more shots fired, but I was locked on Conrad’s scent that had been amplified by the shift.
Every instinct I had was telling me that running alongside a dragon and escaping the Solari compound was dangerous and foolhardy, but my wolf had no such concerns.
The garden door was closed, but the dragon didn't slow down. He barged into it and half the wall buckled and caved in. But there was a second perimeter and this one was higher and topped with cameras and lights. A bullet whizzed past my wolf and nicked his shoulder. The pain ricocheted around inside him, and while he bore the brunt of the pain, I felt it too. But my beast didn’t slow.
The dragon whacked the wall with his tail and created an opening. He launched into the air, and my beast pounded the wet grass and sprinted through the opening toward the woods.
Though it was a moonlit night, I couldn’t see the dragon for the trees other than a dark shadow. But a rhythmic flapping above accompanied our escape. My wolf wove between the tree trunks, and behind us, the compound erupted with lights and the voices of people organizing a response.
Once we reached safety, I’d have to get in touch with Flint, though when he and the others arrived, one glance at a half-destroyed house would give them a clue that something had gone terribly wrong. Not that they’d know the circumstances and might think I was hurt in the process.
My wolf ran and the dragon flew, and my beast didn’t consult me because he had no plan, and neither did I. Other than getting as far away as possible and contacting my family. That was the plan. And getting treatment for the bullet wound.
Was Conrad arguing with his beast to return to the family compound?
He wouldn’t receive a warm welcome if he did.
And I was worried that the sky would be filled with a group of dragons looking for us.
Were a lot of dragons a herd? A swarm? Something else?
Wait, no, a flight. I knew that. I was occupying my mind with trivialities because I wasn’t in control.
My beast didn’t stop running despite his injury, and neither of us looked back.