Chapter 26 Isla
TWENTY-SIX
ISLA
The word echoed in Isla’s mind as her heart slammed against her ribs. This was it—the very scenario Damon had been terrified of, the reason he’d tried to push her away. She was the weakness, the vulnerability that could be exploited.
Movement at the edge of the park caught her attention, and her blood turned to ice.
Kalis and Sylara emerged from behind a cluster of trees, their predatory smiles promising violence.
The same dragons who had attacked her and Evelina at Crimson Ridge, somehow here on supposedly secure Everflame Isle.
“How—” Damon’s voice cut off as understanding dawned in his eyes. The lockdown, the increased patrols, all of it meaningless when the threat came from within. “Traitors,” he said, the single word carrying the weight of a death sentence.
The air around them began to shimmer with heat as four bodies started to shift.
Bones cracked and reformed, skin stretched and hardened into scales.
Jaxon’s human form dissolved into a bronze-scaled dragon, smaller than Damon but still massive and deadly.
Kael transformed into a creature of deep green scales that gleamed like emeralds.
Kalis became the golden beast she remembered from Crimson Ridge, while Sylara’s red scales caught the sunlight like fresh blood.
Four dragons.
Four massive, fire-breathing predators, and Damon was only one man. Even an Alpha, even the most powerful dragon she’d ever seen, couldn’t fight those odds alone and protect her at the same time.
Terror crashed over her in waves as she realized the impossible position they were in.
She couldn’t shift, couldn’t breathe fire, couldn’t do anything except stand there like the fragile human liability she was.
Every fear Damon had voiced about her being a target crystallized into this moment of absolute helplessness.
Run.
The thought slammed into her consciousness with brutal clarity. She had to get help. She couldn’t protect him, but she could bring those who could.
“I have to—” she started to say, but Damon was already shifting, his human form exploding into the magnificent obsidian dragon she’d come to know.
His molten green eyes met hers for one desperate second, and through the mate bond she felt his anguish at being unable to keep her safe, his fury at the betrayal, and his determination to protect her even if it cost him everything.
Isla turned and ran.
Her sandals slapped against the stone path as she sprinted toward the café, her heart hammering so hard she thought it might burst. Behind her, the sound of battle erupted—roars that shook the ground, the thunderous crash of massive bodies colliding, and the whoosh of flames that heated the air even at a distance.
She soon burst through the café doors, gasping. “Help! Damon’s being attacked by four dragons in the park!”
The waitress—Jessica, she remembered—dropped her coffee pot with a crash. “Four? Are you certain?”
“Yes! Please, we need Kaelith, we need anyone who can fight!”
Jessica’s hands were already moving, grabbing her phone and dialing with efficiency. “Kaelith? Emergency at the park. Four dragons attacking the Alpha.” She paused, listening. “Yes, she’s here. I’m sending backup now.”
Two burly men emerged from the kitchen, their faces grim with understanding. Without a word, they headed for the door, and Isla followed, her legs trembling but carrying her forward.
The park was a war zone. Damon’s black dragon form moved with deadly grace, but he was bleeding from multiple wounds.
He’d managed to injure the two younger traitors—Jaxon lay motionless while Kael limped heavily—but Kalis and Sylara had him cornered.
Deep gashes marked his ribs and shoulder, dark blood staining his magnificent scales.
The two cooks shifted mid-run, their own dragon forms joining the fray. But even as they engaged Kalis and Sylara, Isla watched in horror as Damon faltered, his massive form swaying before crashing to the ground.
No.
She was moving before conscious thought kicked in, running straight into the chaos of the dragon battle. Flames scorched the air around her, but she didn’t care. Damon had shifted back to human form, his naked body covered in blood, and he was trying to push himself upright with shaking arms.
“Don’t you dare,” she gasped, dropping to her knees beside him and pressing her hands against the worst wound on his ribs. Blood seeped between her fingers, warm and far too much of it. “Don’t you dare leave me.”
His green eyes found hers, pain flickering in their depths. “Isla... you need to get out of here.”
“I’m not leaving you.” She helped him to his feet, his weight nearly sending them both tumbling. “Can you walk to the café?”
“I can walk anywhere you need me to,” he said, but the pale cast to his skin and the way he leaned heavily against her told a different story.
“Jessica probably has a car. We need to get you to the healers immediately.”
The walk that should have taken two minutes stretched into an eternity. Every step sent fresh blood seeping from his wounds, and by the time they reached the café, Isla was practically carrying him. Jessica took one look at them and grabbed her keys.
“Go. I’ll drive.”
Isla helped Damon into the backseat, then climbed in after him, immediately resuming pressure on his wounds. Now she could see the full extent of the damage—gashes on his ribs, his leg, and his shoulder. His skin had gone ashen, and his breathing was becoming shallow.
“You’re going to be fine,” she said, as much to convince herself as him. “You’re strong, and we’re almost there.”
His hand found hers, blood-slicked but steady. “You saved me.”
The simple statement hit her unexpectedly hard. She had saved him. She, the fragile human who couldn’t shift or fight, had been the one to get help and to get him out of there alive.
When they reached the estate, Jessica helped her get Damon inside. Evelina appeared instantly, her face going white at the sight of her nephew’s condition.
“Healers! Now!” she commanded, her voice carrying the authority of centuries.
Isla guided Damon to the living room couch, not trusting either of them to manage the stairs.
The healers materialized within moments, their hands already glowing with the soft light of healing magic.
Reluctantly, Isla stepped back to give them room to work, though every instinct screamed at her to stay close.
Kaelith finally arrived as they were bandaging Damon’s wounds, his face thunderous. “What happened?”
“Jaxon and Kael,” Isla managed, her voice hoarse. “They led us into an ambush. Somehow got Kalis and Sylara onto the island.”
“Son of a—” Kaelith’s hands clenched into fists. “I warned him there were people questioning his leadership. This proves there’s already dissent in the ranks.”
“What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know yet,” Kaelith admitted grimly. “But when Damon’s recovered, we’ll figure out how to deal with this.” He left, his footsteps heavy with purpose and barely contained rage.
Evelina approached, her wise eyes soft with pride. “Your quick actions today saved Damon’s life. He might not have survived that ambush without you.”
The words settled into Isla’s chest, warm and certain. Despite being human, despite being fragile, despite being everything Damon feared she was—she had been exactly what he needed when it mattered most.
In that moment, watching the healers work on her mate, feeling the mate bond pulse with his renewed strength, Isla realized something fundamental had shifted. This was her world now. This Alpha, with all his fears and trauma and desperate love, was hers. And she wasn’t going anywhere.