There was no way. He had overshot it. With a tractor tire.
“I believe the objective is to get the tire on the post, not past it, Beck,” Clancy said, amused.
Beck snorted. “Damnit, Clancy, can’t a man have a few practice throws?”
“Of course.” Clancy relented, shooting a wink at Billie, who flushed deep red.
She watched as Clancy then picked up the tire, his glorious, huge back muscles easily visible through his shirt. Then he threw it, and it whizzed through the air toward the post, only to bounce off the very top.
The closest anyone had gotten. Still hot, even if it was a miss.
Dallas went next. He also just narrowly missed the post. Reno was last to go, but he stepped up to the tire confidently and picked it up.
Then, as if it were as easy as lacing his boots, he threw the tire high up into the air. It arced beautifully, coming down right on top of the metal pole.
Marian, Sierra, and Billie all cheered from their spots on the fence while the men just stared, dumbfounded, at Reno, who seemed to be very pleased with himself.
“How did you do that?” Beck asked, jaw on the ground.
Reno laughed and leisurely strolled over to sit on a rock. “I’m an alpha wolf,” he said drily. “Sometimes I think y’all don’t give me enough credit around here. Needless to say, I’ve won.” Reno yawned. “You’ll have to keep going to determine second, third, fourth, and fifth place.”
Clancy just laughed easily at that and shrugged, giving Billie a would you look at that face.
“He’s just a wolf, huh?” Billie shouted to Clancy.
“Well, a special wolf for sure,” he called back. “It would take one hell of a strong wolf in order to keep up with three dragons and a tiger. He’s special. He just doesn’t usually acknowledge it.”
Marian leaned over to Billie. “Harrison was telling me about it the other day. Apparently, some wolves have alpha powers that set them apart, something special and unique that they’ll only tell their mate about.”
“Is that so?” Billie mused. “I wonder what his powers are.”
“They’re pretty awesome, but you’ll never find out!” Reno shouted, grinning wolfishly. “Only my mate will ever know. Got to keep my tactical secrets away from these big ol’ lizards.”
Everyone in the group laughed at that, and as the men went back to throwing tires, Sierra handed Billie a sandwich.
“Oh, thanks,” she said. “But I’ve already eaten.”
Sierra grinned. “Then don’t eat it. I can think of someone who’d be very happy to take it off your hands.”
“What do you mean?” Billie asked.
“This.” Sierra put her fingers to her mouth and let out a loud whistle. Billie listened for a second before she heard something scuttling in the bushes near them.
Then, to her surprise, a small raccoon darted out of the brush and onto the fence next to Sierra, where he cocked his head, eying her expectantly.
“Meet Gary,” Sierra said happily, tearing off a piece of her sandwich and giving it to the raccoon, who took it and nibbled happily.
“You guys have a raccoon named Gary?”
“Yeah, I thought you’d already know, considering the fact that Clancy was the one who tamed him,” Sierra said.
Billie laughed. That was so very like him, what with his love of animals. Of course he’d picked up and taken care of some random raccoon.
Just one more reason to love him.
She broke off a piece of her sandwich and leaned past Sierra, holding it out to the little guy. He eyed her warily for a second, then inched forward and tentatively accepted the offering.
Billie had to admit Gary was kind of cute and surprisingly docile—until it was Beck’s turn to throw.
As soon as Beck picked up the tire, Gary hissed and scuttled behind Sierra’s back, hiding.
“Oh, I wish you two would get along,” Sierra said wistfully.
Marian laughed. “At least there’s someone else he doesn’t get along with here.”
“You don’t like Gary?” Billie asked.
“I like him fine,” Marian said, shivering. “But he scared the living daylights out of me the first night I was here, and I’ve never really forgotten.”
Sierra smiled as she handed Gary another chunk of her sandwich, which he accepted. Then she turned to watch Clancy again, who was about to throw.
He held up the tire over one shoulder then waved over to Billie. “Blow me a kiss for good luck, sweetheart?”
Billie blushed and rolled her eyes but blew him one nonetheless. He caught it, holding it to his chest. Then he tipped his hat and turned to throw. As he threw the tire, his cut muscles flexed against his clothes, sending a wave of heat through her.
The tire sailed through the air in a high arc, like Reno’s earlier, and it landed on the post, spinning around as it fell to the ground below.
“Ha!” he called out, running his hand along the edge of his hat. “That’s the skill of the Quickdraw Dragon!”
Harrison and Beck shared perplexed looks. “We thought you hated that old nickname.”
Clancy just shrugged and shot Billie a grin. “I used to, but for some reason, it’s grown on me lately.”
Billie flushed. Gosh dang it, did he have to be so sweet and wonderful all the time? It was almost like her life couldn’t get any better. She was here with Clancy, and it felt like their time together would never end.
If she could choose to, Billie would have wanted to live forever in this moment with him, on this warm afternoon, laughing and chatting with Marian and Sierra while she watched Clancy throw tires all over the place.
Then he was in front of her, the sides of his mouth turned up in a grin. “What’re you thinking about, darlin’?”
“Just you, really,” she said.
He winked at her. “Well, I am pretty irresistible, especially to this little fellow.” He pulled a small cookie from his pocket and held it out to Gary, who didn’t hesitate to take it. Furthermore, the raccoon climbed up Clancy’s arm and relaxed on his shoulder, munching the cookie.
After the raccoon was finished, Clancy picked him up and held him out to Beck, his little raccoon legs dangling in the air. “Here, maybe if you pet Gary for good luck, you’ll get third place, Beck.”
“As if,” Beck replied gruffly. “The varmint won’t even let me touch him.”
“I don’t know about that. You might as well try.”
With a snort, Beck came closer, extending a hand to Gary. But to no avail. The raccoon hissed when Beck was within arm’s length and leapt from Clancy’s hands, disappearing into the bushes.
“Maybe next time,” Clancy said, chuckling.
Beck just scowled, and as everyone laughed, Billie thought that things probably couldn’t get more perfect than they were now.
But every day seemed to get better with her dragon, so she decided to keep her mind open.
19
At dinner that night, Clancy leaned a little closer to Billie, thinking about how perfect everything was.
He’d never thought he’d have a mate, but Billie was everything he ever could have wanted.
Passionate, kind, smart, beautiful, everything. Flying with her earlier today, feeling her admiring his dragon, accepting him, was possibly the most wonderful bonding experience he had ever had.
Maybe tonight he’d take her aside and ask her how she felt about mating a swamp dragon like him.
“I still don’t know how Reno got the tire on the post on the first try.” Beck was grumbling. “It ain’t right for a wolf to beat a dragon like that.”
“Alpha wolf.” Reno corrected him, sitting back in his chair. “You really shouldn’t underestimate me.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Beck muttered, taking a drink. “Next time, I’ll win for sure.”
“Not if can do it first,” Harrison said, putting an arm around Marian, who smiled up at him. “I’m the boss, and I always go first, so if I can do it, that means I wi
n immediately.”
“No fair,” Dallas said.
“I’m the super-accurate gunslinger here,” Clancy added, shaking his head. “I should have been the one to win shifter horseshoes.”
Billie laughed and leaned up, kissing him on the cheek. “Next time, you will.”
A wave of warmth and affection swept through Clancy as he looked down at her.
He was about to respond when there was a knock at the door.
Harrison frowned and dropped his napkin on the table. “I got it.”
Clancy listened closely, a bad feeling settling in his stomach when he heard the vaguely familiar voice at the door. Harrison talked to the newcomer for a minute or two, then came into the dining room.
“Clancy.” He looked caught off guard. “It’s for you. Says he’s family.”
Beck’s eyebrows furrowed. “Really? I didn’t think Clancy had any family.”
“Yeah, me neither,” Harrison replied.
Clancy’s unease only grew in his stomach as he got up from the table. That was the thing. As far as he knew, he didn’t have any family.
Not any family he wanted within a thousand miles of Dragonclaw Ranch and his friends and his mate.
He didn’t even think there were any swamp dragons left. But if there were, it was his problem to deal with.
Billie gave him a curious look, cocking her eyebrow, but he shook his head.
“I got this, darlin’. Stay here and enjoy your dinner.”
“Okay, be safe.”
With that, he made his way to the door, wondering who the hell it could be.
When Clancy opened the door, he narrowed his eyes. Standing on the porch was a large man who might have been handsome if not for the ragged scars that lined his face and his dirty clothing.
He had long, ill-kempt, scraggly brown hair and feral-looking deep-green eyes. The man smiled maliciously when he caught sight of Clancy.
“Hey, Tucker,” he said. “My name’s Bates. Remember me?”
A cold chill went down Clancy’s spine as recognition flared. He did remember this man from a long time ago. Bates was one of the swamp dragons in Clancy’s small enclave, the home where he’d grown up.
They weren’t related, but he’d seen Bates around the community.
“Let’s talk outside,” Clancy said, stepping onto the porch and shutting the door behind him. It was completely dark outside aside from a few lights that illuminated the steps.
“What?” The dragon sneered. “No hug for old Bates?”
Clancy took another step down from the porch. “You get out of here. You’re not welcome at Dragonclaw.”
“I’m as welcome as you are,” Bates retorted. “I came to finish what you started, Tucker. Or is it Clancy? I can’t tell. Never thought I’d find a swamp dragon living out on the range like a fucking cowboy.”
Clancy scowled at the distaste in Bates’s tone. “I put that life behind me.”
“You can never put what you are behind you, Tucker.”
“My family, our clan, I left all that years ago,” Clancy said, shaking his head.
Bates threw his head back and laughed, long and maniacal.
Looking at Bates, Clancy was only further reminded of the reasons he left home.
Swamp dragons weren’t like normal dragons. They were ancient, evolved partially from prehistoric crocodiles.
They were violent and savage, and their bloodlust was nearly unrivaled in the shifter world. Once a swamp dragon started killing, it never stopped. Friend or foe, it didn’t matter. They killed and killed and killed. Usually, they lost everything to the primal bloodlust.
“You left, and that brings us down to business,” Bates said. “In fact, you didn’t just leave. You eradicated us, Clancy. All the others are dead after that fight you started with your big talk of goin’ out west and leaving the clan behind.”
“What?” Clancy’s eyes went wide. That was news to him. He remembered fighting off his family, how they would have rather killed Clancy than let him leave.
He’d barely escaped with his life and, after that, had never looked back. Life as a gunslinger in the Old West was preferable to living one more day in that hellish enclave where savagery reigned supreme.
“When you fought your family off,” Bates spat, “you started a blood frenzy. It became brother against brother, father against son.” He glared, his eyes even more feral than before. “I’m the only surviving swamp dragon, and I fought and fought until there were none left.”
Clancy’s chest hurt. He’d hated the swamp dragons, but the fact that they’d killed each other out of existence was especially painful, even if the world was probably now better off.
Clancy had never intended for all of them to die like that, but he didn’t regret it for a second.
He probably should have known that something like that would happen. He had been the first, probably ever, to leave that place.
He also didn’t feel bad about it either. Fewer swamp dragons in the world was a good thing as far as he was concerned.
“I’m here to finish the business between us,” Bates growled, his eyes glowing a malignant green in the dark as he appeared to get more excited while talking about violence. “I’ll end you, as the strongest of the swamp dragons.”
Clancy adjusted his hat. “So your solution to killing is more killing? Spoken like a true swamp dragon.”
Bates snarled. “Something I’m proud of, unlike you. Embarrassing as hell, Quickdraw Dragon.”
“I wouldn’t fight here if I were you,” Clancy said, trying to keep his tone calm. “We got a mountain dragon in there.” Though, in reality, Clancy wanted even Beck as far from this as possible.
Nothing on the ranch could take on Bates in swamp dragon form. Not even Clancy, since he would never allow himself to take primal form.
Such a thing would end in such death and destruction that Clancy would probably rather die first.
But Bates didn’t have to know about any of that.
“Mountain dragon?” Bates’s eyes crossed slightly as if he were trying to figure out what that meant. “Eh, I can probably kill him too.”
“Doubt it,” Clancy said with a shrug, still desperate to keep this thug from his friends. “But if you want to try it out and get crushed before you even get redemption for the slaughter of your family, go ahead.”
Bates looked side to side, confused, as if the dragon inside him couldn’t tell what to do with this information. “Huh.”
“Plus, we got another dragon in there and an alpha wolf. Maybe, and I mean maybe, you could take them. But if you lost—”
Bates was taking the bait. “Then I’d have come all this way for nothing, and you’d go whistling on your way.”
Clancy nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
Bates thought for a moment. “Eh, I think I can kill ‘em. I like killin’. Be a good warmup for you.”
Bates made for the house, and Clancy immediately panicked, thinking of his mate.
Bates grinned. “You got something special in there or somethin’? Acting awfully protective for a swamp dragon.”
Clancy’s jaw clenched before he could stop it.
Bates’s grin widened, showing horrible yellow teeth broken off in points in some places. “A mate?”
Clancy shook his head coldly. “Of course not.” He couldn’t let Bates know. Bates was a stupid coward who would probably be happy enough after defeating Clancy to go back to his swamp.
“Good,” Bates said. “Because you know swamp dragons like us don’t have mates. Heh. We just settle for whatever’s around. Survival of the fittest.”
Clancy nodded. “No mate. These aren’t even my friends. Just co-workers.”
“Bullshit,” Bates said. But his wary glance at the house told Clancy he’d managed to scare him with his talk of mountain dragons. “Anyway, I’m fine just killing you if you’re willing to meet me for a fair fight.”
“I am,” Clancy said quickly, the panic and shock
in him finally receding as what he needed to do became clear.
Which was get rid of Bates for now.
“We’ll do it tomorrow when it’s light.”
Bates growled impatiently. “No waiting. I kill you now.”
“Then do it,” Clancy said, raising his hands. “I’m not armed.”
Bates shook his head. “I want a swamp dragon fight. Against another swamp dragon.” He sniffed the air, then frowned. “Though, it don’t seem like you’ll be able to do much against me. I can’t scent your primal form at all.” His gaze raked over Clancy. “Fancy Clancy.”
“That’s what I’m saying. Fight me tomorrow,” Clancy said. “Gives me time to come up with a way to put up a good fight for you. That’s what you want, right? Violence. Pure, all-out, swamp-dragon violence.”
Bates’s eyes gleamed like someone had promised him an ice cream sundae or a million dollars. “You bet.”
“Then face me when you can see my blood spill in broad daylight. Then you’ll know you truly avenged the clan.”
And it gave Clancy time to make sure his mate was out of the way.
If this swamp dragon beat him, which was almost certain, it might pass by the cabin on account of the mountain dragon.
But if it smelled Clancy’s scent still on his mate…
That would definitely be part of the revenge.
Clancy wouldn’t tell Harrison and Beck and the others. His friends had mates, and they didn’t know swamp dragons like he did. All Harrison and Beck knew was that he was one and that he was from down south.
They didn’t know the feral evil all swamp dragons possessed.
Clancy couldn’t stand it if one of the men he’d become deep friends with, one of the men who had helped him find a home, was hurt because his past caught up with him.
He cursed his past, cursed his stupid dragon for bringing this onto him and on the home he had made and the mate he had finally found.
Bates tucked his hands deep into the pockets of his dirty coat as he stepped down the porch. “Fine then. I’ll be back tomorrow before sunup.” He pointed out to a mesa barely visible in the distance. “You go there, alone, so I see the blood fly when I snap your neck with my own teeth.” Bates laughed evilly again. “And if you don’t show up, I’ll come for this stupid little human ranch you call home.”
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