Protector Dragon

by Liv Rider

  “Of course.” He wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or more worried. On the one hand, Joel wasn’t purposefully ignoring him. On the other hand, his boss didn’t know what was going on either.

  I told you so. Our mate is in trouble!

  We will get to the bottom of this, he promised.

  He ordered a coffee to go and checked his phone while he waited. No messages from Joel. His stomach felt like it had been replaced with a large stone. Something serious was going on, and he had no idea where to start.

  A notification popped up to remind him he had a meeting with Louis in fifteen minutes. Great, just what he needed, a meeting with the wolf shifter. Finding out what was going on with Joel was more important.

  There was no other option. He had to cancel his meeting with Louis. He called the other man, waiting impatiently for him to pick up.

  “I’m on way over right now,” Louis said.

  “No need. I’m canceling our meeting.” He walked over to a quiet corner in the café.

  “Oh? Why?”

  Part of him felt ridiculous for saying it. “Something’s wrong with Joel.”

  “Nothing serious, I hope?”

  “I hope not.” He was glad Louis took it seriously. “You didn’t have anything important, then?”

  “Nothing that can’t wait a couple of days. Besides, I’ve had a pretty busy day, so I’m glad you’re canceling on me. That wolf shifter from Barnhill would not shut up this afternoon, I swear, I thought he was gonna—”

  A cold chill ran down Thomas’ spine. “Barnhill?”

  “Yeah. Remember those small town wolf shifters I mentioned at the meeting yesterday? One of them wanted to talk to me, and thank me for my help. I didn’t even do anything. I don’t even know where Barnhill is. Maybe it was—”

  “I changed my mind.” Thomas tried to sound calm. His dragon’s rage was building. “You’re coming to my office as soon as possible. I want to know everything about that shifter from Barnhill.”

  “But I thought you called to cancel our meeting?”

  Thomas was tempted to throttle Louis. His dragon approved of the idea.

  We need him able to talk, he reminded his dragon.

  “You have to tell me everything about those wolf shifters you mentioned.”

  Louis still looked confused. “They told me there was some guy who got in trouble back home. He came here rather than face the consequences so they had to come get him, the usual.”

  “What was the guy’s name?” Thomas feared the answer but had to be sure.

  Louis was silent for a moment. “Joey something?”

  “Joel?” His worst fears had been confirmed. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe.

  Louis’ face brightened. “Yes, Joel! How did you know?”

  “Joel is my mate.” Thomas closed his eyes for a moment. His thoughts were a blur. Anger, fear, panic and blind rage all fought for prominence while he was struggling to keep himself from shifting into his dragon.

  Destroy them. His dragon was full of fury, wanting to tear Louis apart for letting it happen, wanting to hunt down the wolf shifters in his district who had helped, wanting to go to Barnhill to get his mate back and lay waste to the town.

  We need a plan, Thomas thought.

  Destroying them is a plan, his dragon insisted.

  When Thomas opened his eyes again, Louis pushed his chair back and get up. “What?”

  Louis’ eyes were wide as he pointed at Thomas. “Your eyes. You’re shifting.”

  Thomas blinked, but Louis’ expression didn’t change. His eyes must’ve shifted into his dragon’s, bright gold with slitted pupils. “I’ve just been informed that my mate has been kidnapped. You’re lucky I haven’t fully shifted and set you on fire yet.”

  Louis took another step back, raising his hands. “Hey, I didn’t know he was your mate.”

  “You didn’t know if he had done anything wrong!” Thomas got up as he shouted. “You let those other wolf shifters come here, into my district, and let them take my mate!”

  “I’m sure you can get him back.”

  “What was his name?”

  “Of the guy I met with this afternoon? Travis Davies.”

  Joel’s last name. “Was he around my age? Or older?”

  “I think he was in his late forties or early fifties. Thomas, why are you—”

  “You met Joel’s dad.” It had to be. Joel had never mentioned his father’s first name, but who else could it be?

  “And you think he…”

  “I think he’s got something to do with Joel’s disappearance, yes.”

  Destroy them!

  “But if Joel’s your mate, you can just explain, right? It’ll be fine.”

  He hated the cheerful tone in Louis’ voice. His dragon growled, eager to shift. “Get out, Louis.” He pushed his hands against his desk and focused on the solid wood against his skin. He couldn’t let emotions and instincts take over. He had to get his mate back, but acting rashly could make things worse.

  That thought settled his dragon somewhat, but the rage simmered inside of him.

  “Okay, you know what? Fine, I screwed up.”

  Thomas looked up from his desk to glare at him.

  Louis gulped. “I screwed up. I should’ve looked into it. Let me help fix this. I’ll talk to the wolf shifters who talked to the guys from Barnhill to figure out what’s going on.”

  “What’s going on is that my mate has been kidnapped.”

  “Possibly! That’s why I’m going to try and find out. Maybe he went with them volun—”

  “No.” Thomas glared Louis down. “Get out and don’t call me until you’ve got something useful.” He was glad Louis didn’t argue, but simply nodded and left.

  Thomas walked over to one of the windows, clenching his fists. How had this happened? Why had shifters from Barnhill turned up now? How had they taken Joel? When had they taken Joel?

  Destroy them all. His dragon wanted to fly up into the sky to save their mate.

  We need to know who to destroy first.

  He couldn’t do this alone.

  He grabbed his phone, and hoped Parker and Mitchell were available.

  13

  Joel

  They arrived in Barnhill in the middle of the night. Joel was dragged from the van and into his old home. Dylan kept a hand over his mouth to stop him from screaming. Joel didn’t even try. What would be the point? No one here would help him.

  He noticed his dad hadn’t stepped out of the van. Had he stayed in Lewiston? Why?

  As he was led inside, he expected his brothers to bring him back to his old room, but instead they brought him down to the basement with a mattress lying in the corner.

  “What the hell? You want me to sleep down here?”

  Adam nodded. “Dad said you had to stay here until you saw reason, and you’re not seeing reason.”

  “I’m not seeing reason because you two fucking kidnapped me!” He started struggling, even though it was pointless.

  “We brought you back home,” Dylan corrected him, shoving him onto the mattress. Adam grabbed one of his wrists, then pulled two metal chains out from underneath the mattress.

  Joel stared at the manacles with rising horror. “You’re going to imprison me down here?” His eyes were wide as he looked up at his brothers. “What the hell, Adam, we’re family. I don’t want to be here.” Adam put the thick manacle around his wrist and locked it. “This is wrong.” The chains were a few feet long and let him move around a little, but he wouldn’t be able to stand up properly. It did explain why there was a plastic bucket next to the mattress.

  “You running away was wrong,” Dylan told him. “You turned your back on your family.”

  “You turned your back on me way before that.” The metal was cold against his wrists. “And now this. This is wrong, and you know it. Do you seriously think no one from Lewiston is going to notice I’ve gone missing?”

  “What, like your police?�
�� Adam snorted. “Please. They won’t interfere with shifters.”

  “Maybe not the police you know, but things are different in Lewiston.” Sure, it would take the police back home longer to find him, since he’d have to be reported as missing first, but his colleagues knew about him and his family. They knew about him having run away from Barnhill. Even if he had never met Thomas, it was only a matter of time before the police found him. “It’s not some small town with just shifters.”

  Adam looked worried for a moment, then scoffed. “You’re bullshitting. No one is going to rescue you, Joel. You belong here, with your family. The sooner you realize it and behave, the sooner we can let you go outside so you can tell everyone how wrong you were for leaving.”

  Joel shook his head. They had meant it about being ashamed before. “You think the neighbors will fall for that?”

  “Well, depends on how convincing you are, right?” Dylan’s smile turned mean. “We’ve spent the last five years being the butt of every joke around here, and that stops now. I’m not having people treat me like a loser just because you bailed.”

  Joel had to laugh. “Not much fun, is it? Having everyone else look down on you.”

  Dylan curled his hand into a fist and as he raised it, Joel winced in anticipation.

  Adam grabbed his brother’s wrist. “You know what Dad said. We just leave him to think about what he’s done. We don’t harm him.” He looked down at Joel. “Not yet.”

  Joel glared back at them.

  “Fine.” Dylan lowered his hand. “Let’s gag him and get some sleep. Dad’ll be back tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Does Mom know you kidnapped me?” he asked, as Dylan grabbed one of the rags lying on the mattress to gag him. His heart raced in his chest. He didn’t want to think his mom was involved, but then again, she had treated him badly too.

  Dylan and Adam looked at each other. “She knows we went over to talk to you.” Dylan knelt down to gag Joel. He smiled as he pushed the knot in Joel’s mouth. “I bet she’ll be happy to see you, Joel, and that you decided to come back voluntarily.”

  Joel shook his head. The rag tasted like dirt, but not terrible.

  Dylan grabbed his hair and gave it a sharp, painful tug. “You hurt her, Joel. She cried for days after you left, wondering if she had done anything wrong. We all told her that she didn’t, of course. You were the one who was wrong. You were the ungrateful brat, leaving the parents who’d put a roof over your head, who took care of you. You’ve got a lot of making up to do. If you upset Mom again, there’ll be hell to pay, you understand?”

  Joel managed a slight nod. The anger in Dylan’s eyes and voice had been fierce, and it scared Joel more than anything else that had happened to him tonight. His brothers were dead set on wanting things to go back to the way they had been, with Joel as the meek human who didn’t argue or push back. They didn’t know he had changed over the past few years, or even the past few days, ever since meeting Thomas. His brothers were definitely in for a surprise.

  Adam and Dylan took a step back, looking satisfied with their work. “He’s not going anywhere.” Adam grinned at Dylan.

  Dylan gave him a high-five. “Dad will be proud of us tomorrow.”

  Joel slumped against the wall. He was exhausted and he couldn’t do much right now. He glanced over at Adam and Dylan, who looked even more pleased than before.

  “Good night, Joel.” Adam gestured for Dylan to follow him back upstairs.

  Joel remained silent. Let them think he was admitting defeat. Let them think this would be easy.

  They turned off the light. Once the basement door was closed, it was pitch dark in the basement. As Joel’s eyes adjusted, he noticed there was a small window to his right that let in some moonlight. He lay down on the lumpy mattress, trying to get as comfortable as possible.

  Yes, he was chained to the wall. Yes, his family was even worse than he had thought. He didn’t even want to think about what would happen tomorrow, once Dylan and Adam came back.

  But he had hope. Thomas would come for him. What else were true mates for?

  He woke up early the next morning. His watch told him it was six thirty four, and he yawned and stretched as much as the chains and gag let him. Using the bucket was awkward and humiliating, but Joel reminded himself that he wouldn’t be chained down here for long. Thomas must’ve realized by now that Joel was missing.

  Then again…

  Don’t freak out if you don’t hear from me today.

  His own words from yesterday morning echoed in his head. Had it only been yesterday? He looked over at the bucket, his stomach turning for reasons that had nothing to do with the smell.

  What if Thomas thought he had to give Joel a few days to think? What if Thomas was doing his best to give Joel space? What if his dad decided to move Joel out of the house once he got back to make sure the neighbors wouldn’t see or hear him until he was suitably remorseful?

  He closed his eyes, trying not let himself be swept away by those thoughts. He had to focus on what was going on right now and what he actually knew for a fact. He didn’t know what his dad had planned, and speculation wouldn’t help.

  Thomas had sent him a message yesterday afternoon, and Joel had never responded. Even if Thomas wanted to give him space and time to think, his mate had to think the lack of response was strange.

  Then there were his colleagues. He would miss his shift this morning, which would worry Claire and Charlie. How long before they contacted the police if they didn’t hear from him? Twenty-four hours? Or would they send someone by his apartment first to see if he was sick?

  Panic bubbled up again. His bosses and colleagues wouldn’t call the police just because he wasn’t texting them back. No one would call the police just because he wasn’t answering the door. He would be stuck down here forever, with only his family for company. He would never see Thomas or his friends from work again.

  He focused on breathing in slowly and letting it out evenly. He couldn’t let panic take over. He didn’t want to give Dylan and Adam the satisfaction. He had to show them how much he’d changed. The best way to do that was by showing no fear.

  He sat on the mattress and managed to find a comfortable position. He focused on listening to the sounds of the world waking up outside. Birds were singing. He heard a couple of cars drive past the house. The sunny spot created by sunlight streaming in through the window moved across the floor, and Joel wondered if his brothers were ever going to wake up. It was a Friday, didn’t they have work to go to?

  What kind of work did his brothers even do? His heart panged when he realized he didn’t know. He’d been so busy hiding that he hadn’t checked up on his family, not even on Facebook. He hadn’t seen pictures of his brothers graduating high school or getting their driver’s licenses. Were they dating anyone? Involved in a serious relationship? And what had Mom and Dad been up to?

  He couldn’t get too nostalgic or soft-hearted. It didn’t matter what job Adam had or if Dylan had a girlfriend. What mattered was that his family had kidnapped him and still thought he was worthless.

  The brief thought of his brothers dating made him wonder if he should tell them about Thomas being his true mate. He laughed as he imagined Dylan and Adam’s faces as he told them a dragon shifter, a Keeper of the Peace, had declared Joel was his true mate. Maybe he could use it as a threat. Let me go, or else my dragon shifter boyfriend will make you pay…

  They wouldn’t believe him, though.

  Best to leave them in the dark. Best to give Thomas the advantage of taking them by surprise.

  When he heard footsteps and voices overhead, he looked up at the ceiling. The kitchen was right above the basement and he thought he heard a woman’s voice. His mom? Would she come down here? Would she be surprised to see him? A part of him hoped she would be angry on his behalf, but the rest of him was more realistic. She wouldn’t release him. She probably thought it was for the best that he came back home. Like the others, she didn’t see tha
t her own treatment of him had driven him away.

  Still, his mom had been kinder to him than anyone else. If he could reason with anyone, it would be her.

  He sat up straight when he heard the door to the basement unlock and open. But one look at the socked feet walking down the stairs, he knew it was one of his brothers. His shoulders slumped as Adam grinned at him.

  “Sleep well?” Adam held a tray with a glass of water and a bowl.

  Joel shrugged.

  “You know, the sooner you behave, the sooner we can let you sleep in your own bed.”

  Joel frowned. Had they kept his bedroom the way he’d left it?

  “Well, it’s the guest bed nowadays,” Adam continued as he walked over to Joel. “Mom turned your bedroom into a guest room a few months after you left. You remember how she always wanted to have a real guest room, right? I guess you leaving was good for something. It turned out great. You’ll like it.” Adam put the tray down. “Here’s some water. I didn’t know if you wanted coffee or tea. We also have orange juice, by the way. I made you some oatmeal too for breakfast.” He smiled at Joel. “Shall I take the gag off so you can eat?”

  Joel nodded and was relieved when Adam undid the knot. “Thanks” Adam was being surprisingly cheerful and nice at the moment.

  “Do you want me to get you something else to drink?” Adam sounded sincere.

  “Sure.” Joel wanted to see how far his helpful mood would go. “A coffee. Black.”

  “Coming right up!” Adam went up the stairs, humming to himself.

  Joel frowned, but pulled the tray closer so he could drink the water. It tasted great after the dry gag. The oatmeal hadn’t been mixed with anything but milk, so while it didn’t taste like anything, it was a better breakfast than he’d expected. There was enough of it. At least they weren’t planning on letting him starve. Or at least Adam wasn’t.

  As he ate his oatmeal, he wondered if that was a tactic. Was Adam playing good cop and Dylan would play bad cop? Or was Adam simply feeding him in the hopes that Joel wouldn’t shout for help? What was their plan? They had to have one. Or did they really believe that kidnapping Joel was all it would take? That Joel would realize his mistake and be happy to live back here?