Protector Dragon

by Liv Rider

  “Okay.” Adam still had his hands up. “I’m going to step inside and my dad will come out with Joel. Please don’t set anything on fire.”

  Thomas stayed where he was. His heart raced in his chest. He could smell that Joel was nearby now. Was he already in the hallway?

  Finally, Travis appeared in the doorway again. He had a tight grip on Joel’s arm with one hand.

  Thomas growled when he noticed Joel’s wrists were tied together in front of his body with duct tape. He moved forward, narrowing his eyes.

  “Thomas?” Joel’s voice was small and he stared up at the dragon with wide eyes.

  Thomas froze. He was frightening his mate.

  We are trying to protect him!

  He doesn’t know that. This is the first time he has seen us like this, Thomas reminded his dragon.

  “Exactly, don’t move another muscle.” Travis’ voice was dripping with smugness. “Now, here’s the deal. You can have Joel on the condition that you leave us alone and won’t contact the council. You too, Douglas. No reports. No official complaints. I want your word. From the both of you.”

  Thomas hissed in anger, wanting to lash out.

  “Ah!” Travis pushed Joel behind him and back into the hallway. “You wouldn’t want your mate to get hurt, do you?”

  He knew the older man wasn’t bluffing. After all, he had already shown he was more than capable of hurting his son. Bile was rising in his throat. He had never hated anyone like he hated Travis Davies.

  And Thomas was powerless to do anything about it.

  His claws dug into the asphalt underneath him. He had to accept the deal. He needed Joel to be safe.

  “Don’t you dare agree!”

  Thomas was taken aback by Joel’s sudden shout, but Travis was so surprised that he didn’t stop Joel from pushing past him. He still held Joel’s arm, but Joel was standing on the porch. He looked up at Thomas.

  “Don’t you dare agree to leave them alone.” Joel raised his voice. “They can’t get away with this. I won’t let them pretend they didn’t kidnap me.”

  Thomas risked a quick look around the street. Curtains twitched as neighbors looked through the windows and Thomas hoped they had heard every word of what Joel had said.

  “Joel, be quiet.” Travis must’ve realized the neighbors were watching too.

  “No!” Joel turned his head to glare at his father. “No, not anymore. I’m done with this. I’m done with you. I’m done with this town!” he yelled. “For years, all you did was make me miserable. You made me think I was worthless. Well, I’m not. I’ve made a life for myself and it’s much better than you could ever imagine. I’ve got a good job. I’ve got great friends. I’ve got Thomas.” He looked over at Thomas and a smile appeared on his face. “I’ve got you.”

  Our mate. His dragon was bursting with happiness and pride.

  Ours, Thomas agreed. Just as we are his.

  He wanted to hold Joel in his arms. He shifted back, feeling a little wobbly on his two feet. “I don’t think we have a deal, Davies.” He wanted Joel to be safe more than anything, but Joel had spent his entire life with shifters dismissing him.

  “But…” Travis sounded shell-shocked. “But he’s your mate! You have to take the deal!”

  “He disagrees.” Thomas nodded at Joel. “And unlike you, I actually respect his wishes.” He met Travis’ glare and kept his head high. His stomach was tying itself into knots with worry over Joel. What if Travis made good on his threat to hurt Joel? Sure, they were the center of attention and Thomas was sure everyone in the street was listening, but the man was obviously desperate to salvage his reputation. “Let him go. It’s over. You lost.”

  There was nothing else he could say to convince the older man. Joel was quiet too. His eyes were darting from Thomas to his father and back. He didn’t try to pull away. Joel knew how pointless that was.

  “Listen to them, Travis,” Douglas urged. “You know they’re right.”

  Thomas watched Travis’ face closely for a clue. The older man looked so frustrated and angry that Thomas was worried he’d pull Joel back inside forever.

  But then he pushed Joel forward with a snarl. “Fine! But you’re wrong. This isn’t over!” He stomped back inside and slammed the door behind him.

  For a moment, Thomas was too shocked to do anything. Fortunately, Joel wasn’t. He ran over to Thomas, almost knocking him over as he crashed into him.

  “Joel.” Thomas held him tight, closing his eyes. “You’re safe.”

  “I know.” Joel’s voice was trembling and he was shaking in Thomas’ arms. “You’re here.”

  “Of course I’m here.” He closed his eyes, inhaling Joel’s scent and focusing on the feel of him in his arms, where he belonged. All the stress and worrying from the past few days fell away, replaced with an overwhelming feeling of relief and love. “Of course I’m here.”

  Joel pulled back to kiss him, then broke it off before Thomas could deepen it. He stared at Thomas with wide eyes and a wider grin. “Give me a hand?” He raised his bound wrists.

  Thomas wanted to smack himself in the face for not freeing Joel immediately. As soon as he removed the duct tape, Joel wrapped his arms around him.

  “I still can’t believe it. You’re really here.”

  “Did you think I wouldn’t come?” He ran one hand through Joel’s hair, cupping his cheek. He’d hoped Joel knew how serious he was about the two of them. If Joel had spent the past days thinking he wouldn’t be rescued…

  Joel shook his head. “No, I knew. I mean, I knew you’d try. I knew you wouldn’t give up. It was weird. Every time I started worrying, I kept telling myself you’d come for me and I just had to wait it out and stay calm. It’s the bond, isn’t it? You had to save me.”

  “I wanted to save you.” He didn’t want Joel to have any doubts. “Joel, you were kidnapped. Of course I had to rescue you.”

  “I know.” Joel kissed him again. “I just—I didn’t think the thought of you would help me so much.” He looked a little embarrassed. “All I did was wait for you to come get me.”

  “And give your father a piece of your mind. That was amazing. I think the entire street heard you.”

  Joel’s face reddened. “I wasn’t even thinking. I was just so angry with how he was treating you. How he’d been treating me. It all just burst out.”

  “About time it did. You’ve been through so much.”

  A cough next to them made them both jump.

  Douglas gave them an awkward smile. “Congratulations, Rollins. It’s not how I would’ve handled this, but it did get you results.” He looked over at the house. “But there will be one hell of an aftermath, though. Travis’ll file a complaint with the council about you threatening him like that and I’ll have to deal with the punishment once I figure out how involved his sons were.”

  Thomas wasn’t looking forward to dealing with the fallout either, but it would be easy now that Joel was safe and sound.

  “Oh, they were very involved.” Joel stepped away from Thomas but left one arm around his waist. “They were there in Lewiston. They helped kidnap me.”

  “And I expect all three of them kept you locked up as well.” Douglas’ expression was grim. “I’ll have to talk to them to figure out how involved they were in the planning.”

  As Douglas talked and moved closer, Thomas felt Joel stiffen up beside him. “How about you get started on that? I think Joel and I have a lot to talk about as well.”

  “Hm-mm.” Douglas rose one eyebrow, shook his head, then walked over to the front door of the Davies house.

  Thomas led Joel over to the pavement across the street, walking away from the house. “You don’t like him, do you?”

  “Who? Douglas?” Joel’s shoulders were hunched. “He wasn’t exactly a help before. When I still lived here.”

  “I thought so. I’m afraid you’ll have to talk to him once he’s finished with your dad. Since he’s Keeper of this district, he’s in charge of t
he investigation into what happened, so he’ll need a statement from you. He helped me find you and he does want to punish your family. The more he knows about what happened, the easier that will be.”

  “I’ll talk to him.” Joel leaned in to Thomas’ embrace as they looked over at the house. The door had opened, but Travis hadn’t let Douglas in. He also kept glancing over at Thomas and Joel, as if he was worried Thomas would shift into a dragon again. “Why did you turn into a dragon anyway?”

  “I challenged your father to a duel in shifted form.”

  “You challenged my father to a duel?” Joel’s eyes were wide.

  “He wouldn’t listen to reason.”

  Joel let out a shaky laugh. “Of course. I wish I could’ve seen his face when you challenged him. He was pretty freaked out when he came to get me. I can’t believe he tried to make a deal.”

  “Get you from where?” Thomas looked Joel up and down. His mate didn’t look wounded, although there was bruising around his wrists.

  “Oh, they locked me down in the basement.” Joel rubbed one of his wrists. “Manacles and everything. I don’t know why they bothered with those; it wasn’t like I was going anywhere.”

  Destroy them, his dragon hissed. Thomas had to focus on Joel so he wouldn’t give in. “They chained you to the floor? To the wall?” Duct tape was bad enough, but manacles?

  “To the wall, yeah.” Joel looked at him. “Thomas?”

  “What?”

  “Your eyes are different.”

  Thomas closed them for a moment. “Dragon eyes. It happens in intense moments when my dragon wants to take over.”

  “Well, you can tell your dragon I’m safe.” Joel squeezed his hand. He looked over at the house again. “I wonder what they’re talking about.”

  Thomas’ hearing wasn’t good enough to make out the words, but he could tell Douglas was agitated. “I think Douglas is trying to figure out what happened, getting your dad’s point of view first.”

  Joel snorted with derision. “Well, Dad thought I needed to learn my place and stop humiliating them. I don’t think he thinks he did anything wrong.”

  Thomas rubbed his arm. “I got that feeling too. Do you want to talk to him?”

  “Who, Douglas? He seems pretty busy.”

  “No, your dad,” Thomas replied, and Joel frowned. “I mean, this is probably the last time you’ll get to talk to him freely. If you have anything else to say, now is the time. Douglas will investigate along with the council here. They’ll talk to everyone involved individually, including Louis and the wolf shifters from Lewiston who told your family where you were. After that, they’ll decide on a punishment, if necessary.” He grimaced. “I don’t know your council very well… there’s a good chance they’ll go easy on your family because you’re human.”

  Joel didn’t look too surprised. “Some of them probably think my dad was right.” He didn’t sound upset or angry, or even disappointed. Thomas hated how matter-of-fact Joel’s tone was, as if it was normal. “There’s no point talking to him. I’ve said my piece. He won’t listen to me. He won’t accept that what he did was wrong.” He looked up at Thomas. “But let’s go over and say goodbye anyway. I never got to say goodbye last time.”

  He kissed Joel briefly. “If that’s what you want.”

  “I think it’s what I need.”

  17

  Joel

  Walking back to the house was the most nerve-wracking thing he had ever done. He felt like he was about to be sick with every step he took. But Thomas was right beside him, holding his hand.

  Thomas, who had challenged his dad and turned into a dragon. Joel had seen it with his own eyes and still couldn’t believe a creature so big and beautiful was real. He hoped Thomas was willing to shift again, so Joel could look his fill.

  When his father saw them walk up, he glared but remained silent. Joel couldn’t help but smile. His father didn’t stand a chance against a dragon. “I came over to say goodbye. Could you get Dylan and Adam? And Mom?”

  He’d only briefly seen his mother in the few seconds between being pulled out of the basement and dragged over to the front door, but she had looked shocked by everything going on.

  His father narrowed his eyes and Joel was sure he’d been about to say something about Joel yelling at him. Then he glanced at Thomas and turned away from the door with a huff. Joel hoped he was getting the rest of his family.

  Douglas sighed, running his hand through his white hair. He looked a lot older than Joel remembered. “I’m not getting anywhere with him. He’s saying he wants to file a complaint against you.” He nodded at Thomas.

  “What?” Thomas raised his eyebrows. “Why?”

  “He claims your violent behavior was unprovoked and that you had no right to be here. Oh, and you abused your dragon’s power of dominance over other shifters.” Joel was pleased to see Douglas looking annoyed.

  “But I never even used that power. You would’ve felt it if I had, and he would’ve wanted to obey me.”

  “I know! That’s what I said, but he’s dead set on filing a complaint.” Douglas folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the doorway. “I’d like to see him try. The council around here can be dumb sometimes, but even they’re not going to take him seriously. Still, if the council contacts you, don’t be surprised. They have to at least pretend to investigate it before they tell Travis he was in the wrong.”

  “You think he was wrong?” Joel was surprised Douglas seemed to think so.

  “Of course I think he was wrong. Fool went and kidnapped you, didn’t he?” Douglas shook his head, then looked at Joel. “You made it pretty clear how you felt about Barnhill when you left. Travis should’ve taken the hint and left you alone.”

  It wasn’t the response he would’ve liked from Douglas, but it was a start. “You know how they treated me. How everyone in town treated me. Of course I left.”

  Douglas shifted on his feet. “Don’t blame you.” He nodded at Thomas. “Things worked out well for you, didn’t they?”

  Douglas’ lack of a real response angered him. He was a Keeper of the Peace as much as Thomas was. Why didn’t he feel responsible for Joel’s well-being? “Coincidentally, yes. But I think it would’ve been nicer if I hadn’t had to run away from home to move to Lewiston. If I could’ve simply moved out of here with the help of my family instead of having to start from scratch.”

  “Joel…” Thomas reached to take his hand. “You’re safe now.”

  “Exactly!” He pulled away from Thomas. The same anger he had felt when he had yelled at his dad bubbled up inside of him. “I’m safe now. I wasn’t safe then and I wasn’t safe yesterday. And it’s all because people like my dad, and even you, Douglas, just admit it, think I’m not worth anything because I’m not a shifter. It was in the letter you wrote me. Non-shifter issues don’t fall under your jurisdiction.”

  Douglas looked increasingly uncomfortable as Joel talked. “Because they don’t!”

  “Oh, sure, because I could’ve just gone to the police. Oh wait, we don’t have one in Barnhill. There’s a council of shifters and there’s you. You can’t say I’m not part of your jurisdiction when there’s no alternatives.”

  “Joel,” Thomas said, “we can discuss this with Douglas later. I agree that things should change, but we should deal with your family kidnapping you first.”

  Douglas frowned and pushed himself away from the doorway. “Hang on, nothing needs to change around here. He’s going back home with you. I’ll make sure his family leaves him alone and we’ll figure out a punishment. That’s how it works.”

  “And that’s fine.” Thomas took Joel’s hand. “His family does need to be punished for what they did. But come on, Douglas, you have to admit, the ways things work around here… it hasn’t helped. You heard Travis. He doesn’t think he did anything wrong.”

  “How long before you get another non-shifter in town?” Joel needed Douglas to understand. “When someone marries a human and
their kid isn’t a shifter? Are you going to stand by and let the same thing happen to them?” The thought of someone else going through what he had made him sick. There had to be a way to change things. “You’re a Keeper of the Peace. It’s your responsibility to look out for everyone in your jurisdiction. You don’t take sides and you make sure everyone gets treated fairly.”

  Douglas looked away, which made Joel smile. His father might not think he had been in the wrong, but Douglas did. “Barnhill isn’t the only town in my territory. There’s always something. Do you think I’ve ever had a day off in the past thirty, forty years? Every time a new council gets elected I think ‘okay, maybe this one’ll be able to take care of themselves and lighten the load’ but that never works out.”

  He should’ve known Douglas would just get defensive. “Then ask for help.” It came out more snide than he had intended. “Thomas does, right?” He turned to his mate and was relieved to see Thomas nodding. “Your friends, the ones who are also Keepers in Lewiston.”

  “Parker and Mitchell are incredibly important to me. I can bounce ideas off of them, I can help them if they run into any issues… and I can have fun with them. I don’t have to worry about being careful or being neutral.”

  It had felt good to let some of his cropped up anger out at Douglas, but it wouldn’t do him any good to stay angry. He had said his piece and Douglas had understood, which was more than Joel could say for his father. “There’s got to be something you can do, Douglas, so next time someone doesn’t need to run away from their family to have a happy life.”

  Douglas remained quiet for a long time. Joel could see him grimace as he glanced away. Knowing how proud shifters could be, he guessed that Douglas wasn’t exactly happy that a non-shifter like Joel was telling him how to be a Keeper of the Peace. He edged a little closer to Thomas.

  “I could contact a couple of neighboring Keepers, and see how they handle humans in their territories.” Douglas looked at Thomas. “But any change is going to take time.”