Rage flickered through me, and I almost tore through my skin and into a bear right then. “Check on Max!” I called to Owen as I slipped out of his grasp.
Owen reached for me, but I pulled away. I couldn’t leave Cash alone to face this monster, even if he was a fire-breathing dragon.
“Help him. Please, Owen.” I shot my bear mate a pleading look, and his resolve crumbled.
He nodded before taking off in Maximus’ direction.
With two of my mates on the sidelines, I turned my attention back on Cash and Helena. The Lamia Queen danced away from each of his blasts of fire, her speed turning her into a manic blur.
“I’m coming, Cash,” I cried. I ran toward them, my pulse pounding in my ears as I leapt over patches of grass that had been set aflame.
“I’ve had enough of this,” Helena spat.
As Cash lowered his head to let out another breath of fire, Helena stopped inches from his long snout and slammed her fist into the side of his head.
My eyes widened as Cash flew to the side. I couldn’t believe she was strong enough to punch a dragon across the yard. What the hell was this woman?
As I raced toward my mate and his opponent, my bear pushed harder for freedom. She wanted to get out and fight just like Cash. It was time I let her. With a gasp of pain, I freed her. I fell to all fours as I ran, slipping into bear form as easily as I’d become a wolf my entire life. My massive claws tore up earth as I ran, throwing dirt behind me.
Helena walked over to Cash, her back turned to me.
This is my chance.
As the Lamia Queen reached down to grab Cash’s massive horns, something dark blurred at the edge of my vision. The force of a freight train slammed into my side. Claws ripped into my fur, and I cried out as I rolled through the grass with something large gripping my side.
Instinctively I rolled over the creature, using my massive weight to dislodge it. As soon as I lunged back to my feet, a monster of nightmares met my gaze with green eyes. What had once been a lovely young woman, but was now a vampiric creature I recognized all too well, snarled at me. It bared several rows of teeth, a long hiss slipping through its fangs.
A growl rumbled in my throat. Though I knew Jade was nothing but an experiment gone wrong, she was standing between me and my mates. I should have felt sympathy for her situation. I should have hesitated in fighting her. But with Cash’s agonizing roar filling the yard, all I saw was red.
I leapt at the monster, forcing it onto its back. I drove my teeth into its shoulder, sinking them in until I tasted ash. The monster screeched, and my eardrums rattled painfully. But I didn’t let go. I bit harder and harder until suddenly I was flying through the air—again.
I hit the ground hard. The pain jarred my bones and forced me onto my side. I was so blinded by pain that I released my bear without meaning to. I turned human, gasping for air and gripping my ribs.
“Jade, my love,” Helena crooned. “Why are you here?”
The Lamia Queen bent over what used to be her mate. She lifted the creature up, holding it close to her chest. Though I expected the monster to rip through the vampire like butter, it seemed to soften under Helena’s gaze.
Cash rose to his feet, smoke rising from his nostrils. Blood ran down the side of his mouth, making my breath catch as I saw the pained look in his eye. Despite it, he reared up onto his hind legs and flapped his wings.
Wind tore at my body, and I gripped the grass with both hands.
Helena turned furious eyes on the dragon. She lashed out, magic flying through the air and slamming into Cash’s massive chest. My dragon mate toppled backward with the force of it, crashing down on top of a few nearby trees.
Angry howls rose, and a myriad of feet battered the ground as the pack lunged for the Lamia Queen. Helena spun, her monster in hand as she blurred out of range toward the tree line.
A snarl rose to her lips, and her face twisted in rage as she met my gaze across the clearing. “This isn’t over, Silver Shifter.” Before I could say a word, the Lamia Queen blinked out of existence, taking her monster with her.
As relief hit me, I leaned on my elbows, catching my breath. I couldn’t believe it. We might not have won, but we’d survived.
My relief was short lived as I looked around the yard at the blackened earth and blood splattered grass. My mates. I scrambled to my feet, forgetting all about my sudden nudity as I searched the clearing for what was mine.
“Maximus! Owen! Cash!” My all-consuming fear was evident in my voice. I trembled as I spotted the large dragon lying still over the trees he’d landed on. “No,” I whispered.
2
Ariana
“Lay him right here,” Maximus said, pointing at the rug in his lodge. We stood in the living room, directing the pack where to put the injured wolves.
When Shira and a hulking male werewolf struggled through the door with Cash’s body, I ran to them and laid a hand on his forehead. “His pulse is strong,” Shira said, offering me a sympathetic smile.
“Get him in the bathtub,” I said. “He’s overheating.”
Maximus shot me a grateful smile as I stepped back, letting them take Cash to some cool water while I helped settle the pack. The pack doctor and assistants knelt over the wolves, bandaging and stitching their wounds.
“What can I do to help?” I asked when the last of the injured had been helped into the lodge and situated as comfortably as possible.
“You’re doing it,” Maximus said, reaching for my hand and giving it a quick squeeze. “Thank you for being here for the pack, Ariana.”
“Your pack is my pack,” I said, giving his cheek a quick kiss before going to assist a teenage girl who had just limped in.
Every seat in Maximus’s spacious living room was draped with groaning wolves. I tried not to think about the ones they weren’t carrying inside, the ones they were taking away. I hadn’t been in the pack long, but I’d been bonded with them, and I could feel the gaping absence of several deaths. My chest ached at the thought of those precious lives cut short for no reason. Daughters that would grow up without parents, like I had for years. Husbands and wives who could never replace their partners, parents who would never recover from the loss of their children.
All because of a vampire.
Maybe Jett had been right about them. I’d fought to spare the lives of vampires, and this was what I got in return.
“Clothes?” asked a blonde woman I’d seen patrolling with Shira a few times. She lifted a t-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts from a tall stack in her arms, then moved on to hand out clothes to the next person. I watched her try to find something big enough for Owen, who knelt next to a man with a severe chest wound, holding pressure on the puncture until the doctor could get to him.
The concern in Owen’s face touched me. He had every reason to resent the wolves and Maximus for what had happened to his father, but he’d taken the high road and was treating them as if they were his own. Love and pride swelled inside my chest. How had I ever gotten so lucky?
“Owen, we need reinforcements,” Maximus said, dropping to his knees beside Owen. He took over the injury while Owen dressed. “The pack has too many injured right now to protect our territory as well as we need. Can you call in some of your clan?”
“Of course,” Owen said. “And you know Cash can bring in some of the Dragon Guard.”
“Great,” Maximus said, showing no sign of discomfort at having to ask for help. Again, I was filled with pride at how far my mates had come and love at how amazing they were. All petty arguments had been forgotten in the crisis, and everyone was acting selflessly.
Just when I was congratulating myself on my amazing score, the universe decided to put me in my place. The door opened, and the most beautiful black man I’d ever seen stepped into the lodge. For a second, my heart stopped.
And then I remembered that I hated my fourth mate.
“Jett,” Maximus growled, his eyes flashing molten gold. He didn’t move,
his hands steady on his injured packmate, but from the bunching of his muscles, I could tell he wanted to lunge across the living room. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“I came to help.” Jett’s eyes moved to me, all the usual arrogance gone. “Ariana…”
“Get the fuck out of my house,” Maximus warned.
Jett held up both hands. “I know you’re all pissed at me, but I’m not here to hurt anyone.”
“You’ve got a lot of nerve showing your face here at all,” I said. “What do you want? You never show up without a reason.”
“I want a chance to talk to you,” he said. “To apologize.”
I finished wrapping up a wolf’s wounded arm and stood, crossing my arms and glaring at Jett. This should be good. “Let’s hear it.”
He glanced around. “Can we… Go somewhere a little more private?”
“Fuck no,” Maximus interrupted. “You’re not going anywhere with our mate.”
“Agreed,” Owen said, stepping up beside me and staring down Jett. “You lost that privilege forever when you kidnapped her and injected her with silver.”
A few gasps echoed around the group as the other wolves absorbed that information and imagined the torture this man had put me through.
Jett’s jaw clenched, and he took a deep breath. But his eyes were earnest when they met mine. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“You should be,” I said. “But I’m still not going anywhere alone with you. I don’t know how dumb you think I am, but you’re wrong if you think I’m dumb enough to trust you again.”
He worked his jaw back and forth. “I guess I deserve that.”
“You want to help so bad? Get down here and start bandaging wolves,” Maximus said from beside the man whose heartbeat had begun to slow. I could feel the anguish of my wolf mate and my own wolf as well as the pack. Before tonight, I hadn’t known how much it hurt to lose one of our members. Seeing Jett here, and knowing that if he’d succeeded in ridding the world of vampires this would never happen again, I had to admit I felt a little less angry at him.
He rolled up his sleeves and got down with the rest of us, bandaging the injured and cleaning wounds. When a guy started thrashing as I put a tourniquet on his arm, Jett jumped to help, holding the man still while I tightened the strap above the wound.
“I really am sorry,” Jett said quietly. “I know I fucked up, and you have no reason to trust me, but I hope you’ll let me earn your forgiveness.”
“I know you did it with good intentions,” I said, meet his gaze. He needed to hear this. “But it doesn’t change the fact that you hurt me in the process. I’m still injured, and I don’t know if my wolf will ever be the same.”
Jett swallowed, dropping his gaze from mine. “I know.”
I almost missed the old Jett, because I really wanted to snipe at him a little more, but I couldn’t bring myself to go off on him when he was acting so contrite. So I just moved away to help someone else, putting distance between me and the panther. I didn’t want to feel bad for him, not after what he’d done to me. But he really did look miserable, and I couldn’t help feeling for him, despite all he’d done. My inner beasties didn’t hold grudges. They were wary of him, but they knew we needed a panther to complete my Silver Shifter gift. My human side wasn’t ready to forgive and forget what Jett had done to us, though.
When we’d finally patched up the last wolf and carried him home to his cabin to heal, we all collapsed at Maximus’ table, momentarily too exhausted to speak.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” a voice growled behind me.
I spun around to find Cash leaning against the doorframe, looking haggard and about as exhausted as I felt.
“Cash,” I said. My dragon whined for me to go to him, but my aching body kept me in my seat. Still, relief flooded me. “You’re okay. Thank goodness.”
“I’m fine,” he snapped, his eyes locked on the panther at the table. “But why is Jett here?”
“We went over this while you were getting your beauty sleep,” Jett said, his old snark showing through for a second.
“Give me a reason not to barbecue you,” Cash said.
“Look, I apologized,” Jett said, lifting both hands. “I know I’ll have to prove myself, but I also know that you need me.”
Owen scoffed and narrowed his eyes at the panther.
“What for?” Maximus said, leaning back and crossing his arms over his broad chest. “Owen’s clan is patrolling, and we’ll have dragons watching from the sky. Why shouldn’t we add you in with the vamps and attack you both at once?”
“Because we’re not with the vamps,” Jett said. “You can’t attack us both at once.”
“He’s right,” Owen sighed. “If the vampires are on the warpath, and they’ve got the Lamia Queen on their side, we can’t afford to split our resources and fight the panthers, too.”
“I want to help take down the vampires,” Jett said, glancing at me. “I’m not talking about turning them human. I’m talking about fighting the ones who are attacking shifters. And no one has as many ins with the vamps as I do.”
No one spoke for a minute. It was true. Jett had all kinds of spies in the vampire world.
I sighed and looked from one of my mates to the next. They were all watching me, waiting for my response. “We could really use the inside info,” I admitted at last.
Jett sank back, a smug smile starting on his lips.
“Don’t get too comfortable,” Maximus growled, grabbing the back of Jett’s neck. “If you’re going to be in my territory, around our mate, it’s going to be on probationary terms.”
“What?” Jett asked, yanking away from Maximus’ grip.
“Agreed,” I said. “You can’t just waltz back in here and offer us info and think it’s all forgiven. How do we know you’re even telling the truth and not planning another attack?”
“I’m not,” Jett said.
“First, we’ll need your phone,” Maximus said, holding out a hand.
“What?” Jett growled.
“You’re always on your phone,” Owen said. “How do we know what you’re really planning? You could be conspiring with the vamps for all we know.”
“Fuck this shit,” Jett muttered, but he slapped his phone into Maximus’ palm. “The password is Cassie95.”
I tried not to find it sweet that his password was his sister’s name. He wasn’t sweet. He was an asshole.
“And you won’t be alone with Ariana at any time,” Maximus said. “You’ll have a guard with you at all times to make sure. If not one of us, one of our trusted clan members who will report back to us the second you try anything.”
“Fine,” Jett said through gritted teeth. “Anything else, Mom?”
“You can give us info, but you won’t be able to fight in any attacks,” Maximus said. “We can’t trust that you won’t turn on us and use the fight as a distraction to snatch Ariana again.”
“That’s bullshit,” Jett said, jumping to his feet and slamming a fist down on the table. “I’m here because I want to fight beside you, not sit back and watch from the sidelines.”
“Then show us we can trust you,” I said. “Then you can fight beside us.”
Maximus looked like he might argue, but I gave him a hard look, and he clamped his jaw shut.
“That’s our best offer,” Cash said from the doorway. “I suggest you take it before we rethink our generosity.”
Jett glared at his old friend for a long moment before answering in a more subdued voice. “Okay,” he said. “If you’ll let me help, I accept your conditions.”
3
Cash
I leaned against the wall outside Ari’s room, bored out of my mind. Sitting still was not in a dragon’s nature. Closing my eyes, I thudded my skull lightly against the wall in frustration. This was fucking ridiculous. We should have just given Jett a good ass-kicking and sent him packing. I hadn’t wanted to be the asshole, though. It was clear Ari was connected to hi
m, whether we liked it or not. That aside, I couldn’t tell what part of my anger at Jett was resentment that my childhood friend had betrayed me so spectacularly.
“Cash?”
I jerked my head up, turning to find Ari peering out the door of her bedroom at me. “Shit, sorry,” I said. “Did I wake you?”
“Well, you are hammering on my wall,” she said with a smirk.
“Sorry,” I said, rubbing a hand through my thick waves.
“You okay?” she asked, crossing her arms. That brought my attention to the peaks of her nipples poking up through the button-up shirt she’d pulled on. I was pretty sure I’d seen Maximus in that shirt earlier today.
“Is Maximus in there with you?” I asked, trying not to sound too jealous.
“Did you want him to be?” she asked with a devilish grin. “I could invite him.”
“No,” I said quickly. “But I suppose if you want me to get him, I can.”
“I think you’re the one who owes me something,” she said, stepping out into the hall and twisting her hand into the front of my T-shirt. She stood on her tiptoes and skimmed her full lips over my chin. “Remember?”
My cock throbbed against my slacks at her words, but I cleared my throat and set firm hands on her hips. “I remember that I’m on guard duty.”
“Remember what happened last time you tried to be a gentleman?” she asked.
I remembered all too well. I’d walked in on her with Maximus and Owen in the midst of some post-coital snuggling the next morning. I wasn’t about to miss out again. If they weren’t going to go easy on her, why should I?
“Fuck guard duty,” I said, sliding an arm around my mate’s waist and pinning her slender body against my hard one.
“Is that my new nickname?” she asked. “Guard duty?”
I crushed my lips down on hers, thrusting my tongue into her mouth to claim hers. Her body melted against me, her arms twining around my neck as she returned the kiss. I walked her backwards to her door before breaking the kiss.
Her Panther: An Urban Fantasy Romance (Silver Shifter Book 4) Page 2