Watching Reece speak about the local area filled his face with the passion he’d lacked when she’d walked in. Teagan sat back and listened to his every word. She made a mental note to call her father at some point.
She’d been stubborn about her own poverty. Her dreams had fueled her, but the reality of life had kicked her down time and time again. Though she’d been saving to open her own bookstore, she knew that she could have called her family at any time and gotten everything that she needed to set it up.
Teagan didn’t want her family to hand her what she wanted. Doing it on her own felt better. The help from her family felt like a cheap apology for the way they’d raised her. She wasn’t above calling them and asking them to make regular donations to the aviary, though.
The Barnes farms were successful. They had enough money to breathe a new life into the aviary. Maybe that would attract others who wanted to be a part of something so precious and important. Reece explained that the birds above were all being rehabilitated for various reasons. He pointed out the red-tailed hawk and told Teagan about the bird’s wing fracture. Another bird had an unfortunate experience with a duck-hunting dog that’d gotten loose.
Her bird wanted out. It wanted to sit in the trees with the others. She felt the brush of feathers and the rush of excitement that came with thoughts of flying. Glancing at Reece, she wondered if she could get a raincheck for their flirting. It’d been put aside earlier, but she wasn’t sure if he would want to get back to it once he’d finished talking.
He seemed to catch on. Maybe he noticed the flush of her cheeks or a light in her eyes. His lips split into a grin. He nodded and gestured to the trees.
“Have at it,” he said. “You won’t find any field mice to hunt in here, though. We keep a clean place.”
Teagan leapt to her feet and shed her shirt. Rolling her shoulders, she could already feel the press of feathers bursting out of her skin. In the space between one breath and the next, her body changed. The process was much faster now. It was almost natural.
She opened her wings and floated up to the nearest branch. Not yest satisfied, she took to the air again and found an even higher branch hidden behind the leaves.
Reece wanted more time with Teagan, but he knew that it was important for her to shift. So long as she kept shifting, she would expel the lasting effects of the silver bracelet. His core clenched at the thought of her using something so toxic to hold her beast at bay.
Teagan wasn’t a violent dragon. She wasn’t a risk to herself and those around her. It was the other way around. The people who claimed to love her were the ones risking her safety. They refused to fly cautiously. They kept her feet on the ground and forced her to seek dangerous solutions.
Reece growled, more than a little annoyed at the state of Teagan’s life. He couldn’t change it, either. He couldn’t march up to Callum Montoya and tell the old dragon what he’d done wrong. Callum wasn’t the kind of man to listen. He was a fist-first kind of man. An intervention would end in a fight, for sure.
A fight would enrage Alice Montoya. Reece wasn’t sure if it was because she cared for him or if any attack against Reece wounded her pride. He was too afraid to ask at this point.
Maybe they weren’t meant to be. Reece couldn’t be sure of anything as important as that right now. He did know that Teagan was important to him. He liked the owl shifter. His beast interjected, but Reece couldn’t decipher what it was trying to say. Its thoughts were a jumbled mix of emotions and desire.
He sighed. He didn’t have the time to unpack his heart. He didn’t have the time or…he didn’t have the willpower. Either way, it wasn’t going to happen.
The door to the aviary blew open. Thunderous footsteps echoed around the wide room. Terrified birds leapt from their branches. The air swirled with feathers and falling leaves as Reece turned to face Callum Barnes.
It’d been a matter of time, but Reece had assumed that they would have more. While Callum raced toward him, Reece wondered what had tipped Callum off this time. Had Quincy whispered in Callum’s ear again?
“Give her back,” Callum roared.
Reece widened his stance but didn’t pull his hands out of his pockets. He stayed silent, which only turned Callum’s face a darker shade of flustered red.
“I know you’re keeping Teagan from me. You need to let her go.” Callum pressed one thick finger into Reece’s chest and shoved him back.
Reece leaned with the force of Callum’s finger so that he didn’t lose ground. Callum didn’t let up. He didn’t back down. Reece’s beast thrashed inside him. He could feel the dragon getting close to the surface, filling his eyes with light.
Teeth clenched tight, Reece grabbed Callum’s outstretched hand and forced him back. A single coo from the canopy above calmed Reece’s enraged beast. Reece sucked in a breath, and the red haze at the edges of his vision receded a bit.
“I’m not holding anyone hostage.” Reece flung Callum’s hand away from himself.
Callum’s lips curled in a sneer. “I know you Montoyas have been up to something for a while. You and your blasted mother are trouble. She doesn’t know well enough to let go, and you’ve always been her favorite child.”
Reece had to breathe through his nose to stay in control. Rage gathered behind his sternum and begged to be unleashed. He couldn’t. Not in here. Not with the birds. Not with Teagan.
“Sir,” Reece said as evenly as he could manage. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave the premises. You are a danger to those around you, and I would appreciate it if you removed yourself for the sake of the birds.”
Callum grabbed Reece by the front of his shirt and yanked him close so he could growl in Reece’s face. “I’m not going anywhere. Tell me where she is.”
Reece started to repeat himself, but Callum cut him off.
“I know she’s here. I can smell her. I can smell her on you, too.” Callum’s eyes narrowed. The light of his beast flared, red-hot, over the man’s eyes.
Reece tensed, preparing himself for the worst. His hands curled into fists at his sides. He could feel the press of his teeth into his cheek as they sharpened. Losing control now would put everyone at risk. He couldn’t allow Callum to push him too far. Callum likely wanted Reece to act first so that he had an excuse to react.
Reece thought of the woman waiting above. Teagan was watching. He could feel her gaze on his skin. Callum had taken so much away from her, but he was still her father. Reece couldn’t attack her father.
“I’m not my mother’s puppet,” Reece said, his voice low.
He grabbed Callum’s hand again. This time, he squeezed. He dug his fingers into Callum’s flesh and waited for the man to pull away. This game of pain-chicken went on for several heartbeats.
“However, I am still her son. I still have her power, which makes you and me equals.” The smell of blood blossomed on the air as Reece’s fingers pierced Callum’s skin. “You and I could easily level the aviary, so I will ask you once again to leave.
“Damn it! I just want to know that she’s safe! How is that so hard for you bastards to understand? No one will give me a straight answer.” Callum spat as he roared. “Quincy tells me she’s somewhere on Montoya territory. Alice told me that she’s hiding in your cabin. Why is everyone giving me the runaround?”
Reece’s stomach dropped. His mother had told Callum of Teagan’s whereabouts? Reece thought he’d done a good job of keeping his mother in the dark. That meant that Alice must have snooped around his place. He knew his mother had a habit of being controlling, but he never thought she would stoop to this level.
“Have you ever considered the fact that they might be lying?” Reece asked. “Are you really going to trust the most devious members of my family? You should know by now that they’re only trying to stir trouble.”
Callum’s conviction wavered. He seemed unbothered by the blood on his hand, but Reece’s words had given him pause. Then, his brow furrowed deeper.
“The
n how come I can smell her? There’s owl on you.”
Reece laughed, sudden and sharp. “This is an aviary! Of course, you can smell owl on the air. I hate to tell you that there’s a number of owls here at any given time.”
Reece didn’t expect that to work. Shifters and animals had very distinctly different scents. Teagan wouldn’t smell like any normal snowy owl.
But once again, confusion flickered across Callum’s face. The man had been played by members of Reece’s family. While Callum likely thought he was doing the right thing, he was now conflicted.
“I haven’t been my mother’s golden child lately,” Reece said. “My guess is that she didn’t want to beat my ass herself, so she sent you to do the job for her.”
Callum let him go and shoved him back. Reece staggered, but not far. He righted himself and glared at Callum. If Reece formed a mate bond with Teagan, this would be his father-in-law. For a moment, Reece wondered how Cash dealt with the guy. Everyone knew that Callum had beaten the shit out of Cash once before.
Did the two have an uneasy understanding? Or did Ember play ambassador between the two of them? Ember seemed like the kind of woman who could stand up to a man like her father. Teagan…not so much.
Teagan needed Ember. She needed Reece.
It wasn’t that he thought Teagan was weak, because she wasn’t. No shifter with a weak constitution could have worn silver for any extended period of time. Teagan had willpower and conviction made of steel. But she also had heart, and that heart made her malleable. Dominant personalities stomped all over hearts.
Reece had seen it before, with his mother. Alice spared no opportunity to trample over those around her, even when they were her own children. Alice had ratted him out to Callum. Reece would get out of this, one way or another.
Teagan and the aviary were relying on him.
11
More than once, Teagan thought about descending from her perch. She flinched every time her father reached for Reece. Callum wasn’t known for holding back his temper. He’d gotten his position as family enforcer through brute strength and the willingness to do just about anything.
Teagan knew her father would destroy this entire place just to get to her. She did not want to be the reason the aviary had to close once and for all. Reece would lose his final sanctuary. She was not worth the risk.
Yet, Reece somehow kept her father’s rage at bay. When Reece spoke, his voice was even and calm. He was convincing. She was startled by the ease he displayed while dealing with her father. She doubted any other man could have handled this situation without escalating it.
Well, Cash had managed. She knew that Cash had kept his cool because of his mate bond with her sister. Cash’s love for Ember had stopped him from destroying her place of work.
Perhaps Reece’s love for the Aviary gave him the edge he needed to talk Callum down.
That had to be it because he didn’t love Teagan.
She had to leave before she fell too far. If she loved Reece too much, then this would hurt so much more. As it was, her presence put him at risk. Their fling had to come to an end. She needed to fly out of here and go home.
There was no way for her to escape the aviary in this form, though. It was meant for keeping birds inside. She would have to wait for her father to leave so she could shift and slip out a back door. For whatever reason, the thought of saying goodbye to Reece hurt more than she wanted to admit.
She told herself that he would understand. He would know that she’d left for his sake. There was no need for formal farewells.
The room went silent. Every bird in the aviary quieted. Teagan heard a low growl rumble through the sudden silence. Her gaze focused on the two men far below. Her father’s attention had moved past Reece. The foliage blocked her view, keeping her from seeing whatever it was that her father had found.
Oh, but her stomach dipped with sudden realization. She’d left her clothing below when she shifted. Reece hadn’t had time to pick it up. Her father must have noticed the pile of fabric. If he got to it, he would smell her scent all over it.
If she’d been capable of human speech, she would have let out the cruelest string of expletives anyone had ever heard. Instead, Teagan threw herself from her branch just as her father shifted. Massive dragon claws slammed into the earth. His tail lashed, nearly colliding with a nearby tree full of birds.
Teagan coasted toward the men. Reece leapt back. The tension in his shoulders told her that he would shift soon, too. Together, they would destroy everything.
Reece called out her name when she passed him. She didn’t swoop around and go to him, though her beast wanted to. She had someone else that needed to be dealt with. She landed on her father’s nose and ruffled her feathers.
For a moment, his gaze stayed unfocused. Teagan recognized that look. She’d seen it too many times after her mother had abandoned them both. She hated that look, that grief that should have been hers alone. While Callum wallowed in the grief and allowed it to steal his control away, she’d had to suck it up and act like nothing hurt.
Then, he recognized her. His dragon eyes went wide. She dug her talons into his nose until tears gathered in his eyes. It was the least he deserved. After biting his nose in anger a few times, she returned to the air and coasted back to her clothing. She grabbed the fabric in her beak and carried it into the trees so she could shift and change.
Callum had shifted back by the time she returned. His expression was dark, but it held a relief that surprised her. She didn’t let it sway her own anger, though. He’d been pursuing her since she’d left. Every moment of her freedom had been tainted with the knowledge that he could ruin it at any time.
Like he had just now.
Teagan ignored her father. She shoved through the door, knowing full well that Callum would follow her. Rage simmered beneath her skin. She hated thinking about how she’d inherited that kind of pure anger from her father. They weren’t even related, and yet she’d picked up this awful well of wrath anyway.
How had Ember escaped it? How had it missed her and still hit Teagan? She wished she didn’t have the ability to feel something so sharp and deep. Perhaps it would have been better had she felt love as acutely as she felt anger. That hardly ever happened for her, though.
Outside, her father grabbed her arm and spun her around. She jerked away from him and danced out of reach. After shifting so much in the past few days, she was light on her feet. Her father’s eyes widened, almost imperceptibly. He noticed, too.
“Where the hell have you been? Are you okay?” He towered over her. “You could have called to tell me you were okay. Unless…unless he was preventing you from contacting anyone.”
Teagan threw her hands in the air. “Calm down! I wasn’t kidnapped. Okay?”
Callum recoiled. He wasn’t used to this daughter yelling at him. Not Teagan. Not quiet and reserved Teagan.
Well, she was tired of being that subdued child. She had become a woman at some point.
“I’m an adult, Dad. I can do whatever and whoever I want.” She hadn’t meant to add that last part. Her cheeks heated.
Callum’s eyes flew wide open. His lips parted. Smoke billowed out of the cave of his mouth. There he went, overreacting again.
“Not you, too.” He tilted his head in shame.
She threw off that shame and raised her chin. She wasn’t going to buckle under his expectations anymore. The thought of going back to that weak and sad state sickened her. The silver bracelet was going in the trash the moment she got home, if Ember hadn’t already chucked it in the bin.
“Ember wants you to be a better father, but you’ve missed every point she’s raised.” Teagan took a step back. She wanted more space between them. This parking lot wasn’t enough.
A thought occurred to her. The dragon man could not follow her if she flew away. The sun was still high in the sky. He would stand out like a sore thumb while she would just become part of the scenery.
“Don’t tell m
e how to be a father. I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I’ve searched high and low, worried that the worst had happened.”
She paused. “What’s the worst, Dad? What is the worst that could happen?”
He flung his hand in a broad gesture, encompassing the aviary and, likely, the man inside. “I was afraid one of those monsters had knocked you out of the sky, and you were lying on the ground somewhere, hurting because no one knew where you were.”
She laughed in his face. “That’s exactly what happened. And you know what? He picked me up. He took me home and cared for me because I was too weak to heal after abiding by your rules my whole life.”
She wanted him to hurt. She hoped that her every word hit him like a sharpened dart. It was the only weapon she had left in her arsenal. If she had dragon scales and fire, she would have fought him physically. Without a dragon, she had to settle for this.
Callum’s expression shifted between rage and confusion. Unexpectedly, it settled on sorrow. Teagan had to look away. She wanted to sit in her anger and feel it, but his open regret was like water on a fire. She was nothing but steam at this point.
Teagan began her trek out of the parking lot. Unable to stick around and deal with the conversation a moment longer, she shrugged out of her shirt and shifted again. The transition between one form and the next was as smooth as ever. The rest of her clothing fell away.
“Teagan!” Callum yelled as he chased her to the edge of the parking lot.
She didn’t turn back. There was no point. She’d already shifted.
12
Teagan landed on her building rooftop. With no one around, she shifted back and found the bag she kept on the roof for situations like this. At the time, it’d seemed dumb to leave clothes on the roof when she hardly ever shifted. Now, she was grateful for a hoodie to pull over herself.
Wings of Destiny (Great Plains Dragon Feud Book 5) Page 11