Aurum Court Dragons: Boxset Books 1-5

by Emilia Hartley

  While the leader acted menacing, Mina was starting to believe these dragons had not come to poach on the mountains at all. There was another reason behind their appearance, but she couldn’t figure it out.

  The leader looked from dragon shifter to dragon shifter before finally settling on Jasper. Perhaps it was the gold hair that gave him away, but Mina could also see the regal set of his shoulders and the lift of his chin. Jasper was playing the role of king very well today.

  Mina slid up to him and tugged his sleeve. She could feel Ryker’s gaze on her, but she ignored her mate. Jasper’s glare was one of annoyance, but he relented and bent so she could whisper in his ear. Once she relayed her suspicions, she crept back to her mate’s side. Ryker reached for her hand and gripped it tight.

  “You’re not quite the mess everyone thinks you are,” the man noted, a verbal jab at Jasper.

  But Jasper was no longer listening. Already, his attention was on the woods around them. Mina clutched Ryker’s hand. Her heart stuttered.

  Jasper sniffed the air, much like the leader had done moments ago. He slowly stalked toward the leader. Once they were closer, Mina could see the size difference. Jasper was easily half a foot taller, towering over the man.

  “I know your scent,” Jasper growled.

  Ryker stilled beside her. They all heard it, the change in Jasper’s voice. This meeting had lasted all of five minutes before Jasper’s beast decided to make an appearance. The entire court held their breath, silence surrounding them as they waited to see what their king would do.

  “You think to hide her from me.” Jasper snarled, his expression more beast than man.

  Her? Mina looked to her fellow dragons, but if any of them knew what Jasper was talking about, they didn’t show it. Bile rose and seared the back of her throat. Mina swallowed.

  “Watch yourself, boy king.” The leader stepped into Jasper’s space.

  They were moments away from a fight. Mina was sure of it. Tension crackled in the air like wild electricity. But, why? She didn’t understand what the leader and her king were posturing over. Clearly, they both knew something no one else did. Whatever boiled between them was worth everything to Jasper’s beast.

  Her.

  The group of dragons on their border were not there to attack. No, if they were, they would have done it days ago. So much had happened since they first found the encampment. The war should have broken out then, but nothing had come of it. These dragons were not here to fight, but to search.

  It explained the exhaustion that permeated all of them. They’d been searching for something, quietly sitting on the fringe of the mountains in an effort to remain hidden from Jasper.

  “This is all over a woman,” Mina said under her breath.

  Ryker looked to her, eyes wide with surprise. No, he mouthed, unbelieving.

  While Mina had figured out what was going on, she had no idea how to mitigate the situation. If the other dragons were searching for one of their own, Jasper and his court could not keep her.

  A thought struck her. Jasper hinted that he, too, was searching for this woman. That could only mean that the woman they both wanted had chosen to hide herself. It was that, or someone else had taken her. They had not found any other dragons in their mountains. The ones who had attacked Jasper six days ago were here. Mina could smell them. One, she suspected the one she’d knocked from the sky, glared at her in particular.

  If they were not a separate group, then Mina could only guess that the woman didn’t want to be found. Mina could not imagine being hunted by both the leader of this group and Jasper. She, too, would run.

  She could see that Ryker wanted to do something. His spine was ramrod straight and his fists were clenched at his sides. If he acted against his king’s wishes, it could start trouble. The unfamiliar dragons might think they were disorganized and unfaithful. Mina knew they had to present a united front to keep the others from trying to overthrow Jasper.

  Yet, if Jasper couldn’t contain himself, then there was no point in a unified front.

  Mina could feel the tension, crackling as if she were back in her Uncle’s house. A fight was coming. It all came down to who would break first. It looked as though Jasper would be the one to crack. If the woman he sought was his mate, and the beast in him knew it, then there would be no stopping Jasper.

  Now, the question that still remained was where the woman was. If she was Jasper’s mate, then why hadn’t she sought safety with him? A thought struck Mina and left her chilled to her bones.

  Looking between the two dragon shifters staring each other down, all Mina could see was danger. Both men oozed violence. Jasper had been fighting over Grove for months now, battling his cousins. The missing woman ran from both men because she feared both. Mina knew what it felt like to stand before her Uncle. This woman must have felt the same kind of fear when she looked to Jasper.

  Her stomach sank.

  Mina’s head ached. The tension had her temples throbbing. She wished it would end soon. There was no reason to fight here, but she didn’t know how to keep one from happening.

  “Leave my territory,” Jasper declared. “Forget your mission. Forget whatever you hoped to find. I never want to see you again.”

  The command echoed through the clearing. All heads turned toward Jasper, the king of these mountains, before glancing back at their own leader.

  This is it, Mina thought. She let her beast slip toward the surface. The creature inside her was ready for the fight, even if Mina wanted to avoid it. She would let her beast guide her. As part of Jasper’s court, she knew she should keep an eye on him, but all she cared about was getting Ryker home safe.

  She had a new life ahead of her and she was determined to keep it. Mina would never go back to her Uncle’s house. She wanted to cuddle beside spiky Ryker every night and devour copious amounts of sugared sweets with him on the couch in the mornings. No one was going to take that away from her.

  The beast in her agreed.

  When the leader of the unfamiliar shifters punched Jasper, she was the first to shift. Her beast flowed from her and slammed claws into the earth before any of the others could finish. The unfamiliar shifters scrambled. Jasper’s court did not have to collect themselves. Like Mina, they must have foreseen the coming fight because each touched ground in their dragon forms before the unfamiliar dragons could think to shift.

  Yet, no one moved.

  Jasper had not yet shifted. Mina held her breath, waiting to see what would happen. A prickle washed over her scales. As much as she didn’t want to look way from her king, she scanned the unfamiliar dragons. The one that had glared at her earlier now watched her with renewed intensity.

  There was a promise in those eyes, one of retribution.

  Revenge.

  She moved from foot to foot. Ryker’s warning growl enveloped her. Not at her, but the man who stared her down. She leaned against Ryker in an attempt to tell him she would be fine. Nothing happened yet.

  Even as she told herself no fight had broken out, she could hear other dragons beginning to shift. Massive beasts marched up to their leader, forming a barrier behind him much the way Jasper’s court had.

  “I will give you five days to find my daughter,” the leader said. “Once you find her, you are to return her to me. If you do not, then I will issue a war on you and your mountains. Are you ready to go to war over her?”

  The court held their breath. Mina knew they would all follow Jasper to whatever ends, but whatever Jasper decided would shape their future. She noticed the way her mate dug his claws into the earth. Without a voice, she could not tell him everything would end alright. She couldn’t tell him there was nothing that they couldn’t face together.

  Mina had already endured the hardest part of her life. A war, no matter how devastating it sounded, wouldn’t shake her. She wouldn’t let it shake Ryker, either.

  “If she’s hiding from you, I’m sure it is for good re
ason,” Jasper said.

  The entire court held their breath. Even Mina struggled to breathe as the moment stretched into infinity. Just as she thought she might fall over, Jasper made his declaration.

  “War it is, then.”

  Gold light flashed before them. Jasper’s beast filled the clearing, but there was no time to take in the wonder of his beast. A green shape shot through the golden light and slammed into Mina.

  She let out a cry of pain and tumbled over the ground. A familiar scent enveloped her, the same dragon she’d knocked from the sky. He was back for the revenge she’d seen in his eyes.

  Ryker let out a roar. The fight was on.

  Before the green dragon could strike her again, Mina shot up into the air. Her wings caught an updraft. It propelled her higher, faster. More dragons entered the air. The clearing was far away from human towns or human roads, but this many beasts in the sky was dangerous.

  They would be sighted.

  Mina didn’t have time to think about the dangers of their war. The green dragon raced after her. Ryker was hot on the creature’s heels, but not fast enough to catch him. Mina knew she was quick for a dragon, but the green beast behind her seemed driven by an unseen wind. He was a force of nature that she could not escape.

  It meant she had to be clever. Mina knew how to outsmart her enemies. She’d been forced to bob and weave her way through life, always a little smarter, a little faster than those around her. She could escape this beast.

  She knew it.

  Mina debated flying home, but that would have left the dragons short a hand. They needed all the help they could get, and Mina had proven herself useful once before. If she could turn the chase around and land a hit on the green dragon, then she would return to the battle. Then, Ryker could return to his king’s side.

  Despite the wind rushing in her ears, she heard the unmistakable growl of the dragon behind her. It was a sound of excitement, of triumph. It gave him away. She ducked to the left, rolling just out of his reach. His frustration rumbled in the air.

  Mina glanced back just in time to see Ryker plow into the green beast. Just as Ryker twisted to bring his heavy tail down on the dragon, it darted away. The green dragon was as nimble as a humming bird. And it made him doubly annoying.

  It was only a moment, a single second to think about her options. But it was a second lost, and the green dragon was incredibly quick. While she was considering her next move, the beast struck.

  It was not a killing blow, nor was it hard enough to break any bones. As she tumbled through the open air, Mina realized the green dragon did not mean to kill her. He meant to hurt her. She found herself upright once more, but the green dragon was already bearing down on her. Tucking her wings to her body, Mina meant to ride out the next blow.

  He hit her square in the chest. Her breath whooshed out of her and left her choking for air. Panic spiked over her skull like a bunch of pins. This wasn’t the end. She refused to let this beast torture her in this way.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The green dragon hit Ryker’s mate. Not once, but twice. Fury burned through his veins. It blazed with heat he’d never known before. His wings beat the air, each flap stronger than the last. The green dragon’s feet were close, only just out of reach when Ryker wanted nothing more than to grasp him and yank him from the sky.

  Ryker didn’t have time to think about the implications of war or what they were fighting over. He knew he should have cared, should have worried. Thoughts of Jasper’s declaration were last on Ryker’s mind. He was more concerned about ripping the wings off the tenacious little green dragon.

  The green dragon’s skull was misshapen. There was a dent in it, from where Mina had slammed her body, that hadn’t quite healed right. It served the dragon right. These dragons were intruders. They were entering Jasper’s mountains without permission. They’d attacked Jasper.

  Though Ryker knew it had probably been in self-defense, this green dragon was no longer fighting to protect himself. He was fighting to maim.

  Behind him, the sounds of war were beginning to fill the air. Beastly roars shook the naked trees beneath them. Snow tumbled down the mountain peaks. Ryker hoped no one was climbing the peaks because there would be disastrous results. The sound of fire popping and cracking filled the air. Ryker didn’t have to turn around to know that it was Jasper.

  As much as Ryker wanted to condemn his king for a war over a woman, Ryker knew he understood. Mina meant everything to him. There was nothing Ryker wouldn’t do for her, from rubbing her feet to starting a war.

  When this was all over, they were going to have another meeting. That much was for sure. He wished they’d taken the time to discuss this, to make sure everyone was on board with Jasper’s decision. Now, they all had to live with it.

  For the time being, Ryker could take his frustrations out on the green dragon. He reached for the green dragon’s tail, lashing in Ryker’s face. Just when he thought he would grasp it, the dragon darted away. Ryker growled. The green dragon rolled through the air and vanished from sight.

  The beast was not invisible, but very quick, surprising because he was not as small as Mina. Ryker searched for his mate and found the dark blue beauty hovering not far ahead. She was higher than him and looking just as confused.

  Her gaze moved past him, probably to the fight behind them. He wished Jasper had reconsidered, that his king had never dragged Ryker’s soft and sweet mate into all this. Mina deserved to be home, recovering from the last time she’d aided them in battle.

  Ryker snarled, hoping she understood that he wanted her to go home. He needed her to be safe if he was going to be any help. Mina didn’t listen.

  She didn’t have time to listen. The green dragon appeared above her. Before Mina could move, the green dragon struck her. Ryker roared and lurched forward, arms outstretched. He caught Mina before she fell too far. Her small form easily fit into his arms. As much as he wanted to hold her and keep her safe, she kicked off his chest and back into the air.

  The look she gave him send a shiver of fear down his spine. Mina was never so daring as she was in a fight. It was terrifying to see, knowing that his small mate could be hurt at any moment. He hung back and waited for whatever she was going to do, knowing he couldn’t stop her.

  Mina shot high into the air, spinning as she did. When her wings snapped out, she angled downward and zoomed far away from the battle. Mina was leading him on a chase. As long as the green dragon was following her, he was away from the main battle. It gave the others a better chance, but it also made her vulnerable.

  As Ryker watched with bated breath, he didn’t notice the other dragons that had snuck up on them. His mate was getting further and further away when they struck. Claws raked over his flanks. He hissed in pain and lashed his tail at them. They ducked out of the way, rolling in the air before circling back toward him.

  It seemed the green dragon had a gang behind him. While Ryker knew that, too, meant fewer dragons in the fight behind them, it also meant more for him and Mina. While the two new dragons harassed him, the green dragon was gaining on Mina.

  Ryker didn’t want to leave her. He snapped at the closest dragon. His teeth shattered scales and sunk into flesh. The beast in his mouth flailed. Blood coated Ryker’s tongue.

  This was not what he thought he’d find when he came home. Nothing since he’d arrived had been as he expected. He’d thought he would just wrestle his cousin from day to day and live in a raucous exile in his own home. He never expected Mina, nor how he would feel for her. The others would have words for Ryker’s carelessness later.

  They would rip into him and try to explain that the court was more important than his mate. He knew he should be back with the others, pushing the enemy away from their mountains, but there was no way Ryker could turn around now.

  Her body whistled through the air as it careened toward the ground. Ryker tucked his wings in to rush after her. He shot forward, on
ly to be stopped. Two dragons latched onto his wings. He halted altogether and began dropping. The dragons didn’t let go of him, though.

  They held on while he plummeted. He could feel their claws attempting to scratch through the thick metal of his scales. He thrashed this way and that. It made him appear helpless and frightened, but Ryker was no fool. The spikes of his shoulders pierced one of the dragons.

  He brought his tail around and smacked the other. They both cried out. Yet, neither let go. Together they fell. Ryker watched his mate crash through the trees in the distance. He shook one last time. The force of it sent one of the dragons flying. The other refused to give in.

  Teeth pierced Ryker’s shoulder. He didn’t cry out. Instead, he swallowed the sound and turned it into flame. The ball of heat grew in the back of his throat. It seared the tender flesh until he opened his mouth. The fireball smashed the second dragon in the face. He reeled, but his claws were embedded in Ryker’s shoulder.

  He was never going to reach Mina in time. Ryker had no choice other than to fight. With one dragon still clinging to his shoulder, Ryker turned his glare on the green dragon. The beast didn’t chase Mina into the trees. Instead, the green dragon did a proud twirl in the air, a victory dance of sorts.

  Rage fueled Ryker’s movements. He snapped his wings open, despite the weight of the dragon still fighting to cling to him, and propelled himself upward. The green dragon saw him at the last second and dove away. Ryker grasped empty air and snarled.

  The unfamiliar dragons were all smaller and swifter than Ryker. They darted about like hummingbirds. Every time he reached for one, they were just out of his grasp. He was not as clever as his mate, nor did he have the advantage of stealth. Ryker had to hope that he could get his hands on the green dragons. Once he did, this fight was over.