Dragon Betrothed

by Amelia Jade

  “You should probably start explaining,” she said angrily, stuffing her old clothes into the bag. “Real quick. Starting with why the fuck you have those pictures.”

  “It’s nothing.”

  She stood up straight. “That’s your explanation? What the fuck? I thought I could trust you…”

  “I wanted to know what you were up to after you ran away.”

  “After I ran away?” she asked incredulously.

  “After I made you run away?”

  “Try again.” She crossed her arms, trying to contain her emotions.

  “After I scared you off by coming on way too strong?”

  “Better. Now that we’ve gotten that bit of the truth, why don’t you tell me why do you have these pictures?!”

  “I wanted to keep watch on you, to ensure that you would be safe without me around.”

  “You stalked me from a distance?” She was in shock.

  “Uh, no? I hired someone?”

  “That’s even worse, Stoen!” Rose grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. “Just when I thought you were starting to become a reasonable, half-decent sort of dude. Fuck, I slept with you, Stoen. Twice. And now I find out you haven’t changed at all, you’re still all sorts of crazy!”

  She started toward the door.

  “Rose, no. Please, don’t go. That was before.”

  “Before what?”

  “Before I saw you again. Before you made me realize the real extent of things.”

  She should be leaving. Out the door. Sticking around and listening to him justify this was crazy; she didn’t owe him that. Rose didn’t owe him anything. All she needed was to get out and leave him behind. There would be another way to save her brother. She could give them the pictures. After that she could figure out another way. Maybe she could go to Interpol. They couldn’t be compromised, could they?

  “Give me the memory card,” she said, changing course and heading toward the laptop to get it back.

  “Rose…”

  “Don’t Rose me!” she snapped, trying hard not to freak out. There would be no point in it. What was done was done, and neither of them could undo it. All she needed to do was take the card and leave the apartment. Simple. Easy.

  “The card. Now.”

  Stoen sighed and ejected it, handing it over. “For what it’s worth, Rose, I’m sorry. I was…acting different. That’s not something I would dream of doing now, because I understand better.”

  “I hope so. Goodbye, Stoen.”

  That should have been it. A goodbye, and eight or ten steps to the door. Put on her shoes, call the elevator, and poof, gone. Never again to be seen by Stoen. So why was her body refusing to walk her to the door? The card was in her hand. The bag on her shoulder. There was nothing else in the apartment for her.

  Was there?

  “Goodbye, Rose,” Stoen said sadly. “I’m sorry I hurt you. That wasn’t my intention, even if it was the result. Just know that I never meant to hurt you. I…I was trying to keep you safe.”

  “Stop,” she said quietly. “Just stop.”

  Her willpower won out and she took one, then two steps toward the entrance before pausing.

  “How long?” she asked.

  “How long what?”

  “Was someone following me?”

  “Maybe six-weeks before you called me. I could look up the exact date if you want.”

  “No, I don’t need to know that.” She already knew he was right. That was about when the feeling of being watched had started. All this time she’d put it down to being the criminals having caught up with her, waiting to make a move. But it hadn’t. It had been Stoen’s guy the entire time. That was…not relief of course, but nice to know that her cover had lasted a little longer than she’d thought.

  Her phone chose that moment to go off.

  It was an email this time.

  “What is it?” Stoen asked.

  “A video.” She hit play, but almost immediately cried out and looked away.

  Wordlessly Stoen came over and took the phone from her hand. He mercifully turned the sound down so that she didn’t have to hear her brother crying out in pain as an unknown figure beat him.

  The image of him hanging forward, tied to a chair, his head lolling around limply as it dripped blood in a steady stream would haunt her forever. The sounds were something she didn’t need to add.

  Stoen’s growl filled the room. It grew to a howl, and he lost control.

  She heard a screeching sound and looked over to see him rip the fridge from the wall and toss it clear across the room and out the window. Glass shattered and wind howled outside. A moment later there was a distant crash as it hit the ground.

  “Stoen!” she gasped, running to the window and looking down, fearful that he could have hurt someone.

  Behind her he started striking things, generally tearing the apartment down with his bare hands, though nothing else went out the window.

  Looking down she saw a crowd gathering around the fridge. Thankfully it had landed in a park, taking part of a tree down with it and landing clear of any bystanders, of which there were few on such an ugly day.

  Rose sighed, sagging in relief.

  “Stoen!” she snapped, turning around as he slammed both fists through the countertop, shattering it. “That. Is. ENOUGH!”

  His head swung around, eyes glowing silver. Rose walked right up to him, ignoring her own safety, and hauled back her hand, striking him across the face.

  “You’re acting like a child,” she growled, not backing down as he stared at her, his features taut. “This isn’t because of the video, we both know it. This is because you fucked up with me, and you hate yourself for it. That’s not acceptable. You did it, you deal with the consequences. You don’t take it out on somebody else’s things, and you certainly don’t put innocent people in danger.” She pointed at the broken window to emphasize her point.

  “Now snap out of it. We need to figure out how we’re going to save my brother.”

  Rose didn’t want to stay, but the truth was hard to avoid. Stoen was the best chance they had of getting her brother back. If sticking around with him was what it took, then she would do it.

  She would do anything, no matter the price.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Stoen

  Now snap out of it.

  The problem was, he didn’t want to. He wanted to be angry. Stoen couldn’t hit himself, but he wanted to. If there were another dragon around, he would have started a fight, welcoming the beatdown that would have ensued.

  Stoen deserved it. He’d screwed up, and screwed up bad. His mate, the one woman in the world he would do anything for, hated him now, all because he’d not understood the concept of giving her time and space to come around to him. What the hell had been going through his mind when he’d paid Correll to follow her?

  You’re such an idiot.

  The long pause as he stared at Rose, enduring the hateful glare that he deserved, eventually allowed him to recover his composure. The power that had been flowing through him subsided, and he returned to normal. Embarrassed at his outburst, he turned away, stalking through the remnants of the kitchen to find a clean glass. Thankfully the sink had been spared his wrath.

  “You’re lucky there was a park out there. What is wrong with you?”

  “I’m sorry. I…” How did he explain to her why he had been overcome the way he had? That losing her meant far more than a lifetime of loneliness. That without his mate, he would eventually lose his grip on reality and the other dragons would be forced to kill him before he became too dangerous. That if he lost her, he lost everything?

  Was his outburst just now the first step in that journey? It wasn’t typical of him to lose control like that. Could it be setting in already?

  No, he decided. It was just him doing exactly as Rose had said, acting like a child. He needed to grow up, and to accept the consequences
of his actions, especially the ones he’d taken to her. Stoen couldn’t do anything to take back what he’d already done. Instead, all he could do was prove to her that he wasn’t actually a crazy stalker psycho, that he’d been acting with good intentions. Misguided, yes, but good.

  “Can I have the memory card?” he rasped, taking a deep drink before recovering the laptop where it had fallen on the floor. “Let me take a look at the pictures before you go. Maybe I can find something to help us.”

  “Us?”

  He shrugged. “Just because you don’t want me around doesn’t mean I’m just going to abandon your brother. These are my people, Rose. My kind, even if they’re just wolf shifters. They’re doing this to him, and to all the others. Whatever the reason, I cannot allow it to continue.”

  “You’re going to go after him without me?”

  “Yes. It might be easier that way. I can move faster without you, and I don’t have to concentrate on protecting you if there’s a fight. Which, with wolves, there’s always a fight.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He held out his hand. “While I do this, message them back. Tell them that you want to meet and see your brother. Then, and only then, will you turn over the memory card. We have to force them to bring him out somewhere. Make sure you say in person, so that you can ensure he’s still alive.”

  Stoen didn’t like having to say the last part, but it was a necessity. If her brother was already dead, everything would change. Starting with me sending all of these assholes to meet him in the next life.

  “Okay.”

  They went about their respective tasks. Stoen deleted all the surveillance photos of Rose before pulling up the pictures on the card. He didn’t tell her, because it didn’t matter. Making a scene of it would just make it look like it was a ploy to get her to forgive him. Stoen was past that. If she was going to forgive him, it would be because of him doing what he felt was right.

  If she didn’t want to, then she didn’t want to, and he would live with that for as long as he possible could, until he finally lost control for good. Stoen had brought this upon himself, and he wasn’t going to drag anyone down with him. Not anymore.

  “Oh shit,” he muttered, paging through the photos. “Well, that’s interesting.”

  “What is?” she asked, coming to look over his shoulder.

  “That guy,” he said, pointing.

  “That’s the cop I ran away from.”

  “He’s a shifter, and not one of the ones I remember seeing today. He’s also from a well-known pack. But he’s not the interesting one.”

  “Who is?”

  He flipped to another picture. This one was of a tall Latino male with jet-black hair and a strong, masculine jawline that would do wonders with ladies. In the picture he was wearing a tight, black silk shirt that looked tailored.

  “Him,” Stoen said slowly. “Rose, you might have stumbled onto something big here. Like, really big.”

  “Why, who is that guy? Is he a shifter too?”

  “Yes.” Stoen was staring thoughtfully at the photo.

  “Well, what’s special about him? Is he some kind of unique shifter?”

  “No, he’s a wolf, like the rest of them. They’re his pack.”

  “He’s the alpha? How do you know?” Rose rested one hand on his shoulder, looking more carefully at the picture, seemingly unaware of where her hand was.

  “Because I know who he works for.”

  “Who?”

  “Santis.” He said the word emphatically, for his own sake, not Rose’s. “He’s the local dragon Magistrate. This asshole Martin is his right-hand man.”

  He sat back, jarring Rose’s hand loose, though he barely noticed. Was it possible? Was Santis aware of what the hell Martin was up to?

  “Uh, that doesn’t sound very good,” Rose said cautiously.

  “It’s not, if Santis is involved.”

  “Do you think he is?”

  Stoen started to deny it automatically, but stopped. The only reason he’d been ready to say that was because Santis was a dragon. A Magistrate, on top of it. Just because Stoen couldn’t figure out why Santis would do it didn’t mean he couldn’t be a traitor.

  Bad dragons existed, just like bad wolves, bears, and other shifters existed. It was just that with the low number of dragons in general, there were even fewer that went bad. When they did, it was a big deal.

  “I don’t see how he couldn’t know,” he admitted at last, acknowledging what he felt in his gut was the truth. Santis was somehow involved. Why, and what the hell it was they needed humans for he still didn’t know, but Stoen intended to find out.

  “How bad is it?”

  He frowned. “Bad. Santis is a powerful dragon.”

  “Stronger than you?”

  Stoen bit his lip nervously. “Yes. This is one of the bigger territories, which tends to mean more problems. Coltaine, the head Magistrate, tends to assign the older, more powerful dragons to it and places like it.”

  “Can you beat him?”

  He laughed. “Technically? Sure. Though I’m more tempted to get Coltaine or one of the other elder Magistrates to come deal with it. I’d definitely be fighting up a weight class if I took him on alone. The problem with that is any communications I make might make their way to him, giving him time to get rid of evidence of whatever the hell it is they’re up to, including any prisoners they have. Which would include your brother.”

  The buzz of her phone distracted both of them.

  “It’s them,” she said, handing him the phone. “I don’t want to see it.”

  Stoen took the phone. There were no pictures this time. No video either. It was just a simple text made up of numbers. “These are coordinates.”

  Another message came through as he was holding the phone.

  Three hours. Don’t be late. No police. Make sure you bring the lovely gentleman who helped you out at the bank today. The boss would like to have a word with him.

  “The lovely gentleman?” Rose echoed as he read it to her.

  “Martin thinks he’s funny. He’s not.”

  “Well, where are we going?” Rose was all business.

  He plugged the coordinates into Google, and was given a location in the mountains to the southwest. It wasn’t close.

  “We’re going to have to move it if we want to get there in time,” he said. “Three hours is going to be cutting it close.”

  “Should we call Correll?” Rose asked.

  “No.” He shut the laptop down, stuffing it and his things back into his bag. “No time for that.”

  “You’re going to get dressed though, right?”

  Stoen frowned. Only now did he realize he was still naked. “Uh. Why didn’t you tell me about that earlier?”

  “I thought you knew?”

  “Uh, nope. Should have been obvious I didn’t, since I’ve been naked this entire time. I thought you’d tell me.”

  Rose shrugged. “You’re easy on the eyes.”

  Covering his surprise, he got dressed quickly. Just when he’d thought he’d figured everything out, Rose threw him a curveball with a comment like that. Had she meant to say that, or had it just slipped out? What the hell was going on?

  Although he desperately wanted to flirt with her in return, Stoen knew that he had to keep his mind focused. Because if that text was from Martin, and the boss was Santis, then he was in a world of trouble. And he had no idea how to fix it.

  “How are we getting there?” she asked.

  Stoen ripped open a black box hanging from the wall near the elevator. What he saw inside had him grinning from ear to ear. Reaching in, he grabbed the small blocky device with two silver wings inscribed upon it, and the initials A.M. in flowing cursive.

  “We take Correll’s other car.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Stoen

  “Well, we certainly made it in time.”

  The throaty roar of
the V12 engine filled the cabin as he gunned it up the mountain road, one hour and forty-three minutes from the time he’d fired up the Aston Martin Vulcan. Most of that time was spent getting out of the city, and slowed by constant turns. If he’d truly been able to open up the barely street-legal supercar, they would have made it in far less.

  And only one stop for gas too, though he cringed at the damage the more pedestrian fuel was doing to the engine. It didn’t matter though; all that he cared about was speed.

  “Better to be early than late.”

  Rose snorted. “Right. It had absolutely nothing to do with you wanting to act all macho and go as fast as possible in this carbon-fiber deathtrap.”

  “You’re alive, aren’t you?”

  “It didn’t feel like it at times. Look at my hands,” she said, holding up her arm to show him how badly it was shaking.

  “You were fine. I thought you said you took aggressive driving courses?”

  “They didn’t include being slammed into my seat in a multimillion-dollar hypercar as we went four times the speed limit!”

  He grinned, easing off the gas as they approached the coordinates marked on the onboard map. “We’re here.”

  Their moods grew dark. Neither knew what to expect from here on out, or just how bad it might go. If he were lucky, Martin would be the boss, and he could end it all here and now. If he were unlucky…Santis would show, and the best he could hope for was that Rose and Teddy could make a getaway while he held the fire dragon off until they were safe.

  He didn’t want to entertain the thought of winning. It was too unlikely, but he couldn’t tell Rose that. Not now. Her brother had to be the priority. If Stoen had to die for the two of them to secure their freedom, then he would accept that price. What he wouldn’t accept was telling her just so that she could feel guilty about letting him do what had to be done.

  “I don’t see anyone.”

  They weren’t anywhere in particular. The road kept going deeper into the mountains. To either side of them wild mountain meadows sloped off to the sides. The road didn’t even widen. There were no trees to hide in, nothing. He could see anyone coming from miles away.