“What the hell is going on?” Aris said. She couldn’t see him since she was facing the other way, but his tone wasn’t happy.
“She wouldn’t leave. I had to do something.” Max replied and she felt the deep baritone of his voice against her body.
“Where’s—”
That was when Dallas knew Max hadn’t even told Ilias what happened. She wondered why.
“She’s gone.”
“Gone, like she got away—”
Dallas squirmed enough to throw him off and he dropped her. She fell to the ground and sobbed.
“Oh,” Aris responded and dropped to his knees. “Come here little one.” He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. “It will eventually hurt less. We’ll get him.”
“He stopped me,” she whispered.
“He worried he’d lose you too. Jaz is an older pure bred Black Dragon. He’s been an assassin for a long time. He knows what he’s doing. It’s going to take more than a new dragon to take him down. No matter how strong you think you are. No matter how much you want vengeance, we can’t stoop that low. It would make us no better than what we’re fighting against. But he will be punished.”
It wasn’t enough, but when she could think she would realize he was right. It didn’t mean she had to like it. Right now, all she could see was red. The need to rip the monster who killed her sister apart. But the Dallas who cared would never get over killing anyone either, no matter the crime. It was the beast in her that wanted his blood. She just wanted her sister back, and that wasn’t going to happen.
The tear continued to fall even when Blane picked her up and cradled her close. She buried her face into his neck and sighed taking in his calming scent. It didn’t work the way it normally did, but it was where she needed to be.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“For what, baby?”
“Tell Max, he thinks I hate him.”
“I will, just rest now.”
Dallas swallowed and pushed back the tears. She would mourn her sister for the rest of her life, but for now she’d listen to her mate. She was so tired. Now that she was a little calmer the energy she’d exerted was paying her back tenfold. Every inch of her body ached and even the beast slumbered deeply.
Chapter 21
Libby
She wanted to do something nice for Dillon. Since the pack was totally out of control he needed a place to call his own. She remembered when they surveyed the land coming across the old beat up cabin. It was the perfect place for him to be able to go to get a break.
But she wanted it to be a surprise. He’d done so much for her, and now it was her turn. She waited until he was asleep and made her way outside as quietly as possible. There was a garage that had the tools she needed to fix some things up. The cabin needed cleaned first.
That’s what she would do. She was restless for some reason. She had no idea why, but something told her she needed to explore the land. She might as well make herself useful. That’s how she’d always been. With parents that hated her and being raised with her aunt and uncle, Dillon was so much more than her Alpha. He was more than her cousin too. He was the brother she never had.
This was their new home, and so far, she’d not felt at home. It didn’t matter there were other Supes in town. That should have helped, but they were dragons and even though she had no problem with her, she worried they didn’t like her.
And that was Libby’s biggest asset and flaw. She wanted everyone to like her. She went out of her way to make sure she helped the best she could. It was why she sent the other wolves over to the tribe’s land to help work on the house. It was why she got down with helping too.
The night was chilly still not quite fully summer and she enjoyed the nice breeze. She walked the path until she came to the part in the woods where the cabin was. There wasn’t a trail to find it, but she remembered everything. Being as smart as she was made it hard to find love or even friends for that matter. Her kind were very touchy when it came to intelligence.
She wrinkled her nose when a scent she hadn’t smelled in a long time caught her. It was that of hell. A demon had been nearby—and recently. Her hackles rose and so did her wolf finally aware of their surroundings. Taking slow and easy steps, Libby held her broom like a sword. Not that it would do much for a demon, but she wanted to be prepared for anything.
The further she went the more she scented. And it wasn’t just demon she was smelling…
She went around the bend and nearly tripped over a body on the ground. Even in the dark she could tell he was in bad shape. The demon scent came from him and he lay face down in the grass. When she bent to roll him her, she touched his bare back and would have fallen had she not been so prepared to be attacked, but this was different than she expected. Her senses were assaulted by the scent of—her mate.
“Oh gods,” she whispered. “My mate.”
After all this time of searching she’d finally found him, and now she wasn’t even sure if he was alive.
‘He can’t be dead.’
She fell to her knee and hovered over him gripping both shoulders to flip him on his back. He was heavy and touching him was hard when he beast wanted to play, but she used her strength and rolled him over.
His eyes were shut and his body was covered in blood. After a few seconds, she learned he was alive but barely.
She knew he needed help but she couldn’t’ very well take him home. She had an inkling of an idea of who he was, and she wanted to curse fate for giving her a mate that had turned into a monster. How could she be with a man who killed—for fun. That’s what everyone said, but now that she got the scent of demon in her nose she wondered if maybe he didn’t do it on purpose. What if he was a victim all in his own right? That could very well be the case. It was something she’d have to ask him because now that she’d found him she was determined to save him. Though it looked like someone tried to take his heart. Claw marks marred his skin and he was pale.
With the amount of blood still smeared on his body she assumed he’d lost more—somewhere else.
How did he end up here?
Maybe he scented her. She smiled at that thought. Hurt and almost near death, he found her scent and searched her out. It was romantic in a way.
“Shut up,” she muttered. This wasn’t the time to be romantic about him. In her mind, she had to remember he was a killer. He was no innocent, not until she heard his side of the story.
“Now what to do with you?”
It hit her that the cabin was empty and not many of the wolves knew about its existence. It was why she was fixing it up for Dillon.
That was perfect.
She was already almost there anyways. With his weight, even she would struggle to get him there herself.
She sighed and tossed her supplies to the side. She’d have to come back for them. But first to get him patched up.
It was going to be a long night. But to save her mate would be worth it. Maybe she could find her own home within him.
***
Max
After everything that happened he still searched daily for the scent he found. It didn’t matter that he now knew he wasn’t worthy of a mate. She was still out there, and the compulsion was too strong. He was restless and depressed. Dallas had barely spoken to him since that night, but she swore she didn’t blame him. It didn’t matter whether she did or not.
He blamed himself.
He should have been stronger. He should have been able to beat that dragon. Mostly he wished he could have saved Tali.
No one acted strange around him. In fact, they all seemed to be watching him closely. He’d taken to walking the land. Not only to search for the scent of his mate, but to be alone. He couldn’t bear to face them. He didn’t want them knowing how weak he was. But they knew. Now everyone knew he was a submissive. But there wasn’t anything he could do about it. He was born to follow not lead. For a long time, he hadn’t
been okay with that. But he’d finally come to accept it—until now.
He ran through the woods when he caught a hint of the scent and he inhaled. She was close. He ran searching. It was then he realized he was in the same place he’d been when he’d been taken. He froze in the spot forgetting the scent and shuddered.
The look on Tali’ face when Jaz shoved that wickedly long blade through her torso would haunt him for the rest of his life. He’d frozen then too. He should have done something—anything to get the monster to leave her alone, but he was at a loss.
Jaz had already stabbed her once, the first scream, so blood covered the blade and dripped off the thin spring mattress onto the concrete floor. His beast was riveted by the blood until she screamed again. Then his beast sprang into action—too late.
Now he and the beast weren’t on talking terms. He’d taken to ignoring him expect when they were searching for their mate, any other time he shut down from everyone and everything. He’d eat when he had to, sleep if when he closed his eyes he didn’t see Tali’s face, but mostly he stayed locked in his room never wanting to face Dallas or the others again.
All of them had tried to pull him out, but he wasn’t worthy. Just like he wasn’t worthy to find his mate.
Maybe fate was taunting him. Maybe that’s why her scent disappeared out of nowhere. He wasn’t meant to find her but chase her until the day he died. Which would be soon if he didn’t mate. The sickness was taking over. Every day was harder than the one before. It was only a matter of time…
Chapter 22
Dillon knew she was hiding something, but he didn’t know what until he finally followed her. She had been acting shady and secretive the past few days, and that wasn’t something Libby did. She was the in your face type of woman that had no qualms about being blunt and honest no matter what anyone thought. So, whatever she was doing had to be bad. That’s the only thing he could think of.
For the fifth night in a row she left well after he was usually in bed. But this time he went too. She didn’t even sense him behind her, which was another sign something was going on. She was the strongest female wolf he knew. She should have known he was right on her tail. But she was in her own world. He could tell by how she ran. She wasn’t as aware of her surroundings as she knew she should be.
She’d shifted into her wolf and ran through the woods on their land, where they’d found the old cabin. It was one of the first things he planned to fix so he had a place to go to get away from all the drama of being a pack leader. It would be his reprieve. But now he found his cousin going inside the old place.
He growled low in his throat and stomped up the steps. There was no need to try to use stealth. He wanted her to know she was caught.
But what the hell was she doing?
He opened the door and was shocked to see what she’d done. It was clean and freshly painted, but he smelled a new scent in the small cabin. One that didn’t belong. He didn’t even look at her as he followed the trail. His boots echoed in the small empty room down the short hallway to the one bedroom. The door was shut but the scent was stronger.
Dragon.
Why would Libby be housing a dragon? Why would she be hiding him? Because it was a him.
He opened the door and gasped. There was a prone figure lying on a large cot. He was bare chested and covered in gauze. His arms and ribs were wrapped and across his chest over his heart. His skin was pale and even in the dark he could see he was clammy. A sheen of sweat covered his skin.
“What is going on, Libby?” He asked and spun toward her. He knew she’d followed.
Libby nibbled her lip and sighed. “He’s my mate,” she whispered.
What. The. Fuck.
Her mate. Great, she saved the dragon. He knew exactly who it was. This had to be the dragon that killed an innocent human being.
“You’re out of your fucking mind, cousin. Do you know who this is?”
“I have a small idea of who he is, but I couldn’t let him die, Dil. He’s my true mate.”
“But he—”
“I know what he did. But I also know he can be redeemable. There has to be away.”
“Can he bring back the person he murdered just for fun?”
“He smelled like demon, what if he was being controlled?”
“That isn’t an excuse. I have to let the tribe know.”
Libby ran at him and slammed him into the wall. “No, you can’t. They’ll kill him, and then I’ll be broken. There has to be another way. Please.”
He didn’t like this. He was thrilled to have another species of shifters nearby. It beat fighting for territory from another pack. Now he could live in peace with some really awesome Supes. “I can’t. They trust me.”
“But I’m family, doesn’t that make a difference?”
In this case he didn’t know. What was he supposed to do? Hide the fact they were harboring a monster. Libby could be in danger just being alone with him. He wanted to shake her, but instead he let her slam him against the wall again. Her eyes filled with tears and she beat on his chest.
“Don’t you think I know he’s bad?” She sniffed. “That he hurt innocent people, but when I saw him in the woods, so close to death I couldn’t let him die. He hasn’t even woken up since I brought him here. He doesn’t even know I’m here. I don’t’ think. His scent. Oh gods, his scent drives me and my wolf mad. She wants to badly to take a bite out of him, but I haven’t.”
He never had found his mate, but he knew the signs and had heard many stories through the years explaining in great detail what it was like to find a true mate, and how rare it really was. Wolves could mate with anyone they wanted, but in the end finding a true mate was their greatest desire. It didn’t always happen. In fact, maybe one out of one thousand wolves found their true mates in their lifetime. It seemed like a big number but in reality, it wasn’t.
“Fine, I won’t say anything—for now, but if he hurts you I’ll kill him myself. Are we clear?”
She nodded and backed away letting him move away from the wall. A nail head had dug into his body. It was an annoyance.
“Thank you. I know he’ll be able to redeem himself. There has to be a way to make up for the bad, and if he was influenced by a demon it wasn’t his fault.”
“But Dallas won’t see it that way.”
Dallas was a sweet dragon. He’d found her roaming their land a few days before. She was covered in sweat and tears. Losing her only family was hard especially because she blamed herself. The woman wasn’t right in her head and grieving hard. He wished he could help, but the only thing he could do is let her roam. She had to heal herself. Now when he saw her running he didn’t bat a lash. Best of all, with all the anger she had built up the wolves steered clear of her, and were on their best behavior after that first day when one of the younger pups made a rude comment.
It was hilarious. She had him on the ground and whimpering like a cub in less than a minute.
Zarin had been training her and she took to it. She was a formidable dragon. He feared for anyone who got in her way, and he worried what would happen to Libby once she found out that Jaz was alive. Maybe not well, but he was breathing. He couldn’t let anything happen to his cousin. She was blood, but Dallas also deserved to punish him.
He smirked. Maybe she had. From the looks of him it looked like someone did a number on him.
Maybe he didn’t wish to find his mate. Women were complicated and so were Supe rules and love. Look at his cousin. She was halfway in love with a man who was halfway dead and one that hurt people. Innocent people. She didn’t have a choice. Fate chose, but in this case why would fate choose to put his cousin with what everyone had deemed as a monster.
In the bed with his pale skin and wounded body he didn’t look much like a monster. He looked like a little boy all alone in the world only with Libby to nurse him back to health.
Maybe she was right. The stench of demon was still strong in
the air. Maybe it wasn’t his fault. Maybe he shouldn’t make assumptions until the lad woke up.
“I’ll want to talk to him as soon as he wakes up.”
“Fair. But don’t hurt him.”
“I won’t, and I won’t tell the dragons that beast is alive, but you owe me big.”
“Whatever you want.”
That wasn’t probably the best thing to say, but it just proved that this man already meant something to her.
He wasn’t sure how he felt about it, but he’d deal with whatever came up just like he always did.
Chapter 23
Aris
After everything that happened, it was time to tell the others what his mother had told him. He always loved it when she visited him, but there was always bad news attached to seeing her. This time though was different, she hugged him—and he felt it. He sighed content with the little bit Fate had given him. He knew it was because the future was so bleak but at this point he’d take what he could get.
The others gathered around him, and he smiled when he noticed how much better Dallas looked. When he first saw her, she was unconscious on his couch—just like the others had been at one point.
The others; Ilias, Andrea, Zarin, Willow, and Cai; Blane, Dallas, and Max, and his brother, Evander, and Callie all watched him and Soph with various looks of intrigue and worry. They weren’t stupid. They all knew something big was up, but Aris had kept a lid on what. He had to wrap his mind fully around what was to come. The twins were asleep in their cribs, now surround by the magic Bev created.
With the recent attacks, by that damned Black dragon, Jaz, things had been far more hectic than he liked. Now that the enemy was gone things would get better at least for the time being. With the Golden council sending people to kill them off each of them had to stay on their toes. No one could be alone. Not even on their own property. There would always be one or more of them with the twins and Cai. The Nymphs had even gone as far to offer their protection.
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