Special Ops Shifters: Dallas Force: The Complete Series Collection (Shifter Nation)

by Meg Ripley

  A massive green dragon was at her side. “What’s wrong?” Garrison asked in the scratchy voice of his reptilian form. “Why can’t you move?”

  “It’s the drugs,” she explained. “Blake had more of them.”

  “I’ll get you out of here.”

  “No.” She put out one hand to stop him. “It’s getting better and I’ll be fine soon. Get the others.”

  He gave her an uncertain look before heading off to tear down any bars that remained after the explosives.

  The soldiers that had come back into the cavern were faced with the reality that it was no longer a safe place for them. They were met with the onslaught of two angry bears with an appetite and a cohort of dragons with a taste for revenge. Lane felt rage flood through her veins, adrenaline draining the rest of the drugs from her system. She shoved her back legs from the floor, testing out her muscles and snapping her teeth. This was the moment they’d all been waiting for, and she’d be damned if she was going to stand aside and watch it happen.

  She fell into line alongside Ash and Drake, pulling yet more energy from his presence. He was glorious and terrifying, his roar deep and threatening. His brilliantly white teeth had matched the pale tones of his coat only a few minutes ago, but both were now soaked with the blood of his enemies. They fought together, her claws ripping and his teeth tearing. He instinctively knew when she was about to send her flames shooting out to attack, and he took a cautious step back to stay out of the path of the flames before diving back into catch anyone who’d managed to survive it.

  As they made their way toward the front entrance, Lane was grateful for the fact that the soldiers had widened the tunnel. The tiny slit in the rock that had barely allowed the dragons to get through in their natural forms was now large enough for several of them to shoot through on the wing, keeping their advantage over those on the ground. She rejoiced as her people darted out into the sunlight.

  Lane was about to follow them when she saw movement to her left near the laboratory that’d been built near the waterfall. She could charge outside toward freedom, but her gut feeling told her to pursue it. She left Ash’s side as she hurtled toward the lab.

  He let out a bellow of protest and she turned to see the concerned look on Ash’s face. “Get my people out of here!” she called. “I’ll be out in a minute!”

  Unable to reply so easily in his bear form, Ash gave a reluctant nod and a grunt of acceptance before checking the last of the chambers and leaving the cavern.

  Lane slid quietly up next to the lab door. She could hear the heartbeat of her prey thundering inside, and there was no doubt in her mind who it belonged to. Dr. Blake was hiding in there, the coward! One quick shove with her shoulder and the door was open. The thick scent of rubbing alcohol attacked her nostrils and the bright lights burned her eyes. But the gunfire from outside had ceased and the blasts from the explosives were no longer necessary. Everything was silent.

  “Agh!” came a cry from behind a cabinet as Dr. Blake shot out. Blood and dirt stained his lab coat, and more blood trickled from his nose, but he was strong enough to charge at her with a pistol in his hand. “Take that, you disgusting reptile!”

  His efforts at bravery made Lane want to laugh. She dove forward, dodging to the right to avoid the pistol. He wasn’t quick enough. Her clawed hands pushed into his soft body and sent him reeling backwards, his bullets flying uselessly up into the ceiling. Glass shattered around them as they fell to the floor together.

  “You’re a monster,” Dr. Blake screamed underneath her. “You’re a filthy, bloodthirsty monster!”

  Her tail whipped back and forth with impatience. “Really? We were living here peacefully until you came along and tried to turn us into weapons. You wanted to fill the skies with us, using us to kill your enemies and do the dirty work for you. You tortured us. Tell me who the real monster is.”

  “Fuck you,” he snarled. “You’re just a dirty animal, and you’ll never be anything more than that!”

  “Fine with me.” Lane reared back and then plunged forward, snapping her teeth around his neck until she felt the satisfying crunch of breaking bones.

  8

  “It’s all ready,” Garrison said as he joined the others on the shore, the fox and the wolf at his heels. “We can literally blow this popsicle stand, and it’s a good thing. It’s not very steady right now.”

  Drake crossed his arms in front of his chest. “That sound would stop anyone from doing too much investigation. The Army knows enough about what happened here, as far as I’m concerned. Flip the switch.”

  “Wait. Lane’s still in there.” Ash’s heart pounded in his chest. He’d killed his share of the enemy, and there had been a certain amount of satisfaction in that. Even more thrilling had been watching Lane transform not just from a human to a dragon but from a captured creature to a fearsome predator.

  “She didn’t come out with you?” Jack questioned.

  He shook his head. “No, she said there was something else she needed to take care of.” Ash wanted to kick himself for ever letting her get separated from the rest of them. The scientific unit had altered the cavern quite a bit already to accommodate their equipment, and then the explosives the Force had set to eliminate the bars from the cells had only weakened the natural structure further. What if the cavern collapsed before they pulled the trigger?

  Garrison glanced at his watch. “We don’t have much time. I’m sure someone got out a distress call, and we’ll have company before you know it.

  Ash sure as hell wasn’t going to leave her there. He’d gone to Antarctica because that was the site of his mission, but it’d quickly become apparent to him that he was there for so much more. He was destined to go to this remote place, and he was destined to meet Lane. “Is everyone else accounted for?”

  Jack checked the list. “Seems to be.”

  “Then I’m going in.” Before anyone could tell him otherwise, Ash took off. He’d morphed back to his human shape once he’d come out of the foray and he no longer needed his bear body to fight off the enemy. But wide paws and a thick coat were better suited for this wild land, and he shifted on the fly.

  Be careful, Ash. It was Jack, speaking in his head. The electricity in that place is pretty wonky, and we’ve got the explosives rigged through it. If there’s a spark in the wrong place or a sudden pulse of energy, the whole thing could blow without us triggering it. Drake says you should come back.

  Not until I know Lane is safe.

  Fortunately, Jack was smart enough not to continue arguing with him. Ash was willing to take his chances. It was his own life he was sacrificing if he went into the cavern and it fell in on him. He was all right with that, but he definitely wasn’t okay with the idea of leaving Lane behind.

  He’d been too busy to really wrap his head around it, but Ash knew in the very depths of his soul that Lane wasn’t simply a gorgeous woman, a fierce dragon or just part of his rescue mission. She was the one he was supposed to be with. At this point in his life, he’d assumed he wasn’t even going to find that special person, and he most certainly hadn’t thought he’d find her in the form of a dragon shifter, but he had. Now he just had to get her out safely before it was too late.

  The ground rumbled beneath his paws, sending shots of adrenaline straight into his heart. What happened? he commanded.

  Jack was still in his fox form and able to reply. Nothing from our end.

  Shit. That didn’t make it any better. He had to get to her. Ash hurtled forward, forcing his tired muscles to keep moving.

  He was just nearing the entrance when a great red beast came shooting out of the cavern. She shot a triumphant burst of flames into the sky as she spread her wings in the air. A fireball erupted from the mouth of the cavern as clods of dirt and ice rocketed skyward. Ash skidded to a stop, keeping his focus on Lane as she shot overhead. She was out. She was safe. And she was spectacular.

  The next hour was a blur as he and the rest of the Force that had
come to assist made sure everyone was on the boat. Drake had used his contact with the killer whale pod, a group of fishermen who were more than happy to help rescue the dragons they’d been spotting from the sea. Ash fell easily into the role of caretaker, ensuring that everyone had food, comfort, and medical care.

  It was as he came up from the cabin where the elderly and injured had been stowed that he found Lane leaning against the rusty rails of the fishing boat. The wind had teased a strand of her hair from the inside of her parka, making it whip around her face as she watched the great chunk of ice recede.

  “You okay?” he asked quietly as he came up behind her. Ash wanted to reach out and run his hands down her body; not just because of the demands of his inner bear, but he wanted to make sure she was still in one piece.

  She nodded. “I’m fine. It’s just strange to be out here. I’ve lived in those caverns for a long time. I saw my home turned into a prison, and now I’ve seen it blown to smithereens.”

  “We had to do that,” Ash explained quietly. “Someone from the government is going to come along and start poking around. It’s best they know as little as possible.”

  “Oh, I understand. But that doesn’t make it any less strange.” She rolled her hands along the railing, still looking off into the distance.

  “Lane, I know we didn’t exactly start off on the right foot. I want to apologize for anything I might’ve done to make you uncomfortable. It was a tough situation for all of us, and—”

  “No.” She turned to him then. Lane’s eyes were the color of shadowed ice, but there was much more warmth in them. “If either one of us needs to apologize, it’s me. I misjudged you when you walked in there with your military ID and your lab coat. I knew there was something different about you, but I’d been so scared and helpless for so long that I couldn’t imagine that anyone would truly be there to save us. And I owe you my thanks, too. We’re finally free again.”

  Those last words should’ve been joyous, but Ash could hear the sadness in them. “Where will you go?” With special licensing arranged by the Force, the fishing boat could get them all the way back to the U.S. From there, the original D.C. unit of the Force would head to their homes and the new unit would reconvene in Dallas. The dragons were free, but they no longer had their home to return to.

  “I don’t know yet. I’ll have to talk to everyone else. We moved to Antarctica because we wanted to be away from people. I still feel that way, and I think the rest do, too, but I’m not sure where that will take us. I don’t think I could handle returning to the desert right now.”

  Ash felt the words bubbling up through his body, not simply a product of his mind and tongue, but of his heart. “Come back to Dallas with me.”

  Her brow creased. “What?”

  “Lane, there’s something between us. I know it, and I think you know it, too. Every time I’m near you, I don’t know what to do with myself. Even back there, when we were taking down that entire military base, I couldn’t keep my mind off you. I find myself wanting to be a bear so I can protect you but longing to be a human so that I might talk to you... or maybe even touch you. I know this is bold of me, and if you’re not interested, then it’s going to be one hell of a long ride back to the States, but I’m falling in love with you, Lane.” There. He’d said it. It wasn’t even everything, but it at least summed up the thoughts that’d been spinning around in his mind ever since he’d literally stumbled into that cavern full of dragons.

  She blinked at him and then smiled. “You are?”

  Lane sounded so astonished that Ash wasn’t sure what to think at first. Everything between them thus far had been so uncertain when it came down to what they’d expressed and shown on the surface, but he couldn’t deny what his bear had told him. It didn’t matter what form he was in; he needed to be near her. That had to mean something. “Yes.”

  A note of laughter escaped her lips as she put a hand against his chest. “You don’t know how happy I am to hear that.”

  His own throat laughed in reply. “Really?”

  “God, yes. I’ve been driving myself crazy wondering what this was all about and how we could possibly mean that much to each other. I’d always thought that if I found someone it would be another dragon like me.” Tears shone in her eyes, and she blinked them away quickly. “I guess it doesn’t have to make sense as long as it works for us, though. Right?”

  “Right.” Ash bent forward to kiss her, his body working without any thought. He didn’t need any. He just needed to know that he had her there in his arms and that they had a chance of being together. Their circumstances had already been impossible, so if they were able to overcome them, then they could get through anything.

  “Your nose is cold,” he said with a smile when they broke apart. His own body was filled with heat from the velvety touch of her lips, and Ash knew he could’ve stood out on the deck with her all day. But he was concerned about her after all she’d been through, and the gray cloud to the west indicated a storm was coming in. “I suppose I’d better get you below deck.”

  Their hands naturally clutched each other as they made their way down.

  Drake met them below. He looked tired but pleased when he saw his new comrade. “You did an excellent job on this mission, Ash. Everyone’s going to be fine. I’ve got them put up for the evening because I think they all need to get plenty of rest. The captain said there are still a few cabins left if you’d like to claim one.” He gestured toward the prow.

  “Thanks.” Ash moved along, Lane trailing behind him with their fingers woven together until he found an empty cabin. It wasn’t much, with a simple bunk built into the wall and a few drawers underneath it. A lamp on the wall and a heater below it completed the amenities.

  “It’s not exactly a luxury cruise, but it looks like the cabins are filling up quickly. Why don’t you go ahead and take this one?” Ash gestured for her to step inside the room.

  She did so, pulling back the hood of her parka as she sat down on the edge of the bunk. “What about you?”

  “Ah, don’t worry about me. I can find some place. Besides, I’m a polar bear, remember? I can go catch an iceberg drifting by and bunk down there.”

  “And I’ve been sleeping in an old cave for the last few decades. I don’t need this.”

  Ash stood there in the doorway, admiring the strength and stubbornness of this woman. She was a difficult one, and certainly not like anyone else he’d ever met, but he liked that about her. Lane challenged him in new ways. “You deserve it.”

  Her eyes were steady on his. “At least come and sit for a minute.”

  He obliged willingly, especially since he hadn’t wanted to leave her in the first place. Ash closed the door behind him, cutting off the general murmur of a ship full of dragons, whales, and several other creatures who’d all just survived a harrowing experience. “You say that, but I wonder if it means the same thing to you as it does to me.”

  “Oh?” Lane’s eyes were a challenge.

  “Well, you’re talking to a man who believes he’s just found the woman he’s destined to be with. And even under the bulk of a borrowed parka, he knows just how beautiful she is. He knows how her body curves and how her heartbeat feels through her skin.” Ash touched her hand, once again feeling that electric jolt that pleased him so much.

  “I know I am,” she said with a smile, threading her fingers through his and leaning close. “And you’re talking to a woman who’s not only been alone for a very long time, but who’s had her knight in shining armor come help rescue her and her people. She’s incredibly grateful.”

  Their lips met and Ash explored the neat rows of teeth that could turn into weapons at any moment. Their tongues danced together, getting to know each other without words. Ash pulled back just enough to trail more kisses down her jawline. “I wouldn’t want gratitude to be your motivation here.”

  “What about something more?” she tempted. “What about the fact that I tried so hard to hate you and
found it absolutely impossible.”

  His hands made quick work of the snaps and zipper of her parka. It was suddenly growing incredibly hot in the cabin. Ash didn’t know if it was his own heat or hers, but the two of them could make a lot of it when he felt the curve of her body through her sweater. Ash pulled her into his lap as he pushed her coat off her and to the floor. “I want to see you,” he mumbled against her throat as he tugged at her clothing.

  “Do you really think this is the place?” she asked. But Lane’s head was tipped back, her eyes closed, her fingers buried in his hair. They ran down to the back of his neck and around to the front of his chest, moving of their own volition to rid him of his coat. Her fingers were sweet and cool against his heated skin, giving no indication of just who and what she was underneath.

  “I can’t think of any place better,” he replied huskily as he dared to touch the curve of her breast. Damn, she was hot. His bear was going crazy, demanding that he get what he needed, but for once, Ash wasn’t interested in listening. He wanted this to last as long as was possible. He peeled off her sweater and her jeans, her boots hitting the floor with two dull thuds. It was all moving too fast, yet he didn’t want to stop it.

  He was rewarded when he had her laid out on the bed, her skin glowing in the warm light from the lamp. The delicate collar bone, the swell of her breasts, the way her waist tucked in underneath them. Everything about her was unreal, and his hands shook as they reached for the waistband of his jeans.

  “Let me,” she said, a pleading note in her voice. She stripped him with painful slowness and delicacy, her hands skimming each new part of his body as it was revealed.