BOX SET: Shifter 4-Pack Vol 2 (Wolf Shifter, Dragon Shifter, Mafia, Billionaire, BBW, Alpha) (Werewolf Weredragon Paranormal Fantasy Romance Collection)

by Candace Ayers

  Chapter Ten

  “Hey, lovebirds,” a man’s voice woke them up an hour later. Cheyenne was lying fully clothed next to Virlek, her jacket draped over his parts shielded from the nighttime breeze. Her eyes opened immediately. Virlek shot up beside her.

  “Oh,” Virlek said to Zarek, who was standing a few feet away. “It’s just you.”

  Zarek laughed. “We have to hurry. Aubrey and Jandric are waiting in the ship. We have to leave here before Gen-Ex spots us.”

  Virlek offered his hand to Cheyenne to help her up. Zarek turned, and walked toward the ship. Virlek held Cheyenne’s hand, leading her, following Zarek, but Cheyenne didn’t budge.

  “What’s wrong?” Virlek questioned.

  “Virlek,” she said, still grasping his hand but avoiding his eyes. “Virlek, I can’t go with you.”

  “What?” he asked, frowning. He took her chin in his hand, raising her eyes to meet his. He suddenly felt his stomach drop to his knees.

  “I can’t go,” she repeated tearfully. “My people. They’re still sick. They depend on me. I cannot leave them.”

  Virlek wrapped his arms around her shoulders, drawing her in for a hug. Of course she would not abandon her people in their time of great need. He should have known. He should have seen this coming. He wanted to drag her away, to keep her close by his side every second, to have her all to himself. He wanted his child. Yet, fate had given him a mate who was strong-willed, honorable and stubborn, and he loved every single quality she possessed.

  He took in the scent of her hair, the wildflower smell now mixing with the earthy scent of the forest floor. He wanted to be selfish, to drag her away with him, but he couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing to her, his mate. She would never forgive him. He could stay with her, yet he could do nothing to help her people from down here. His only hope was to convince the Plarizakian Council to take action, and for that he must return to his own people. He held back a sob, closed his eyes as a small tear spilled over his lower lid before he righted himself. He was a warior. Plarazakian warriors don’t shed tears, they took action.

  “Your people aren’t going to be safe when Gen-Ex comes back,” he said, once more trying to persuade her to leave with him.

  “I know,” she said. “But I still can’t go. I have to try. I can’t abandon them.”

  He didn’t blame her. He couldn’t deny her, either. He just held her for a moment.

  “We’ve gotta get going,” Zarek whispered.

  “I know,” Virlek said, drawing away from Cheyenne before speaking to her. “I will come back. Do what you can to keep the people safe until I return. Our only hope lies with the Plarazakians, and I will find a way. I promise you, Cheyenne... I promise.”

  Virlek saw the doubt in Cheyenne’s eyes and his heart nearly broke for her. Did his mate honestly think he would abandon her and their unborn child? Short of throwing her over his shoulder kicking and screaming and forcing her to follow him, this was their only option.

  “I know,” she responded, though they both knew she didn’t believe his assurance. She stretched up on her toes for one more kiss, one more embrace, feeling the presence of their child between them one more time before they parted.

  “At least let us walk you back to the reservation,” he whispered.

  “No. I need some time alone. It’s not that far. I’ll be fine.”

  Virlek nodded before following Zarek. Cheyenne turned toward the river, away from her departing lover. She couldn’t watch Virlek leave.

  Cheyenne sat on the river bank sobbing. Her heart was broken. Her love was gone, and along with him, her hope. She would always remember the great love of her life. She didn’t believe he would be back for her or for her people. She knew he would try, of that she was certain. She didn’t doubt Virlek’s love for her or his commitment to her. But, she had also felt the sting of rejection at every turn as she petitioned higher-ups for assistance for her people. She knew the impending result.

  Finally, she stood, looking out over the water and at the far bank. She must find the strength within herself to return to her people empty handed. Mustering the courage to head back, she began to turned away from the riverbank only to see out of the corner of her eye, lights off in the distance. Headlights—a caravan of headlights that were, two by two, making their way up the road and toward the bridge.

  There’s only one caravan that would be heading toward that bridge. Gen-Ex wasn’t out of commission at all. She had to warn the Plarizakians.

  She tried to reach Virlek with her mind, but her heart was racing too fast. She couldn’t concentrate enough to connect. She did feel his presence, though, and she ran toward it with all the speed her pregnant legs could muster. She stumbled over roots, darted around trees, and came to the edge of the desert. She ran through the sand. She knew the caravan must have crossed the bridge by now. She didn’t think she could make it in time. Still, she kept running.

  Finally, the distant lights of the ship came within view. She was too late. She stopped running and fell to her knees when she heard the explosions. Her chest heaved, gasping for air. The ship was now surrounded by large tanks. Another blast rocked the ship.

  This time, the ship went up in flames.

  Chapter Eleven

  Cheyenne watched in utter shock as flames engulfed the ship and its inhabitants.

  As the flames continued to make their way up the sides of the ship, some of the Gen-Ex tanks sprayed the flames with what Cheyenne could only guess was some sort of accelerant making the flames kick up larger and more intense. Then, something appeared in the sky. Enormous and disc-shaped with spinning, pulsing lights on the bottom, the craft was easily a hundred times larger than Zarek’s ship. The pulsing and spinning of the lights accelerated as the ship descended. As the larger ship neared the smaller, the lights formed a solid circle, their rays reaching the ground.

  A tank shot at the light rays, but the bullets ricocheted unable to penetrate the circular field of light. The shooting stopped, and the soldiers uncertain, simply waited. A blue cloud shot from the large ship, completely enveloping the smaller one. Then, a beam of light connected down toward the smaller ship like a rope. As the larger ship rose, the rope-light connection tugged the smaller ship acting as a tow-line. Both ships disappeared into the sky.

  Cheyenne stealthily crept away before the soldiers could take notice.

  If Virlek’s not dead, he’s gone, Cheyenne thought. Tears streamed down her face and she was powerless to stop them. She cried for her mate, for her unborn child, for her dying people. Wiping the relentless tears with the back of her hand, she made her way toward the reservation.

  As she reached the villiage and walked past houses, Cheyenne was surprised to see people coming out of their homes. Children began following her. Two of them grabbed her hands. Then, adults came out. The crowd grew as she made her way to the center of town. The elders and leaders stood in the street between the hospital and the Council building. Elder Bear stepped forward, leaning heavily on his cane.

  “I—” she started. “I don’t have the blood. I have failed.”

  “No.” Elder bear stated.

  “The blood was taken, stolen,” she answered.

  “Some, perhaps,” he said.

  “They took both coolers, Elder Bear.”

  “They didn’t take all the blood.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  He pointed to her belly before speaking again. “Not all. You have given us the solution, Cheyenne. Blood of the Guardians will strengthen us—a blood line. The bloodline of the Guardians will strengthen our people.”

  “But the Guardians have left us,” Cheyenne pointed out. “And Gen-Ex will stop at nothing to take my baby.”

  “Yes,” Elder Bear answered, frowning. “Perhaps.”

  Silence enveloped the crowd, but was broken in moments by the sound of large equipment approaching. The military convoy was fast approaching, making its way toward them, clouds of dust trailing b
ehind.

  “They’re after me,” she said, as she headed to meet the convoy. She refused to allow her people more suffering. She would turn herself in, and pray that she could find another solution to save her child.

  As she stepped forward toward the convoy, she was stopped by an elderly woman, and then the woman’s grown son and his wife, people stood in front of her, blocking her path. The entire village formed a wall around her.

  “We are a people,” Elder Bear whispered. The old man was standing beside her. “You are one of us. We stand together.”

  Amidst all the fear and imminent violence, he smiled at her and she somehow felt comforted.

  The convoy continued to approach them and was now on the outskirts of the village, only a few hundred feet from the first house. The vehicles didn’t make it any farther, though.

  The large ship broke through the clouds, hovering overhead. Its lights pulsed. The blue lights descended in beams, surrounding the villagers. A door on the bottom of the ship slid open and a large dragon flew from the doorway straight towards Cheyenne. Cheyenne recognized that dragon. She’d know him anywhere. Virlek.

  The villagers cleared a space for him to land next to Cheyenne. He transformed as his hind feet touched the ground.

  Cheyenne jumped toward him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, putting her cheek to his bare chest.

  “He’s naked, Mommy,” a little girl said before her mother shushed her. Everyone laughed. A woman ran to a nearby house and brought him a large skirt. Everyone laughed again.

  “It was the first thing I found,” the woman shrugged, disappearing into the crowd. “Figured it was better than naked bits, anyway.”

  Virlek slipped the floral print skirt on.

  “Whose ship is that?” Cheyenne asked, not daring to hope. She couldn’t handle the devastation of dashed hopes anymore. She couldn’t. She needn’t have worried, though.

  “It’s a Plarizakian ship,” he said, glancing over at Elder Bear before continuing. “Seems one of the elders of my people threw a fit when he learned of the Council’s decision not to fulfill the prophecy. The elder refused take no for an answer. The Council finally agreed to send one of the passenger ships. There’s enough room for all on the ship.”

  Elder Bear smiled from ear to ear as the crowd celebrated around him.

  “Guess we’ll have to get used to seeing naked bits a little more often,” Cheyenne whispered to Virlek as she embraced him again.

  THE END

  Check out these other books by Candace Ayers…

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