Tarian Traitor

by T. S. Joyce

  In human form, he was on his knees in the middle of the field, heaving breath, blood and sweat decorating his skin, the trees on fire behind him. “My leg.” Hunter shook his head and looked so sorry. “My leg,” he repeated.

  “Orion, no!” Cale yelled as Orion bolted for Hunter.

  There was no cover here, no protection, but he couldn’t live with himself knowing Hunter had died protecting him. Orion was limping bad, too slow. Dark Kane had already steadied out and circled around. He was high in the sky, beating his wings, and then he tucked them and dove to earth.

  Rowan was nowhere to be seen; there was no more time to be bought. Orion locked his legs, skidded to Hunter, yanked him upward, and told him to, “Run for both of our lives!”

  Hunter gritted his teeth and groaned with every step. He was leaning his weight on his left leg, so Orion damn near carried half of him. He could hear him now, The End of Days. Hear the whooshing sound as the wind hit his scales. Hear his Firestarter clicking in his throat.

  Beaston was Changed back, standing near the house, the raven on his shoulder. “Kane! Nooo!”

  Kane hit the ground behind them, and the earth shook and cracked with the force of his impact. His massive claws skidded across the ground on either side of Orion and Hunter, and when Orion looked up, he saw a set of razor-sharp teeth coming for him.

  Without thinking, he threw Hunter down and shielded him with his body. “Annamora, I’m sorry!”

  The apology was for everything. For letting her down. For hurting her, because that’s what his end would do. For stealing her smiles. For not staying with her. God, he should’ve stayed.

  His apology echoed through the mountains.

  Orion waited for an end that didn’t come. He heard the Firestarter and smelled the igniting gases from the belly of the beast. And then he heard the force of the flames. But the heat didn’t touch him.

  Orion jerked open his eyes and looked up to find Kane standing over him, spewing fire at the shifters who were trying to escape through the trees.

  The Apocalypse…the End of Days…was protecting him?

  Shocked, Orion looked at Beaston.

  A slow grin took over the seer’s face. “No chomp. Huh. Your Anna called in a black dragon, and she begged good.” He straightened up and looked at the raven on his arm, Beaston’s Anna. “I did not see that coming.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  “We’re almost there,” Sora murmured, taking another sharp curve in the mountain road in the rental car.

  I’m okay.

  Those two words…

  Annamora read and reread them a dozen times while she was waiting to get off the plane in Asheville. She’d nearly Changed on the flight here, panicking every second she didn’t know what was happening to Orion. Sora was the only thing that had stopped her.

  I’m okay.

  God, let it be true. If he was okay, she could be, too. Was that another part of love? She’d never felt this before.

  This place was so green, every hill covered with ferns and pine trees. It was evening here in the Smoky Mountains, and the road they were traveling snaked right beside a river. Sora took a right onto a gravel road that dropped steeply and then sped across a bridge over the river. On the other side, it just looked like a mountain jungle, covered in gold speckles of the sunlight filtering through the towering evergreens. There was a single sign on the left with an outline of a lion burned into it.

  “It smells kinda like smoke,” Annamora said.

  “Have you ever lived around dragons?” Sora asked softly.

  “No.”

  “This won’t be the last time you smell smoke like this.” Her voice had gone somber as she eased to a stop at the edge of a huge scorch mark across the road and through the woods. Everything was black, and ashes lifted in the wind and floated around like a first snow. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

  “What?” Annamora asked, studying Sora’s profile. A tear ran down her friend’s fair cheek, but she didn’t understand why she was sad.

  “You place is here, after all. Orion is really okay, and he’s waiting for you.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I wish you could see you through my eyes right now.”

  “Your brother said that once.”

  Sora smiled emotionally. “You have captured both of our hearts. I was afraid this place would break you, and I wanted to keep you safe, because you’re special. You’re important and deserve a good life. And you’re my friend. This place and this Pride made me feel worthless, and I wanted to protect you from that. It’s not my responsibility to protect you from what the Deadlies can be though. It’s Orion’s. And I believe in him. He’s going to fix these mountains, like Ronin fixed the Tarians. And you’re going to be there to see him do it. Wanna know how I know?”

  “Yes,” Annamora said on a soft breath.

  “Because I can’t even see the black dragon’s smoke,” she said, looking around them. “All I see is your bond reaching for Orion. You’ve filled this place with the prettiest shade of sky blue.”

  Shocked, Annamora looked around, but all she saw was smoke and ash and destruction. “Really?”

  Sora grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “You’re going to be the queen the Deadlies need. You’re the strongest person I know, Anna. I know in my heart you’ll keep Orion strong, too.”

  Annamora’s heart was in her throat as Sora released her hand and eased onto the gas pedal again. She didn’t say another word as they climbed the winding road through the woods. So much land had burned, but the farther into Deadlies’ territory they drove, the better Anna felt. The less tension there was in her chest. Almost home. Almost to Orion.

  One final line of burn, and Sora eased into a clearing.

  “Oh, my gosh,” Annamora whispered, shoving open her door.

  There was a crowd of people in front of a burned-down house. To the left was a firepit with a dozen tree-stump seats. Four men sat, not speaking, looking like they’d just been through literal hell. Orion sat on one stump, staring back at her with such hope in his exhausted eyes. He wore a pair of jeans, and his entire torso was bandaged. His face was black and blue, his lip split, his neck clawed, his white hair disheveled.

  But that slow smile…

  I’m okay.

  A sob of relief escaped her as Annamora bolted for him. He stood slow, limped toward her, his bare feet pressing down the knee-length wild grass that separated them. He stretched his arms out for her just as she reached him. She threw her arms around his shoulders and lost it. Just…cried with joy, fear, happiness, but most of all…with relief.

  “What did you do, crazy girl? Calling in the Apocalypse?”

  “Well, it worked,” one of the men behind him muttered. “We’re all alive, aren’t we?”

  “Kind of,” said a man with a big splint on his left leg. “I feel like a corpse.”

  Orion winced as he eased out of her hug. He grabbed her hand and nodded his head toward the three men. “Anna, this is Cale, Roden, and Hunter. They’re mine.” He looked at the boys. “This is my Anna.”

  “Look, we’re not just letting any old riffraff in with us,” Hunter said, wincing as he straightened his leg out in front of him. “We’re going to need you to fill out an application for our Crew.”

  “Pride,” Roden growled. “She’s a lioness, and we’re all lions, so we would still technically be a Pride.”

  “I don’t knooow…” Hunter drawled out. “I think some of those assholes who attacked us would make great candidates for this shitshow.”

  Cale sighed and said, “Anna hasn’t said if she will even join us or not.”

  Orion turned to her. “Annamora Fredrickson, I have nothing to offer you but a broken Pride of morons…” He gestured to Hunter, Cale and Roden. Cale and Roden looked offended but Hunter was nodding, like yep. “And a burnt house.” He gestured to the smoking, charred home across the clearing. “And we’re living too close to dragons to survive the fire, but I
tried to do this without you, and I’m no good.”

  “He’s really no good,” Hunter pointed out.

  “Dude, shut the fuck up,” Roden said. “They’re having a moment.”

  Anna wiped her damp cheeks and laughed despite the grave situation.

  “Will you have a home eventually?” she asked.

  “Yes. I’ll make sure you have a safe place to live.”

  “Can I bring all my house decorations? And plant pink tulips in front?”

  “Pink?” Hunter demanded. “Ow!” he yelped as Roden elbowed him in the shoulder.

  “Of course,” Orion murmured, ignoring them. “You can decorate it however you want. The only rule is…no brown. Brown doesn’t suit you.”

  She looked at the smoldering house and chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. “Maybe there will be enough left of that one to make it into a little dilapidated art sanctuary.”

  Orion let off this little chuckle and looked at her like she was the special one. “You always find bright sides, don’t you?” But before she could answer, he asked suddenly, “Did you really beg a dragon for my life?”

  Annamora shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “I had to. If you don’t exist, I don’t either. I don’t want to be a ghost anymore. I want to live.”

  Orion’s chest lifted and fell with his breath as he searched her eyes. His were almost white right now. “With me?”

  Annamora wanted to be strong when she said this, so she blew out a shaking breath before she answered. “I want to be with you. I want everything. You said you only have three things to offer me, but you missed one.” She pressed her hand gently over the bandages that protected his heart. “You gave me that, and everything else turned blurry. You’re the only thing that makes sense to me, so I don’t care where your destiny is. I only care that I’m with you to watch you fulfill it. Make me a Deadlie.”

  Orion smiled into the kiss he gave her, and she melted against him like they were one. And in a way, they were. From here on, neither one of them would ever be alone again. He ended the kiss with a soft smack and pulled her into a tight hug. He smelled like blood, dominance, dragon’s smoke, and exhaustion…but he was alive. And she was safe. And the hard parts of their story to get to this moment didn’t matter. It only mattered that they’d gotten here. She eased her eyes open at the crowd behind him. All the faces she’d only seen on shifter registration…all these badasses she’d looked up to. Sora was standing with Beaston, his son, Weston Novak, and a raven-haired woman. His Anna. She remembered Beaston’s smile from the laundromat all those years ago when he’d bought her an orange soda that would set her on a path to meet the love of her life.

  The Bloodrunner and Blackwing Crews were standing loosely together, chatting quietly. And then at the very edge stood a tall man with shoulder-length black hair that partially covered his face. His head was cocked to the side as he stared at her. His eyes had long pupils. Dark Kane. The Apocalypse. The End of Days, but he’d given her the beginning of her days. He’d protected her Orion.

  Thank you, she mouthed as another tear streamed down her face.

  The corner of his lip curved up, and he nodded once.

  Orion sighed and kissed her temple three times. Then he eased back by inches and cupped her cheeks. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’ll make it okay. I’m going to make this Pride a good one for you. I’m going to make sure you’re safe and happy.”

  They were the most beautiful promises in the world. He was going to give her a home where she could feel like she belonged. A Pride, his loyalty, his heart.

  In this moment, looking into the eyes of the man she loved, she realized her past didn’t matter. No girl had ever been luckier than her.

  “I thought I was going to lose you today,” she whispered.

  He gave her the smile she breathed for. “And then you went and saved me instead.”

  She searched his light blue eyes, awed that her life had led her here. Happiness existed because he existed. “No, Orion. I think we saved each other.”

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  Want More of these Characters?

  This series is a spinoff of Damon’s Universe, which includes several of T. S. Joyce’s connected series.

  New Tarian Pride

  Tarian Alpha (Book 1)

  Tarian Silver Lion (Book 2)

  Tarian Outcast (Book 3)

  Tarian Protector (Book 4)

  Tarian Traitor (Book 5)

  More Series by T. S. Joyce

  This series is a spinoff of Damon’s Universe, which includes several of T. S. Joyce’s connected series.

  Harper’s Mountains

  Bloodrunner Dragon (Book 1)

  Bloodrunner Bear (Book 2)

  Air Ryder (Book 3)

  Novak Raven (Book 4)

  Blackwing Dragon (Book 5)

  Daughters of Beasts

  Novak Grizzly (Book 1)

  Beck Bear (Book 2)

  Ash Bear (Book 3)

  Sons of Beasts

  Son of the Cursed Bear (Book 1)

  Son of Kong (Book 2)

  Son of the Dragon (Book 3)

  Red Havoc Panthers

  Red Havoc Rogue (Book 1)

  Red Havoc Rebel (Book 2)

  Red Havoc Bad Cat (Book 3)

  Red Havoc Guardian (Book 4)

  Red Havoc Bad Bear (Book 5)

  Kane’s Mountains

  Blackwing Defender (Book 1)

  Blackwing Wolf (Book 2)

  Blackwing Beast (Book 3)

  Saw Bears

  Lumberjack Werebear (Book 1)

  Woodcutter Werebear (Book 2)

  Timberman Werebear (Book 3)

  Sawman Werebear (Book 4)

  Axman Werebear (Book 5)

  Woodsman Werebear (Book 6)

  Lumberman Werebear (Book 7)

  For More from this Author

  Visit

  www.tsjoyce.com

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  T. S. Joyce’s Amazon US page

  About the Author

  T.S. Joyce is devoted to bringing hot shifter romances to readers. Hungry alpha males are her calling card, and the wilder the men, the more she'll make them pour their hearts out. She lives in a tiny town, outside of a tiny city, and devotes her life to writing big stories. Foodie, bear whisperer, ninja, thief of tiny bottles of awesome smelling hotel shampoo, nap connoisseur, movie fanatic, and zombie slayer, and most of this bio is true.

  Bear Shifters? Check

  Smoldering Alpha Hotness? Double Check

  Sexy Scenes? Fasten up your girdles, ladies and gents, it’s gonna to be a wild ride.

  For more information about T. S. Joyce and her work, visit her website here.