She’d never betray him, not even for the people who raised her. She was merely a pawn in their sick game of politics.
Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by a sharp slap to her face. Her eyes teared instantly and she gasped in shock; her mind reeling when she realized her father had struck her. She cupped her stinging cheek gently with her hand and turned back to glare at her father.
“That is the very last time you will ever lay a hand on me,” Beth declared and turned to head for the door. Her only thoughts were getting to Wesley.
A steely grip on her upper arm stopped her cold in her tracks. She turned to glare at her father again and demand that he let her go when her mother rose from her seat and pulled a small silver cell phone from her purse.
“Then you leave me no choice,” Jeremy Henderson declared and hauled her across the room, throwing her down onto the fancy sitting sofa. “You gave us the chance we needed. It wasn’t necessary for you to marry him, we merely needed a way into the main lair.” Glancing up at Emily, Jeremy gave a curt nod and she immediately dialed the phone and handed it to him.
“We’re in,” he barked into the tiny device. “I expect every soldier we have here in ten minutes.” He snapped the phone shut and tossed it back to his wife. “It’s all set,” he announced. “The war has begun.”
Chapter 8
Wesley paced the floor of the Music Room, carefully weaving in and out amongst the various instruments strewn throughout the spacious room.
“What’s taking so long?” he demanded angrily. “I can’t hear anything through these soundproof walls,” he ranted. “I’m worried about her,” he confessed a bit more softly.
Lance looked up from where he sat at the piano and offered his brother a small smile.
“Patience big brother, it isn’t everyday a person has to chose between one life and another. Her entire life has been muted with the darkest blinders. She’s finally had them removed, can you imagine the culture shock she’s going through?” he asked and went back to tinkering with the keys.
Wesley scowled at Lance and his logic. At least he hadn’t commented on Wesley’s admission. He’d been smitten from the moment he’d first laid eyes on her, but the more time they spent together and the more he learned about her, he couldn’t help but fall hard.
She was smart, brave, kind and the strongest woman he’d ever met. She’d endured a hellish childhood and chalked it up to remaining loyal to her core beliefs. He couldn’t think of many who would do such a thing anymore.
He also couldn’t believe the Henderson family was only one among an entire community who’d refused to convert to Modernism. A vast number of his Faction still upheld and practiced the Ancient Ways. He couldn’t believe his father hadn’t known about this.
Lance’s cellphone rang, the trill interrupting Wesley’s inner turmoil. He sighed heavily and moved over to the large windows facing the back yard of the formal estate. He marveled at the grass and shrubbery covering the little oasis and wondered how his brother had managed to keep the greenery thriving in such a harsh, relentless environment.
“Wesley,” Lance called and he whirled when he noted the panicky tone in his brother’s voice. “You need to take this, it’s begun,” Lance said and shoved the phone into his brother’s hand. “We’ve yet to officially announce your return so everyone still thinks I’m your Proxy,” he explained and jerked his chin at the phone.
Wesley nodded in understanding.
“Yes, this is Prince Wesley Anderson,” he greeted the caller.
“Good to hear your voice again, old friend,” Jaxen Monroe, Prince of the Earth Elementals spoke on the other end. “I’m afraid I’m not calling with good news. As I’ve just explained to your brother, my estate is under attack. I’ve been told it’s the Rebels and the attacks are coordinated across the globe. You may want to get yourself and your Faction to safety.”
Wesley’s blood froze in his veins.
“Then what the hell are you doing making a phone call?” Wesley barked. “Get your ass out of there!”
“My guard has everything under control for the moment,” Jaxen responded and the line crackled with interference. “Since my mate is with child, I’ve already sent her to a safe house. I’ve already notified Axel and Damien so they’re prepared, I gotta go my friend, stay safe.”
Wesley pulled the phone away from his ear and immediately went into soldier mode. Tossing the device back to his brother, he began barking orders.
“Get Lieutenant Samuels on the phone, I need SIN in action yesterday!” he exclaimed and stalked toward the open doorway. “I need to get Beth and her parents to safety,” he called over his shoulder. “Once you do that, get your ass underground.”
Casting a quick glance back at his brother, he scowled when he noticed Lance directly on his heels. Taken aback by his brother’s quick metamorphosis from jovial to stern leader, he raised an eyebrow as Lance relayed a situation report to Lt. Samuels. Without noticing that his brother had paused in the hallway, Lance colliding with him.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Lance protested and shoved the phone back into his pocket. “I’m right beside you no matter what,” he declared and pulled himself to his full height.
Seeing his brother’s steely resolve, Wesley nodded once and approached the Library door. He grabbed the knob and scowled when he found the door locked. Raising his fisted hand, he beat on the solid wood.
“Beth,” he called. “I need you and your parents to come out here, we have a situation.” He kept his voice calm not wanting to panic her or the Hendersons.
The door swung open and Wesley found himself facing the business end of a .40 cal handgun. Jeremy Henderson smirked at him and jacked the slide, putting a round in the chamber.
“One more step and I’ll kill your brother,” Jeremy warned and swiveled to aim the weapon at Lance’s chest.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Wesley growled as fresh lava burst to life inside of him. He felt the raging inferno explode in the pit of his stomach and jet into his bloodstream. His fingernails elongated into viciously curved talons and teeth morphed into lethal fangs.
“I’ve set a centuries old plan into motion,” Jeremy bragged with a sneer. “Elder Coffer’s little kidnapping incident was merely a diversion.”
Wesley glared past Jeremy to see Beth sitting in front of the fireplace with her hands bound and a gag across her mouth. His vision went red with rage. Suddenly it all made sense. The betrothal, the reason they’d never converted, the secret society in Texas. It was all part of a coup and Beth had been the pawn.
“Let her go and I’ll consider letting you leave in one piece,” Wesley offered, his voice already guttural with the oncoming shift. Every fiber of his being wanted to rip the snide asshole to shreds. The only thing that kept him from it was the stark fear in Beth and Emily’s eyes. He couldn’t kill her father in front of her.
“You arrogant pretender,” Jeremy scoffed. “You act as if you actually have a chance.” The older man laughed. Wesley took a step forward only to freeze when an explosion rocked the entire estate.
“Ah, seems my backup has arrived,” Jeremy bragged and motioned Emily to his side. “Bring Beth,” he reminded his wife. She dipped her head and took Beth’s bound hands, hauling her daughter to her feet and moved to her husband.
“She’s not going with you,” Wesley snarled and ripped his shirt over his head. Throwing his head back, he opened his growing maw and roared so loudly the ceiling cracked down the center. Jeremy’s eyes widened in horror as he watched the horrific transformation.
Instead of a calm, peaceful shifting, Wesley’s skin exploded from his body, his bones crunching and snapping as his human body morphed into his Dragon. Red hot scales burst from underneath the sinewy muscle and Wesley embraced the pain. He used it to fuel him.
His eyesight shifted from three-dimension to all-encompassing. He saw heat, energy and particles no human could without special equipment. With one
hard whip of his head, he knocked Jeremy aside and advanced on Beth and Emily. The latter shrieked in terror and released Beth in order to scurry toward her unconscious husband.
A loud crash from downstairs prompted Wesley to whirl in the direction of the stairs. He was pleased to see his brother had also shifted and was currently headed toward the railing. In one fluid motion, small bat-like wings burst from Lance’s back and he glided over the balcony down into the foyer.
Gunshots and human wails rang out in tune with Lance’s roar and snarls.
“What do we do now?” Beth’s sweet voice rang out below him. Titling his head down, Wesley lowered his head until they were eye-to-eye. He couldn’t shift back and protect her at the same time and he couldn’t communicate with her in Dragon form. They needed to complete the mating ritual now or he risked losing her. Yet, he didn’t want to force himself on her if she didn’t want him.
Throwing his head back, he roared in pain and anguish. He simply didn’t have the energy to shift to human and back to Dragon.
The air grew heavy and rippled around him and suddenly he found himself being thrown across the hallway, his large scaly body colliding with the piano Lance had been playing only minutes ago. He clambered back to his feet and snarled angrily. However, time itself ceased to exist when he gazed at the bronze Dragon Goddess before him.
Almond curved, emerald green eyes, framed in thick, black lashes stared back at him. If he thought she was beautiful in Human form, there simply wasn’t a word to describe her Dragon. She wasn’t as large as him, but she was bigger than the average female Dragon.
Her golden scales held a ruby incandescence when she turned and the light reflected off them. She advanced on him like a predator on prey and for a brief moment he thought she’d betrayed him too. But instead of attacking him, she wrapped her large tail around his middle and sank her fangs into the one penetrable place on a Dragon’s neck, just below the jawline.
She growled low in her throat and he took that as invitation to complete his part. Using his large arms, he pulled her into an embrace and mimicked her actions. As they drank from one another, a bond as old as time was born. He felt her blood rushing across his tongue, coating his throat and sinking into his own bloodstream. Within moments, he felt as though she, herself, had crawled into his body and claimed him as hers.
“I wasn’t sure you wanted this,” Wesley murmured gently through their mental connection. “I know all this is difficult for you, I love you but I refuse to force you into something you didn’t want.”
“I want you,” Beth responded timidly. “I want us - this connection - forever. I understand the barbarism of the Ancient Ways and want you to teach me everything about Modernism,” she explained. “But right now, we have more pressing things to do.”
Chapter 9
Wesley threw back his head, unhinged his massive jaw and exhaled a fireball large enough to shoot through the estate’s roof. He leapt forward and covered Beth with his body as wood, ash other debris rained from their new exit. If they survived this war, Wes knew he’d have a lot of work to do on the estate house. Especially after Lance finished ripping the first floor apart.
Drawing away from his beloved, Wes leaned forward and nuzzled her neck softly.
“Stay in here and wait for Lance. I’ll send him to take you underground.”
“But I want to go with you, I can help,” Beth protested. Wesley growled low in his throat, a sign that he was Alpha and his word was law. He was a soldier, through and through and fighting was what he did best. He couldn’t protect Beth and hold off the rebel army at the same time.
She lowered her lashes and fresh pain shot through Wesley’s chest. Immediately he understood that he’d hurt her. In all their time together, he’d encouraged her to stand on her own feet, pursue her own interests and make up her own mind. Now that she’d decided to follow her heart as well, he stepped into her path and told her she couldn’t.
Shame engulfed him.
“I just don’t want you hurt,” he murmured softly. “I am your Prince and I always will be, but I won’t treat you like property. You have your freedom my love, just please leave this fight to me, it’s what I do,” he pleaded. Somewhat shocked that he’d taken that route, Beth nodded her head and motioned for him to go.
“I understand,” she said softly. “I can feel you, remember?”
Instead of wondering why she couldn’t feel his intentions to begin with, Wesley shook himself and thrust his wings wide, launching his huge, scaled body through the porthole in the roof.
Folding his wings tightly to his side, he shot through the opening like a bullet at full velocity.
Once airborne, he took a moment to survey the scene and fresh anger rushed through him when he realized the number of rebels marching across his lawn. He stopped counting after reaching seventy-five. Knowing the SIN soldiers would never make it in time; he opened his mouth wide and spit a trail of fire between the soldiers and the front of the house. A gigantic wall of fire sprang from the ground, reaching a height of more than fifty feet.
Satisfied that his diversion would hold them at bay for a few moments, he landed just in front of house and blasted the front door off its hinges. He squeezed through the opening and thundered through the house in search of his brother. A quick glance upstairs and he saw Beth standing over the unconscious bodies of her parents. He wanted them dead, for everything they’d put Beth through, but knew deep inside that he couldn’t take them away from her.
Resolved to see them imprisoned, he continued his search for Lance. After crashing through the remnants of his brother’s battle, he found the orange-hued Dragon leaning against the kitchen wall. Blood ran in several rivulets over his scales and he noticed several of them were missing from around his throat.
But he saw no major wound. Frustrated that he couldn’t communicate with his sibling lest he shift back into human form, he turned his head back toward the balcony and let out a soulful wail at Beth.
Lance immediately sprang to life. Rushing past Wesley, the smaller Dragon launched himself upstairs when little to no effort and instantly draped himself across Beth. He looked down at the Hendersons and then back to Wesley, and the message was clear.
I’ve got them; you do what you have to.
Wesley nodded his head once in understanding and then crashed back through the destroyed house to confront the army that greatly outnumbered him.
***
Beth watched in curious fear as Lance took her father gently in his razor sharp fangs. Careful not to hurt the Dragon in Human form, he shifted the man’s unconscious body so that it rested among his back row of more blunt molars. Turning back toward Beth, she inhaled sharply when she understood that he wanted her to do the same with her mother.
It was a request she refused. Instinctively she wanted to shift back to Human form in order to explain herself to Lance but knew that is she did, she would lose mental contact with her mate; and that she also refused to do.
Lance growled at her to obey but she shook her head. Her parents had deceived her and betrayed their Prince. Yes, they deserved punishment, perhaps even death should Wesley declare it. But she wouldn’t participate in an act that would take their lives. She just couldn’t do it. No matter how wrong and malicious they’d been, she couldn’t help kill them.
Lance placed Jeremy limp form back upon the floor and advanced on Beth, shoving her forcefully with the bulk of his head.
Suddenly, like a rubber band drawn tight one time too many, she snapped or rather the leash on her inner Dragon did.
In a flurry of action, she thrust her wings from her side and shoved with her hind legs in order to propel herself through the hole Wesley left in the ceiling. She heard Lance roar but ignored him as he flapped her wings and lifted herself higher into the sky.
In looking down at the carnage littering the expansive front lawn, fear rose up and choked her. Swinging her head back and forth, she searched for Wesley’s vibrant red form. Her
blood froze in her veins when she finally found him lying on his side amongst a massive number of dead soldiers.
She looked back toward the driveway and noticed dust plumes floating in the distance. Apparently he’d killed enough that the rest retreated. Whether they’d return with reinforcements or not, she couldn’t know. Stilling her wings, she glided to the ground near Wesley and nudged him softly with her snout.
He was still alive; she felt his heartbeat through their connection. But his mind was silent as a grave. She threw back her head and let loose a grief-stricken roar that shook the ground beneath her.
Within seconds, Lance was at her side. He looked at Beth and then the house where her parents were. She understood what he asked. He needed her to choose; save her mate or capture her parents.
As far as her heart was concerned, there was no choice. Leaning down, she gently nudged Wesley’s head.
She understood the enormity of her decision. Her parents would awaken and they would escape or they’d die; their destinies were no longer her concern. The war wasn’t over. It hadn’t even begun. She knew where she belonged and it was at Wesley’s side, defending and protecting their Faction.
Chapter 10
Beth paced the strange bedroom suite of the Royal Palace deep beneath the Earth’s surface. Lance had managed to get Wesley to the cave about ten miles from the estate. Once inside, he’d shown her the both well-hidden and well-guarded portal to their underground city.
She hated leaving her parents behind and wondered if they survived. If so, she knew her father wouldn’t stop until he’d killed Wesley and she wouldn’t let that happen. She vowed that should she face her father again, she would do whatever was necessary to make him see the error of his ways. Or if that failed, then she’d kill him herself rather than let him hurt her mate.
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