“It’s not our place to judge,” I said.
“And yet we all know he’s a bad guy. He’s lied to all of us about ‘recovering’ Heather.” Victor looked conflicted.
I saw the moment he lost the battle with himself. Reaching out, he wrapped his arm around Heather’s shoulders, pulling her close. Immediately, the tension in his face relaxed.
Taylor spoke before I had the chance. “You’re right, Victor. We do know he’s a bad guy. And I don’t think any new information will come to light. But remember, for a few weeks there—years in Slade’s case—we thought you were a bad guy.”
Heather put her hand on Victor’s chest. “They’re right. We’ll deal with Koenig however we have to, but we’re not going to go out with the intent to kill him. As much as that slimy bastard might deserve it.”
“Then there’s no time to waste,” Victor said. “We know they’re nearby, looking for us. We have to find them first.”
“And no killing anyone,” I said.
Victor gave me a tight smile. “No promises.”
“Please, Dad, enough arguing,” Slade said. “I’ll go out right now and find them. It beats sitting around waiting for them to find us. There are a couple of paths here, so I’ll start with this one.”
“I’ll go with you,” I said.
“Me, too,” Quentin added.
Victor shook his head. “It’ll be quieter with just two.”
“Then it’s settled,” I said. “Slade and I will go. We’ll take tasers. You guys stay here and we’ll be back soon. Three hours, tops. If we don’t come back, you guys should take the path back toward the cave, in the direction of that little town I can’t pronounce.”
“Versorgungsstelle,” Taylor said, without missing a beat.
Quentin punched Taylor in the arm. Then he turned to me. “I don’t like the sound of this. I don’t want you to be out here without me.”
“But you trust Slade,” I said.
He nodded and sighed. “Of course. It just...it scares me, Ariana.”
I stood on tiptoes and kissed him. Peppermint. Even out here in the middle of nowhere, he smelled like peppermint. I kissed Taylor next and inhaled his hazelnut scent. “I’ll see you soon,” I whispered to them.
Slade gave me a fake pout until I kissed him, too, and then we waved at the others and started off on the darker trail Slade had found. We didn’t need a machete here. The terrain was relatively clear, other than exposed roots jutting up everywhere. It was tricky to navigate, and not for the first time, I wished I could just shift into my dragon and rise above it all.
Slade walked just slightly ahead of me. He wanted to protect me. I didn’t need it. He knew that, too. It was the same way I felt about him, Quentin, Taylor. We were bound together in some inexplicable way and we would put each other’s safety before our own.
And our relationship was only getting stronger. If we made it out of these mountains alive, something amazing waited for us at home, I just knew it.
We didn’t speak. Each of our footsteps sounded like a gunshot in the quiet forest. I studied Slade’s back as he moved, watching his muscles bunch and contract. I was gripped with the desire to see him without a shirt. I wanted to trace his tattoo, ogle his muscles.
With effort, I forced myself to focus on the woods around us. If we were to cross paths with one of Koenig’s people, we wouldn’t want to be surprised.
Just in front of me, Slade stopped. “Have a listen,” he breathed.
I closed my eyes, trusting my hearing more that way. Underlying the usual sounds I’d grown accustomed to in these mountains, I also heard a stream. And beneath that, a murmur of conversation.
I opened my eyes and nodded at Slade. Pointing, I mouthed the words, “That way.”
Stepping as quietly as possible, we rounded a thick growth of trees and peered into the camp, far enough away that we were safe from being seen.
It was worse than I’d imagined. This wasn’t just a small scouting party, but an army.
Massive tents filled the small clearing, while smaller pop-ups littered the surrounding forest floor.
Instinct told me to run. Run like hell.
It was like the Lotus War—enemy forces amassing numbers for a full assault. This time I knew better. This time there was no curtain of youthful ignorance blinding me from the truth.
We could all die. I could lose them. Slade. Taylor. Quentin. I could lose them all.
Slade took my hand in his. His eyes were filled with concern as he led me back the way we had come. I said nothing. I followed, and I said nothing.
When we reached the giant boulder where our friends were waiting, my panic subsided just enough that I could speak.
“There are at least twenty tents,” I said. “I can’t believe we didn’t run into them earlier.”
“They’re probably just now arriving,” Victor said.
Taylor rubbed his hand over my arm, infusing me with calm. “We could face them down. Five dragons against twenty, twenty-five wolves? No contest.”
“I’ll burn down the whole fucking forest,” Quentin said, his blue eyes glittering.
“We’re not going to fight twenty wolves,” Victor said. “It’s impossible for us to shift in these trees. It’s like shifting in a cage. Or a tunnel.” He shuddered, likely remembering his time in the pit in Badinor.
Heather reached for him and took his hand. She gazed at him with the same adoration I felt for my three men.
“Then we lead them back out to the Land Rover where there are fewer trees,” Quentin said. “Once there, we’ll shift. Then we’ll take every one of those motherfuckers down.”
I thought of Emily with a pang. They weren’t all monsters like Richard Koenig.
I swallowed my reservations. We could do this.
“Hey, remember, we’re not killing if we can help it,” I said. “I’ve been in war before. It’s not pretty. We’re hoping to scare them into backing down. Once they see our dragons, they should flip the fuck out.”
Heather looked nervous, and Victor took her hand.
“It’s okay,” Victor said. “We’ll all stay close.”
A faint hissing noise reached my ears, and I waved my arms, gesturing for everyone to be quiet. The hiss abruptly stopped, followed by the telltale chirp of a walkie talkie, and a man’s voice whispering, “Shut that damn thing off. I heard something.”
I turned to stare at my group. “They’re here,” I mouthed.
There was no time to think. No time to plan. Maybe, if we stayed as quiet as possible, they wouldn’t find us.
I shook my head. That was wishful thinking, and wishful thinking had gotten more than one soldier killed in the Lotus War.
Before we could do anything, two Allencloths burst into our little clearing, guns drawn. Quentin tased one. The other got off a shot before Slade tackled him from behind, pulling him into a headlock. He tightened his strong arms around the guy’s neck until he passed out.
It was too late, though. The gunshot would’ve clued everyone in. Already the crashing sounds of people running through the forest filled my ears.
Gunshots, chaos. I frantically looked to Slade, Quentin, and Taylor. None of them were harmed. Heather was standing near Victor.
Victor’s eyes were wide with urgency. Fear. He opened his mouth and shouted, “Run!”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Quentin
Gunshots boomed through the trees. My pulse pounded in my ears, deafening me to the subtle sounds of the forest. Our feet crashed against broken sticks and slid against uneven earth. I remained behind Ariana, my body a shield for hers. I’d gladly take a bullet for her, though it would have been preferable to have avoided this entire mess. How I hated this godforsaken forest.
Bones cracked behind us like the sticks beneath our boots. They were shifting. Soon it wouldn’t be bullets, but fangs and claws that we faced. I considered our surroundings. Even though the vegetation had become sparser, it was much too dense to shift.<
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My companions slowed in front of me, and we couldn’t afford the delay. To both sides, there was movement along the ground, ever closing in. Wolves. They traversed the terrain more easily than we could in our human forms. We needed to reach a clearing, and fast.
Snarls grew louder, and I pulled my knife from my hip. I hated to use the thing, but I would not let them reach the woman I loved.
I slammed into Taylor’s back, and he grunted. The jolt shocked me, and I turned my attention forward. Everyone had stopped.
To the left was a wall of rock, to the right, a mound of fallen trees. Wolves would easily be able to come through the trees, but in our human forms we’d be clumsy and slow. We were effectively trapped.
“Grab hands.” Slade’s voice boomed with authority and excitement.
“That’s not going to help,” Heather said. “Wolves will eat you just fine even if you’re holding hands.”
“The Phaser,” Slade said.
“Vibrator,” I coughed.
“Just do it,” Taylor said, and took my hand.
“You guys are weird,” Heather said.
It was the strangest sensation, like a rollercoaster in the rain, or running through a wall of gelatin.
Colors flashed from green to brown to black. Finally, there was blue. Sky blue.
I blinked the fog of motion from my eyes and peered over the steep slopes of tree-covered mountains. We were on the other side of the wall of rock. To one side was a long drop down. Open sky above. To the other side, the forest filled with the sounds of running wolves. We didn’t have much time.
“What the hell just happened?” Victor asked.
“I think I’m going to be sick.” Heather kneeled down on the ground.
Victor sat beside her and brushed a stray strand of hair from her face.
“Slade,” I said, “I must admit I’m grateful that you packed the Vibrator.”
His mouth flattened into a line. “Phaser.”
The wolves were fast approaching. I pulled my shirt over my head, slipped off my shoes and pants, and dove headfirst over the cliff.
Heather gasped above, as a white glow enveloped my form. Wings erupted from my shoulders. Silvery blue scales glimmered in the vibrant rays of unimpeded sunlight. I flew up, flapped my wings against the wind, and rose above the ledge where my Ariana stood.
Wolves yipped and growled from within the trees.
Let them come.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ariana
The snarls of wolves filled my eardrums. The first of them bounded out of the cover of the trees, teeth bared and yellow eyes glinting. This was it.
Shimmering scales hovered above us—Quentin. I had to let my dragon take over. He had it right. Only shifting would give us the advantage we needed. But if I shifted, I gave up my chance to talk to them, any hope of working this out peacefully. No, not yet.
One of the wolves leaped toward Taylor. I dodged forward, a taser in my hand.
Taylor whirled just in time, his arm outstretched with a heavy tree branch, and he caught the beast right under the chin. The wolf flew back and hit a tree.
I caught a familiar scent as more wolves closed in. Emily was in there, somewhere.
I called to her over my shoulder, “Em, we don’t have to do this! Your dad’s in the wrong, here!”
Maybe she didn’t hear me, maybe she didn’t care. Unless she challenged the alpha—her father—she had to do his bidding, anyway.
More wolves were pouring into the area between the trees and the ledge. Soon, we’d be too far outnumbered to have any hope of success without fire. Without dragons.
Quentin roared and swung his giant head from side to side, identifying his targets.
There was little space to move back toward the ledge, only a few feet to where we’d come through the rock face. “Back!” I shouted to Taylor and Slade. “Everybody back!”
Quentin circled overhead and opened his mouth. He was close enough I could see his fangs.
Slade and Taylor were right behind me. Heather and Victor were already well on the other side of the clearing, facing off with Koenig, Emily, one of the Allencloths in his human form, and one wolf.
Quentin sent his fire down, scorching the ground where we’d just been standing, and where more Allencloths had been ready to pour in. Yips and screams of pain tore through the air.
Circling around again, Quentin roared. No further wolves came through—he was guarding us so we could finally end this thing with Koenig.
“I don’t get it, Ariana.” Emily’s face was twisted in rage, but she didn’t approach me. Instead, she held her hand protectively over her swollen belly. “Why would you betray us like this? My dad hired you, so just hand us the treasure and you’ll still get your cut.”
I pointed to Heather. My arm was shaking, I was so filled with rage and adrenaline. “That’s the treasure, Emily. Her name is Heather Vergoldet, and she’s the Braunbar clan heiress. Did you know that?”
She looked dumbly at Heather. “I don’t understand.”
“I know you don’t,” I said. “Because otherwise you’d never be here. Your dad wanted to kidnap her, force her into marriage—”
“Shut up,” Koenig spat.
“Papa?” Emily said, as twin splotches of anger appeared on her cheeks. “Is this true?”
Koenig sneered. “Don’t act like you’re bothered by this. I’m doing what’s best for the pack.”
“Really? Lying to us is what’s best for us?” she asked.
“This was the best way to care for the pack,” he said. “Don’t question my authority, girl.”
An Allencloth woman, wearing the black pants and shirt that some of the others had on, stepped forward. “Emily’s been taking better care of the Allencloths for months while Richard’s been chasing after the ‘Vergoldet Fortune,’” she said. “And it’s been nothing but a territory scheme?”
A wolf shimmered for a moment, its bones and joints cracking before it became a man. He stood proud and naked before us and said, “What do you have to say about that, Richard?”
Koenig’s jaw stuck out and he glared at the man. “I say I deserve a new mate who will bring us territory. You weren’t going to complain when your back yard extended an extra hundred square miles.”
“I would’ve complained if it meant you’d taken an unwilling mate,” the man shot back.
“You’d never have known,” Koenig said.
“I call for a new alpha,” one of the Allencloth women said.
Koenig took a step back. “Wh-what?”
“I’m sure we don’t need to do this.” Emily held her hands out in supplication to the pack.
“Shut up,” Koenig said. “I don’t need your help. All of you, get in your wolf forms now and fight.”
No one moved.
“Now,” Koenig said, his voice hard. I should have felt the power of an alpha washing over his pack, but there was nothing. No sense of magic. No sense of force or strength.
“What is wrong with you?” he shouted. “Attack them! Now!”
Quentin flew in a circle overhead, and his shadow fell over us.
Koenig looked at his assembled pack—some in their wolf shapes, others in their human shape. “This—this can’t be.”
“Sorry, Papa,” Emily said. “Looks like you’re out.”
“You’re not sorry!” he shouted, and lunged for Victor, knife outstretched.
Everyone moved so fast, but it seemed to happen in slow motion. Heather stepped over to the Allencloth guy nearest her. Her pale hand shot out and she grabbed the gun from his hip holster.
The knife glinted as Koenig barreled forward.
Victor raised his arms, ready to fight. He got in a good strike, but it wasn’t good enough. Koenig slashed down with the knife.
Blood welled up from Victor’s arm.
Heather screamed and fired.
The bullet glinted briefly in the sunlight before tearing through Koenig’s chest.
Emily ran to her father while Taylor gently took the gun from Heather’s hands. Slade rushed to his father’s side, and that sparked me to action.
“Slade,” I said, rushing over.
Victor’s arm was a bloody mess. Slade pulled off his long-sleeved shirt and pressed it to the wound to staunch the bleeding.
“Dad,” he said. “Dad, please, talk to me.”
“Minor wound,” Victor said. “I’ve seen worse, trust me.”
“I think he’s gonna be okay,” I said, touching Slade’s shoulder.
“I’m fine,” Victor said again.
Heather’s voice was right behind us. “You’re not fine, you’re bleeding like a guy who just lost a knife fight.” She fell to her knees beside his head and looked down. “Don’t ever scare me like that again,” she whispered.
Victor opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but Heather bent down and pressed her lips to his.
Emily’s sobs tore me from the scene in front of me, and I turned around to see her crouched over Koenig’s prone form.
I tugged Slade to his feet.
Some of the Allencloths had come to move Koenig’s body. Emily’s sobs quieted, but her eyes were puffy and red. A man stood next to her, likely her mate from the way he held her close. She sniffled, then looked at me.
“Ariana, I’m so sorry,” she said.
“I’m sorry about your father.”
“He deserved what he got.” Her voice was quiet, like she was still wondering about the truth she spoke.
“Maybe, but he was still your father. It’s not going to be easy. I imagine you’re feeling pretty conflicted.”
“Disappointed,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “Relieved. Sad. Free. Yeah, there’s a lot going on here. But Ariana, most of all, I owe you an apology. I didn’t know what he was up to, but if I’d kept out of his business, maybe you wouldn’t have come out here.”
“And maybe he would have succeeded in getting Heather,” I added.
Dragon Unbroken_A Reverse Harem Dragon Fantasy Romance Page 18