by Lola Gabriel
Osteric crouched down in front of her and smirked. “On that drive are the names and locations of every single member of his family. His brothers, his cousins, every single one of them. He killed most of my pack, my family, my wife, my son. Now he deserves the same. He will watch everyone he loves get killed. Starting with you.”
“Oryn’s not even here!”
“I know. That gives me the opportunity to leave him a little welcome home gift.” Osteric grinned wickedly, reaching out and twirled a lock of Adley’s hair around his finger. “His little human, lying dead in his living room.”
Adley struggled against the multiple layers of tape which held her in place on the chair, breathing loudly as her chest tightened.
“He will come after you, you know. If you kill me, he will come after you. He will not rest until you are dead and buried. All of you,” she snarled, trying to stay brave and not be afraid. Oryn had promised her that nothing would ever happen to her, and she truly believed that he would protect her. Even though he was far away, she knew that he would somehow find a way to keep her safe.
A vibration came from the table, and Adley turned her head to the right. It was her phone. Someone was calling her.
Oryn? Naomi? Surely, she would have noticed she was gone by now, and that she had stolen her keys.
Adley hoped that Naomi didn’t go to the offices to find her, as she wasn’t sure whether Osteric had more men hanging around there. She turned her head to the left and saw that it was still dark outside. Naomi was probably still asleep.
It had to be Oryn then. He had probably heard her message and was freaking out. In retrospect, it wasn’t the best message she had ever left, but she had been freaking out herself, so she could only imagine what he must be feeling now, especially being so far away from her.
“Boss?” one of the Russian wolves interrupted.
“What is it, Draco?” Osteric asked in annoyance, turning away from Adley.
“It is password protected, and I cannot crack it. I have tried everything.”
“Well, try harder!”
“I did, boss! I cannot crack it!”
Osteric whirled around, his light eyes flashing viscously, and he marched over to Adley once more. “What is the password?”
Adley glanced up at him and shook her head. “I don’t know. He never told me.”
“Stop lying to me!” Osteric bellowed.
“I’m not lying! I don’t know what it is. Oryn never told me. He never talked about work in such a sense!”
“What do you talk about?” he questioned.
“Nothing work-related. I guess it was probably the one thing I didn’t mind not talking about.”
“But you worked together, did you not?”
Adley’s face paled, and she lowered her gaze. How did he know all this? Had they been watching her this whole time? An array of unsettling feelings whirled through her like a tornado, and she raised her gaze. “We did, yes, but that wasn’t part of my job description.”
“And what exactly was your job description?” he growled.
“I was Oryn’s consultant. I gave him my ideas on how to market his company better, and that was all. He told me how the company and the software operate, but that was it! We only spoke about the marketing aspects. Getting the product out there, lowering the costs. That was my job. It had nothing to do with passwords or anything like that. I can’t give you that information because I never had it to start off with! I don’t have what you want! I don’t know his passwords, and I never asked. He wouldn’t have given it to me anyway.”
“Why not?”
“Because he needs to protect his business, his company. He wasn’t going to jeopardize it for me,” she blurted out.
A vein on Osteric’s forehead began pulsating, and he grabbed his gun from its holster. He pointed it directly at her. “What is the password?”
“I told you, I don’t know!” Adley answered slowly, enunciating her words. “If I knew, don’t you think I would have told you by now?”
“No, your loyalty is to the Dragon Prince. But all loyalties fade at some point. Drastic times call for drastic measures, don’t you think?”
“What are you going to do with me?” she sputtered.
“I will cut off your fingers, one by one, until you tell me what the password is!”
“I don’t know the goddamn password!”
“Don’t fuck with me, little human,” Osteric warned. He pressed the barrel against her forehead. “What is the password?”
“I don’t know!” Adley cried, a tear running down her cheek. “I really don’t! Please, you have to believe me!”
Osteric growled in frustration and lowered the gun. He rubbed his eyes with his free hand and turned away slightly.
Adley bit her bottom lip to stop herself from sobbing, but to her horror, Osteric raised the barrel of the gun, pointing it to her leg, and fired it. She screamed in agony as a pain erupted just above her knee, and she glared at Osteric.
“I told you, I don’t know! Shooting me is not going to change that!” she hissed.
“True, but killing you will definitely shut you up,” he muttered in return and raised the gun, pointing it at her chest.
Fear consumed Adley as she stared at Osteric, who was ready to kill her, and she closed her eyes, not feeling brave enough to watch the bullet torpedo towards her.
She felt as though she was punched in the chest with a force much greater than herself, and she was suddenly back in the pool in her childhood home. The water engulfed her as she tried to kick her way to the surface, but she couldn’t. She was trapped under the suffocating water, and she was running out of air. Her vision blurred, and her heart raced in her chest. She heard muffled screams around her, above her, but no one came. Was she imagining it? Was no one coming?
The water filled up her mouth, and she started to panic, trying to scream, kick, to no avail. Her body began to sink. The water was even more suffocating, strangling her from the inside out. Exhaling for the last time, the three bubbles rising up to the surface were the last thing she saw before she descended to the bottom of the pool.
11
Oryn glanced happily out the window as Jayce drove him home from the airport. He had come back a few days earlier from Malaysia to surprise Adley, and he couldn’t wait to see her face when he walked through the front door. He stared at his watch and figured she and Naomi would probably still be sleeping. He took out his phone and switched it on, and a message immediately popped up on the screen.
It was a voicemail from Adley, probably saying goodnight, like she usually did when she went to sleep. A smile formed on his lips as he placed the phone against his ear and waited for her message to load.
“Oryn, it’s Adley! Three men just broke into your offices at work, and they’re clearly looking for something. How do I know? It’s a long story. Now that I think about it, I should have just called the police, right? Okay, I’m hanging up now. Just wanted to let you know. I love you.”
Oryn’s eyes widened, and he listened to the message again. “Oh, my god.”
“Is everything okay, sir?” Jayce asked from the front of the car, but before Oryn could answer, his phone rang. It was Naomi.
“Naomi, hey.”
“Oryn, Adley is gone!” she cried in a panicked voice.
“I know. I just got a call from her. She said that three men broke into my office looking for something.”
“Oh, my god! How does she know that?”
“I think she was there. Are your keys still on the shelf?” he asked. He heard Naomi scurrying around.
“They’re gone,” she breathed.
“I’m going to try calling her.”
“Where do you think she is?”
“If it’s Osteric and his two betas, there’s only one place they would go with her.”
“And where is that?”
“To my house, to rub my nose in it.”
“Should I meet you there?” Naomi asked.<
br />
“Please. Hurry.” Oryn disconnected the call and turned to Jayce. “Have you ever flown a jet before, Jayce?”
“No, sir, but I can get you anywhere faster than anyone,” the driver answered.
“Good. My house. And step on it.”
“Done, sir.”
The car accelerated at an impressive speed while Oryn dialed Adley’s number, but it simply rang.
“Dammit, she’s not answering,” he muttered to himself as he tried to call her again one more time. When she failed to answer, his jaw clenched, and he threw his phone on the seat.
It took Jayce only a few minutes to navigate through the streets of Auckland to Oryn’s home, and instead of opening the gate or parking on the side of the road in front of the house, Jayce stopped two houses down.
“Good thinking, Jayce,” Oryn said gratefully as he climbed out of the car.
“Do you need any back-up, sir?” Jayce raised his hand, clutching his pistol.
“Not yet, but thanks.” Oryn ran down the street and entered his property through a hidden side gate only he knew of. The realtor had told him about it, and at this moment, he was grateful he hadn’t gotten rid of it when he had redone the landscaping last year.
He quietly made his way through the front yard, down the side of the house, and peered through the window. He couldn’t see Adley yet, or any of Osteric’s betas, for that matter. When a gunshot went off and he heard Adley scream, he knew he had to move faster. The smell of blood filled the air. She had been shot. Was she still alive?
Osteric’s voice echoed through the house, and Oryn’s blood boiled in his veins. He was ready to unleash his rage, but he had to get inside undetected first. The wolves had a keen sense of smell, so he didn’t want to alert them before he was close enough to get Adley to safety. Or at least get the wolves away from her.
He opened one of the large windows of his study and climbed through it. When another shot fired, his rage took over, and he stormed into the living room, where Osteric and his two men stood in front of Adley, who was on the floor, taped to a chair. There was already a pool of blood beneath her.
The three wolves stared at him.
“Shoot him!” Osteric ordered, and his betas pointed their guns at Oryn and started to shoot.
Oryn, who could not be killed or harmed by bullets, marched towards them. He didn’t say a single word to them, or to Osteric. He approached the betas and grabbed them by the throats, one in each hand. Lifting them off the ground, their feet dangling in the air, he threw them across the room, and they plummeted down on the floor, cracking the floorboards in the process.
Oryn set his sights on Osteric, who tried to make a run for the door but was a little too slow in his older human form. Osteric was smart; he knew that Oryn couldn’t transform into a dragon without wrecking his entire house and expose himself to the humans. Even though Oryn wasn’t as strong as he would be in his dragon from, he was still stronger than any wolf. Like mighty mountains, he possessed the strength to annihilate anything, and he was sure that Osteric didn’t quite grasp that.
Oryn slammed his fists down on the floor, causing the floorboards to break under the pressure, and Osteric fell down. He tried to scramble to his feet, but Oryn grabbed him from behind and swung him against the concrete wall. Osteric lay motionless for a brief moment before he jumped to his feet and growled maliciously.
Loud barks came from behind Oryn, and as he glanced over his shoulder, he saw the betas, two large white wolves charging towards him with angry snarls. Before he could react, a force pushed the wolves away from him, and the pair fell back onto the floor with painful yelps.
Oryn swirled and saw Naomi standing in the doorway, her hands glowing a bright purple. “Looks like I got here just in time.”
“I was handling it,” Oryn muttered.
“Oh, yeah,” Naomi said, raising her hand and shooting a purple orb from her hand. The orb hit Osteric in the chest, and he fell to the floor again. “Good job,” she retorted.
“You handle those two, I’ll get the alpha.” Oryn walked towards Osteric, glaring down at him. Then he grabbed him by the neck, hoisting him up in the air. “You son of a bitch!” He slammed the wolf against the concrete wall, his green eyes flashing with rage. “What makes you think you can come into my house and disrupt my life?
“You destroyed everything I loved! I wanted to extend you the same courtesy. Your little human is dying!” Osteric gasped, motioning to his right.
Oryn looked at Adley over his shoulder and noticed the very large blood pool under her. If there was any hope to safe her, he had to move quickly.
“I think it’s time for you to be reunited with your family, you piece of shit,” Oryn spat at him.
He was so focused on Osteric that he didn’t even notice what was going on around him. Ever since Oryn was a young dragon, he’d had trouble containing his rage, and he would switch off completely, focusing mainly on the target before him. It took all three of his brothers to beat him to a near pulp before he would snap out of it. His grip tightened around the alpha’s neck, and bones cracked and crunched in his throat. Osteric gurgled in Russian, and blood spewed from his mouth. Oryn watched as the life drained from his eyes, but just for safe measures, Oryn ripped his head clean off his body and threw the head and the corpse down on the floor.
His face was covered in blood, as was the floor around him. He caught sight of himself in the mirror and stared at the abomination looking back at him. His face had begun to distort from the rage. The scales on his skin had just started to form, but he was still a human.
He recalled the last time this had happened, and his shoulders slumped. It had been a terrible and tragic day in Russia, when he’d had to watch his father murder Osteric’s family. Oryn had been under the impression that the alpha’s wife and son had been killed during the earthquake he had caused, but they had survived, only to be publicly murdered by the Dragon King to piss of the alpha even more.
It had definitely worked.
Oryn simply found it unfair that the sins of his father had followed him around for the rest of his life. That was also the reason why he lived so far away from him. He would rather distance himself from the Dragon King than to walk in his shadow. Avoidance was the only thing that kept him going, even if it meant angering his father. At least he wasn’t the one who had to deal with him. He hated the fact that this was who he was, yet he had spent so many years trying to control himself. Then again, he had never known the intensity of ensuring the safety of his True Mate.
Oh, shit, Adley! Oryn whirled around and was surprised to see the other two wolves were now stone statues, thanks to Naomi.
“How the hell did you do that?”
“I’ll tell you later. We have to help Adley,” Naomi reminded him, and they both rushed to her side.
Oryn ripped the tape off and moved her onto the carpet. Her skin was pale, and her clothes were drenched in blood. She was still breathing—barely, though—and had enough strength to turn her head towards him.
“I’m here, okay?” he whispered as he took her hand in his and moved his face closer to hers. Her breathing was strained and her lips parted slowly.
“Oryn, I wasn’t afraid. I knew you’d come,” she breathed weakly.
Oryn’s eyes filled with tears, but he willed them away. Adley had been strong and brave for him. Now he had to be brave for her, and for himself.
“I’m here, and I am never leaving you again,” he said in a hoarse voice.
“I love you, so much.”
“And I love you,” he replied.
Adley’s pulse slowed down against his fingertips, and he looked at her, the color in her warm brown eyes fading fast. She slipped away faster than he thought, but he couldn’t let her go.
“Oryn…” Naomi mumbled beside him.
“Don’t. Please don’t,” he breathed as a part of him suddenly vanished. That was when he knew she was gone. The hole in his heart appeared again, just like it h
ad been for the last five thousand years. Now he was alone again.
He let go of Adley’s hand and slowly stood up, unable to hold in his emotions any longer. He approached the two stone statues and started to hit them until there was nothing left of them besides a cloud of dust in the air around him.
Oryn collapsed on the ground and sobbed. “I promised to keep her safe. I failed.”
“Oryn, wait…” Naomi reached out to him.
“I said, don’t, Naomi!” he yelled, pushing her away.
“I can help. I can fix this!”
He raised his head and glanced at her. “What do you mean?”
“I can bring her back! I can change her into a dragon!”
“You what?”
“I can bring her back as a dragon, but only if that’s okay with you.”
Oryn hesitated for a moment, but then he remembered the conversation he’d had with Adley about becoming like him. She’d have to watch her mother and brother, and everyone who she cared about, grow old, while she would live forever. He remembered how all she had wanted was to be happy and to be with him, and that things would work out the way they were supposed to.
“Oryn,” Naomi interrupted his thoughts, “I don’t have much time.”
“Do it,” he said.
“Are you sure?”
“Do it,” Oryn repeated. He watched Naomi kneel down beside Adley’s broken and lifeless body.
“Don’t come too close,” Naomi warned. “I’ve only ever done this once, so bear with me.”
“Okay, that’s not comforting at all,” he muttered.
“Just trust me, okay?”
“I trust you,” Oryn replied.
Naomi placed her hands on the two places where Adley had been shot, and a light purple glow seeped from her hands and onto Adley. Naomi murmured something in a continuous loop, but it was too soft and too confusing for Oryn to hear. He simply watched in amazement as the purple glow changed to a yellow color, and it covered Adley’s body completely. Naomi’s chants grew louder and louder while Oryn grew increasingly nervous. The glow disappeared, and Naomi lifted her hands off Adley.