Finding The Forgotten (Rogue Dragons Book 2)

by Emilia Hartley

  Isabella held up her hands. She could barely talk, but she wanted the others to know that she would be fine. Though it didn’t seem like it, she knew this would end soon.

  “Where’s that witch?” the man behind her asked. “I’m glad I hung back and let Nate do his thing first. Now I know there’s a witch on the loose.”

  Gavin shrugged, a gesture that was at odds with the angry curl of his lips. “Call me witch repellant. She’s not here.”

  Isabella had always thought of herself as frail and weak willed. Leaving Tommy had been the first step in the right direction, but the pain she felt now reminded her that her body would never live up to the spirit she now possessed. No matter how brave she felt, she would crumple under the strength of others.

  She bore her pain so no one else would get hurt, but she didn’t know how long the man holding her would wait. Nellie had vanished. Isabella couldn’t’ ask her to come to the rescue again. Nellie had already used so much magic, and it was clearly hurting her.

  No one in this room would let her die. Which meant that Gavin would fold and do as the man asked, as horrible as that was.

  She looked around for Dillon, but it was as if he’d vanished into thin air. Her heartrate sped up. She swallowed and tried to calm it, just in case the man behind her could feel it. As badly as she wanted to search the shop for Dillon, she turned her attention back to Gavin and Evangeline.

  Both had relaxed. Evangeline even wore a sly smile.

  Then, the shop’s back door opened. The man tightened his grip on Isabella’s shoulder. She screamed when the pain overwhelmed her, and her knees gave out. Casey’s blurred form appeared.

  He wasn’t blurred. The whole room was. Isabella could barely see straight.

  She felt the need to apologize for being too weak. If only she could have been as strong as Evangeline or as useful as Nellie. Maybe then she wouldn’t have been a hostage twice. She wouldn’t need to be saved all the time.

  Dillon’s voice came from behind her. She didn’t understand how. She could barely tell what was happening anymore.

  “If she makes another sound because of you, I will not hesitate to snap your neck.”

  The man behind her stiffened. She heard a soft hiss escape him and then his hand left her shoulder. Without his grip on her, she crumpled. Before she could hit the floor, someone caught her.

  “You were always a piece of shit, Jake,” Gavin said.

  Isabella couldn’t see the room anymore. A darkness blocked her vision as a warmth enveloped her. She held on as the warmth wrapped tighter around her. She realized it was not unconsciousness coming for her, but Dillon. He’d caught her and was now shielding her with his body.

  The very act that had caused her body to go into a panic before now comforted her. She pressed her face to Dillon’s chest and waited for the pain to ebb. Her shoulder still hurt, but it wasn’t as bad as before. Dillon’s presence eased it, though she couldn’t be sure why.

  They listened to the sounds of a man getting his ass kicked as Gavin took care of the second intruder.

  “You were so strong,” Dillon whispered.

  Her heart flipped. She dug her nails into his shirt. The words took her by surprise. She hadn’t even realized she’d needed to hear them, but they healed a wound she’d been ignoring.

  Dillon helped her onto her feet. She blinked as the light stung her eyes, but the room was no longer blurry. While Dillon checked her shoulder, she hung onto him to keep from falling again.

  “Am I…” Her throat tightened. Fear overrode her ability to speak.

  Isabella knew nothing about what it took to become a shifter, but the pain in her shoulder made her fear the possibility. Her stomach churned as she thought of her unborn child. The change between human and dragon would rend her body in ways she could never imagine. She couldn’t bear to think of what that would mean for her pregnancy.

  Dillon cupped her face. “He didn’t bite you. You are safe.”

  She looked him in his yellow eyes. He repeated the words several times over until her breath became normal again.

  “Okay,” Gavin said. “If the two of you are done staring longingly at one another, I have a question. Now that we have two assholes from my father’s clan, what do we do with them?”

  Isabella didn’t care what happened to Jake, but she turned toward Nate. He slept on the floor, still unconscious from Nellie’s magic. He’d even started snoring softly. She told Dillon and Gavin how he’d been nice. She touched her shoulder, grateful that there’d been such a wide difference between the two men.

  “Go easy on Nate,” she said.

  Dillon’s hands left her face. One dropped down to hold hers. She savored the touch and how the distance between them had shrunk. Dillon no longer seemed out of reach. He kept touching her, kept looking at her.

  “Someone tell me what the hell just went down,” Casey demanded.

  Evangeline launched into the story of how she and Nellie had knocked Nate unconscious. Casey’s expression turned from rage to pride. He, too, kept touching his mate. Seeing the similarities between the way the men acted gave Isabella hope.

  Perhaps she had that kind of love after all.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Home.

  The first place Isabella thought of was the cabin. Then, she remembered nearly everything she owned had been packed away as she prepared to move. Danger had arrived and struck hard. What had seemed like a joke had turned into an inescapable pain for Isabella.

  Gavin would surely kick her out now. She couldn’t even lift boxes with her shoulder messed up as it was now. Her skin flashed with red hot pain when it connected with anything. When she flexed, the muscles reminded her of the bits that had been pierced by talons.

  Dillon held her while Evangeline drove them back to the cabin, but Isabell struggled to hold onto any kind of happiness. Her relief had been so short lived. She yearned to grasp that feeling and hold it close again but couldn’t when she knew her days at the cabin were limited.

  Once they stopped, Dillon directed her to the bathroom where he could take care of her injury. As they passed her room and she saw the boxes, her heart fell and dragged on the floor behind her.

  “I want to stay,” she whispered, mostly to herself.

  Dillon shut the bathroom door behind her and lifted her onto the counter. “I’ll talk to Gavin. He’ll understand.”

  She shook her head. Dillon didn’t give her the chance to mope. He lifted her tank-top over her head. She cringed as she raised her arms. Her shoulder would never be the same. The gashes would heal, but when she twisted and saw herself in the mirror, she glimpsed the smeared ink of her tattoo.

  What had been a delicate floral arrangement in black ink was now a mess of red skin.

  Dillon rocked back on his heels. A downward turn tugged at the corners of his mouth. Yellow swirled on the perimeters of his blue eyes.

  “This isn’t your fault,” she said.

  “I was right beside you. I was looking for other dragon shifters, and I didn’t even see him.” Dillon didn’t take his eyes off her shoulder.

  She hung her head. “Gavin is right. I need to leave because I’ll always be a target. Evangeline and Nellie can handle themselves, but everyone that comes to hurt you will know just by looking at me that I can be used against you.”

  Dillon gently touched her chin. “You are the strongest person I know. Anyone else would have begged to be saved, but you bore this pain to protect everyone. You did everything right.”

  She choked back a sob. “I still ended up in that position. If I was different, then it never would have happened.”

  Dillon brought her close until their foreheads touched. His warmth washed over her and eased her tight muscles. She wanted to give in and cry but didn’t know what Dillon would think of her if she broke down now. So much had happened, and there’d been little time to process it.

  “Let’s get a look at your shoulder.” Dillon leaned back.

 
Isabella could already tell that she would need to go to a doctor. Explaining what happened to the doctor would be a challenge, but she wasn’t a shifter. This wouldn’t heal overnight. It needed professional attention.

  “Is it okay if I hold you?” Dillon asked, his voice nearly a whisper.

  She spun back to him, surprised. He looked up at her with fearful eyes. Her heart hurt. She felt the pain like a physical knife, and it hurt so much worse knowing that this was her own doing.

  “So, I wasn’t lying when I said that I sometimes get scared around you,” she began. She didn’t want to lie to him anymore. He deserved to know everything. She explained exactly when her body decided to panic and what she thought the reason was.

  Dillon listened patiently, but his face was a mask the entire time. She struggled to get a feel for what he was thinking as she spoke. She waited for him to lean away, to march out and slam the door.

  Instead, he nodded, and a small smile appeared. “I never want to make you think of him. We can take this one day at a time until every part of you knows without a doubt that I will love you and keep you safe for the rest of my life.”

  Her breath left her. She swallowed another sob and threw her arms around his neck. He stiffened in her grasp.

  “I don’t know how to translate this,” he said.

  Her shoulder hurt something fierce, but she held on tight. “Thank you. I don’t deserve you.”

  Dillon gently pulled her arms away. At first, when she saw the flat set of his brows, she worried that she’d somehow angered him.

  “Don’t say something like that. You deserve so much more. This is basic human kindness.” He kissed the tip of her nose, then whispered, “Wait until I shower you with everything you deserve. You are my mate. I’d give you the whole world.”

  Though she needed to get off the counter and see a doctor, Isabella knew her life would be going in a better direction from here on out. Her chest flared with warmth when she thought of the word mate. She’d yearned for that kind of love, the endless depths of affection she’d seen with Evangeline and Casey.

  While they needled each other and lent each other strength, Isabella had a different kind of relationship. Dillon made her feel whole again. He showed her that she could be loved.

  “I know my due date is months away,” she began. She bit her lip then decided to go for it. “I’d like it if you would be my baby’s father.”

  Dillon grinned.

  “You’re going to be a great dad,” she said with absolute conviction.

  “I’m a baby daddy,” he said and laughed. She could feel his excitement pouring off him.

  She could think of no other man better suited to be a father. Dillon’s patience and kindness were exactly what she needed, but those qualities would also help them raise a happy child, too.

  “I think I love you,” she said.

  Dillon’s brows shot toward the ceiling. His smile shone so bright, she had to blink away tears. She’d never known feelings like this before. Everything was new and scary, but also exciting in its own way.

  “I know I love you,” he replied.

  She fanned her eyes to keep herself from crying. They had a lot of work to do. Isabella had to learn how to be loved, and Dillon had to fend off a clan war. They had each other, though. No matter what ups and downs they experienced, they would have each other.

  Dillon helped her down from the counter and gingerly pulled her shirt over her head. They formulated a plan to tell the doctor how a candle had fallen on the bed while she slept. The story didn’t cover the gashes in her skin, but she knew doctors wouldn’t pry too hard if you held to your story.

  She no longer needed to be saved.

  Well, except from being kicked out by Gavin.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The flight back to Zander’s territory took longer than Dillon expected. Perhaps it was the growing distance between him and his mate that bothered him. He yearned to rest his head on Isabella’s stomach and listen for the sounds of growth. Instead, he had to fly Nate back to Zander and drop him off as a warning.

  Nate wriggled in his bindings, but Nellie had enchanted them so they would remain unbreakable until he was safely delivered. Dillon had begun to understand why dragons feared witches so long ago. Nellie was a force to be reckoned with.

  He knew she had nothing to worry about with Dillon and his clanmates, though. If anything, she was safe with them.

  Dillon saw the familiar shape of Zander’s mansion in the woods. Instead of swooping lower, he gleefully tossed Nate and let him plummet through the air. Dragons could withstand the hard landing. He would be fine until Zander found him and realized what a failure he was.

  Gavin had opened an invitation to Nate, but the dragon man was too afraid of Gavin’s father to accept it. That gave them only one choice. Both he and Jake had to go back. Beside Dillon, Erik banked and flung Jake toward the ground.

  They twisted in the air, all too ready to head back home. Dillon knew that no one in his new clan would betray him the way Nate and Jake had. Only months ago, they’d all been a part of the same clan. One would have thought there would be a kinship still lingering between them. Dillon knew that the two dragon men had acted out of fear of Zander, but that didn’t do much to lessen the sting of betrayal.

  Especially when Dillon knew Isabella was nursing her wounds at home. She had second degree burns on her shoulder. A tattoo on her shoulder had been ruined by burns and scars.

  Had Dillon carried Jake back to Zander’s territory, he would have dropped the man several times over. It was not nearly as much as he deserved.

  Landing back home, on the mountain, Dillon should have been exhausted. Instead, excited energy pulsed within him. He had a mate now.

  ***

  Isabella vibrated with excitement as she watched two dragon shapes coast overhead. She’d been sleeping on the couch the last few nights, as Gavin had warned her that he needed to do some renovations in her bedroom. She’d assumed he had some wiring to fix, so she hadn’t complained.

  She’d kept up with her duties around the cabin while pretending to search for an apartment. The cabin was her home, and the thought of leaving filled her with dread, so she tried not to think about it most of the time. Instead, she thought of Dillon.

  The small couch had only made her feel alone, though. Watching Dillon descend and land, her heart leapt into her throat. His dragon form shrank until a naked man walked toward her, a sight that stole her breath in so many ways. He paused before her, a gesture that they’d agreed would be a silent way to ask permission.

  Isabella threw herself into his arms. Dillon caught her and held her tight. She couldn’t help but feel like he’d missed her as much as she’d missed him. She kissed his forehead, his cheeks, and finally, his lips. Dillon sank into her, and she realized this was their first real kiss.

  It should have felt strange, knowing they’d already fooled around in her bed, but she was too wrapped up in Dillon’s touch to care. As her feet touched the ground again, his hands slithered down her waist. He growled into her mouth, a vibrating sensation that she adored.

  “I never want to leave again,” Dillon whispered.

  The front door slammed open. Isabella let out a yelp and shrank into Dillon. But it was only Gavin. He wiped his hands together as he walked past them.

  “Your bedroom is ready.”

  She scowled, confused. Dillon cocked his head. She fed him a quick explanation and then had to hold Dillon back from going after Gavin once he learned she’d been sleeping on the couch.

  “You didn’t have to kick her into the living room!” Dillon shouted. “You could have given her my bed!”

  Gavin stopped and half-turned. Isabella caught the small smile on the man’s lips. “No, I couldn’t. You’ll see why.”

  Casey stepped through the front door and shook dust from his hair. Splatters of paint marred his face, but Evangeline appeared beside him with a big paint handprint on her ass. Isabella stifled
a laugh.

  “Go check it out,” Evangeline said.

  Isabella took Dillon by the hand and led him toward her bedroom. Where there had been two doors, a set of double doors now stood. She cast a quizzical glance back at Dillon, and he shrugged, probably just as puzzled as she was.

  The doors had no glass, so she couldn’t see into the room. She took one doorknob while Dillon took the other. It occurred to her that she should have noticed these doors being brought in. Gavin must have snuck them inside while she’d been at a doctor’s appointment. She didn’t understand what he had to hide, though.

  They swung the doors open at the same time. Isabella gasped.

  The room she had slept in for weeks was gone. Gavin and Casey had torn down the wall separating her room from Dillon’s. A king-sized bed sat to one side, flanked by new nightstands. Isabella slowly turned to take in the whole room and froze when she saw a crib at the other end. A mobile with crocheted dragons spun over the bedding.

  “I overheard your confession the first day you moved in,” Gavin said from behind them.

  Isabella whirled and embraced Gavin in a bold hug. He stiffened. She suspected Gavin had to look to Dillon before he hugged her back. She didn’t care. This was one of the nicest things anyone had done for her.

  When she pulled back, Gavin leaned away from her, trying to be aloof and cold again.

  “This is your home, too,” he said.

  Home.

  Isabella could barely believe her life. For the first time ever, she had everything she could have ever wanted. Surrounded by love, Isabella’s heart expanded. She put her hand over her breastbone like she could somehow hold back the wave of emotion about to run her over.

  She could blame her hormones all she wanted, but she’d always been an emotional person. She felt deeply, and now it finally felt like she was giving her affection and attention to the right people.