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CHAPTERSEVEN
Amira slammed her head into the huge bastard who was doing his best to bring her down out of the sky, and then raked her claws over his belly, screaming in triumph when he bellowed in pain. This was the dragon who hurt her cub. The one who had taken her mate from his children. He was going to die, there was no doubt about it. But first, she needed some answers, starting with the location of where they were holding Rylan.
Spinning around, Amira dove under him, coming up behind his large body and wrapping her thick jaws around his neck, digging her teeth in. He bellowed again, twisting his long neck, trying to break her hold, but she wasn’t having it. The asshole had a lot to answer for. He was going down.
Amira fought the urge to gag when his blood seeped into her mouth, but she refused to let go. She sank her fangs in deeper, shoving down on him hard with her back legs, satisfaction filling her when the dragon began to drop from the sky.
He struggled, twisting and turning as he tried to break away, but she held on tight. She almost had him to the ground when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. A lone man dressed all in black was down on one knee by the edge of the trees. He was taking aim with a rifle, and it looked as if his target was the pride alpha.
Amira extracted her teeth and screamed a warning, but all eyes were on her. No one turned toward the threat. Making a split-second decision, she tore away from the dragon and dove to the ground, landing her house-sized body in front of Zev just as the enemy pulled the trigger. The bullet ricochet off her thick scales, the impact doing nothing more than pissing her off, and she turned her anger on the man who now stood staring at her, a look of pure shock on his face.
Throwing her head back, she screamed in anger, then was across the lawn and in front of the man in an instant.
“Amira, don’t kill him!” she heard the alpha yell. “We need to find out where Rylan is!”
She lowered her head, staring at the bastard who was quaking in his boots. She knew Zev was right, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to ash the person who had threatened her alpha.
Amira froze when that thought entered her mind. What was she thinking? She had called no one master in years and had no desire to again. She’d killed the one who’d made her his slave and was never going back to a life like that. No matter what.
Not master, her dragoness corrected softly. He’s our alpha. There’s a difference. When Amira hesitated, her dragoness huffed. It doesn’t matter. You can get all crazy and cranky later, right now we have a dragon to hunt.
Shit! She’d been preoccupied with the human and missed that the dragon she’d been fighting just moments before was now rising back up into the sky to try to get away. Blood streamed down his neck, and he was moving sluggishly, but he was managing to put distance between them.
Wait! her dragoness hissed, when Amira was gathering herself to leap back into the air. Don’t kill him. Let’s follow him instead. He may lead us to our mate.
Amira paused, her gaze going around the area, then back to the sky. It was a good idea. A great one, actually. They didn’t have anything else to go off of, and he was injured. Chances were good he would go back to wherever Rylan was being held. If she could track him from far enough away, he would never know she was there.
It could work.
“Amira?”
Amira swung her head around to look at the young woman who had come out the front door and was standing on the porch, clutching tightly to the wooden railing. Danica. Had she managed to contact Rylan?
Amira glanced back at the sky, making sure she could still see the dragon, before looking back over at Danica.
“You are going to follow the dragon in hopes he will lead you to Rylan?”
Ha! Smart girl, reading your thoughts since you obviously aren’t going to shift and share them with everyone.
Waste of time. I’m going to lose him.
You need to learn to work with the pride as a team, Amira. We aren’t alone anymore. We have a mate now. Children. Family. You need to trust in them. We both do.
We don’t have anyone else to rely on out in the field. We go on missions alone.
Well, maybe that needs to change too, her dragoness said quietly.
“Amira, Rylan doesn’t want you to follow the dragon. He doesn’t want you to go after him by yourself.”
Amira swung her head around to look at the girl, before raising it high and screaming loudly. No! That is unacceptable. I will track the beast and find my mate.
“Rylan is worried for you, Amira,” Danica said softly, walking down the stairs slowly and making her way over to stand in front of Amira. She reached out her hand, and slowly rested it on Amira’s nose when Amira lowered it to her level. “He doesn’t want anything to happen to you. He doesn’t want to lose you. He’s asking you to stay with the others. He promises he will be fine until you get to him.”
Danica was talking to her mate. She hated to admit it, but damn, she was jealous. She wanted that connection with Rylan. Wanted to hear him in her mind, his voice stroking a caress in her head, but it wasn’t her ability. No, her ability was a pretty mundane, boring one. The gift of illusions. And not even solid ones at that. Just an image thrown out there to confuse and distract others.
Amira looked back up toward the clouds again, a shudder running through her when she saw the dragon was gone. She knew if she put on a burst of speed, she could probably catch him, but her mate was asking her not to go alone. He was worried about her safety. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had worried about her.
“We will go with her,” a gruff voice said, and she turned to see Draco and Evalena quickly stripping out of their clothes. “You get the location of where they are holding him from this unlucky bastard,” he said, nodding toward the man who was now on the ground, his hands secured behind his back, his body shaking in fear. Unlucky because his life was forfeit after taking a shot at the alpha. “Have Danica contact Evalena if she is able to once you know.”
“That works for me,” Zev agreed, his voice laced with steel. He crossed the yard to lay a hand gently on Amira’s side. “Thank you, dragoness, for saving my life. Welcome to the pride.”
Amira stiffened, then huffed out a breath, leaning down to rest her head against his shoulder for a moment before pulling back. It had been so long since she’d placed her trust in anyone. Everything in her wanted to trust the alpha.
So do it. Trust him. I want to.
“I’m going with you,” Karma stated, her hands going to the top of her black, leather pants. “You can bring us all clothes and weapons. Amira should have a to-go bag in her truck with everything she needs.”
“I will handle it, mate,” Zev replied, patting Amira’s side. “Go, find our friend.”
“Amira?” Amira’s gaze found Danica again, concern filling her at the strained look on the young woman’s face. A light sheen of sweat covered her forehead, and she was wincing as if she were hurting. Inhaling her scent, she realized that the girl was in pain, and she looked utterly exhausted. Using her gift must have been draining on her, but she hadn’t backed down.
Making a soft, rumbling sound in her throat, Amira bumped her nose up against Danica’s chest softly, trying to convey how she felt toward the woman who was fighting through her own agony to help Rylan. What an amazing person she was.
“Rylan says now that you have backup, get your ass in the sky and find him,” Danica said, a small giggle slipping out. “He’s ready to come home.”
Amira bumped her again, then took a step back, nodding her head slightly.
If you can hear me, please, tell my mate I am coming for him.
“I’ll tell him,” Danica promised, a small smile on her lips.
With one last nod, Amira rose into the air, shooting straight up from the ground in a move that caused gasps of awe from the people who watched. She was aware of the three other dragons following her as she chased after the one who would hopefully lead them to her mate, and was surprised to find that she was glad to have them there.
I agree. It is nice to know someone has our back.
Amira didn’t reply to her dragoness as she climbed higher in the sky. Inhaling deeply, she hissed when the scent of the dragon she was looking for hit her. She smelled blood, and a lot of it. She hoped he made it back to wherever he was heading for, because she was almost certain she would find Rylan there.
He will make it, her animal promised. We will accept nothing else.
Yes, he would. And, when he did, the dragon would lose his life. He’d already signed his own death warrant the second he touched Walker. All she needed him for was to get them to their final destination, and then he would die.
