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CHAPTERFIVE
Amira slowly walked around Rylan’s backyard where he’d fought against the enemy, trying to get a fix on what exactly had happened that fateful day. The day her mate was stolen from his own house. Stolen from her before she’d even had a chance to meet him.
She was going to get him back, no matter what it took. His children needed him, and so did his family and pride.
We need him.
Amira ignored her dragoness’ softly spoke words, unable to cope with them right now. She had to focus on finding Rylan and bringing him home, not on what would happen afterwards.
His father, Sam, had come with her, along with Zev and Karma, Alayla and Callen, and Evalena and Draco, and three other lions she hadn’t formally met yet. She still couldn’t believe Karma, Alayla, and Evalena were dragons, like her. It was so rare to find a female one, let alone four in the same place.
She glanced over at Karma, her gaze taking in the bruising on the other woman’s face and arms. She’d fought hard against the enemy and was hurting. The scent of her pain filled the air, but the dragoness refused to rest. She was a true alpha mate, standing beside her man and her pride, no matter the agonizing misery she was going through herself.
“They came through the trees,” Sam said gruffly, pointing to an area behind the house. “They attacked here and several other houses at the same time. There were so many of them that came at once, it was a struggle to hold them off.”
Amira heard the pain in the man’s gruff voice, along with the helplessness. He’d been unable to save his son, and it was killing him now.
“Rylan told us to get the children in the house. He wanted them safe.”
“Of course, he did,” she said quietly. “He’s their father. They would have been his first priority, as it should be.”
Sam growled, slamming a fist down on the picnic table he stood beside. “I’m Rylan’s father. I should have been there for him. I shouldn’t have allowed him to be taken!” The words were torn from him, wrenched from his throat in a roar of despair. In saving his grandchildren, he’d lost his own child, and he was in hell right now, wondering what he could have done differently to save them all.
“You did what Rylan wanted you to do,” Zev said quietly, walking over and clapping a hand on Sam’s shoulder. “What you should have done.”
“I should have saved my son!” Sam countered, shaking off the alpha’s touch. “I should have kept a better hold on Walker and got him in the damn house, then come back for Rylan. Instead, I let the boy go, thinking he was following me, when really he was going back to help his father.”
“There was nothing you could have done,” Karma interjected. “If anything, it’s my fault. I let the dragon get away from me.”
A low growl came from the alpha, even as Sam was shaking his head. “No, Karma, none of this is on you. It’s all me.”
“Wait!” Amira held up a hand as she glanced over at them. “What dragon?”
“They brought a dragon to the fight,” Zev growled. “A huge motherfucker that attacked Karma in the sky, as the others came at my pride on the ground.”
“I held my own against him, was even winning at one point, but he was strong.” Karma looked up at the clouds, her jaw clenched tightly as she relived that day. “I’m honestly not sure if I could have bested him if he hadn’t broken away from me to go after Walker.”
“He’s the one who hurt my cub?” When all eyes snapped to her at once, Amira realized what she’d said. Her cub. He was hers, as was Willow.
Yes, ours.
A sense of peace filled her, acceptance that the children were now her cubs. Hers to protect. Hers to learn to love, although she didn’t think that would be hard to do. Hers and Rylan’s.
She needed to find him.
“Yes,” Zev said finally. “Walker tried to go back and help Rylan. The dragon saw him, and he managed to slip away from Karma and get to the ground.”
When he paused, Amira growled lowly as she demanded, “Tell me the rest.”
“He hit him, hard enough that he slammed into the swing set and broke his arm,” Karma told Amira, her eyes still raised to the sky. “I should have kept him engaged in battle somehow. I shouldn’t have let him go.”
While she wanted to agree with the dragoness, be angry at her for letting Walker be hurt, she couldn’t. It wasn’t the other woman’s fault the dragon had gotten to Walker. Just like it wasn’t Rylan’s father’s fault that Rylan was taken. Shit happened that was out of everyone’s control. It was how they handled it afterward that mattered.
Amira let her gaze roam the area as she thought about what Rylan’s father said before, about the number of people coming for them that day, and how they hit several houses at the same time. It could only mean one thing.
“They’ve been watching you for a while now.”
“What?” Karma took a step toward her. “Are you sure? How do you know?”
“It only makes sense,” Amira replied, meeting Zev’s gaze. “They knew where to hit you, where the homes were. They had a number of men with them. It was a strategic attack.” She paused, a small frown creasing her brow. “They took Rylan for some reason, but no one else.”
“Why would they do that?” Alayla asked softly. “It doesn’t make sense. Out of all of the pride that was fighting against them, why would they only take Rylan?”
“He’s the beta,” Amira replied as she turned her head to look at the young woman who was slowly approaching them. She knew instantly by her scent that it was the alpha’s sister, Danica. Liger, a mix of tiger and lion. “They knew that. They had to. He’s strong. Strong enough to withstand whatever they throw his way.”
Sam growled, his fist once again slamming into the top of the table, causing the wood to crack. “You think they mean to torture my son?”
Amira nodded slowly. “Yes, I do, but I have no idea to what end. I believe they chose him for his strength.”
“One can only remain strong for so long,” Evalena whispered, leaning into her mate.
“Rylan will withstand anything until we get to him,” Amira said confidently. “We just need to find him.”
“I would like to try and help with that,” Danica said, her arms wrapped tightly around her waist as she came to a stop near Evalena.
“No,” Zev growled immediately. “I will not allow it.”
“It isn’t your decision, Zev,” Danica said stubbornly, glaring at her brother. “I’m eighteen now. I can make my own decisions.”
“You’ve been eighteen for a week is all,” Zev snarled.
“A week is long enough,” Danica insisted. “I can do this.”
“No!”
“Dammit, Zev, I am doing it with or without your approval!”
Amira frowned as she tried to keep up with the conversation. Evidently, Danica had some sort of gift that she thought would be useful in finding Rylan, but her brother was against it. The only reason he would forbid her to try it, would be if it could somehow cause her pain, something none of them would want.
“And what if he is being tortured, Danica? What if you connect with him, and suffer some sort of hell he is going through? Did you think of that?”
“You can do that?” Amira interrupted. “You can connect to Rylan?”
“I think so,” Danica whispered, nodding slowly. “As long as he is close enough, I can speak telepathically to him. Find out where he is. And…”
Danica paused, biting her lip as she looked around at all of them.
“And?” Amira prompted, raising her eyebrows.
“And, I can slip in and out of some people’s minds. I’ve been in Rylan’s a number of times. I’m sure I could do it again.”
“You’ve taken a trip through my mate’s head?” Amira growled, not liking the idea of anyone violating her mate like that without his permission.
“Yes,” Danica admitted, fear in her voice as she met Amira’s gaze steadily. “I did once when I first discovered my gift was expanding, and then a few times in the past few months because…”
“Because why?” Amira demanded.
