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“P-panthers,” he says, his body shaking.
“It’s scary when they don’t have collars, huh, hunter?” Bash sneers.
“P-please, hel-pp,” he pleads.
“How many of us asked you for help? I remember you from the last three hunts. You killed a woman last hunt. She had a mate at home. I saw you kill her,” Logan yells in his face.
“Logan, this one is yours,” River offers.
“Ava, do you mind if I borrow your knife?” Logan asks.
“I don’t mind,” I answer. I reach into my shirt to pull it out, offering it to him.
“Let him go, Bash,” Logan says.
The minute Bash does, the hunter reaches for the weapon strapped to his back, intent on hurting Logan before he can use the knife.
It’s over quickly after that. Logan gets some of his dignity back. Bash knew he needed it. I have to give Bash the credit he deserves. I’m going to have to tone down my snark toward him.
Bash pretends he doesn’t see my knowing look. He’s just a big ole softy.
Five minutes later, we meet up with two panthers. They shift when they see us, and I have to make a conscious effort not to look at the impressive naked bodies; I keep my eyes on theirs.
“Four left; we were after one. Did you get him?” Blue asks.
“Yeah, so we're down to three. Plus Gill,” River says.
“This is Logan. He helped me,” I introduce him. He spent so much time with no name, just as a game piece.
“Logan, I’m Blue. My brother James,” he nods. “Ava, glad to see you safe.”
“Good to be seen,” I smirk. When I get home, I will spend some time bawling my eyes out, but right now, my mates need me to be okay. If River and Kerian knew the extent of my pain, they would send me away. I need to see this to the end.
“Your dragon has Gill cornered. We were on our way to find you when we got distracted by the hunter,” James says.
“Oh, and we found the keys for the collars,” Blue says nonchalantly. He pulls the chain from his neck. “No pockets.” He shrugs.
He walks to Logan and unlocks the collar. It falls to the ground. Logan stares at it as he fights for composure.
“I wore that for six months. I ate dog food. Killed. Lived in a cage, like a true animal.” He looks at River, his eyes glistening. “I give you all my respect for the years you spent in the same position.” He knew who River was.
“There is no level for the courage it takes to live through it. Four years or four days. What matters is you do,” River says.
Logan nods. “I can feel my lion.” He closes his eyes with real relief on his face. “I can shift and heal.”
An enormous lion bursts from within him, landing on all fours, shaking his beautiful mane—my jaw drops. Seeing a lion up close and personal is a surreal experience.
Kerian closes my mouth, giving me an indulgent look. We continue with our new addition to the shifter family.
***
A dragon. A fucking real dragon is standing in the clearing, hovering over a terrified Gill. If I thought the lion was surreal, this is on a whole different level. Sure, I knew Bishop was a dragon, but being told and seeing are incredibly different. He’s massive. He towers over us all. His scales are shades of gold and shimmer in the lightening sky. His hand, claw, or whatever, could smoosh you like a bug. He’s stunning. He’s magic.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” Kerian asks. River reluctantly gave me up to him to carry the rest of the way. I could definitely get used to being carted around.
“Very,” I whisper in awe.
We stand back as River gets close. Gill is looking to River for rescue. Blue and James broke away to open the remaining cages and set them free. Logan is still in his lion form, just as struck as me at the dragon.
