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Like my father, I thought, but didn’t say.
I had no clue how he’d ended up as Knox’s prisoner, and I wasn’t sure how the others would feel about wanting to get him out of there, but my father hadn’t been far from my mind since Dawsyn had told me he was there.
Clay glanced at Dawsyn. “How many other prisoners were there?”
“Only one that I saw, but that doesn’t mean much,” she answered. “The rooms people are kept in are soundproof with no light. There could have been a dozen souls down there.” She then looked up at me. “I’d like to be the one to go down there and free them. I know where they’re at and can run as my wolf within the underground hallways.”
I wanted to tell her no. I didn’t want her out of my sight, but more than that, I also knew I didn’t want her anywhere near Knox again.
“Lykem will go with you,” I said, knowing that he was better off not fighting in his dragon form after the injuries he’d just sustained. “Nobody should be working alone today. Pick someone to fight alongside and stick with them. We have no idea who these dragons are or what they might be capable of. If they won’t stand down, strike them down. We can’t hesitate.”
Heads nodded all around, and Dawsyn was still grinning before she began to speak again. “Do you have weapons? Not everyone will come out of the bunker, so more of you will need to prepare to be fighting in your human forms.”
Clay patted his side, where I assumed a knife or two were hidden by his shirt. “We already have that covered. There are more blades in the storage room that we gathered yesterday for people to use.”
“How many total do we have coming with us?” I asked.
“Twenty-seven,” Lykem answered.
That wasn’t as many as I’d thought there would be, but hopefully it was enough.
I glanced up at the sky. It was darker than usual, and the air was growing heavier, which reminded me that Dawsyn didn’t need to be outside any longer than necessary with the wolfbane particles somehow floating around.
“We leave in ten,” I said, then grabbed my mate’s hand and led her back inside where the air was cleaner and we could find weapons.
She smiled at me again as we walked, so I asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because you’re a leader here and don’t even know it,” she answered. “Those dragons respect you and would follow you into any battle.”
“We respect each other and would do the same for any of us.”
She shrugged. “Maybe, but they listened to you. Trusted you when you came up with the plan and seemed to agree to it without question. Drago may not have conventional leaders like we do back home, but you’re one of them, whether you admit it or not.”
I wanted to disagree with her. Uncle Jerome had been a leader. Even my grandmother had been before she’d turned on us. But that was never me.
Though, I couldn’t deny there had been a drive to take charge and protect the dragons here bleeding through me for weeks now.
I was only doing what was best. That didn’t make me a leader.
We arrived at the storage area where there were three tables set out and only a few blades still left on each. Dawsyn reached for a group of smaller ones and began tucking them into the sides of her socks then in her back pockets.
“Don’t you want something bigger?” I asked.
“Bigger isn’t always better.” She winked. “Thanks to my gender and size, I’ll be underestimated by most everyone we encounter, but I’m fast. I can move quicker with a smaller weapon.”
She made a point that had me changing my selection. I grabbed two smaller blades that were tucked into my boots and one larger one in a sheath that I could clip to my pants.
Dawsyn turned to leave the tunnel, but I grabbed her hand and pulled her back to me. “I know I can’t tell you what to do, but that doesn’t mean I can’t ask more from you than I should. If it comes to your life or someone else’s, choose yours. That includes my father. I’ve lived without everyone else. I don’t want to know what it feels like to live without you.”
She pushed up onto her toes and kissed me. “I’m an alpha, and I’m the daughter of a Luna Marked wolf. You may not completely understand what that means, but just know you don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be okay.”
“How do you know when you’ve never fought dragons before?” I asked, appreciating her confidence, but still unable to stop feeling the need to protect her.
She pressed a palm to her chest. “In here. I have my wolf in my head as well. She’s been off in her quiet place for the last few days, channeling the new energy we felt before, figuring out how we can best use it to our advantage. I may not have experience battling dragons, but they haven’t fought me either.” She paused, then added, “I escaped that bunker once. I’ll do it again.”
My hand wrapped around her neck, and I kissed her hard. “Just be safe.”
“I will. I promise.”
