Page 15

EMME

I n the moments between hiding in the forest and emerging into the open, the sun came out in force, bringing with it an extra chill to the air. When I stepped out under its rays, I tried to anticipate what I would see, but my expectations couldn’t even touch the reality.

The sky was awash in intense orange and red flames as two dragons circled each other, huge wings flapping and casting shadows as they dipped and dived, roaring their rage into the world.

Slade’s dragon was immediately familiar to me, the early morning light reflecting off his predominantly green scales, which really highlighted his difference to the other dragon.

Talon. His beast was so black it appeared devoid of light, like he bore a layer of darkness around his scales. As the pair moved, I thought I caught a tinge of green on Talon’s hide, but it might have been Slade’s reflection when they clashed.

Other than the colors, the pair were identical.

Same size, same head shape, same neck, boning, and tail.

Identical.

I couldn’t quite wrap my head around how this was possible, but clearly Fletcher had found one more dragon egg, or he’d figured out how to clone Slade without his knowledge.

I had no idea what role Blaine played in all of it, but he was another secret family member in Fletcher’s life.

More flames spewed from Slade’s mouth, and even at the distance the heat scorched my exposed skin. It was a nice deterrent against the frosty breezes, but also a touch too intense for comfort.

When my mate bites tingled again—all three of them—I knew the others were closing in.

I hated that to my wolf, and in my shifter essence, Talon was as equal a mate as the other two. Our bond might feel less complete, but it was no less important to our shifter side.

My wolf surged up as if she agreed, and I almost lost control and shifted. Where have you been? I mentally cried, my hands shaking as I clenched my fists.

Mates.

That was the only reply I received, and I hoped she was confirming my thoughts from earlier. She’d retreated to protect us from the pain of the strained mate bonds. Now they were here, she was strengthening and giving me my shifter side back.

Looking around, I waited for Hunter and Kellan to appear, racking my brain for a solution to the battle above us. Unlike when Talon and Finley fought, I wasn’t in a position to jump between them. Not only could I not fly, I wouldn’t survive even one hit from a dragon.

But I had to do something.

“EMMELINE!”

Speaking of the fucking bear… His shout crashed into me, but I didn’t turn or acknowledge him.

From the moment we met, there’d been a crack between us, and while I’d accepted the fracture had been put there through my actions, it was Finley’s reactions that kept chipping away until we now had a chasm the size of the Grand Canyon between us.

A chasm that was too large to ever fill, and I would not indulge in his attitude any longer.

We had so much other shit to deal with that Finley’s trauma was no longer on my list.

“Emme!” he growled again, closer to my side. “Emmeline Anders, can you hear me?”

His voice deepened, but I found it easy to ignore in the face of the dragon battle above. Neither of the magnificent beasts were gaining an inch, but at least they didn’t appear badly injured yet.

“Emme.” A softer inflection from Finley, and I shivered as his heat and scent mixed with mine. “Please.”

This whispered plea had my throat tightening, and there was a telltale burn behind my eyes, but I didn’t break. No one could bring me to tears faster than this bear, and the fucking pain in his voice was my undoing.

I knew if I turned to meet his beautiful eyes, I’d lose my resolve, and nothing would ever change between us. Finley had shown me his softer side before—a brief trickle of warmth and care—only to then tear it away in a brutal and devastating fashion.

I had to protect myself and my mental health, which, let’s be real, was held together by gum and string at this point. I’d been forcibly bonded by one shifter already this week, and that was my maximum tolerance of asshole, bully behavior.

Finley fell silent, but I could feel his gaze on the side of my face, while mine remained firmly on the sky.

In truth, I was freaking out over their fight, and barely resisting the urge to scream at both dragons to get their asses down here and resolve this like adults.

Only we weren’t adults in the sense that humans used that word.

We were shifters, with beasts in our souls, and beasts fought when cornered, hurt, or afraid.

“How is this possible?” Finley asked, pain still lingering in the deeper recesses of his voice, even as he attempted to sound conversational.

“How was there another dragon in our world all along and no one ever knew? And he looked just like Slade, right? I didn’t imagine that in my bear rage.

He was the near spitting image of our mate. ”

Our mate . So inclusive for an asshole who’d made an artform out of disassociating himself from me and my place in this pack. Ignoring him was harder when I wanted to discuss this with him, but the chasm between us kept me silent.

“We were panicked when you disappeared on us, Emme,” he continued, “and I’m sorry I handled that so poorly back there.

When my bear takes hold, I lose control of my reason.

I become the bear completely, and he was terrified that we’d lost you.

If it wasn’t for the soothing nature of your omega side, there’s no way I could have shifted back.

Last time it took Kenz weeks to coax me from the beast. When we’re terrified or raging, we react poorly, which led to me placing blame in the wrong place.

” He turned fully to face me, and fucking hell this was hard.

“But none of us believed you’d left of your own volition. ”

I was desperate to ask him everything that had happened after I was taken, from who discovered it, to how long it took them to come after me. But the answers made no difference to where we were right now, so I remained strong and silent.

Finley’s chuckle was unexpected. “How did we know you didn’t choose to run, I hear you ask?

Well, firstly, you signed the note as Emmeline.

You would have used Emme, even if you were leaving us.

Secondly, you told me you wouldn’t leave without discussing it, and I know you well enough that a brief note wouldn’t count as a ‘discussion.’”

My breath shuddered out of me as I took a step away from him, wishing I had wings to escape into the sky too. Finley was hurting me again, only this time it was with his gentleness, and it felt like too little and too late.

Still, there was no denying that I was crumbling and so was he, until eventually we’d both just be broken fragments on the floor, swept up in the wind, the pieces of our souls scattered across the universe.

Desperate for a distraction, I snapped my head to the left as soon as I heard the faint rumble of an engine, finding an ATV popping into view off on the horizon.

My wolf perked up too and she strained against my hold as the vehicle got closer, until we could see the two, huge alphas inside the open cab. Hunter and Kellan.

I was running in the next breath, with a naked bear-shifter keeping pace by my side. Finley stayed with me every step of the way.

“You’re doing so well,” he encouraged when I started to puff out a mile in, and it hadn’t escaped my notice that the smug bastard wasn’t even breathing heavily.

Shift. My wolf piped up and I found myself tearing up at her exasperation over my lack of endurance. I would never take her presence for granted again.

Can’t be naked at the moment , I reminded her, and she huffed a few times but didn’t argue.

The ATV flew across the landscape, jumping over rocks and anything in its way, as both alphas hung out the open-door cavities. As they closed in, I saw that Hunter was behind the wheel, and when he brought the vehicle to a halt, he leapt out in a flash, Kellan right behind him.

They reached me together, the three of us collapsing as they swept me into their arms.

I had no idea who was where as limbs surrounded me, but it didn’t matter. It was a big ol’ love pile, and I soaked up every second of it as I clung to them, the tears I’d been holding on to for days soaking their shirts.

There were no other shifters in the world I’d fall apart with so thoroughly, and not only know they’d hold the pieces but would also put me back together.

It was a level of trust I’d never expected to have, and the fact that it had come into my life the way it did told me that fate wasn’t my enemy. Not anymore.

When I finally pulled away, Kellan’s face was damp too, and Hunter’s eyes flared with gold as he examined my face and body, as if searching for injuries. My new bite was covered by my shirt, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him during our happy reunion.

I mean, happy if you discounted the dragon battle above our heads.

Hopefully someone had a solution to that.