Page 14 of Bound to the Dragon (Wild Fated Shifters #3)

BLAZE

F or all my complaining about the reduced guest list, Madison had done an excellent job with the task of putting the ceremony together.

I note that she went out of her way to make it as different as possible from the ceremony a month ago that had ended so disastrously.

Even with the different coloring and fewer people, I have to admit that the décor and atmosphere are plenty festive.

If the last attack is bothering anyone, it seems to be only me.

“You did a great job on everything,” I tell Madison appreciatively.

“I know.” She grins wickedly, and I can’t help but return her playful smile as she moves in closer to me. “You see? A smaller celebration isn’t worse, is it?”

“I never said it was!”

I start to guide her away from the party, wanting some alone time with her before the ceremony, but Virginia and Lynelle approach us.

“Everything is lovely, Maddi. You did an excellent job.” Her mother nods approvingly.

Madison arches an eyebrow mischievously. “Yeah? You don’t think it’s too small?”

I stifle a groan. “No one ever said it was too small.”

“Too small!” Virginia scoffs. “Leave it to the ostentatious Alpha to say something like that.”

My shoulders square up evenly. “For as long as matings have existed, we have done things this way. Don’t you make it a grand affair when your alpha chooses a mate?”

Virginia smiles. “Of course. We always do whatever the Alpha thinks is best.”

“Speaking of your Alpha,” I say, scanning the crowd, “where is Granger tonight? I expected him to be here.”

Virginia and Lynelle exchange a quick glance.

“We really thought he’d be here,” Lynelle offers weakly.

The evasive answer bothers me. It reminds me that I need to get in touch with Alpha Granger. It’s been increasingly difficult to reach out to him. After multiple messages, he had returned one call and promised to call back, but I have yet to hear back from him.

He didn’t even RSVP to our ceremony, but to be honest, I’m a little grateful he hasn’t shown up.

His Beta, Jessup, arrived earlier, explaining that Granger had “matters that needed attending.” His absence only creates more questions among my unsettled pack.

“Do you mind if I borrow my mate?” I eye Lynelle, expecting some resistance, but neither female argues as I steer Madison away.

“What is going on with Granger?” I ask, my eyes skillfully scanning the overflowing veranda.

The full moon isn’t as bright as it was the night of our original ceremony, but a white, glowing orb hangs brightly in the sky overhead.

The smile on Madison’s face freezes. “What?”

“Granger. I feel like he’s purposely avoiding our pack.”

“Don’t be crazy!” Her defensiveness is immediate and sharp. “He’s probably busy.”

“He’s a self-important prick, and you know that as well as I do.”

She looks at me thoughtfully, and she sets her luminous dark eyes on mine. “You think he’s behind the attacks, don’t you?”

“Is it out of the realm of possibility?”

I see her weighing the question carefully.

I’m not the only one who has changed over the past few weeks.

There’s no way she would have entertained this thought when she first arrived.

We’ve both made strides and progress in securing our comfort and well-being.

Slowly but surely, we’re building up a rapport between the two of us, and I hope it lasts.

“I really don’t think he is behind this,” she says. “But it doesn’t make sense that he isn’t here.”

“But—”

She cuts me off. “But today is about us, not Granger. Let’s focus on getting the mating ceremony right. I don’t want to plan a third ceremony.”

I brush my lips lightly against hers.

We will get answers about what happened a month ago.

But not today. Today is about our ceremony. Today, we’ll get a redo of everything that happened and try to start anew for real.

“Let’s get ready.” She tugs on my hand, and I follow her toward our wing to do just that. People will be here to celebrate us again. Hopefully, this time without any drama.

We don’t reenact the ceremony itself, since that was already officiated, but the reception is set up with extra security as we planned, and I double-checked everything myself. A warm breeze flutters through the veranda, keeping the bar and food on tables near the railing.

“Everything is under control,” Vigo reassures me, but I have a hard time accepting this at face value. “Every guest was screened upon entry. We’re not taking any chances.”

“Good.” I eye him meaningfully.

I have little choice but to accept his assurances and join Madison at the head table, where she laces her fingers with mine under the table, and we wait for dinner to be served.

I detect a distinct nervousness in her disposition as she tightens her hold against my hand. I lean closer to her. “This is going to be fine.”

She flashes me a weak smile. “I know.”

Somehow, I don’t believe her, as much as I can see she’s trying to believe it herself. I can’t blame her for being nervous.

The servers begin bringing out the cloche-covered plates for dinner as scents of beef and lobster flood the patio.

In the distance, a coyote howls, and an unexpected flashback of the first ceremony overcomes me, and it must have struck Madison at the same time.

In unison, our heads raise toward the French doors.

Vigo stands with another dependable enforcer, watching vigilantly.

“We need to relax.” My fingers tighten against hers. She looks at me, uncertain, and I almost laugh. “Okay, relax as much as we can.”

She barely cracks a smile. “I’ll feel better when this is over.”

She doesn’t add what I know she’s thinking. She wishes I hadn’t insisted on a second ceremony, and a part of me wishes I hadn’t, either. If I’d known how much stress it would cause her, I would have reconsidered. But we’re in the thick of it now.

“Look,” I sigh. “We’ll get through dinner and a bit of entertainment, and we’ll send everyone on their way, all right?”

She hasn’t even given the event a chance. But to be fair, neither have I. She’s probably picking up on my tension. We are that connected. Maybe there’s a solution I should have considered before we came down to the party.

“Come.” I stand her up.

Confused, she stares at me. “Where?”

“I have an idea of how to alleviate some of this tension.”

Interest ignites her dark eyes, and she rises without further argument, allowing me to lead her toward the door, but Virginia immediately intercepts us.

“Where are you going?” Madison’s friend demands. “You can’t leave in the middle of your party.”

“We’ll be back.” Madison grins mischievously at me. “Right?”

“Eventually.”

Virginia looks back at the guests. “What am I supposed to tell the pack?”

Her mild panic takes me aback. What does she care?

“Who cares? They won’t miss us when the alcohol starts flowing.” I tug eagerly on my mate’s hand, my desire for her growing by the second, but Virginia stands firmly in her place.

“No, you can’t leave.”

Madison’s face shadows. “Virginia, what is going on?”

“It’s just… You need to stay.”

Alarm replaces my initial lust, and I exchange glances with my mate. “Why?” I growl. “What’s the problem?”

I become aware of several eyes looking in our direction, and every pore in my body is active, my senses on high alert. Something’s going on again.

Fuck!

“Get back!” I hiss at Madison, but it’s too late.

The tables flip, and we’re in the middle of another full-fledged attack.

I don’t need to tell Madison to shift. She’s already in her crow form, hovering above the brimming chaos breaking out below, but I barely have time to whip into my dragon form as a lion lunges for me, his teeth bared for my neck.

I spray a ring of fire at him, disintegrating him mid-air and turning him into a pile of ash. My enforcers jump into action, taking on the slew of foreign attacks.

I can’t believe this is happening a second time. But I can’t allow myself to wallow in disbelief. I function on pure primal instinct.

I lock eyes with Madison, hovering above the crowd, but she looks away. I know now that she knows something, especially with Virginia attacking us.

Had she known her friend was involved? Could Vigo have been right about Madison all along?

I don’t have time to consider the sinking in my gut now as I join the defense again, cursing the fact that I didn’t listen to both my Beta and my mate when they advised against this second ceremony, although for different reasons.

I cast aside my mounting distrust toward my mate and focus only on the flying fur around me. I fend off blow after another with defensive blasts of fire and lashes of my tail, but this time, the attack is more orchestrated. I’m getting exhausted as the assaults come from all angles.

I look for my Beta, but in the flurry of movements, it’s too confusing, too messy, and I can’t connect with my pack to make any real sense of what’s happening. There’s too much bloodshed.

The battle feels like it goes on for hours, but in the end, the attacks subside, and I’m left standing in a row with my enforcers with a sick sense of déjà vu as I survey the ballroom.

Half the guests cower under the tables, most in their animal forms. The smell of death and panic swells in the air.

My pack will never trust me after this, and I have no one but myself to blame for it.

They had tried to warn me about Silver Glade, about my mate, and I had ignored them and the signs.

Again, I search for Vigo, but his cougar form isn’t visible anywhere in the mess of bodies littering the floor.

Some of the attackers are being hauled off, still alive, by my enforcers, and I shift into my human form to bark out orders. “Keep these ones alive. All of them. Don’t leave them unattended for a minute!”

I won’t make the same mistake I made last time. I need answers this time, and I won’t go weeks without leads.

But first, I need to find my mate and my Beta.

It doesn’t take me long to find Madison in the aftermath. She remains above it all, her wings fluttering nervously around the chandeliers as if she’s afraid to land. And she should be. She has quite a bit of answering to do.

“Get down here.” The command in my voice leaves no room for argument.

Reluctantly, she lowers herself to my level, knowing there is no escape, and morphs into her human form as she lands in a molt of black feathers.

“Are you okay?” she breathes, extending her hands toward me. “Are you hurt?”

I back away from her. “What do you know? And don’t say that you don’t know anything. I know you’re lying. And Virginia is a part of this. You do know who’s responsible for these attacks.”

Her skin is so pale, it’s almost opaque.. “Not here,” she begs as she realizes all eyes are on us.

I almost insist that she confess in front of the whole pack, say everything she knows in front of everyone.

“Please.” She takes my arm. “I’m asking as your mate.”

Even as anger threatens to overtake me, I can’t deny her. “I have already given you the benefit of the doubt. Why should I trust you now?”

“Because I couldn’t be sure until now.” She hangs her head. “I’ll tell you everything I know. I swear.”

I relent and allow her to guide me out of the messy ballroom, my eyes still searching for signs of Vigo, but I can’t find my Beta anywhere.

I call attention to the closest enforcer and tell him to bring Vigo to me as soon as he’s located.

“Yes, Alpha.”

He needs to hear what Madison has to say, too. He will be my voice of reason, since I clearly have none when it comes to my fated mate.