Page 23 of Her Enemy Dragon Captor (Dream Team Shifters #5)

CHAPTER 23

J ane stared down at the creature's body, trying to reconcile the grotesque form before her with the kindly old man who'd given her directions her first day in Greenrock. The severed head was still that of the kindly old man, Walter, but the gray skin, pustule-like growths, and elongated claws of the body made it clear this was nobody’s grandfather.

“God but they are nasty.”

"Pretty much," Alex said, his hand steady on her shoulder. "Seems they have almost perfected their ability to mimic humans. Seems this one infiltrated the town weeks ago, if not longer, gathering intelligence."

Jane thought back to their first meeting, his twinkling eyes, the way he'd said, " We'll meet again, I suspect." A shiver ran down her spine.

Bet you didn’t think it would be like this.

"I did have a feeling about him," she commented, ”but this is ridiculous...”

"Yeah, I can’t believe you didn’t know he was an alien,” Alex teased. “And you say the FBI is your top agency?”

“Ha ha,” she said, doing her best to allow his joke to dispel some of the tension they were both feeling.

A commotion at the door drew her attention as Agent Carlson entered, a phone in his outstretched hand.

"It's Director Donovan," he announced. "Your father.”

Jane took a deep breath and accepted the phone.

Covering the receiver, Carlson quickly added, “He demanded to talk to you right away... I haven’t briefed him.”

Great.

She held the phone up to her ear. "Dad?"

"Jane!" Her father's voice cracked with relief. "Are you alright? Thank God... What the hell is going on there?"

"I'm fine," she assured him, stepping away from the others for some privacy. "But um, there's no way to really frame this so it doesn’t sound nuts. We're facing a full-scale alien invasion."

The silence on the other end stretched so long she checked to make sure the call hadn't dropped.

"Dad?"

"Jane, what did they do to you? Carlson said you were fine, but..."

"Dad," she cut him off. "I know how it sounds. But I've seen them with my own eyes. So has Carlson. So have all the agents who survived the attack." She paused. "Let me put Carlson back on, okay? Don’t worry, I get it. I would think I was nuts too..."

Jane listened as Carlson gave her father a rapid-fire briefing of the situation, confirming everything she'd said.

"Sir, I've seen these things with my own eyes. They took down three of our agents before they even drew their weapons. Standard ammunition barely slows them down." There was a pause. "Yes, sir. I understand how it sounds, but?—"

Jane held out her hand for the phone. "Let me try again."

"Dad?" she said, stepping away from the others.

Her father's voice was tightly controlled. "Jane, if Carlson wasn't my most level-headed agent, I'd be dispatching a psychiatric evaluation team. Are you absolutely certain about this?"

"I am,” Jane took a deep breath. "I know how it sounds, but I need you to trust me. This is real. And the entire planet is at risk."

There was a long silence on the other end. Then: "You're asking me to divert counterterrorism resources to fight... aliens."

"Basically, yes."

Another silence. "Put Carlson back on.” She was about to pass the phone again when he continued. “And Janie, you know I love you right. And I’m so proud of you. You be safe, or as safe as you can be, you hear.”

She felt herself begin to well up.

That only took him thirty-fours years to say...

But it was worth it.

“I love you too Dad. Here’s Carlson...”

She handed the phone back to the agent and rejoined Alex by the examination table. His face was grim as he stood over the Krita's remains, obviously lost in thought. But his expression softened when he looked up at her.

"How'd it go?" he asked. "Your father still think you've lost your mind?"

"No, somehow I think he is onboard," Jane replied with a shrug. "And he said he's proud of me, which I think means the apocalypse is definitely here." She gave a half-smile.

"Carlson can do no wrong in his eyes. He will convince him. Or the Krita will, when they start pouring through portals across the globe."

The command center had transformed in the hours since their decision to launch the preemptive strike. FBI agents worked alongside shifters, hastily setting up communication systems and coordinating with special ops teams worldwide. Jane watched in amazement as her worlds collided—human and shifter working together against a common enemy.

Jack and Jason huddled over maps, pointing out and making note of potential weak spots in the team’s defense strategy. Meanwhile their mates, Sierra and Avery were outfitting the FBI agents with specially designed weapons that Lester and Alexa had been developing under the shifter’s guidance—ones that might actually hurt the Krita. Brian and Dylan were coordinating with the newly arrived shifter reinforcements, while Lisa was assisting Cindy in preparing the furry recruits for the coming battle.

"God, what a difference a day makes," Jane murmured. "Twenty-four hours ago, I was convinced you were all delusional."

"And now?" Alex asked, his amber eyes searching hers.

"Now? It’s hard to admit, but I am ready to jump through a portal to an alien prison planet with a dragon shifter," she said with a half-laugh. "Or I am having the most intense, incredible drug trip of my life."

Before Jane could respond to Alex's quip about her drug trip theory, Lester burst into the command center, his face flushed with excitement.

"The readings are off the charts!" he exclaimed. "We have Krita activity in London, Tokyo, and Sydney. Small incursions, but they're coming through!"

Jane felt her stomach drop. "It's starting."

Alex's jaw tightened. "They're testing our response capabilities. These are probing attacks, before the main assault."

"We need to move. Now." Jack's voice cut through the room. "Get the reinforcements and the recruits to the portal chamber."

The mated pairs all exchanged hugs and kisses as the Dream Team gave each other their last handshakes and half-embraces.

Jack offered his final words as they all went to set the final plan in motion. “All of you... go with the Gods... or the all that is... our destiny is in fate’s hands now. Don’t hold back!”

The next thirty minutes passed in a blur as Jane found herself crowded into one of the yellow school buses the alliance had on had, with Alex, Dylan, Cindy, and other shifters. As they arrived near to the ancient Serpent Mound earthworks, the vehicle passed through a few guarded gates, and ultimately onto the nondescript property that concealed the hidden entrance that led to a vast underground chambers that connected with the portal rooms.

She followed the others as they entered the hidden complex.

“Holy Cow.... all this has been here all along?”

This is incredible...

She might as well have been in the Great pyramids, or maybe the catacombs under Paris. It felt that alien and ancient.

“You haven’t seen the half of it,” Alex commented as they hurried through passages toward their jumping off point. There was little conversation amongst the troops. The sound of pounding feet on the ancient stone floors was almost meditative as she prepared herself for whatever was to come.

Finally, the passage opened up into a large chamber.

At the center stood a massive stone arch carved with strange symbols. The air around it shimmered with energy that made her skin tingle and her dragon stir restlessly.

"The portal," Alex explained. "Lester and Jessa have recalibrated it to lock onto the energy signature of the portal you caught a glimpse through."

Alex turned to her, his expression grave. "Jane, I need you to stay here."

"What? Is that a joke? If I am going to die, it’s going to be fighting..." She stepped back, crossing her arms.

"You haven't even completed a full shift... You don't have combat training..."

“Yeah, and I hate to break it to you, and not to be a negative nancy, but we are also probably all going to die nasty painful deaths for nothing!”

“That is negative,” Alex quipped.

Is he for real?

"Look, I am going. These will likely be our last moments alive. I want to spend them at your side. Fighting. Besides, I saw through to their world, Alex. I came up with this plan. I'm going through that portal with or without your blessing, mister big bad dragon." She strode over to a weapons rack and grabbed a sword. "And if I can’t shift, I’ll just stick ‘em with this."

Alex looked like he wanted to argue further, but Jack's voice rang out, "Dream Team, we will lead the charge. Get ready!"

"I'm going," Jane said firmly. “And I might just surprise you...”

His dragon rumbled beneath the surface, clearly not happy but relenting. "Stay close."

The portal activated with a thunderous crack, the space within the arch filling with swirling emerald light. Jane felt the hair on her arms stand on end as the energy in the room intensified. The Dream Team formed up as the tip of the spear, ready to be the first through to the prison planet.

The FBI tactical teams and shifter reinforcements lined up behind. Further back, down the passages, behind the long line of hundreds of eager seasoned warriors, Jane knew the fresh furry recruits were also ready to do their part, eager to prove themselves.

"Ready?" Alex asked, his fingers intertwining with hers.

Jane swallowed hard, squeezing his hand. "As I'll ever be."

“If this doesn’t work out... well... at least I got to experience a little time with you, my mate.”

“Yeah, I was kinda hoping we could at least move in together...maybe experience our first fight over how to decorate the bathroom... ya know, but I’ll take it...”

“Let’s kick some Krita ass. Then maybe we can argue over wall paper.”

They stepped into the light together.

The sensation hit her like a tsunami—pressure from all sides, her body stretching and compressing simultaneously. For a heart-stopping moment, Jane felt as though she'd been torn apart. Then suddenly, she stumbled onto hard stone, gasping for breath.

"Sweet mother of—" She braced herself against Alex, blinking away the disorientation.

The cavern sprawled before them, vast and alien. Phosphorescent fungi clung to the walls, casting an eerie bluish glow across the rocky terrain. The air was oppressively damp, laden with strange scents that tickled her nostrils.

And there, spread throughout the cavern, were the Krita—not in battle formation as she'd expected, not even preparing for a battle. Yes, there were warriors about, but this definitely was more of a command bunker than a staging area it seemed. Some hunched over tables covered in strange devices, others huddled around what looked like maps. None had noticed the portal yet, as it had formed off in a corner of the cave it seemed.

Jane's gaze fixed on the Krita themselves. With such limited exposure she had assumed they were all the same... but this appeared not to be the case at all. Now, able to see so many at once she got a better look. Some were in fact horribly mutated, with extra limbs and pustule-covered skin. And others were terrible creatures that did not even walk on two legs, but among them were others... many others who looked almost human, some very human, with only slight distortions—scaled patches of skin, slightly too-large eyes, or elongated fingers.

But her pondering was quickly brought to an end as the Alliance warriors began to fan out, building numbers as more came through the portal, and hiding where they could.

Thankfully they were able to amass at least one hundred in number before a Krita spotted them and sounded some sort of alarm.

"Now!" Jack's command echoed through the vast cave.

The Dream Team surged forward, flanked by the reinforcement. The element of surprise worked perfectly—the Krita nearest the portal barely had time to look up before the shifters were upon them.

Alex transformed beside her, his dragon form erupting in a cascade of scales and wings. He launched skyward, unleashing a torrent of flame across the cavern ceiling, sending stalactites crashing down onto the unprepared Krita below.

Jane charged forward with the others, her sword finding its mark again and again. The Krita, caught completely off guard, scrambled to organize a defense. The chaos was total.

To say her training had been brief was an understatement, yet it was clear she had a natural ability with the short sword she wielded, taking down one creature after another. As she fought, Jane spotted a raised platform at the far end of the cavern. Unlike the others, the Krita gathered there seemed almost discounted from the battle. They were focused on some sort of displays before them, pausing only to call out orders to the rest. One stood taller than the rest, a crown-like growth adorning its head.

"Alex!" she called, pointing. "The leaders!"

Before he could respond, a Krita tackled her from behind, sending her sprawling. Her sword clattered away. She rolled, narrowly avoiding clawed hands seeking her throat.

The creature above her paused, its eyes—disturbingly human—meeting hers with what almost seemed like confusion. In that moment of hesitation, she realized it was one of the less mutated ones.

Something surged inside her—a power both familiar and strange. The heat she'd felt before erupted through her entire body. Pain lanced through her as her bones shifted, muscles expanding, skin hardening to scales.

Her scream became a roar as wings burst from her back, her body growing and transforming. Where Jane had been pinned, a magnificent red dragon now towered, sending her attacker flying with one powerful sweep of her tail.

Instinct guided her as she launched into the air, joining Alex above the battlefield. Together, they dove toward the raised platform, twin streams of dragon fire cutting through the Krita leaders' defenses.

The crowned Krita raised its hands, dark energy crackling between its elongated fingers. The air around it distorted, warping with an oily iridescence as ancient power gathered. Its eyes—inhuman yet somehow radiating intelligence—locked onto the attacking dragons. With a guttural incantation that echoed unnaturally through the cavern, it unleashed its attack.

A bolt of energy, black as midnight yet edged with sickly green, erupted from its palms. The blast struck Alex mid-dive, engulfing his bronze scales in crackling darkness. He roared in pain, his massive form convulsing as the energy wrapped around him like living shadow. His wings faltered, muscles seizing as he veered violently off course, crashing into a stalactite and sending fragments raining down on the battle below.

Jane watched in horror as her mate plummeted several yards before regaining control, but she couldn't afford to break her attack. Every instinct in her newly awakened dragon form screamed at her to press the advantage. She dove toward the platform, talons extended.

But the crowned Krita saw her coming. With a sharp gesture, it summoned its guards—smaller, nimbler Krita warriors who swarmed toward Jane. As she swept past, three of them leapt with surprising coordination, latching onto her tail with barbed claws that locked into her scales. The sudden weight dragged her downward, halting her attack as the creatures clung tenaciously to her tail, weighing her down.

Jane thrashed, trying to dislodge them, but their grip was unbreakable. The crowned Krita, seeing her immobilized, began gathering another deadly bolt of energy between its hands. Alex roared in the distance, struggling to reach her, but he was too far.

With the crowned Krita's attack nearly formed and the guards weighing her down, she suddenly did the impossible... or the more impossible – suddenly to the surprise of her attackers—and herself—her tail simply detached at the point where the guards clung to it, leaving them clutching a now-useless appendage as she surged forward, suddenly free. It happened cleanly, effortlessly.

The crowned Krita's eyes widened in surprise—a moment of hesitation that cost it everything. Jane struck with primal fury, jaws opening impossibly wide to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth. Time seemed to slow as she seized the crowned leader, her powerful jaws clamping down around its torso. The creature's attempt to defend itself came too late as her teeth pierced through its armored hide. Jane felt bone and sinew give way beneath the crushing pressure of her bite. A surge of coppery, acrid fluid filled her mouth as she clenched her jaws with finality.

One powerful bite and it was over—the crowned Krita's body went limp, its strange lifeblood spilling across the stone platform. As Jane released her grip, the creature's crown crumbled into ash, dispersing into the damp cavern air with a hiss like dying embers.

The effect rippled across the battlefield below. The Krita nearest the platform froze mid-action, then began to shake as if awakening from a trance. Their weapons lowered, confusion replacing hostility. Those who had previously gripped her tail seemed the most shocked of all.

"The other leaders!" Dylan shouted from below, his jaguar form leaping between confused Krita to reach another platform where more crowned figures stood.

Jane and Alex split off, each targeting different leaders. One by one, they fell. With each death, more Krita seemed to break free of whatever control had held them.

As the final leader collapsed under Alex's claws, Jane felt her strength ebbing. Her wings faltered, and she barely managed to land before shifting back to human form, exhaustion overwhelming her. Whether it was the exertion of the battle, or perhaps the loss of her tail she had no idea.

As the final leader fell, Jane watched in amazement as the Krita around them seemed to wake from a trance. The mutated creatures looked at their claws in confusion, then at each other, as if seeing clearly for the first time.

"What the hell..." Alex said, as he looked on in amazement.

Soon the warriors who had been fighting the less mutated Krita were showing restraint as their opponents withdrew or stopped fighting themselves, as if waking from a trance.

“I think it was some kind of a spell,” Jane replied.

Jack's voice boomed across the cavern. "Target the crowned ones! Spread the word!"

The battle shifted more and more to their advantage as more of the “leaders” fell. Soon it was only the mutated Krita left fighting...and they were quickly overwhelmed.

Jane suddenly became acutely aware that she was completely naked after her shift, as was everyone else who had transformed. She crossed an arm over her chest, and tried in vain to cover her privates.

"Um... this is awkward," she muttered, glancing around.

Alex, similarly unclothed, looked puzzled. "On my planet, nakedness is not something to be hidden. Besides, after completing a shift, clothes would be doubly restrictive." Then after a moment he added, “That was an impressive trick back there, losing your tail like that."

"I told you geckos are resourceful," Jane replied with a small smile. "Though I had no idea I could do that. I guess it’s a day of learning a lot about what I can do,” she said, beaming with pride. She twisted, trying to look behind herself. "Hey, could you check out my ass for me?"

"Gladly," Alex replied, his eyes lighting up.

"No, not like that," she laughed. "I want to make sure losing my tail didn't leave a mark or anything."

Alex made a show of carefully inspecting her backside. "Nope. Your ass is perfect, as always. Completely smooth, round... nice and plump-“

“Okay that will suffice,” she laughed again.

“Hey you asked,” he smiled back.

"Anyhow," she said, gesturing around, "your warriors are welcome to stay naked admiring each other's perfect backsides, but could you get me a towel or something, please?"

Alex smiled, his eyes soft with promise as he handed her a shredded shirt laying nearby. “I think this will have to do until I get you home."

"That works. And then we can see about redecorating the bathroom?" she asked with a smirk. “Maybe we could get to that makeup sex too?”

"That would make the redecorating more challenging, I believe,” Alex quipped back.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I like a challenge.” She gave him her most coquettish look.

“In that case, challenge accepted. But we do have a few loose ends to tie up first.”

“That’s okay. I think it will be worth waiting for.”