Page 62

ACE

T he drive to the compound felt like a drive to the gallows.

My dragon was eager to have our fated mate back under our protection, safe in our arms, but that anticipation was not enough to outweigh the pain settling like a stone in my gut.

I didn’t want to kill Sean.

It was that simple. I didn’t want to. I wanted there to be another option. Some way out. I wanted him to come to his senses and be the brother I remembered, but he hadn’t been that dragon in a long, long time.

That dragon had already died.

The road narrowed and the forest cover thickened as we approached the coordinates Sean had sent.

His compound was buried deep in the wilderness, far from any town and civilization.

This was just how he liked it. His little kingdom out in the middle of nowhere, where he could pretend to be the alpha he’d always wished he were.

The closer we got, the more my dragon sensed Sean’s presence, and anger simmered under my skin like a living thing.

I tightened my grip on the wheel of my old Cadillac. Maybe I didn’t want to kill him, but my dragon sure as shit did.

Hawk glanced over from the passenger seat. I didn’t have to say a word to know he was feeling the same way.

“You got the paperwork?” I asked.

Hawk nodded and held up the manila folder. Inside was the official notarized documentation that named Sean as the new alpha of the Lakeview clan. It had made me sick to my stomach to sign the paperwork, but I had to trust the plan. As soon as those documents were in Sean’s hands, I’d challenge him.

Then, in a shower of blood, this would all be over. A challenge would make it fair. Sean would get a real chance to defend what he’d wanted badly enough he’d resorted to kidnapping Harley, and I’d get to give him an honorable death.

We reached the gates of the compound just as the sun crested the horizon.

The compound was a small collection of ramshackle buildings: a two-story house, a few collapsing sheds, and a garage.

It was surrounded by dense tree cover, and an old steel gate blocked off the gravel driveway.

It seemed unnecessary. Who the hell would even come up here other than Sean’s goons?

Hawk and I climbed out of the Cadillac. Behind us, Tank stepped out of his truck, and another one of our young enforcers, Rome, cut off his motorcycle.

“You ready for this?” Hawk asked.

My dragon was right under the surface of my skin. In my reflection in the car window, my eyes flashed gold.

Harley was close. I could feel her just past the gate to the compound. I let my dragon’s need to be close, his anger, his desire, overwhelm the pain I felt over needing to kill my brother. My dragon’s determination and fury burned away the last of my reluctance.

This had to be done. Sean had to pay for what he’d done not just to me and my clan, but to Harley. I’d never let anyone get away with harming her. Not ever.

“I’m ready,” I said in a low growl.

We stepped toward the gate, and I clenched my fists at my side. My dragon was on high alert, looking for our mate. Was she okay? She had to be in the compound somewhere, locked up…

But it didn’t feel that way.

No, Harley was close. And getting closer.

She was afraid. I could feel it in the air, taste it like a metallic tang in the back of my throat. She was running.

Something had happened. Something bad.

Sean exploded out of the front door, alight with rage, smoke billowing from his human nostrils, though I had a feeling he may not remain human for long. “Find her!” he roared. “Now!”

Two goons appeared behind Sean, casting their eyes frantically around the compound and the surrounding woods.

She’d gotten away.

I was conflicted. My heart soared at her courage and her craftiness. How the hell had she escaped Sean’s hold? Knowing my brother, he wouldn’t have made it easy. At the same time, cold fear raced through my veins. This complicated things. If those dragons caught her…

Sean’s threat echoed in my mind. “I’ll slit her throat right in front of you.”

I was moments away from shifting and burning every building and every dragon in this compound to a crisp. I’d kill them all before I let them capture Harley again. Before I could do just that, my dragon wrenched my attention to the tree line.

Then I saw her, bolting through the trees as fast as a rabbit on the run.

She was headed right for me—right for the gate.

Though I only caught glimpses of her as she moved through the trees, I could both see and sense her determination.

Her anger. My dragon growled in appreciation, proud to call such a strong woman our mate.

“Keep Sean away from her,” I barked to Hawk and Rome.

My enforcers nodded and approached the gate with their fangs bared. I cut to the side and rushed toward the tree line.

Harley burst out of the forest. The intoxicating scent of her adrenaline-fueled sweat filled my nostrils. She skittered on the gravel, eyes widening when she saw me. She was torn, and her gaze jumped from my face to the gravel road behind me.

She was going to make a break for it.

She didn’t trust me.

My heart cracked in two. Could I really blame her? She’d seen me drunk in bed with Blakely. It had been a fucked-up setup from Tori and Blakely to try to break my relationship with Harley, but Harley didn’t know that. Before I’d had a chance to explain it to her, Sean had kidnapped her.

No wonder she wanted nothing to do with me.

Now wasn’t the time to explain either. If Harley kept running, Sean would take to the skies. He’d catch her again, and this time, he wouldn’t let her live.

I couldn’t take that risk.

I launched forward and raced toward Harley. Her eyes widened, and she cut to the side, trying to avoid me, but I was faster. I caught her by her trim waist and pulled her close to my body.

For a brief moment, Harley went completely lax against me. It was like her entire body exhaled, grateful to be held and supported by me. My heart soared at the gesture.

But it was only a moment. She seemed to come back to her senses, thrashing against my hold. “Let me go. I’m getting the hell out of here!”

“Damn right you are,” I growled. “But not on foot.”

“Screw you. You don’t get to tell me what I’m doing.”

“I’ll explain everything,” I said in her ear. “It’s not safe here. Just trust me.”

“I can’t .” Her voice broke on the word, like it hurt her to say it as much as it hurt me to hear it.

“Ace!” Sean roared.

Harley shuddered. Her terror only enraged my dragon more. As much as I wanted to tell her the truth—the full truth—this was not the time or place. I had to deal with my brother first.

“Get in the car.” With my arm still snug around her waist, I hurried her over to my Cadillac, keeping my body between her and Sean’s dragons. Hawk and Rome were doing a good job holding them back, but it was only a matter of time. She climbed into the backseat, looking exhausted and dazed.

“Please don’t run off again. Please. Sean will find you. Just stay here. It’ll all be over soon.”

Her eyes met mine, and she nodded. It wasn’t trust I saw there, but resignation.

“Get that bitch!” Sean roared. “Now!”

I closed the car door and marched up through the gate onto Sean’s property.

Sean’s rage crackled in the air, but it was nothing compared to my dragon’s fury. “Stand down,” I barked. “Unless all of you want to die right where you are.”

The commotion fell still. Hawk had one of the goons, a young-looking kid with a sleeve tattoo, in his grip. Rome had the other goon, an older guy, in a headlock. Sean had been lurking in the doorway, the coward, but when I spoke, he stepped out.

He looked awful. He’d lost weight, so his cheekbones jutted out of his face, and his hands twitched at his sides. The scar over his eye was red and inflamed, and his clothes were sweat-stained and tattered.

“I should kill you right fucking now,” Sean snarled.

“You call yourself an alpha? You’re a liar and a fraud.

We made a deal. The clan for the woman. It’s never enough for you, huh?

You have to have everything.” Then Sean scowled at Hawk and Rome, too.

“And you two went along with it. Guess an alpha’s word means nothing to you. ”

“You’d love that, wouldn’t you? Having another reason to hate me?” I held up the manila folder with a scowl. “I’m a man of my word, Sean. You know that. I have the papers to sign the clan over to you right here.”

Sean’s eyes widened. He stared at the manila folder like a kid being tempted with an ice cream cone.

“You’re the one who couldn’t hold up your end of the deal. Why would I sign the clan over to you when you don’t have anything to offer me in return?” I glanced back at the Cadillac. “You underestimated my mate. She didn’t need me to rescue her.”

“Don’t lie to me,” Sean hissed. “I know you two planned this.”

“How the hell would we have done that? You think fated mates are telepathic or something?”

Sean’s frown deepened. Shit, maybe he did think that.

“She bested you, and now I’m taking her home.

To my clan.” I gripped the folder and ripped it cleanly in half.

Both my dragon and I were relieved—even though it was part of the plan, handing over the clan to Sean would’ve been beyond painful.

Now, I had my mate back, and I hadn’t put my clan at risk.

The older goon in Rome’s headlock pushed ineffectively at the young enforcer’s arm. “You can still take Lakeview, Sean!” the guy shouted. “Challenge that asshole!”

I glowered at my brother. “Sure can. If you want Lakeview so bad, take it from me. Take it right now.”

Sean bared his teeth. His dragon flashed behind his eyes, and his fangs lengthened.

I bared my teeth right back. Challenge me. Do it. My dragon could feel his, right at the surface. Familiar, yet so unfamiliar. If he challenged me, I could end this right now, just as I’d planned.

Sean clenched his twitching hands into fists and took a small step back.