Page 28

Attentive and prepared for an attack, Chanin stepped to the side and flung the door open.

No assault came. As he leaned over from where he stood at the side of the door, he peered into the pitch-blackness.

His wolf sight let him make out a few articles of clothing askew on hangers and more on the floor.

Then he saw it, a shadow moving on its belly through a man-size hole three feet from the ground.

“Shit.” Chanin ran forward toward the back of the closet and dove into the tight space. “Farkas, stop!”

“Fuck you, Chanin!” His cousin’s voice was somewhere before him in the distance. “I’m not going to let you feed me to the fuckin’ Fang Warriors and ruin all my plans.”

Plans? What plans? Chanin continued to push through. A few times, he reached forward and attempted to get ahold of Farkas’s foot. However, he wasn’t close enough. His broad shoulders in the narrow space were slowing him down. “Give up. All your crew is either captured or dead.”

Chanin could feel a breeze fluttering in through the tunnel.

“No. Fuck you.” Like the worm he was, Farkas slithered fast through the space as if he’d practiced more than once to make the journey.

“You will be punished for your crimes. Have some pride and turn yourself in.”

“Never,” Farkas growled.

Then Chanin heard the sound of rustling, and Farkas cried out in pain.

One, two. One, two. Chanin bore down harder with his elbows on the rocky mountain surface. His heart pounded loudly in his ears as his anger at the possibility his cousin was getting away rushed through his heart and pumped his blood faster.

Finally, Chanin plowed through the narrow opening at the end of the tunnel.

Thorny, wild bramble bushes poked at him and left scratches deep in his skin.

The sun came at him on a blinding angle, making it hard to make out much before him.

He repositioned himself along the backside of the mountain, looked left then right, and attempted to catch a glimpse of his cousin.

He sniffed, but the location placed him upwind, and he was having difficulty picking up Farkas’s trail.

The area sat right on the edge of the Drahk border.

“Farkaaaaaaas!” Chanin growled. “Run, cousin, run. Run for your life because when I catch you, I’ll kill you.”

Bleddyn came out behind him. “We found him this time. We’ll get him again.”

Chanin let out a stream of curses and drove his hands into his hair.

Pissed, he allowed his cousin to get the jump on him in escaping.

Turning, he saw the blood on his beta’s chest. Some of it had Valko’s scent, but the blood had Bleddyn’s mixed in.

Chanin hoped it was only from the thorns.

Bleddyn didn’t appear significantly wounded. “Is Valko dead?”

“Unconscious and secure, but I figured you may want to interrogate him.”

He nodded at his second-in-command. “Good thinking.” Chanin looked out toward the horizon, hoping to see a movement anywhere.

“Saw Minsi. She located the Fae. The rogues held them inside one of the laboratory enclosures. But they are both well.”

Lab enclosures. What the hell would the humans have been up to in this facility? “Good. Get them back to their territory with a message for them to let their queen know I’ll contact her soon.”

Chanin stepped forward onto a narrow cliff and searched for a path.

“Will do, Alpha.”

He turned and faced his friend. “Did we lose anyone?”

Bleddyn set his fists on his hips. “None. A few injuries but nothing that will not heal soon enough.”

Chanin nodded. “I’m entrusting the teams to your leadership. I want Valko in the warehouse.”

Bleddyn went quiet for a moment. He arched a brow and assessed him. “Are you going out alone to search for Farkas?”

“No.” Chanin began his journey down the side of the mountain. “My cousin can’t hide for long. But now there’s another matter I need to handle.”

“What’s that?” Bleddyn called after him.

“Seeing about my mate.” Chanin shifted into his wolf and took off.

~YH~

She disliked the way her sister smelled.

In the last hour or so, something shifted inside of her—things seemed different.

When it came to Kai, it wasn’t that her sister stunk, per se.

Kai’s scent wasn’t utterly offensive; it was definitely overpowering.

In the way, some people were bothered and oppressed by flowers and grass due to allergies, Morlie’s olfactory was assaulted.

The aroma around Kai smelled like her sister had stood next to a raging fire for too long, and the heavy smoke clung to her.

It wasn’t that Morlie didn’t think her sister had bathed.

No, she could pick up the herbal notes of the body wash and moisturizers on Kai’s body and hair.

However, it was that soft smoke undertone that grated.

Kai’s scent wasn’t all that different than Eilidh and all the dragon-shifters Morlie came in contact with.

It was stronger except for the varied sulfuric blends of the shifters like Tana, Eilidh, and the guards outside Morlie’s door.

Kai was mated to Aodh, it made sense he literally rubbed off on her sister.

Morlie would have laughed at the mental image but was more perplexed at her acute ability to recognize scents.

When Tana came to bring food, as the older shifter crossed the room, Morlie made a mental list of everything in the bowls and platters before going to the table and seeing the items. It was jarring.

She wondered if being cloistered in her room for so long had made her more aware of things around her, and she felt hyper-focused on everything.

The woods.

Especially the woodland area that interwove through the territory. If someone asked her about the fascination, Morlie couldn’t explain it in words. The urge to escape into the trees as if something beyond was calling to her.

Morlie didn’t think anyone was out there. Not once during all the time she stared at the view outside her window did she see anyone. Only the Drahks coming and going, laughing and talking, working and living their routine?

So, what is it?

She shrugged and forced herself to turn away from it. Even though she felt if she didn’t look, she would miss something. Someone.

But he wasn’t coming.

Her mind wasn’t confused about who he was because of images of the man with long, blond hair that appeared carelessly tussled by the wind.

It gave him the aura of someone wild and untamed.

A frisson of heat ran along her spine and caused her to shiver.

A shiver that the fire in the suite could not quench.

She didn’t need to close her lids to remember the depth of his eyes. His gaze stole her breath, and his intense look drew her in. During their brief meeting, she’d fought the desire to lean in closer to him and stare into the liquid, turquoise-opal pools and lose herself.

Aodh and Liekki’s size made her feel besieged. But Chanin, even able to stand practically shoulder to shoulder with the mountainous dragon-shifters, made her desire to feel the strength his muscular, lean arms seemed to promise.

She sighed and rubbed her hands up and down her arms to calm the quivering in her blood at the thought of the wolf Alpha.

Even with the intense response he appeared to have for her, he wasn’t coming. He couldn’t come.

The council’s edict made sure the wolf was put on a leash.

Hell, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to see him again.

Yes, there were questions she had for him.

So many things she didn’t understand. She could indeed ask Aodh or Eilidh to explain things to her, but she didn’t want to get answers from them.

Gazing at the bed, she considered lying down. Her body had a level of exhaustion as if she’d exercised for too long. At the same time, she felt restless.

She shook her head and went to the front room. Her body was an oxymoron right now—nothing made sense. Not even the things she had encountered in the past.

In the sitting area, she looked at the blazing fire.

Initially, when she awoke after being sick, the long-lasting magic flames removed the chill from the suite and comforted her.

It was still a mesmerizing sight, but hot.

Internally more than externally she felt her temperature increasing.

She considered getting a glass of water and dousing it for a moment.

However, that would only cause the smoky dragon scent to fill the room.

She wasn’t sure what sort of reaction that would create in her, so she nicked that plan.

Marching across the room, she gripped the door handle and opened it in one smooth motion.

She gasped. Morlie stood there staring at the thick, stone door. Have I been struggling to open it because of my fear of the heavy door and thinking I couldn’t open it, so I struggled greatly to do it?

At the sound, Aine rose from her seat and faced Morlie. “Is there something I may assist you with, Morlie?”

Removing her hand and moving her gaze from the door, she glanced at the big and tall woman.

The guard wasn’t any more towering than most of the female dragon-shifters, but with Morlie’s slim build and short stature, she felt a little intimidated around the adult men and women.

They were just so massive. She’d seen their dragons in the sky or landing at a distance, which made sense. However, she didn’t have to like it.

“Your name is Aine, correct?” Even from her stance at the window on the other side of the room, she’d heard Kai greet the guard before she closed the door.

Aine’s face broke into a friendly smile, making her build seem much less menacing. “Yes. Do you need something? Want to go out?”

Not looking like a prisoner with their perfunctory hour of sunlight a day. “Uh, no. I’ll wait for my sister to return. But will you bank the fire, please?”

Aine’s face twisted in confusion briefly.

Morlie understood the woman’s mystification at her request. Since she had been living among them, one thing Morlie understood was that these dragon people loved fire and smoke in all its capacity and in ways that amazed Morlie.

So, asking one of them to kill a fire instead of creating more would leave the guard stunned.

“Um. Sure. I’ll take care of it.”

“I appreciate it.” Morlie stepped back and pulled the door wider to allow Aine to pass.

When the guard entered the room and headed to the fire, Morlie momentarily stared at the empty passageway. The urge to jet down the flight of stairs and out the door slammed into her gut, so intense she moaned.

As Aine kneeled before the fire, the guard turned toward her. “Are you alright?”

Morlie nodded and rubbed her stomach as she attempted to release the tension. Her muscles were tight like she’d laid on the floor and performed a hundred sit-ups. “No worries. Pulling the door too fast caused me to strain myself.”

Still standing by the entrance to keep her distance from the Drahk and her scent, Morlie watched Aine lean forward real close to the wild, licking flames. Anyone else other than a dragon-shifter would have caught fire.

Aine closed her eyes and parted her lips before inhaling loud and long.

The orange-and-gold flames danced and wavered around the woman, almost like a sensual caress along her face, before slinking around Aine’s lips then in her mouth continuously until every flicker had disappeared.

Not even a wisp of smoke remained in the stone hearth.

Aine closed her mouth and smiled like she’d just finished a delicious meal.

“Wow.” She’d seen Eilidh and many others start a fire but not put one out. “That was impressive.”

The guard opened her eyes as she resumed her immense height. The smile on her face had a tilt to it that Morlie thought of as cocky. “Anything else?”

“No.” Even if Morlie needed something else, she wasn’t in the mood to stroke this dragon woman’s ego. “Thank you.”

Aine left the suite and claimed her seat again.

Morlie closed the door with ease. She didn’t feel as if she missed an opportunity to go out by herself because she knew there was not only a guard posted at her door but at the bottom of the stairs at the entrance to the Mckenna.

Getting past one Drahk when they weren’t paying attention may be possible, but with two positioned to guard her, she doubted she would get past one step in the purple-hazed sunlight.

Crossing to the couch, she plopped down and waited for Kai’s return.