Page 23 of Tempting Her Dragons (Embracing The Bond #10)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Saphira

I call on my dragon to clear the fog in my head. When my senses come alive, I feel the grass underneath my palms. My heart skips. My eyes remained closed; I didn’t want to admit where I was. The wind is blowing gently, and I hear the sounds of the forest. The last time I woke up from being kidnapped, I felt the collar around my neck.

“No,” I whisper. My hands shake as I sit on my heels and feel the metal pressed tight. I dig my fingers around it and open my eyes. I want to cry, and anxiety is creeping into my chest. The light is fading. My nightmares are coming back to haunt me. The bars around me are the same, except my cage is the only one. I hear footsteps closing in and force myself to shut down my emotions. I go back in time and shove everything deep inside. No fear. They will use it.

“Oh, good. You’re awake,” a voice says. I swallow my surprise and hurt. “How do you like my game?”

“I’m not fond of games,” I say, turning to see Rach sit in front of the cage. “Were you that mad that I couldn’t get a drink with you? If you wanted to have alone time with me, all you had to do was ask.” I mimic her posture, crossing my legs and facing her.

“I admire you,” she says, smiling slightly. “You’ve always been so composed.”

“Who are you?” I ask, doing everything I can to keep my composure.

“I really did like you,” she says, bending her knees and propping her chin on them. “When I found you, I wasn’t sure if I could do this.”

“Why?” I ask, grinding my teeth.

“I was there,” she whispers. “In the Games. I also was in a cage.”

“What?” I don’t remember her.

“We didn’t speak. You were always with the other dragon and the wolf. I watched you, though, from a distance.”

“If you know what we went through,” I rasp. “Why am I here?”

“I fell in love in the Games.” Her face becomes soft. “Jay was nice to me. He loved me back and protected me. I knew the best hiding spots and he would meet me there and be together. He promised that he would get me out and we would get married. I wanted three children. Since I was a coyote, I knew it would be challenging. He was human, but he was the mate of my heart if not through the bond. I was able to shift sometimes since he took the collar off. Jay was the love of my life, and you took him away.” Her eyes swirl with hatred.

“How did I take him away?” I know what she is going to say, and my stomach clenches.

“You and your friends killed him,” she yells. “He was doing his job, and you targeted him. You ripped him from my life, and you have to pay.” I see figures in the distance and smell the presence of many humans. She’s working with others.

“Why now?” I don’t argue yet; I need her to answer my questions.

“After the Games, you disappeared. It took a long time to figure out who you were, and when I did, I couldn’t find you. I decided to come back to where I knew your family was and wait. I was shocked the first day you came into the coffee shop. You didn’t recognize me, but I knew who you were. I cut my hair and dyed it. We weren’t close enough for you to remember my scent.” She drops her knees, leaning forward. “I had doubts at first. You seemed unhappy, and I wanted you to be.” She shakes her head and frowns. “I felt a weird attachment that I didn’t understand. You were nice.” She pulls on either side of her head, bunching her hair in her fists. “I almost liked you, and I thought maybe it would be enough that you were sad.”

“I was sad?” I mumble. I didn’t think so, but finding my mates has opened my eyes to the reality of my life. “What happened today?” She’s spent years building anger and hate for me after what happened.

“You met your mates,” she spits, dropping her hands to the grass. “You were thrilled. Your face was lit up with joy. It hit me that I couldn’t allow it.”

“I was happy,” I say softly, tracing the metal of the collar. “You decided to take it away.”

“I had to,” she cries. “Why should you be gifted with mates? You took away my chance of happiness.”

“Who are those men?” I ask.

“They are Jay’s friends. I found them. He told me all about them and where they lived. I went to them a year ago and told them what happened. Of course, I had to explain what I am. They are ready for you to pay and start the games again.” She shrugs. “We spend time together, and I’m going to turn them into coyote shifters.”

“You can’t,” I say.

“Yes, I can.”

“Do they know it will kill them? Trying to turn a human into a shifter outside the mating bond almost always ends in death.”

“It will work,” she snaps. “They want me to do it.”

“Why haven’t you yet?” I ask.

“I wanted to make sure they were dedicated to me.”

“You wanted them to prove it by helping you take me,” I say.

“Yes.” She looks over her shoulder. “They had their doubts, but I convinced them.”

“I’m sure,” I mutter. “Do you plan on keeping me in a cage forever?”

“I want you to die like Jay did. You don’t deserve happiness,” she says ruthlessly.

“What did you give me?” I slip my fingers further between my skin and the collar. She is forcing me to face my fears, and I have to conquer them. Now that the shock is wearing off, I realize this collar is different. Weaker.

“Drugs.” She lifts a shoulder. “We found someone who had something that could affect you for long enough to get you here.”

“Do you always carry it with you?” She couldn’t have known I would stop in today. I have to make her talk. I want answers and time to let my dragons come for me.

“Yes.” She looks over her shoulder and then back. “Every time I see you, I wonder if the time is right. I thought if I could get you alone, like going out for drinks, everything would fall into place. The guys have become impatient. I didn’t tell them everything about you, or they would have taken the decision away from me.”

“You’ve broken the law of our kind by telling them,” I say. The metal is thinner than the ones they used in the Games. She’s not holding anything in her hand, so I don’t think there is a master switch. Even though she’s held her hatred and planned my death in her head for years, she didn’t prepare properly to hold a dragon captive. I don’t want to shift and test the theory that the collar won’t shock the shit out of me. Better to do it gradually.

“Who’s going to punish me?” She laughs abruptly. “You? We will kill you first.”

“You know I’m a dragon?” I ask, still cupping the collar, dripping my poison from my fingers. It is lethal, but not to me. It is a part of me and will aid me. I don’t know where she got the collar, but it’s not going to hurt me. The collar in the games always emitted a low shock and was almost warm to the touch, always ready to zap us. This one is cold. I also couldn’t drip my poison in my human form then. I was too young and hadn’t practiced the skill.

“Fucking dragons,” she grits out. “You think you’re special? I haven’t seen any reason to believe you are. In the Games, you were meek and followed along.”

“I was a teenager,” I state, my heart loud in my ears. Bishop had been denying his dragon gifts back then, and I didn’t have half the power I have now. I can’t hold off until my mates find me. I can kill her easily, but I’ll need help with the others. I can’t get an accurate number of humans who are here.

“Don’t make excuses,” she growls. “You allowed the wolf to attack Jay. You don’t have the power. I’m in control now. These men will do what I say.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“Yes,” she hisses, her hands balled.

I laugh. “They may be human, but you are one coyote against dozens of men. Probably men who find pleasure in hurting others. If you succeed in turning half of them and they survive, they will put you in a cage, too.”

“Fuck you.” She crouches, grasping the bars. “You would say anything to get out of this cage. I won’t be convinced that you care about me.”

I roll to my knees, getting close. “You’re right.” She narrows her eyes. “I don’t care about you. I bought my coffee from you. We don’t have a relationship.” My eyes change. “Now, thanks to you, I know the name of the man who assaulted me. The love of your life attacked me and stuck his hands down my pants.”

“No.” Her fingers flex around the metal. “You’re lying.”

“I wish I was. I wish I didn’t have to go through such a tragic event. That wolf, who you refer to with disdain, is a hero. My brother had to watch Jay throw me to the ground and force his body against mine,” I whisper. “You say I was miserable, and maybe I was. It took years to move past the fear of every man being like him. I had to work through the anxiety of another’s touch. As a woman, you should be understanding and sympathetic.”

“I don’t believe it.” Her body shakes. “He wouldn’t do that. His love for me was strong. If he did, he must have had a reason.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I gasp. “You are delusional.”

“You’re trying to twist his memory. He was a good man.”

“A good man,” I scoff. “After what he did, I didn’t think there were many good men left.” I lean even closer. “I found two men who are good. My mates will come for me and kill all your humans.”

“They won’t find you alive,” she says.

“Rach, please,” I sigh. “You didn’t think this through. Your plan is shit. Do I look scared?” I was startled when I woke, but I had to remind myself who I was. She set this up as an allusion of the Games, enough to cause fear, but she’s missing many of the elements they used to cause pain. The collar is slowly melting, and my dragon is pissed.

“You should be,” she says. “I won’t set you free.”

“I realize that fact,” I whisper. “A coyote can’t win against a dragon; it’s a fact.” I say a silent apology to Daisy. I finally met a good coyote, but most of her species are liars, cheats, and vicious. “Your crew will be picked off like ants when my mates and family arrive.”

“Don’t speak about coyotes like that,” she shouts. Her face is inches away, her coyote teeth emerging, the bars the only thing stopping her from lunging toward me.

“When Jay was on top of me, I froze. I couldn’t use any of my gifts, even though the collar would have hurt like a bitch if I did. That is what I regret the most: not fighting back. I hate that River and Bishop were the ones who killed him.” I place my hands around the bars above hers. “I wanted to kill him. I wish I could have broken the fingers he used on me, ripped them off and shoved them down his throat.” Her eyes widen and fill with rage. I move my head to the side, whispering in her ear, “I’m not a little girl anymore.” The collar falls from my neck, and she jumps to her feet.

“Damn, Saphy,” Roxanne steps around the tree beside us. “I don’t think you need my help.”

“Rabbit,” Rach hisses, taking a step toward her, flashing her claws.

“Do not touch her,” I warn. The tense moment is interrupted by Rach’s squeal as a snake slithers over her feet, and I almost laugh. She’s acting as if she is above a rabbit shifter, yet a small snake freaks her out. She steps back, shakes her head, and continues to move closer to Roxanne.

“I’m not scared of you,” she grits out, her intent clear.

“I said, don’t touch her,” I growl. My mates will be devastated if their mom is hurt in the smallest way.

“Fuck off,” she snarls over her shoulder and continues toward Roxanne.

My body heats, the fire inside spreading rapidly, and the bars weaken, melting. My dragon is eager to play and show the coyote not to fuck with a dragon. A deep rumble starts in my chest as my body transforms. The shine of my gold scales is blinding to others and lights up the woods. My claws are long and sharp, ready to dig into my victim, oozing death. My teeth are just as long and deadly, and the horn on my head can gouge through flesh and bone.

The cage is nothing but a puddle underneath my dragon’s feet. The snake is long gone, escaping my beast. I look down at the coyote standing weakly next to Roxanne; her fear leaking through the air. The rabbit smiles slightly and moves away. Even if she stayed close, my dragon would never hurt her. We know who the bad guy is.

I open my mouth and roar, my fire blasting Rach. Her hair goes up in flames, and her screams satisfy my dragon. Her hands reach for her head as she stumbles backward, trying to escape the heat.

“No, no, no,” she sobs, and her words are muffled. My dragon can understand, but they are hollow and distant, floating away because of my anger.

My emotions are connected to my dragon, but she expands on them, growing them to a point that my human logic can’t penetrate. We both are enraged. She tried to take me away from my mates. I finally found them and won’t allow them to be taken away.

The ground vibrates as I take a step, and she wobbles. Her human steps get her nowhere compared to one of mine. My body hits a tree, and it cracks. Rach veers out of the way as it hits the ground. All I see is her death. She dared to put a collar around my neck. Put me in a cage after years of emotional progress to get past that time in my life. My mates are probably worried and on their way, hoping I don’t get hurt.

Kill her. Kill her.

She asked for punishment. She can join her love in death. I breathe my fire again, and her pants catch the flames. My sensitive nose smells her burning flesh, and if my dragon could smile, she would. She is protecting me and anyone else she may have hurt on her journey of revenge. I vaguely hear the humans’ screams, but we are on a mission.

My tail swishes back and forth, the thud of it ringing in my ears. I spread my wings, taking flight, and hover over her weakened form. I reach for her shirt, and she tries to swat my claws away. Her attempt is futile. I slip the point underneath the fabric and lift. Her cries mean nothing to me, as do her flailing limbs, which are weakly trying to fight.

My head snaps up, and my eyes narrow when I catch the scent of my mates. I see their human forms moving closer, and they are covered in red. Human blood clings to their skin, and I don’t like it.

The only scent that should be mixed with theirs is mine.