Page 43 of Devoted to the Dragon

Nothing matters now except returning to my territory. I rise, the room in chaos.

The woman calls out above the rising clamor, “Dragoness, we need your help. If your witch could only help us finalize the spell.”

Steam billowing, nails digging into the table, I answer. “I’ll never work with the serpents. If this is the Council’s plan, I want no part. Be advised that Moon Lake Valley’s borders will close and your training wolves will be sent home. I wish you the best of luck, alphas.”

I move toward the entrance, Gunnar on my tail.

“I thought you might say that. But in good faith, we have brought you a demonstration,” the woman says, her icy voice sending a shiver down my spine.

The Alpha King calls, “You will stay and listen, Randi. We need them now, whether we like it or not. I’m not your enemy, and neither are they. You’re holding a grudge for dead shifters, and we need solutions for the living.”

I swallow my fire, but my eyes sting, the heat rising. “That snake who betrayed us all by convincing a shifter that he was her mate so he could spy for invaders? He was my sister’s lover.” All the fire I’m holding in makes my words burn on their way out. “I will never trust them.”

The guards at the door move to block my way, dart guns raised.

I grab the barrel of one gun, the metal sizzling and black globs dripping onto the floor as it melts. “Move, wolves.”

Behind me, Gunnar’s tail swishes, knocking my head forward. From my peripheral vision, I see the dart fly past. I don’t have time to thank him before another is shot from somewhere on the other side of the room. Fennik’s grey-and-white wolf jumps in to protect my side.The room devolves into anarchy as my loyal wolf falls to the floor.

“Grab him,” I shout to Gunnar. I use my fire on the door, clearing a path.

More wolves are waiting in the hallway as though they expected this.I unleash my dragon without mercy, desperate to get my mates out of here.

One snapped neck. Another. I use my fire. My claws.

Wolves fall. Two. Five. A dozen.

So much needlessly wasted life.

Finally, we make it to the entrance. Behind me, Gunnar carries Fennik while he fends off those who try to follow from the chamber.

Just as we clear the entrance, a serpent steps out of the shadows. Like the woman earlier, he is sharp featured, raven haired, and covered in slithering smoke that gives way to wispy-looking serpents’ heads.

“Aren’t you magnificent?” he hums, a thick cloud of pink-and-black breath curling from his mouth.

I cover my nose, knocking into him, but it’s too late.

I run anyway, Gunnar shouting as he follows, “What the fuck was that?”

“Serpent. Like the other. His breath contains magic. It lowers inhibitions and dulls reflexes. We don’t have time for plan A. We need to get to the clearing.”

Gunnar pulls ahead, pointing to the right. “Come on. It’s this way.”

The sight of Fennik being carried in Gunnar’s arms almost trips me, but I force myself to keep moving toward the training grounds we scoped out as my landing spot.

Wolves spill out from the Council buildings, shouts and orders being called out behind us. We don’t stop running.

The training grounds are barely large enough, but the second I see them, I shift anyway, my dragon snapping her wings. Wolves close in. I scoop up my mates, clutching them in my front claws, and launch into flight.

A whizzing zing passes, and I let loose my fire, angry all over again that they’re shooting me. I spin and weave, ducking shots as I fly. Something stings my right wing and lodges into my side. I turn my head and see a dart glowing a strange purple.

We fall.My dragon fights to keep hold of her wings. The drowsiness is overwhelming, but my dragon shouts in my mind.

Fight. Fight…

The last of her thoughts are slurred. The ice traveling in my veins blots her out, and before we can make it safely to the forest floor, she is quiet inside me.I lose hold of Gunnar and Fennikas we fall. A branch stabs me, something blunt knocks my head, then blackness.

I come to alone,crushed in a tangle of fallen trees. My eyes want to close, but I force myself to focus enough to dig myself out of the rubble left by my crash. I’m dizzy, and my body hurts, my side throbbing. The sun has already set, making the forest dark, and I need to find my wolves.

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