Page 80 of So I Dared a Dragon

“Bibi is a fighter. She’d never put herself in a situation where she couldn’t win.” I had to hope that was true as we took off.

There was no need to gain much altitude; we were on top of the wolves almost immediately. Calista landed first, skidding to a stop that tossed Bibi off her back. It wasn’t lack of experience. My mate was so powerful, she’d have to learn to control it all over again.

It would be a pleasure to help her with that, but first, we had to take care of these cowardly wolves.

I landed beside her, and Hugo scrambled down to take his place beside his mate.

Magnus, Luca, and Darcy landed behind us.

“Declan, how rude of you to run off before I could introduce you to my actual mate,” Calista said. “This is Aarix. If you haven’t noticed, he’s a dragon and so am I. Something tells me this isn’t a surprise to you.”

The wolf she called Declan bowed his head. There was no way he and his compromised pack could overpower us physically. If he wanted to live, his only choice was to confess.

“When you arrived, Declan was just about to tell me why he’s been such a traitor, sending me those anonymous nastygrams,” Calista said.

“It was him?” I stepped forward, and the wolf flinched.

“I can’t tell you anything,”he said quickly.“I’ve been trusted to guard this information.”

Calista tipped her head back and breathed fire. “Fine. Take your secret to your grave.”

“I was following orders,”he said.

“From who?” I barked out the words. All the restraint my mate showed, I struggled to control. The only reason this wolf hadn’t hurt my mate was because she was stronger than he was.

Or she was worth more to him in one piece…

“All the alphas in our pack before you have met with untimely deaths,” Calista reminded him. “You can change things, Declan. You can make things better for our pack. Don’t you think we deserve peace?”

“If you do the right thing, we’ll defend you,”Bibi said.

I wished we had talked that little detail over, but she and Calista had once considered these wolves pack. I would do the same for my thunder.

Declan cautioned a look at the other wolves.“All I ask is that you listen. All of you. It might not make sense at first.”

Calista huffed. “We could fill this desert with all the things you won’t understand, wolf. Try me.”

His eyes widened. “We weren’t always the Montana pack. We descended from an ancient pack that originated in Colorado. Only the wolves who hold the original bloodline from that order become alpha. Back then, it was our duty and honor to guard the Rocky Mountain dragons. When they were called to serve the Night God in the Winter Plane, our duties changed. We couldn’t go with them and neither could you. Only the pure-blooded dragons could serve in that capacity. So we were tasked with protecting the dragons who stayed on this plane. Calista was one of those dragons.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Calista said slowly. “That would mean I’m hundreds, if not thousands, of years old.”

“I told you it wouldn’t make sense,”he said. “We were instructed to conceal you and make sure no one knew whatyou really were. After we erased any evidence that the Rocky Mountain dragons lived on this plane, we settled in Montana. We did our best to carry out our duty in each lifetime, concealing Calista’s identity by breeding her with our strongest wolves, so as she would become more wolf and forget about her true nature. Which is why we hoped to pair her with Bronson, who you know as Bibi. Bibi was one of the original guardians, but her bloodline isn’t pure. So she could never be alpha.”

“The Night God would never want that,” I said. “He’d never ask you to make anyone less powerful if he thought there was something he could gain from them.”

“You’re right, he didn’t agree with our methods, but these decisions were made long before I was born. I can’t explain why my ancestors did the things they did. However, I do have to deal with the consequences.”

I could almost feel for the wolf. I’d been fooled by the Night God too. But the difference between me and him was I was willing to take responsibility for my actions.

“What changed?” Calista asked. “It sounds like he was willing to accept these actions for centuries.”

“The Smoky Mountain dragons gained their freedom,”Declan said.

“And you knew that we’d liberate the Rocky Mountain Dragons,” I said. “Which made Calista a problem.”

“Not exactly,”Declan said. “With Calista and Bibi gone, we no longer had a duty to that old bastard. We hoped he’d stop extorting us, forcing us to steal money and land and do heinous things that made us the enemy of every wolf in the west. We did all that to protect you.”His gaze was squarely on Calista. “We could finally build our pack how we wanted to, in a way that would benefit our wolves.”

“Don’t blame me for this. If you really thought that, you would’ve left me to deal with the Night God myself. There’s something you’re not telling us.”

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