Page 45 of Sass Me

Match nodded. “The stain said that this all father went down. If it is some sort of intelligent demon dragon the area around your hot springs would be its first escape route.”

Aric stepped forward. “What can we do to keep our pack’s safe? The protection your warriors gave us tonight is appreciated, but you won’t always be around. What if they come back once you leave?”

These people were Fleur’s friends, her family even. Whatever happened he would make sure the dragon warriors would protect her people like he would protect her.

The alpha in Match recognized the same in Aric. “We must root out their nest and destroy them so they do not plague this area.”

Steele may be injured, he may have failed in his duty to protect his mate, and he may not ever be worthy of Fleur’s love, but he had it, and he would put it above all else. “Not before we find Fleur.”

Barbara walked over and squeezed his cheek. “I knew you’d finally win her over. Let’s go get your mate.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Witchy Woman

Fleur closed her eyesand thought of Steele. The way he’d pursued her relentlessly, the way he kissed her and loved her, the way he’d given his soul into her care, and the way she gave hers to him.

“What are you doing, witch? Your magic can’t save you.”

She ignored the disdain and disgust in the black dragon’s words. Her love was more powerful than his hatred.

She pushed every bit of that love toward the teeny-tiny root and urged it to grow. Cracks and crunches of the rock breaking echoed all through the cavern and the scent of newly turned earth and fresh growth overtook the stench of sulfer.

“A tree root is not going to save you from the agonizing burn of the lava.”

Fleur opened her eyes and smiled at the asshat. He was wrong. The roots stretched down, creating first a wall of tangled wood between them and the creepy crone woman, and then a mass weaving covering the lava closest to her.

The shard at her neck glowed brightly, changing the color of the air around them from red to green.

The crone rattled the cage of branches and shouted through them. “Boy, see its power. Get the shard from her. Claim what is rightfully yours.”

The man snarled and black scales rippled across his body. His hands transformed into dark claws, the color of dirty oil. They swiped across her chest, shredding her shirt and cutting deep, leaving gashes that oozed black sludge.

She swallowed the scream, not wanting him to see her give into any pain he could inflict. She held fast to the knowledge that try as he might, his torture hadn’t sliced through the cord of the shard.

He roared, trying to grasp the crystal. “Give it to me, whore.”

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