Page 50 of Sass Me

“Fleur. They’re coming. Get out of there.”

The branches on the trees grew in every direction, blocking every attack. “I got this, mate. Get the black dragon.”

The wolves took advantage of that and ripped out the throats and hearts of the beasts like the dragons had taught them to. The horde turned to mere black stains before his eyes.

Well, okay then. He’d doubted the trust he’d given to his mate in that moment and had been dead wrong.

Fleur glanced up at him and raised her hands. The world around him went white with light.

“Steele, look out,” Jakob and Fleur both shouted into his head.

The black dragon and his enormous claws were centimeters from Steele’s head.

“You’re dead and your mate will be next.”

He ducked, but there was no way he would be able to avoid the attack. He braced for the impact, praying to the first dragon to let him keep his head.

The world shifted into slow-mo and Steele watched the razor-sharp claws inch their way closer to his neck. Shit. He’d let himself get distracted and he was about to pay the price.

“Noooooo.” A screech of tortured pain came from the black dragon and it recoiled, snapping the world back into real-time. The ends of its claws were gone and white tendrils, like fine vines crawled up his scales.

The black dragon writhed and squirmed, trying to shake off the invader. Now it was the one distracted.

“Now, brothers. Take it down.” Steele called to all the warrior dragons to join him. They attacked claws, wind, fire, ice, and earth joining forces, assaulting the beast, pushing it to the ground.

It landed hard, creating a crater with its impact. There were no more demon dragons to help defend the bastard. Now it would die.

Steele dove, calling upon the earth and trees, and most importantly, his mate to join him in crushing this foe once and for all. “Let’s end this, together.”

The black dragon spread its wings, even crippled by the power of Fleur’s white vines. It tried to take to the air again, jumping up and over the wolves surrounding it.

The great dragon tree Fleur had created grew even bigger, reaching out for the black dragon, making sure it’s only path was down. Match, Ky, and Cage joined together grabbing at it with their claws, forcing it to drop to the ground, where Steele, Jakob, Dax and the wolf pack waited to capture and destroy it once and for all.

The wolves howled and Fleur’s white magic rose around them all. It filled Steele’s soul, giving him strength and courage.

He spread his wings wide, his talons ready to slice the beast throat just as it had tried to do to him. He had every confidence that Fleur would protect him from any attempts at a last-minute attack.

Jakob lunged, a white light, yet not Fleur’s, surrounded him too. He used his great spiked tail to push the black dragon to the ground. It thrashed, but it’s actions, it’s snout, even its thoughts and dragon’s voice were muffled by the white tendrils now encasing its head. They all heard nothing from it now, but agony.

“The kill is yours, Steele. Finish him.”

“Gladly.”

He drew back, putting all his might behind his move. This aberration would never plague Blue Creek or Fleur’s friends again. Nothing like it would ever touch Fleur again.

He moved to strike, but stopped when a woman, older than dirt, appeared between him and the black dragon. Black acrid smoke pooled around her feet and she held up her arm to block Steele’s death blow.

“Never again,” she cried. She waved her arms through the air, engulfing the black dragon and herself into her smoke, and disappeared, leaving only burned ground behind.

“Who the fuck was that?” Dax asked the question they all wanted the answer to.

“Some sort of a witch, one that uses the blackest of magic.” Match growled and pawed at the earth where the two fugitives had been only moments before.

“Steele. Where are you? Steele?” Fleur ran through the clouds of smoke and when she saw him, she threw her arms around his great scaled neck.

“I couldn’t find you through that smoke.”

Steele pushed the dragon back inside, even though that part of him was still amped up and craving the kill.

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