Page 138 of The Dragon's Mate

Bren took Kaida’s hand and they squeezedtheir way through the narrow path that had opened up. Bishop brought up the rear,pushing back against the tide of reporters as they tried to follow.

“Willow! Pop the trunk!” Mal shouted.

Willow popped the trunk of her car and theboys threw their stuff in the back as Mal whipped open the doors. “Everyone in.”

Bren pushed Kaida toward the front passengerside as he followed Tyler and Corey into the back seat. It was a tight fit,but he crammed up against Tyler as Mal slammed the door shut behind him.

He heard Bishop bellow, “Get the fuck back!”as Mal leaned down to Willow’s open window.

“Will, get them to Mom and Dad’s. Lose thereporters.”

“You got it!” Willow blew him a kiss, andTyler and Corey both made startled shouts when she stomped on the gas.

Bren grabbed onto the handle at the top of hisdoor as Kaida braced her hands on the dashboard.

“Hang on to your giblets!” Willow shouted asshe drove down the street and turned the corner on what felt like two wheels.

“Fuck!” Bren said.

“Oh shit!” Tyler shouted. “We’re gonnadie!”

Laughing hysterically and driving so fast, thecars were coloured blurs around them, Willow weaved in and out of traffic, eyeingthe rear-view mirror.

“Red light!” Kaida shouted. “Red light!”

Tyler and Corey screamed in unison as Willow,with the precision of a race car driver, twisted the wheel to the right. Theyslid by a stopped Honda Civic in the thin gap between the car and the sidewalk,narrowly missing the car’s front bumper as Willow stomped on the gas again and careenedthrough the intersection. Cars honked, brakes squealed, and Willow slipped pasta silver SUV with another practice turn of the steering wheel.

She glanced in the rear-view mirror andeased up on the gas, blending in with the flow of the traffic as Kaida collapsedagainst the front seat.

“Lost ‘em,” Willow said with a happy smile.“Easy-peasy.”

“I think I wet my pants a little,” Corey said.

“You and me both,” Bren replied.

“I wanna do that again,” Tyler said.

Willow laughed and headed toward thefreeway. “I like you, kid.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

“But how did Pudding even know to come rescueyou all at Bren’s place?” Mal’s mother, a tall gorgeous wolf shifter named Mara,placed another cup of tea in front of Kaida and pushed the plate of cookiestoward Ty and Corey. “Have some more cookies, boys.”

“Pudding?” Tyler said.

“Oh, that’s my silly little nickname for myMalcolm,” Mara said. She smiled at Willow. “How did he know, honey?”

Willow ate the last bite of her cookie. “Oncethe news broke about Bren and Kaida, Mal had a feeling that reporters might showup at Bren’s apartment. I volunteered to keep an eye on the place and if reportersshowed up, I’d call Mal so he could warn Bren.”

A scowl marred her pretty face. “Only, I didn’trealize that a bunch of them were already hiding in the building lobby. Therewere some other reporters showing up just as Bren and the boys arrived. I calledMal as soon as they started swarming them and luckily, he and Bishop were meetinga client at a coffee shop not too far from Ben’s apartment. Ronin and Hudsonwere on their way to Kaida’s clan for their morning shift. I assume Mal calledthem and asked them to come help.”

“Thank God, you guys were there,” Brensaid.

He looked tired and a little pissed and Kaidapushed her cup of tea away. It was her fault he was upset. If she hadn’t gonedownstairs this morning like an idiot, the entire city wouldn’t know about thetwo of them. To make matters worse, she had almost lost control in front ofhim. She’d been so close to shifting to her dragon form and burning thereporters alive.

He's probably scared of you now.

She shuddered all over as her dragon made amournful cry. Bren hadn’t really said a word to her since they arrived at Maraand Roland’s place, but he’d been focused on Tyler and Corey and making surethey were all right. He was probably just preoccupied.

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