Page 32 of Knot My Boss

“There you are, love,” Brady’s voice fills my head.

“Wait a minute,” I interrupt. “How can I understand you?”

“Congratulations, Fiora, on a successful shift,” a foreign male voice says in my head.

“That’s Chayce,” Brady adds. “He’s our alpha. We can all hear him, if he wants us to, in shifted form.”

“I shifted?” I ask, stunned at their words.

“Look down,” Brady says, his voice full of laughter.

“Holy shit!”

Dual voices laugh in my head as the orange dragon flies off and Brady lands next to me. He snakes his neck around mine as a form of affection.

“How do I shift back?” I ask, beginning to panic since I’m not sure how I shifted into dragon form.

“Focus on your human form,” Brady says, causing me to look down at him. He is standing where his dragon was, in all of his naked glory.

Closing my eyes, I follow his instructions. I don’t open them until I feel his arms wrap around me.

“Well,” he says cockily. “I was right. We just proved it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I say, afraid if I give him too much credit, it will make his head swell.

“Come on, let’s go tell Tavan the good news,” he says, gripping my hand and tugging me toward the truck.

Chapter 20 - Darby

“Arek…Arek…” I call out as we traipse through the woods.

The guys dressed me up in the warmest clothing they could find before hauling me out here. Trudging through the high snow is taking a toll on me and I am tiring quickly. We have been out here for three hours.

Walking through the woods isn’t so bad, except we have heard gunshots echo through the hills the entire time we have been out here. I am on pins and needles, hoping and praying to any deity that wants to listen, that he is safe.

The guys had the idea that some of them should shift, hoping to communicate with Arek’s bear, but with the threat of hunters, it was too risky.

“Arek…” I yell again, cupping my hands around my mouth, trying to project it farther.

It’s getting dark, making it treacherous to continue. As we turn around, heading back to the den, noise comes from our right, halting us in place. The guys surround me, protecting me fromthe unknown. My chest swells with hope as a large brown bear clears the tree line.

I take a step forward, but Gunnar and Declan put their arms out, halting my progress.

“We need to make sure it’s Arek,” Declan cautions.

The bear rears up on its hind legs, letting out a roar loud enough to rupture your eardrums, before it begins charging toward us.

“He’s so fucking dramatic,” Gunnar mutters.

“It’s him?” I ask expectantly.

Before anyone can answer, a loud bang sounds, immediately followed by Arek collapsing in the snow, as blood paints the snow red.

“Nooooooo!”

Declan and Daegyn, grab me, picking me up as we run at full speed back toward the den. Meanwhile, Gunnar, Hayder, and Jathen go to Arek’s aid.

“Turn back!” I yell, pounding on Declan’s back. He has me tossed over his shoulder, one arm wrapped around my legs, just above my knee.

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