Page 90 of Marked Dragon

“Dad,” Sol whispered loud enough that Theron could hear.

When there wasn’t an immediate response, Sol took a few steps forward, but Hydra clutched his arm and murmured, “You’re not acclimated to your dragon yet. You need to stay put. Besides, he found the person watching. It’s Wyvern.”

My lungs started working better. The name seemed familiar. “Who’s that?”

“Theron’s righthand man.” Hydra dropped her hands to her sides. “Ever since we learned the warriors were near, everyone’s been on edge. Wyvern noticed us hurrying away, and he couldn’t find Theron. He must have been making sure everything was okay.”

The sounds of footsteps drew closer, and both Theron and Wyvern stepped into view.

Vlad and Thorn went rigid. If I hadn’t known better, I would’ve thought a warrior was here, but maybe their wariness had to do with the frown on Theron’s face.

Wyvern was shirtless, which didn’t help matters for Thorn with me here. The new dragon was muscular, his warm, medium-brown complexion enhancing the curves of his muscles. He placed a cell phone in his back jeans pocket and folded his arms over his broad chest. His dark eyes assessed Thorn and me, and I noticed his eyes had a fold in the upper eyelid in the inside corner.

“Why aretheyhere?” Wyvern asked, rubbing a hand across a scruffy goatee. He sneered at me like he thought his look of disgust would impact me.

A laugh bubbled in my chest, but I held it in. Laughing wouldn’t help, but seriously, Drake had the menacing look down pat. Compared to him, Wyvern looked as threatening as a kitten.

“The less you know, the better,” Theron rasped and pointed behind them. “Why don’t you head back to the thunder?”

“Are you serious?” Wyvern jerked his head back. “Why have you allowed them here?” He paused, his cheeks reddening. “Wait. Are they blackmailing you? Is that why you’ve been disappearing so much lately?”

Thorn shook his head and bared his teeth.This is why I didn’t want to help them. I get accused of horrible stuff, even when I do something good. It’s not worth putting us at risk.

My heart ached. Every time he felt good about something, something else came along to ruin it. My hands clenched. “No, we aren’t blackmailing him.” I lifted my chin, refusing to cower, and flanked Thorn. “Mymatejust healed Sol so when the warriors do come, he won’t be targeted.”

Wyvern’s brows furrowed. He looked at Thorn. “Why would you do that?”

“Because Thorn is a good person,” Vlad interjected as he stepped up beside Thorn.

It was clear we would protect Thorn, no matter the cost.

“How did you…” Wyvern’s eyes bulged. He turned back to Theron. “Have you beenhelpingthem?”

Jaw ticking, Theron glanced at us and said, “You three, go on. I’ll handle things from here.”

Thorn’s nostrils flared. “Gladly.”

The three of us spread apart, readying to shift.

Sol hurried to Thorn and touched his arm.

My mate tensed, not meeting his eyes.

“I just wanted to say thank you again.” Sol dropped his hand. “You saved my life, and I willneverforget that.”

“The same goes for me.” Hydra smiled but stayed several feet away. “Your secret is safe with us.”

Wyvern frowned. “We can’t let them go. The prince is searching for them, and we all saw on the Dragonnet that this asshole stripped those shifters of their dragons.” He scoffed. “I can’t believe you allowed him to touch Sol!”

A deep growl emanated from Thorn’s throat. Hot anger and cold tendrils of fear swirled through our bond. A hot fudge brownie with ice cream was an amazing combination of the two temperature extremes, butthissensation was far from comforting. It was unnerving. If Thorn felt I was under threat, who knew what he’d do?

I grabbed his arm. Some of his turmoil ebbed, but not as much as I’d hoped.

“You will let us go,” Thorn rasped. “The only reason those warriors lost their dragons was that they were keeping me from mymate.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me to his side. “Drake and the warriors tried to force my mate to marryhim, despite her being mated tome. So I did what I had to do to save her.” He lowered his arm. “Let me be clear. If you prevent us from leaving or put my mate in harm’s way, I won’t hesitate to do the same to you.”

There was no question Thorn loved me and would do anything for me, and I treasured that. But I wasn’t sure if threats were the right route to go with Wyvern.

Wyvern’s jaw dropped as he stared at Theron and asked, “Did you hear him? He said he would take my dragon!”

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