I could feel her near me. My mate. My heart. My soul. She was here in this physical realm. I turned from side to side. Where was she? I snarled at the man in front of me. His bright red hair a beacon for my ire. I spit a stream of fire in his direction. He launched himself to the side avoiding the spray. He wasn't holding her. He was no longer interesting to me. I turned to the right. A man with white hair stood before me. Something about him called to the inner parts of me. I didn't have time for this. I needed my mate. I spit fire at him as I turned again.There she was. My heart lifted inside my chest. She was bracketed by two men. Two men who were trying to keep her from me. I dropped down to all four feet. They would cease to exist after I saved my mate. They dared to stop us. Dared to come between us. I've been waiting millennia for her, and they thought to keep us apart. Silly humans. I stalked forward two steps. Stretching the smallest bit, I lowered my head at
"Hey, honey," I said. "Saint? Is it really you?" She laughed, the sound a little shaky. "Of course, it's you. You have your eyes again. Are you okay?" She reached out, laid a hand on my snout. "I'm okay. I don't know about Ten, but he and I will work that part out together.""If he can heal her magic, we will need both of you," Atlas said. He looked a little pale under his laboratory tan. "We can talk about it later. Where're Ransom and Asher?""Talking with Claude and Charlotte," Taryk answered. I nodded. Well, I tried. My head was resting on the ground. "I see." I turned to Lukas. "So, I'm guessing you took your hands off her at some point, yes? After I got sucked in?"The man looked like he was trying not to cry. He nodded. "Well, when I'm back in my human form, remind me to punch you the fuck out," I said calmly. I took another breath. This time my voice was hard. "Ten and I hurt her on the spirit plane, you fucking asshole. Hurt her," I growled the last two
I wrapped my arms around Kiema. For the first time in almost two weeks I felt my insides unclench. Even my animals were calm. She was safe in my arms. One problem down, one huge ass dragon to go. "Are you going to change back?" I asked Saint. He shook his mammoth head. "I'm not sure how to do that. And Ten is being a bit of bitch. He says that until you unhand his Mate, he's not helping us do anything."A low snarl rose up my throat. Kiema rubbed her hand over my abs. "It's fine, Ransom. Think of Tenny as a foreign exchange student. He's ancient and from Earth. He's not really up on today's norms. Especially this group's." She chuckled the last bit, a twinkle in her eyes as she looked up at me. "How does Earth have dragons?"Saint launched into the history of Ten. The long, boring history. Just as my eyes were glazing over, Saint's eyes went from their familiar brown to an eerie yellow golden green with vertical slits. "Human, if you do not give me and Saint th
"I think we're going to have a problem," Taryk said from the front seat of the massive black vehicle that looked like it could withstand a bombing. "What's wrong?" I pushed up between the two front seats. I could see the problem for myself. "Oh. That's what's wrong." The manned gate was deserted. Not only that, it was flattened as if run over by a steamroller. Taryk gunned our truck. The debris of the gate no match for its size and durability. We screeched to a stop at the front door. It was hanging from its top hinge. "Shit. What if we're too late?" I asked as everyone began piling out of the vehicle. "Don't borrow trouble. Let's go in and see what we find." Taryk pushed open the front door, a sleek black gun in his hands. He pushed the door so hard it slammed against the wall on the inside. He stopped its return path with his foot. "Lukas, you're next. Then Ransom. Kiema. Asher, Xander, you bring up the rear.""Too bad the dragon couldn't have come along," Lukas said
Xander pushed her into my arms. Our bare arms sliding against each other. The expression on her face before she buried it in my chest was one of awe and peaceful contentment. I'd never experienced anything that could put that kind of look on my face before. "Xander, what the fuck were you thinking?" Ransom looked ready to tear Kiema from my arms. Asher held him back. "You can't pull her out now. We don't know what could happen to her." I would have laughed at the reversal of roles if I didn't feel Kiema poking around inside me. I winced as she hit something that felt pretty fucking vital. "Is it supposed to hurt?" I asked, trying to keep my voice even. Xander still looked like he was riding the best high of his life. I'm pretty sure the building could've exploded around us and he would have that dopey look on his face still. Deep inside me, I felt the tug of happiness for him. In college, I'd stayed up with him countless nights as he slid under the influence of whatever
"Fuck." I leapt forward, catching Kiema as she was forcefully thrown from the magical outburst of Taryk changing. "Well, fine, you douche. I didn't want to be in there anyway. Asshole," she muttered as she dusted off her hands. The huge black panther splayed on the floor didn't really bring to mind the idea of insults or taunting. Rather, it made me want to run into a room with a steel door that had a fantastic lock and call animal control. "You okay, angel?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of Taryk in his new form."Yes." Kiema sounded irritated, but not in a sexy kind of way. I was afraid for Taryk when he turned back into a human. My angel sounded like she wanted her pound of flesh. "That twat waffle was fighting me the whole fucking time." She leaned forward, out of the ring of my arms. "Hear that, Taryk the Twat Waffle. See if I ever help you again." She lifted her nose into the air and went to sit by the still blissed-out Xander and the howling Asher. "Twat waffl
"Here's what I don't get," I said as I maneuvered the huge truck down the street to our lab and house. "What's that, Asher?" Kiema asked me. Damn was I glad I'd figured out what was bugging me about her. "Captain Silent said I needed to save her' in the future. Was he talking about you, Ki-Ki, or some other chick who's going to be overwhelmed by my awesomeness?""What else did he say?" "That my spirit was brave and light." I buffed my fingernails on my shirt. Kiema shrugged beside me in the front passenger seat. "I don't know, Ash. I think I'm pretty brave and light on my own. Maybe he saw someone else who would need those qualities from you in the future."I nodded, tapped my thumbs against the steering wheel. "True dat, Ki-Ki. You, baby doll, don't need any lighter or braver." I shuddered. Watching her walk up to Taryk like she didn't have a care in the world, made me want to yell, puke, and lock her up all at the same time. Kiema chuckled. "Thanks, boo." She w
I pulled my paws from the table as I shook out my fur. My nails left long furrows in the tabletop. Damn it. I was going to have to replace that."Atlas? You in there, buddy?" Asher called. My eyesight was so clear in this form I could count the individual strands that comprised his eyebrows. Immediately, I started formulating ideas on how I would be able to test the differences. What made the same set of eyes work differently in different forms? Would I be able to somehow apply the wolf's vision to my human form? I inhaled. "Damn, boys." I snorted. I needed to get that stench from my nose. "You stink." I chuffed. "You're the one who's a big dog at the moment, Atty. Not us," Asher smiled, crossed his arms. I snarled at him. The sound, and emotion behind it, startled me. I was a fucking wolf. If I could do happy dances without being seen or teased, I would have. But not with Asher in the room. The man could make a joke about the most serious of subjects. I wasn't going to e