He could grunt and refuse to answer, but talking about it with the Scottish dragons wouldn’t do anything to harm Teagan’s reputation. He knew them well enough to know they could keep a secret, so he answered, “No, we’re not true mates. But I say fuck fate. Teagan is mine, and no one is going to take her from me.”
Grant grunted. “Be sure of your choice, Caruso, because if you try to change her, it won’t end well.”
Faye looked up and craned her neck to scowl at her mate. “So now you’re giving advice you can barely follow yourself?”
Grant kissed her nose. “I try to follow it, but I’m not always successful. It’s the effort that counts.”
Faye sighed. “I’m not sure I agree.” She looked back to Aaron. “But he’s right. If you’re hoping she’ll give up her clan to live an easier life, it won’t happen. I know Finn would rather die than hand it over, no matter how much stress it causes him and Arabella with three recent babies.”
Finn and his mate, Arabella, had recently had triplets.
Aaron scowled. “Of course I’m not going to bloody change her. And before you ask, I have no interest in being in charge myself. Do you know how much paperwork clan leaders have to fill out? She can have the leadership and the hand cramps that go with it. I’m content to protect her and the others in the clan. Together we make a good team.”
Faye smiled. “Good. It’s a bit selfish, but you living here gives me the chance to visit. Who knows what a few strong, clever females can come up with when they get together?”
Grant scowled, but before he could say anything, a red dragon appeared in the distance. Given the timing and order of the clues, as well as the fact that Hugh was the only red dragon participating, it had to be him.
Aaron growled out, “That’s the Glenlough bloke I told you about. The one who can’t let it go—Hugh Burns.”
The red dragon glided down and landed at the foot of a large hill nearby. Faye moved forward out of Grant’s arms. “Finally, something to do. Let’s see what this bastard is up to.”
According to the clue, Hugh should be digging in the ground. However, he sat on his haunches, raised his face, and roared into the sky.
“Something’s not right. There’s virtually no way for him to interpret the clue and think it means to roar.” Aaron tugged off his shirt and unbuttoned his trousers. “Just in case my hunch is correct, I’ll standby below, ready to shift and investigate. I need you two here as witnesses in case Hugh decides to fabricate a story of me attacking him unprovoked or some such bullshit.”
Grant took out his mobile phone. “If he does try to pull anything, I have Killian’s number ready to go.”
He was glad that he’d been assigned to the Lochguard pair. They had a history of working together, and he didn’t have to suffer arguments when it came to sound actions.
Aaron finished stripping and was also grateful that Grant didn’t make a fuss about Faye with a possible threat nearby. Even protective mates knew when to focus, especially when it came to Protectors.
Hugh roared again and Aaron scanned the sky. It was still empty. “I’m going down,” he stated as he climbed down the ladder to the ground. He wouldn’t shift unnecessarily, but he wanted to be ready.
After reaching the ground, he strained his ears. At first, nothing. But soon a faint buzzing became audible. It was too steady to be any insect he’d heard before. And even though he didn’t know all of the fauna in this part of Ireland, he’d bet everything he had it was a machine.
Drones, his dragon said. Hugh must be working with the Dragon Knights.
Since the bloody Knights had used a drone to drug Aaron’s mother and he’d nearly lost her, he kept an eye to the sky. But even after a minute, he still didn’t see anything. Where are they? I’m not going to rush into it just because of a buzzing sound.
His dragon replied, Maybe they’re tiny. Anything is possible.
Hugh roared again. He clearly wasn’t following the orders of his clues.
Part of his duty was to question participants if they acted strangely to ensure they hadn’t gone rogue, so Aaron ran straight for Hugh’s dragon form. While he had no proof, Aaron had a feeling the male would easily get rid of the judges, and maybe even the other participants, to take over Glenlough if he had help.
Too bad Bram had been instructed to hold off sending the second Stonefire Protector, Sebastian, until after the leadership challenge was complete. Aaron would’ve liked the male at his back.
Still, he trusted Faye and Grant, so Aaron shifted into his green dragon form. Once finished, Hugh met his eyes before jumping into the sky. Aaron crouched down to follow when Faye’s voice yelled with a hint of panic to her voice, “Grant!”
Torn between duties, Aaron finally looked back to the judges he was supposed to be guarding. Faye was crouched down and Grant lay on the floor of the platform.
Cursing, he ignored Hugh and raced to the raised structure. Quickly shifting back to his human form, he climbed the ladder. Once he reached the top, he saw Grant’s motionless body and demanded, “What happened?”
To Faye’s credit, she hadn’t started crying. But her voice did crack as she answered, “Something that looked like a bird flew close and the next minute Grant was down.” She lifted the small dart. “This was in his neck.”
Aaron clenched his fingers. “Lochguard didn’t have problems with the bloody drones, but Stonefire and Glenlough did. I bet it’s the same fucking bunch causing havoc and Hugh is involved. If so, Grant needs the antidote as soon as possible. The dart is no doubt filled with the serum that causes inner dragons to go mad and lose control. Let me reach out to Killian.”
Taking out his mobile phone, he dialed Killian. The rings continued until his voice mail picked up.