I can’t have Tabitha.
I can’t have her.
Mate, my dragon instinct argues.
You nearly killed our mate! Again!
I belch more fire, boiling the water beneath me. To cool the inferno, I dive beneath the surface again, flapping my wings to propel myself deeper and deeper. Then I come up and take flight again, water streaming off my heated scales, creating clouds of steam.
Gabriel.
Come home.
Oh fate. Fate. She’s calling to me. Her voice is inside my head.
And she called my castle home.
A great sob shakes my giant body and I spin in a circle, creating a torrent of wind. A hurricane.
Gabriel.
Come home. I need you here.
Fate!
Before I know it, I’ve reversed directions. My powerful wings pump in the direction of my castle.
I can’t let her call go unanswered. Maybe in my human form I would have more control, but in this shape? Impossible.
The dragon wants Tabitha, and she knows how to speak straight into our mind.
Warning bells go off in my mind a hundred times over as I approach the castle. Warning me that she’s in danger?
Or that I’m a danger to her?
I can’t decipher it. I’m too foggy-minded, too grief-stricken to realize the danger at the foot of the mountain.
There’s a whistling sound and a thud. Fiery pain sizzles through me.
I’m hit.
A puncture-wound right beneath my wing, in the tender place I’m most vulnerable.
I try to keep pumping my wings. I have to get to Tabitha. She may need me. But my wounded wing is useless, barely flapping. I’m plummeting. Fast. My muscles are weak. Unresponsive.
Hit! I somehow convey to her.
Gabriel! Her voice is a scream inside my head.
The ground rises up, and I strike it so hard the earth itself cracks. And then a net flies over me, the burn of silver searing right through my scales.
I lie on my side, chest heaving, unable to move.
Trapped. My dragon sends the word like a telegraph to our mate.
Tabitha
“Gabriel!”
I race blindly through the castle. Something’s wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong. I find a heavy door and tug the latch–it swings open. Cold air hits my face, and I rush into the courtyard, skidding on the ice.
A man in black–Gabriel’s head of security–jogs up to me. “Ma’am?” he calls.
I rush to him. He side-eyes my slippers and outfit, but I ignore that. “Gabriel’s in trouble!” I shriek. “The dragon was hit. He fell from the sky, and now he’s trapped.”
The man’s lips tighten, and he swallows. “I am to allow the wolf pack to enter and collect you,” he says stiffly. I can sense the disapproval of his orders in his expression. He nods to the closest side of the courtyard, where the huge doors are creaking open. Wind blasts into the courtyard. My hair whips into my face.
“What?” I jog to the open doors, the head of security at my side. There’s a road curving up to the castle, big enough to fit two tanks side by side. But there’s no sign of invasion. “Where are they? Are they here?”
“They’re approaching now.” He holds a pair of binoculars to his eyes and points in the direction of the road far below.
“But where is Gabriel? I think he’s hurt.”
The man bows his head. “Then he allowed himself to be taken.” He glances up at the destroyed tower. Wisps of smoke stream from the charred stone. “He feared it would come to this.”
“Come to what?” I rub my forehead. My hair is wild. “Listen to me. Gabriel’s been trapped. You have to go rescue him.”
“My orders are to stand down and see you safely delivered to the wolf pack.”
“I’m not going!” I raise my voice. “This isn’t right. None of this is right.”
A military convoy rolls into view–three Jeeps equipped with what looks like machine guns and other artillery.
Fuck this. Gabriel’s employee isn’t going to listen to me.
I half run, half shuffle down the road, heading out of the castle and toward the Jeeps. Gabriel’s head of security doesn’t follow.
As the calvary comes closer, I wave my arms in the air.
“Tabitha!” Lance, my friend Charlie’s boyfriend, leaps from the first Jeep and runs for me.
“Where is the dragon?” I demand, hands on my hips.
Lance’s steps stutter, and he slows as he reaches me. “Don’t worry, you’re safe. We have him contained.” His gaze falls to the cuffs around my wrists, then traces my face with signs of concern.
“Why would you do that?” I shout. “Let him go!” I head to the Jeep and climb in the passenger side. “Take me there.”
“No way. It’s not safe. Dieter is a menace.”
“Now, Lance!” I shout. “He needs me. I’m his mate!”
“U-uh okay. Hang on a sec.” Lance climbs behind the wheel and thankfully starts driving before asking questions. It makes sense–he’s a man of action. They all are.
A wolf, I remind myself.
He turns the Jeep around and waves his arm in a circle in the air, indicating the following two vehicles should do the same.