Olcan (Boston Bear Brothers 2)

They were quickly on their way, full of adrenaline as they sped to what was no doubt going to turn out to be one hell of a rough day. Olcan still had a bad feeling about the whole thing, but this had to end, and the only way to end it was to take down the egomaniac that didn’t seem to want to let things go. They’d moved a continent away to escape the slaughter he had rained down on their clan, and here he was again, trying to take them down once more. Anger flooded over him as he drove, white-knuckled, toward his fate and away from the woman he loved, possibly forever.CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVENiamh

“THANK YOU SO MUCH,” Niamh told Frances as she dropped off bags from a number of shops across town.

“You’re welcome, and if you need anything else, just let me know,” Frances replied.

“I’ll do that,” Niamh said, seeing her back out the door and closing it behind her.

There was an immediate knock, just two taps and a turning of the knob. She scowled but didn’t bother answering. It was code for checking that the door was secure. Just Olcan’s men making sure she had locked it when she’d seen Frances out.

She took the bags to the bedroom and began trying things on. Frances had done an excellent job of getting her size in the right cuts. Even the shoes fit perfectly. The clothes were also much nicer than what she usually wore, so she couldn’t really complain. It was nice to have underwear again too. She got dressed and put the rest of the things away before making her way to the kitchen.

She was busy making herself a sandwich for lunch when she heard a commotion outside. She froze for a moment. What was happening? Did she dare look? Slowly, she inched her way toward the living room and looked out the window, her eyes opened wide in shock.

“Oh, God. Where did that come from?” she gasped.

Four of Olcan’s men where already running toward it, shifting as they went. There were two taps on the front door, and then it flew open. She was relieved to see it was one of Olcan’s guys named Fallon.

“Come on,” he barked, motioning her out the front door, but it was too late. A loud squawk filled the air and a steady stream of fire came shooting down through the ceiling between her and Fallon, cutting them off and sending her running for the back of the house. There was no place to go but outside, and there was a dragon out there. Instead, she cowered inside the bathtub in Olcan’s room.

The noise around her was deafening. The sounds of bears alternately growling and howling filled the air around her. A loud crash sounded outside the bathroom and a bear filled her view, hopefully a friendly one and likely Fallon. She rushed toward him, changing in midair and following him out the hole he’d made in the front bedroom wall. It was surreal running down the middle of a suburban street in bear form, but she doubted they’d be as shocked by a couple of overly large bears as they would a dragon flying over their heads, burning the world down.

Fallon, or whoever was running ahead of her, banked left into a grove of trees that ran between this subdivision and the next. He stopped abruptly, standing completely still, and she followed suit, her heart hammering in her chest. The loud squawking of the dragon could still be heard overhead, but it didn’t seem to have followed them. Her protector nodded for her to follow further into the thickness, finding a quiet little alcove and stopping once again to wait.

Now, the dragon seemed quieter and the cries of challenge sounded more like screams of pain. Had they really managed to bring down a dragon, and where had it come from anyway? Niamh had encountered them before in Ireland but had no idea there were any here in the States. How could they possibly hide in a place like this? None of this was good. Everyone on Olcan’s block was bound to have seen what was happening at his house. How would they ever deal with the fallout from this?

The sound of sirens filled the air around them, but they stayed in place. It was only when a horn began to honk nearby that he led her to the edge of the woods and they both shifted, rushing out to a waiting car and hopping into the back. One of the men tossed her some sort of throw to cover herself as they drove away. She glanced to the right to see that it was Fallon who’d made a space for her to escape the house.

“Thank you,” she told him.

“Just doing what Alpha told me to do,” he replied before turning his attention to the driver. “Did it get away?”