Mated to the Earth Dragon (Elemental Mates 2)

The ground the shifters had stood on trembled. Then the dragons fell backwards, their shouts blocked by a sturdy wall of rock, which had shot up exactly where they’d stood a moment ago.

Damon didn’t waste time to see whether they’d been knocked unconscious by the blow.

He focused his power once more. Then he threw himself into the cave, ready to strike out with all of his might at the shifters that had dared to threaten his mate—only to find himself right in front of Braeden, who was facing off with the two remaining dragon shifters.

Autumn was nowhere to be seen.

What have you done with my mate? Damon’s dragon roared inside him.

At the same time, he heard Autumn’s voice—not through the bond, but echoing through the cave they were in.

“Damon,” she called out fearfully.

Her voice came from somewhere at the back. Had she hidden in the smaller cave there?

Smart mate, his dragon hissed, and then turned his rage onto the remaining dragon shifters. She’d be safe from any stray fire there.

Each of them now had a ball of fire glowing in their hand. There was still a look of surprise on their faces at Damon’s sudden entrance. They must have hoped that they’d have more time to break their friend out of his prison.

The bars of hard stone that had kept their prisoner safely contained had been destroyed—but even so, they hadn’t been fast enough.

They wouldn’t pass Damon.

A heartbeat later, both fireballs were released at the same time.

It was exactly what Damon had supposed would happen. The cave wasn’t large enough to shift, but even in his human form, power was coursing through his veins, strong like never before.

Without thought, Damon cast out his shield. He’d only meant to protect himself from the attack—but his power had grown so immensely that he’d misjudged the size of his shield. Instead of just covering himself, the wall of invisible stone surrounded not only him, but also their prisoner, and impacted with the two enemy dragons.

The force of it was so strong that they were thrown against the wall of the cave, held immobile by the strength of Damon’s shield pressing against them. The balls of fire were still glowing in their hands. As Damon watched, the balls were growing brighter and brighter.

“Dragon of the Earth,” one of them finally hissed, “this has only begun. Now starts the reign of fire.”

Gritting his teeth, Damon kept feeding his energy into the shield, holding them safely entrapped.

Let the chimera deal with them later. Three prisoners were better than one, and who knew—maybe one of them could be made to talk.

Then the two shifters turned their heads to look at each other. They bared their teeth in a fierce grin.

A heartbeat later, the balls of fire in their hand grew to a white-hot inferno. It exploded into two columns of fire, devouring the shifters, while the rest of the cave was safely protected by Damon’s shield.

His heart continuing to pound in his chest, Damon turned to face the remaining dragon shifter—their prisoner, Braeden.

Damon kept his shield up as he stared at him.

“Looks like you won’t escape today after all,” Damon said, allowing his dragon’s anger to shine through. “If you’ve laid a single finger on my mate, I swear I will—”

Braeden bent over, beginning to laugh even though he clutched at his chest.

“Is that what you think happened?” Braeden asked a moment later, when he’d managed to straighten again. He gave Damon a fierce grin. “They haven’t come to free me, idiot.”

“They came to kill him,” Autumn said.

She’d appeared in the doorway that led into the prisoner’s sleeping cell—and she was unharmed, not a single, beautiful hair singed.

Damon drew in a deep breath. Relief rushed through him with such force that he didn’t even realize he’d dropped his shield until she was in his arms, clutching at him as he hugged her as tightly as he could.

“I heard your cry for help,” he said, at the same time as she said, “Did Ginny find you?”