Mated to the Ocean Dragon (Elemental Mates 3)

“They’ll be here soon.” Her stomach twisted unpleasantly when she remembered the wall of fire filling the alley by her apartment.

“Let’s just leave him. He’ll see what he gets out of it,” Timothy said.

Despite his words, Liana could feel a wave of worry coming from him.

He’d obviously come to care more about the prickly fire dragon than he’d let on. And so had she, now that she thought about it.

Braeden had been an asshole at times—but more like that one annoying cousin who’d kept teasing her during family dinners. Not like an enemy.

“Last time, the fire dragons tried to kill him,” Jared pointed out. He still sounded out of breath from his own flight from the fire dragons. “Maybe he’s trying to lead them away from us.”

“There are so many of them that they could go after all of us.” Timothy took a deep breath, staring out at the valley. “Anyway, he knows that I’m stronger than them.”

“Stronger than five, sure,” Jared said. “But when’s the last time you had to fight twenty fire dragons at once?”

Timothy didn’t answer that question.

Worry clenched around Liana’s heart like a fist. She knew Timothy could get them all away safely. She’d seen him fight off their enemies before, after all.

But now there were three of them he’d have to protect—and one of them had run off.

Timothy watched the sky again. Then he clenched his jaw and shook his head.

“He’s on his own now. We have to go. Now.”

A second later, he shifted.

Hurriedly, Liana clambered onto his back together with Jared. Even as Timothy rose into the air, she desperately kept watch for a sign of Braeden, but she couldn’t find him.

And maybe Jared was wrong. Maybe Braeden wasn’t stupid enough to try and talk to them while his own powers were locked away. Maybe he’d simply seen a good chance to make an escape, hidden in some nook or beneath a large rock.

After all, Braeden was a captive. She couldn’t really blame him for wanting to be free. Now that she knew the joy and excitement of a dragon soaring through the sky, she could only imagine how painful it had to be for him to lose that freedom.

Still, maybe he’d be fine.

What mattered now was that the three of them could make an escape. After all, unlike the others, Liana wasn’t a shifter. She didn’t have any special powers to protect her from a fire dragon attack.

Through the fragile bond between them, she could feel Timothy’s nervousness. He really didn’t like leaving someone behind.

She reached out to smooth a hand over his blue-green scales.

It’s not your fault, she thought. You’ve done your best to protect him.

An answering wave of warmth flooding right into her heart through the bond. Despite her fear, she held onto that sensation.

Not matter what happened, they’d be together.

They rose swiftly into the air. For a long moment, Timothy kept hovering, as if he was searching for one final glimpse of Braeden. Liana kept her eyes on the hill beneath them, desperately searching for a sign of where the dragon had gone.

And there, just when she was ready to give up, she saw a shadow move between two boulders, close to where the ground flattened.

“There,” she called out, turning in excitement to nudge the griffin shifter.

“I see him,” Jared said hastily. “I’ll get him! Timothy, keep them off me if they get too close.”

Before she could say anything, Jared slipped from Timothy’s back right in front of her eyes.

She couldn’t quite hold back her shocked gasp when he fell.