The Dragon's Charge (Tahoe Dragon Mates 4)

He ignored the screams and chaos to pin the human to the ground, kick away the gun, and quickly check that Tasha was okay.

She met his gaze and nodded shakily. Most people wouldn’t notice the minor detail, but Brad had studied the human for months. And she was never shaky.

With a growl, he hauled the male human up and kept the man’s hands behind his back.

The human tried to turn his head and spit on Brad before saying, “Get your fucking hands off me, dragon trash.”

Brad didn’t pay attention to the threat. While laws prevented him from taking out old-style retribution, he could snap the human in half, if he so desired.

“Why did you try to shoot a human?”

The other man, who he noticed was now restrained with Tasha’s knee on his back, shouted, “Don’t say anything.”

His gut said there was a quicker way to see if his suspicions about the males were correct. So Brad managed to hold the human male’s wrists behind his back with one hand and pushed up the sleeve of the human’s arm.

And there it was on his inner wrist, the tattoo all League members had—an eagle clutching a rifle in one claw and an American flag in the other.

Fuck. There’d been an “almost” incident at the bar several weeks ago with a few League members. But since things had been quiet since then, Brad had thought they’d moved on. Especially since no dragon-shifters, apart from him, had set foot inside the bar in recent weeks due to warnings put out by all clan leaders in the area.

Thankfully the human police arrived and took the two men. It was hard for Brad to simply hand over the two assholes since part of his job as a Protector was interrogating enemies.

But the human police dealt with human criminals. So it had been for a long, long time in the US.

His dragon growled. Which is fucking ridiculous. They tried to kill our mate.

But they didn’t. And us getting thrown in jail would accomplish nothing.

His beast grunted and sulked inside their mind. Brad understood the sentiment but also knew how important it was to follow the human laws, or he could risk the privileges of his entire clan.

Once Tasha gave her statement, as did he, and everyone was cleared out apart from Brad and Tasha, he asked the human abruptly, “Did he say anything to you?”

Tasha twisted her long hair in one hand, which was one of her tells that something was off.

He knew her better than he wanted to.

She sighed and let go of her hair. “Just the usual League bullshit. The cops said they’d keep a closer watch on the place.”

Brad wished he could be that optimistic. “Out of all the places in Reno, they randomly picked this one? I doubt it. It’s probably related to what happened here a few weeks ago. It made you a target, for sure. So you need to either increase security or close the place for a week or two to let things cool off.”

She rolled her eyes. “And you’re the boss of me since when?”

He grunted. “No, I’m not your damn boss, and you know it. But I’m trying to keep you alive.”

Her brown eyes searched his. “They pull this crap all the time to dragon-friendly businesses, Brad. Usually after one attempt, they fade away for a while. Even you know that. Why should this time be different?”

“Because Duncan Parrish was here weeks ago, that’s why. He has friends in powerful places, and we all think he’s working with the League, but can’t prove it. The male is rich and influential and is used to getting away with anything. So when ADDA pulled rank on him and won, Duncan didn’t like it.”

ADDA stood for the American Department of Dragon Affairs. They were in charge of all oversight related to dragon-shifters.

One of their employees had been harassed in Tasha’s bar by a pair of League members, and afterward, the employee had gotten the dragon clans near Tahoe extra protection. Needless to say, Duncan and his lackeys hadn’t liked being thrown out, let alone the new security measures for the Tahoe clans.

Tasha leaned against the counter and shook her head. “I need more than a suspicion to close the bar. This is my entire life, Brad. I won’t let a few assholes scare me away. Besides, you’re here to help me, and I thought you were the best?”

“I am. But not even I can stop bullets flying at will.”

The corner of her mouth ticked up. “I’m sure if there’s a way to do it, you’ll find it.”

A small part of him wanted to tease the human back. But Brad refused to indulge, not wanting to encourage her in any way.